# Direct Tv hr20-100s installation nightmare... Please Help..



## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Ok today I was all excited because I was having my new hd dvr installed with new 5 lnb dish... My old setup was that I had a hughes hd tivo in my family room I had 8 runs through my house I was using a 6-8 eagle powered multiswitch.. I had my 8 satelite runs and my local ota antenna run that fed off this switch and everything was working fine.. All my local channels were locked at 88 and above strength.... Well today I have the guy come over and he installs a zinwell 6x16 multiswitch with a slimline dish and a hr20-100 hd dvr... I had asked him to run 1 antenna run to my family room where new hd dvr is at and one to my bedroom where old hughes hd tivo is at.... He used a splitter for my antenna runs to be able to get 2 runs and all my sattelite runs fed of the multiswitch.... HEres the problem.. My local hd ota feeds with the hr 20-100s now are much weaker than previously and i get pixelation off and on on most local ota channels... I even tried taking the splitter off and just combing the 2 cables together with a small barrel and the strength when up a bit but still not enough.... When I asked the installer what was going on his thoughts were that before the ota antenna run fed to the power multiswitch which a. gave it more strength and b made it more stable...... now the antenna runs dont have a powered multiswitch.... Why is this happening and how can I stabalize and boost my ota signal strength the way it was before......

Second im having another issue... my hd channels from 72-79 which are discovery hd,tnt hd,hbo hd,hdnet,hd movies and so for I am getting a program not available in ur area and on some of the other channels im getting a 721 or a 727 on all these channels.... Some hd channels from 72-79 I get the 727 which is program not available in ur area and the other channels i get a 721 for ordering info please call.... I called direct tv for 1 hour and they tried sending the signal.. b. they tried resetting the receiver and nothing..... The tech told me it must be a. a problem with one fo the lnbs from the new dish or b. a problem with the new multiswitch.. He thinks it may be a voltage problem... also I know its not the receiver because my old hughes hd tivo is getting the same error messages..... Please help what do i do...

So A. how do i get my local ota antenna signal strength up and b.. what do i do with my channels from 72-79 not working properly..


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> Ok today I was all excited because I was having my new hd dvr installed with new 5 lnb dish... My old setup was that I had a hughes hd tivo in my family room I had 8 runs through my house I was using a 6-8 eagle powered multiswitch.. I had my 8 satelite runs and my local ota antenna run that fed off this switch and everything was working fine.. All my local channels were locked at 88 and above strength.... Well today I have the guy come over and he installs a zinwell 6x16 multiswitch with a slimline dish and a hr20-100 hd dvr... I had asked him to run 1 antenna run to my family room where new hd dvr is at and one to my bedroom where old hughes hd tivo is at.... He used a splitter for my antenna runs to be able to get 2 runs and all my sattelite runs fed of the multiswitch.... HEres the problem.. My local hd ota feeds with the hr 20-100s now are much weaker than previously and i get pixelation off and on on most local ota channels... I even tried taking the splitter off and just combing the 2 cables together with a small barrel and the strength when up a bit but still not enough.... When I asked the installer what was going on his thoughts were that before the ota antenna run fed to the power multiswitch which a. gave it more strength and b made it more stable...... now the antenna runs dont have a powered multiswitch.... Why is this happening and how can I stabalize and boost my ota signal strength the way it was before......
> 
> Second im having another issue... my hd channels from 72-79 which are discovery hd,tnt hd,hbo hd,hdnet,hd movies and so for I am getting a program not available in ur area and on some of the other channels im getting a 721 or a 727 on all these channels.... Some hd channels from 72-79 I get the 727 which is program not available in ur area and the other channels i get a 721 for ordering info please call.... I called direct tv for 1 hour and they tried sending the signal.. b. they tried resetting the receiver and nothing..... The tech told me it must be a. a problem with one fo the lnbs from the new dish or b. a problem with the new multiswitch.. He thinks it may be a voltage problem... also I know its not the receiver because my old hughes hd tivo is getting the same error messages..... Please help what do i do...
> 
> So A. how do i get my local ota antenna signal strength up and b.. what do i do with my channels from 72-79 not working properly..


The HD channels need to be added by D*. I went through the same thing & took a couple of calls before they got it right. It seems they have changed how those channels are added & some CSRs aren't yet up to speed.
721 is the "clue" to it being an authorization problem & not hardware. 771 is hardware/signal.
As for OTA, you may need to add a pre-amp [mast mounted] to boost your signals.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Assuming you had the OTA going thru the Eagle switch before, it was doing the amplification for you. In my case, I kept the Eagle as my OTA amplifier and splitter. I have enough runs so it comes in very handy and free since i already had it. 

Cheers,
Tom


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

whats a pre amp and whats mast mounted.... My local hd was working before when it wan with the old multiswitch ..... but now that no multiswitch my signal comes in and out.. I even took out the splitter and taking that out prob boosted my signal 10 percent but still in and out...... 

By the way most of my channels read this prog not available in ur area.. I hope its not a lulti switch or lnb problem...


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

hey tom so are u saying that I can run my 1 antenna feed alone into the eagle 6x8 switch and have the 2 lines that are running out into the same spots of the house and that will work like it did on my prev install.. I did not know that u could use the eagle 6x8 multiswitch just to run 1 line into it and use it as a splitter for 2 lines out...


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

well i just connected the antenna run into the eagle 6x8 and it doest seem to be working at all....


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## cwdonahue (Jun 6, 2007)

eddy13 said:


> whats a pre amp and whats mast mounted.... My local hd was working before when it wan with the old multiswitch ..... but now that no multiswitch my signal comes in and out.. I even took out the splitter and taking that out prob boosted my signal 10 percent but still in and out......
> 
> By the way most of my channels read this prog not available in ur area.. I hope its not a lulti switch or lnb problem...


I have a "mast mounted" preamp for my OTA antenna. The "mast mounted" part looks like a small in-line filter and attaches to the output line of your antenna. You attach it to the antenna mast to secure it and use the "boots" supplied with it to make the connection water tight. In my case, the antenna is in my attic, so I don't need to worry about water/weather causing problems. Where your antenna feed enters your home, you mount a small amplifier unit (a few inches in each dimension) that you plug into the wall to supply power. I then use combiners/splitters to add/subtract the antenna signal from the satellite feed from my dish.

Every splitter attenuates the signal by 2dB as I recall. 3dB is a halving of power. (?? or something like that). With one combiner and one splitter, you drop the signal by 4dB. If you are on the hairy edge of signal strength, the splitters are enough to drop you over it. In my case, I added the antenna amplifier because without it I could only receive 3 of the available OTA HD channels in the Chicago area and only 1 of them was a "big 3" network.

It would seem that your powered multiswitch may have been just enough to get you by in the past, but with the splitters, you've gone over the edge.

Good luck.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

whats weird is that with my hr20-100 i get some readings in the 90s on some channels but it stays there at that level but it then unlocks itself with huge signal drops.... 
tom hinted on using multi for antenna but since i dotn have any sat feeds hooked up to it i tried just running straight antenna in there with 2 antenna feeds out and it actually produced a lower strength that using a regular splitter...

I called direct tv num times and they couldnt fix the 721 and program not available in ur area that im getting on hd channels there sending out a tech this week they say it might be a lnb or multi prob..


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

the weird thing about my antenna is that when i look at the tuner ota 1 is stays pretty steady from 85-90 on some channels but ota tuner 2 doest lock up a signal reading it goes up to like 85 then it unlocks...... right now im testing my old hughes hd tivo and im connecting it in the same spot to see if the same thing happens if it does i know its the ota signal strength if it doest can it be a dvr prob...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

721 error will not be fixed by a tech coming out. 
A 771 error could be, as this is "searching for signal". 
721 [not purchased] is an account problem.
As I posted [before] I'd had this problem recently & it took a few calls to get it fixed.

While Tom may have had some luck using a power multi-switch for OTA channels, that is not what they're made for.
Every time you split the signal you have less than half the power. A 3dB drop is 50%, but there is some loss in the splitter also, so good ones will be 3.5 dB [more than 50%].
If you have a problem getting your OTA channels, you need more signal. A good antenna is where it starts. The coax has loss. The longer it is the more loss you have.
If you use a pre-amp mounted at the antenna, this will boost the signal. There are two parts to it: the pre-amp and the power inserter [to power the amp]. In you setup, the splitter needs to go after the power inserter [or it won't power the amp].
So: a good antenna >>pre-amp >>power inserter >>splitter>>cable runs to each location.
The HR-20 doesn't seem to have the best OTA tuner, so you may need to improve your antenna system to have it work for all of the channels in your area.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok old hughes hd tivo connected no drop outs or prob with ota antenna in the same spot where hd dvr is at.. can this be a hr 20-100 s prob


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Well what I as getting on most hd channels was a program not available in ur area.. on hbo hd and hdnet movies it was a 721..... now very old school tell me this why is it that i just installed my old hughes hd tivo and i get no ota signal drops in the same location that my hr20-100 s is at...


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ive called direct tv like 7 times now ...and no prob....


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> Well what I as getting on most hd channels was a program not available in ur area.. on hbo hd and hdnet movies it was a 721..... now very old school tell me this why is it that i just installed my old hughes hd tivo and i get no ota signal drops in the same location that my hr20-100 s is at...


These are the OTA channels?
If so then what you're seeing most likely is a multi-path problem, where you would need to align your antenna better.
If you're not talking about OTA, please give more info.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

[
well on my hr 10-250 hd tivo in which i set in the family room i have 0 problem.... no drop outs whatssoever with the hr 20-100 s I get signal dropouts all the time.... I doubt it that 1 receiver stays locked while the other one is having multipath prob.. but im not a pro.. also as a follow up I called for the 5th time direct tv and they couldnt fix the issue with the 721 and program not available in ur area.. she thinks it may be the multiswitch.. she stated when multiswith is bad it sometimes sends the wrong info to the receiver in which u can have wrong guide info channels not showing up and so for... we looked at all the transponders everything was at 98-100


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> [
> well on my hr 10-250 hd tivo in which i set in the family room i have 0 problem.... no drop outs whatssoever with the hr 20-100 s I get signal dropouts all the time.... I doubt it that 1 receiver stays locked while the other one is having multipath prob.. but im not a pro.. also as a follow up I called for the 5th time direct tv and they couldnt fix the issue with the 721 and program not available in ur area.. she thinks it may be the multiswitch.. she stated when multiswith is bad it sometimes sends the wrong info to the receiver in which u can have wrong guide info channels not showing up and so for... we looked at all the transponders everything was at 98-100


So far what the D* CSR(s) have told you doesn't make any sense. The Dish, cables, & multi-switch do only one thing..send signals to the receiver. It is the receiver that then decides what to do with those signals. The "options" are pretty simple: 1) is it there [yes or no, no = 771], 2) yes it's there but is it "allowed" to be viewed [listed on what the receiver stores on the access card, if not = 724].
Back to OTA, the HR-20 is known to be "picky" about multi-path signals. I don't have a HR10-250 to compare with. It may not be so picky.
While I want to offer you some help, "we" don't seem to be moving any where, & I seem to be just repeating my earlier posts..


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> So far what the D* CSR(s) have told you doesn't make any sense. The Dish, cables, & multi-switch do only one thing..send signals to the receiver. It is the receiver that then decides what to do with those signals. The "options" are pretty simple: 1) is it there [yes or no, no = 771], 2) yes it's there but is it "allowed" to be viewed [listed on what the receiver stores on the access card, if not = 724].
> Back to OTA, the HR-20 is known to be "picky" about multi-path signals. I don't have a HR10-250 to compare with. It may not be so picky.
> While I want to offer you some help, "we" don't seem to be moving any where, & I seem to be just repeating my earlier posts..


picky picky is not the word.. my antenna is pointed perfect as I had to work it when I installed it 2 years ago... in miami the local ota digital channels are north and soem of the locals are in a diff direction.. I have my antenna at the best line of sight possible.. Also I have a huge local ofta antenna it looks like a airplane on how big it is.. As for the csrs ive been on the phone with like 7 of them, I even told them about ur reply to me...They say it might be a multiswitch problem as the multiswitch does alot of the work.. it sends diff voltages and if something is off she says and others csrs has said then it will make things quirky....

Now what can I do with the csrs keep calling them.. as for ota All i can try is add a pre amp and spend more money than i have.. i just cant understan how bad the hr20-100 ota tuner is its horrendous when my 2 yr old direct tv hr 10-250 who alot compare to have the same type of tuner works fine..


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

*721* - Service Isn't Authorized - CS needs to authorize.

*727 *- Program Not Available in Your Area - Have CS verify address and resend authorizations. If still not available have CS check for "Blackouts" or FCC "Viewing Restrictions".

Both of those are issues on D*s end. There is NOTHING a tech will be able to do fix the issue.

As far as your OTA, it is possible that with your huge attenna that your are getting TOO MUCH signal to the HR20. If you have some extra splitters lying around, add one at a time to see if it makes any difference.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> picky picky is not the word.. my antenna is pointed perfect as I had to work it when I installed it 2 years ago... in miami the local ota digital channels are north and soem of the locals are in a diff direction.. I have my antenna at the best line of sight possible.. Also I have a huge local ofta antenna it looks like a airplane on how big it is.. As for the csrs ive been on the phone with like 7 of them, I even told them about ur reply to me...They say it might be a multiswitch problem as the multiswitch does alot of the work.. it sends diff voltages and if something is off she says and others csrs has said then it will make things quirky....
> 
> Now what can I do with the csrs keep calling them.. as for ota All i can try is add a pre amp and spend more money than i have.. i just cant understan how bad the hr20-100 ota tuner is its horrendous when my 2 yr old direct tv hr 10-250 who alot compare to have the same type of tuner works fine..


I don't normally mention someone's need to use spell check, but since you've taken it upon yourself to bring up grammar, "Who is calling the kettle black"?
Take a look at what you've "written" and see how many misspellings there are. It is a wonder anybody can understand your posts.
With this, I'll leave you to yourself as you doen't seem to need my help, and go on the people that do.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> I don't normally mention someone's need to use spell check, but since you've taken it upon yourself to bring up grammar, "Who is calling the kettle black"?
> Take a look at what you've "written" and see how many misspellings there are. It is a wonder anybody can understand your posts.
> With this, I'll leave you to yourself as you doen't seem to need my help, and go on the people that do.


It's not about needing ur help.. I find ur advice very valuable but what im trying to say is that i have called direct tv over 7 times with various csrs and that have tried numerous things.. They have deactivated my card and stripped down my package and then slowly programmed my card to accept the diff packages.. they have told me to reset my box numerous times.. they have sent the signal to the dish num times... they have cancled my sunday ticket and added my package without it.. they have read my transponders... so for and so for.... as of right now the tech will coem out tommorrow with a new multi and dvr box.. I will a. see if my ota signal readings improve and lock with new box and b. I will see if the 721 and program not in ur area go away..

By the way I have tried to add some more splitters as with the advice given and my signal weakens.....


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> It's not about needing ur help.. I find ur advice very valuable but what I'm trying to say is that i have called direct TV over 7 times with various CSRs and that have tried numerous things.. They have deactivated my card and stripped down my package and then slowly programmed my card to accept the diff packages.. they have told me to reset my box numerous times.. they have sent the signal to the dish num times... they have canceled my Sunday ticket and added my package without it.. they have read my transponders... so for and so for.... as of right now the tech will come out tomorrow with a new multi and DVR box.. I will a. see if my OTA signal readings improve and lock with new box and b. I will see if the 721 and program not in ur area go away..
> 
> By the way I have tried to add some more splitters as with the advice given and my signal weakens.....


"I've been there". You might need to talk to the access card group. If splitters didn't do anything but lower your signal level, then you're not "over powering" the tuner.
When you see "drop outs" or bouncing while looking at the OTA tuner levels, it usually means there are two [or more] paths of the same signal being received, where 1) is the primary, & 2) is a bounce off a building or something. The bounced signal will cancel the primary for a moment, causing the drop. BTW: what you are looking at is not signal level but "bit error" so if "bits" get lost the percentage drops.

I can't type worth a ...., so I need to use the spell check addition, or nobody would ever know what I was trying to say. I don't use text messaging so being "old school" I need [like] to read all of the letters to know what someone is says. There are the few used here that I know [like BTW, YMMV, etc.] but for the most part like it when all of the letters are used to communicate. What do yopu mean with "ur"? Is it "your or you are"? [Off soap box now].
So, You still need to: call D* to get the 721/724 fixed & work on your antenna [maybe by swinging it a bit one way or the other].


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

so by swinging it a bit i may fix the multipath issue.... how bout with software upgrades will this help out in the future... I I wish that direct tv would of used the same tuner that my old hr10-250 hd tivo has.. it locks all the signals with no drop outs... All I know is that I inserted a concret screw on my mast in order to prevent my antenna from spinning around in storms.. so moving it in opp directions or swinging it might be a pain in the but.... does amps or dist switches help at all with multipath


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> so by swinging it a bit i may fix the multipath issue.... how bout with software upgrades will this help out in the future... I I wish that direct TV would of used the same tuner that my old HR10-250 HD Tivo has.. it locks all the signals with no drop outs... All I know is that I inserted a concrete screw on my mast in order to prevent my antenna from spinning around in storms.. so moving it in opp directions or swinging it might be a pain in the but.... does amps or dist switches help at all with multipath


Amps will amplify both signals [the primary & the bounce], but "maybe" [as in I'm not sure] the primary would be strong enough to work.

Let's get some "numbers" here. What does your HR10-250 read for the "problem" channels?
Then your HR20-100 readings. I don't want you to spend money on something that doesn't have a good chance of helping you out.
Do the same "tests" with & without the splitter.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Amps will amplify both signals [the primary & the bounce], but "maybe" [as in I'm not sure] the primary would be strong enough to work.
> 
> Let's get some "numbers" here. What does your HR10-250 read for the "problem" channels?
> Then your HR20-100 readings. I don't want you to spend money on something that doesn't have a good chance of helping you out.
> Do the same "tests" with & without the splitter.


Ok my hr10-250 in the same spot on channel 4,7, and 10 digital I get a reading of 85 to 95 locked without drop outs.. on my hr 20-100 On my tuner 1 I rec on these same channels about the same 85-95 but on tuner 2 its hardly ever locked it jumps from 85-90 to 0.. and stays on 0 for awhile...... my prob channels with my hr 20-100s is 4,7,6, and 10.... the prob is where the signal jumps up and down mostly on tuner 2.. when i insert my 2 way splitter to split the signal to my bed roon and family roon my hr 20-100 s then drops about 10 dec on every reading like from 95-85.. or if it was 75 it will drop it to 65


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> Ok my hr10-250 in the same spot on channel 4,7, and 10 digital I get a reading of 85 to 95 locked without drop outs.. on my hr 20-100 On my tuner 1 I rec on these same channels about the same 85-95 but on tuner 2 its hardly ever locked it jumps from 85-90 to 0.. and stays on 0 for awhile...... my prob channels with my hr 20-100s is 4,7,6, and 10.... the prob is where the signal jumps up and down mostly on tuner 2.. when i insert my 2 way splitter to split the signal to my bed roon and family roon my hr 20-100 s then drops about 10 dec on every reading like from 95-85.. or if it was 75 it will drop it to 65


Now it's starting to make some sense. Tuner #1 seems to be matching your HR10, but tuner #2 looks to be having some problems.
Is this right? If so then I don't think amps or anything else will help, other than looking into having the HR20-100 replaced.
Every time you change channels the HR20 swaps tuners [unless one is recording], so you should be able to tune to a "good" channel & then the next one will be "bad" and the one after that will be good [again]. Or you will have a bad, then good, and then bad.
To prove if this is the case: find a good channel, then tune to another and then another [this should be a good one] NOW tune back to the first channel [that was good] and it should now be "bad". If it acts this way, then it is a bad OTA tuner and needs replacement.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

well the flipping through channels didnt work.. like going to 4-1 and it being good then going to 6-1 and it being bad and then going to 7-1 and it being good and then going to the channel that was good and it being bad... I had drop outs every time..... in avs forum a guy said that i should try getting a dist amp and then swing my antenna a bit to see if that fixes prob.. The only pain in the ass thing is that i inserted a concrete screw between the main pole and the antenna mast as sort of a dead lock for it wouldnt spin around and now i have to remove it which is a pain in te ass since its jammed in there....I figured I had it alighned perfect wiht my old rec


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

by the way i got transferred to the access card departement and guess what I had no luck....same problems.. I have the installer coming today swapping box and multiswitch.. hopefully either 2 things happen i het my hd channels back or my local ota tuners get better lol


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

A Distribution amp is a noise version of a good mast mounted pre-amp.
Maybe both problems will be resolved with a new box.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Ok, Tech showed today and put up a new multiswitch and bingo now i get channels 72-79.... Also he brought a new box and bingo now all my ota local channels locked in... but wait luck doesnt stop there.... I start getting upon bootup of new receiver, pixelation and green blotches on my direct tv mpeg 4 locals... I get a 771... after 5 min, all ok, but wait i step away and go to the bathroon when i arrive , box locks up..... Box locked up also when tech forced a download while pressing the 02468 code to download the newest software update...Now just as u thought this was getting weird.. I get a congrats uve downloaded the spring update.. I received version 0x168 with the new white and blue colors interface, which is real nice.... The problem is that I have the hr20-100 in which direct tv tells me ur not supposed to get that update .. Vers 0x168update is for the hr20-700.. I told him well i have a 100 , it even says it on the info test menu option..... Heres the thing I can get my receiver to boot up but after 5 min it reboots and locks up at the direct tv dvr screen....... WHats going on man.. When i fix the ota issues and the channel 72-79 issues which was being called by the multiswitch, now i have new problems...... Now why is it that I get i cant understand why i get 771 on local mpeg 4... this is all to weird.... Im setting up for my third box and serv calll


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

You've got more squirrels than anybody I've every heard of.
There isn't very much that makes any sense.
While I can understand a bad box, giving strange responses, there is little I can help you with from here.
It simply makes no sense, so I have nothing to suggest other than to try to download the software again and see if it downloads th 0x15C version this time.

EDIT: the 0x168 is the CE software that is being tested in the CE forum.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

i know weird stuff.. i did press the force download code that i saw in the tips and tricks manual.. but it downloaded that software and it doesnt boot up even when i force another download...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> i know weird stuff.. i did press the force download code that i saw in the tips and tricks manual.. but it downloaded that software and it doesn't boot up even when i force another download...


You seemed to be one of the first to get the new national release for the -100.
Two things to try: remove the HDMI cable & also the network cable and see if it will then boot. If not then: since this box is new & won't boot, I would do a front panel reformat [by pressing the down arrow & record buttons at the same time until the record light comes on].
This "should" get you box to boot.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok well i have gotten my receiver to boot up but after awhile it locks up again.. also on mpeg 4 locals getting 771 and green pixelation.. I cant understand this since on my prev hr 100 that they swapped out the mpeg 4 locals were fine.. now im thinking that we did switch out the multiswitch can it be the actual power supply that gives power to multiswitch thats the only thing that we did not swap out, we left the old power supply of the other multiswitch..... also what will the reformatting do does this mean that i will still get lock up in the future or will my rec work fine after reformat


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> ok well i have gotten my receiver to boot up but after awhile it locks up again.. also on mpeg 4 locals getting 771 and green pixelation.. I cant understand this since on my prev hr 100 that they swapped out the mpeg 4 locals were fine.. now im thinking that we did switch out the multiswitch can it be the actual power supply that gives power to multiswitch thats the only thing that we did not swap out, we left the old power supply of the other multiswitch..... also what will the reformatting do does this mean that i will still get lock up in the future or will my rec work fine after reformat


And another piece of the puzzle comes to light. The multi-switch you should have [and don't it seems] is the Zinwell WB68, which isn't powered! The "WB" stands for wide band, so you can get the Ka signals [MPEG-4].
Can you give me [us] a complete run down of what you have.
I'd guess what you've been fighting with is a wiring/multi-switch/dish issue due to a poor upgrade.
If you can get the "feed system" working correctly, then the reset everything, followed by a front panel reformat, will bring everything back to what you should of had in the first place, but none of this will be worth a hill of beans until the SAT feeds are right.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok tech came out swapped boxes let me cross fingers everything good for now.. By the way the switch i have is a zinwell wb6x16.... now let me ask u this very old school... My receiver is activated and running do i force the software download...... if so is it the code that i have to press in the tricks and tips..... right now im runnign from original software update of the box.. do i press the red button and press code


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

never mind going through the software update right now on its own it says downloading the 0168 software version is that still the one for the 700 if so then this marks twice that i get that update... without update all is good no problems on local mpeg 4 solid ota feed.. now i will tell u after update of 0168


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> ok tech came out swapped boxes let me cross fingers everything good for now.. By the way the switch i have is a zinwell wb6x16.... now let me ask u this very old school... My receiver is activated and running do i force the software download...... if so is it the code that i have to press in the tricks and tips..... right now im runnign from original software update of the box.. do i press the red button and press code


Well if you're using a WB616, there is a whole bunch about the installation/system that you haven't bothered to disclose.
Next time you ask/want help, do EVERYBODY a favor and tell us "the whole story".
Trying to give someone help without being given enough information, is a big waste of everybody's time.
So I'm out of here until you give enough information, instead of wasting my [and everyone else's] time.
35 posts is just plain to long to wait.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

hey im sorry man on one of my very first post i did say i had a zinwell 6x16... Dont get mad... I have a 6x16 and I have 10 runs through my whole house.. My antenna runs are run seperately... Now my rev finished downloaing the new software update.... I have the new spring update with the new white and blue guide everythign is running fine as of now all ofta channels locked at 90 and above I rec all channels without prob and no lock ups... so what do u think the prob was with the prev 2 rec... with the prev 2 rec the guy forced the software download... whats weird though is wiht the first update on my first rec i never received the blue and white guide...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> hey im sorry man on one of my very first post i did say i had a zinwell 6x16... Dont get mad... I have a 6x16 and I have 10 runs through my whole house.. My antenna runs are run seperately... Now my rev finished downloaing the new software update.... I have the new spring update with the new white and blue guide everythign is running fine as of now all ofta channels locked at 90 and above I rec all channels without prob and no lock ups... so what do u think the prob was with the prev 2 rec... with the prev 2 rec the guy forced the software download... whats weird though is wiht the first update on my first rec i never received the blue and white guide...


You're right, you did say you had a WB616. Somewhere trying to read through what is hard to follow without you using spell-check & for me not knowing your use of text messaging short cuts, "things got lost".
So why the first recorder didn't have the new GUI, is because this has gone on long enough for D* to have ungraded the software from [the first] 015C, to last night's 0168.
Somewhere you had a bad box, and something going on with your installation, whether you had two defective multi-switches, is debatable, but the cables may have been the problem. Either way it sounds like you now up and running [finally].
To help an "old fart" like me, please take the time to make sure what you type is readable & what you really mean to say. There just wasn't enough communication throughout this thread, causing it to be a bit too frustrating for me to try to make sense out of what you were posting.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

I only changed one multiswitch.. today when tech came i just swapped out the box... I am using same type of cabeling and multiswitch as i was doing yesterday when i had my box lock up and my mpeg 4 was receiving 771 and pixelating......


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> I only changed one multiswitch.. today when tech came i just swapped out the box... I am using same type of cabling and multiswitch as i was doing yesterday when i had my box lock up and my mpeg 4 was receiving 771 and pixelating......


So: one multi-switch & two receivers [bad?].


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Ok Now either im jinxed or something is truelly screwed up.....Yesterday the install of my third receiver everything was working a ok.. this morning i go to work so i hit the power button to turn receiver on standby.. when i get home..... WHen I change channels on locals the locals mpeg 4 really dont come on.. the screen turns grey... when surfing locals no problem at all... now even when i surf other normal channels like discovery hd or hdnet it takes forever for it to be able to tune to it.. some times it doesnt even tune... also when watching something live if i try to rewind or foward it gets stuck and it doesnt do these functions....I feel my receiver is running in crawl mode.....
Whats going on.. I meen this is already pathetic.. my old hd tivo in my bed room ever since the install of the 5 lnb the only problem that had the first time was the hd channels with 721 in which swapping out the multi fixed that... what do i do... I am literally going to have a nervous breakdown with this...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

eddy13 said:


> Ok Now either im jinxed or something is truelly screwed up.....Yesterday the install of my third receiver everything was working a ok.. this morning i go to work so i hit the power button to turn receiver on standby.. when i get home..... WHen I change channels on locals the locals mpeg 4 really dont come on.. the screen turns grey... when surfing locals no problem at all... now even when i surf other normal channels like discovery hd or hdnet it takes forever for it to be able to tune to it.. some times it doesnt even tune... also when watching something live if i try to rewind or foward it gets stuck and it doesnt do these functions....I feel my receiver is running in crawl mode.....
> Whats going on.. I meen this is already pathetic.. my old hd tivo in my bed room ever since the install of the 5 lnb the only problem that had the first time was the hd channels with 721 in which swapping out the multi fixed that... what do i do... I am literally going to have a nervous breakdown with this...


Have you reset it from the setup menu?


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok just got of the phone with a direct tv tech she was awesoem and nice... she gave me soem tips a. she said that her tech expert told her that these advanced receivers sometimes act better if there plugged directly into the wall outlet rather than surge protector which is what im using... second she said the mpeg 4 locals going to grey screen is a known problem and there working on it.... third she said if problems keep happening than perhaps it will be best for direct tv to come out and rewire my whole house.. she did say is to move the hr20-100 to bed room to see if it acts the same... but she did say that these advanced receivers act better with it hooked directly into wall... ohh last but not least she did resend programming and she says she put my programming through a diff system they have which is there backup system or rather there old school system she says its more stable.. at least for now im surfing way faster.. lets see if it holds up.. what do u think old school


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

problem off and on again should i try plugging rec straight to wall or perhaps using 2 diff sattelite lines since i have 6 in family room i can use 2 other feeds


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

this was suggested by tech supp at direct tv plugging straight to wall i dont know if this will help at this point im getting so aggravated.....


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Spell check would help [again].
If your surge protector is defective, yes it might give you some trouble. A surge protector or UPS is recommended in the manual.
I have no idea what your wiring is like [type, age, etc.]
Local HD are coming in at a higher frequency than what you had.
If there is a problem it may show up more on the Ka frequencies.
As far as "D* knowing" about a problem, it isn't a wide spread problem here on the forum, so I have my doubts.
Trying the receiver at another location, could help, just to see if there are any changes.
It's time for you to "explain" more about your system.
How long are the cables [dish to multi-switch to each location], what all you have for other receivers [sometimes they can interact with each other].
Do you know what RG6 [coax] is?


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok using wb6x16 zinwell runs about no more than 35-45 feet each.. i have 10 runs... in office using a direct tv d10, in bedroom using old hr10-250 hd tivo which was in family room......... using monster powerstage clean power typo of power surge was like 200 bucks when i bought it....... tomorrow im going into attic just to make sure that this idiot installer installed the multiswitch right.... also will take a look at the wall plate behind my wall to make sure theres no diplexers there from old install.. cabeling was done by a direct tv custom installer that did side jobs about 2 years ago.. new installer used same cables for new dish as prev install but what he did is add new multiswitch.. local ota antenna fed seperately....


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok i did what the girl told me to do at tech support which is unplug the power from the back and go directly to the wall.. the only bad thing by doing this is that ur doing a hard boot up to ur system... well i guess this is the same thing as the guide restart per say but a little rougher...... by the way when i saw the guide reset and i highlighted it it said settings and info may be lost.. would i lose anything if i choose the info to restart recorder..... Actually right now its working fine after reset from back of wall and power directly into wall... lets see how this holds up....

by the way all sat and transponders are 98 and above now the 103 a i beieve or is it 101 a.. i think its the 103 a that has like 7 transponders i have some readings at 96 and above one at 88 and one at 74..... everything else on other sats and transponders at 98 and above .. ota locals alll 90 and above and locking...


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

ok wake up this morning everything working fast and good... Now i dont know if it was me unplugging it off the poer yesterday and it doing the boot up what did the trick or it being connected straight to the back.... for now please od let me cross fingers.. hey old school what do u think based of all the info ive given you.....whats going on...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Well the rest may have been "the thing". Let it go a couple of days to see if everything is working well.
If so then I try connecting it back into the "monster" and then see if the problems came back.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Now it's starting to make some sense. Tuner #1 seems to be matching your HR10, but tuner #2 looks to be having some problems.
> Is this right? If so then I don't think amps or anything else will help, other than looking into having the HR20-100 replaced.
> Every time you change channels the HR20 swaps tuners [unless one is recording], so you should be able to tune to a "good" channel & then the next one will be "bad" and the one after that will be good [again]. Or you will have a bad, then good, and then bad.
> To prove if this is the case: find a good channel, then tune to another and then another [this should be a good one] NOW tune back to the first channel [that was good] and it should now be "bad". If it acts this way, then it is a bad OTA tuner and needs replacement.


Aha! That's exactly the symptoms I was having with the OTA channels on my HR20-700. It turned out that my set had only Tuner 2 working with no signal at all on Tuner 1. Tech replaced the receiver and all is well.  However, it took some effort to convince him that there were really two OTA tuners in the receiver. He thought that since there was only one OTA connection on the receiver that there was only one tuner. I now get a total of 10 PBS digital feeds, two of which are HD. I'm in the LA area.

Bill


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> I don't normally mention someone's need to use spell check, but since you've taken it upon yourself to bring up grammar, "Who is calling the kettle black"?
> Take a look at what you've "written" and see how many misspellings there are. It is a wonder anybody can understand your posts.
> With this, I'll leave you to yourself as you doen't seem to need my help, and go on the people that do.


And I thought I was the only one complaining about grammar and poor spelling.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Well the rest may have been "the thing". Let it go a couple of days to see if everything is working well.
> If so then I try connecting it back into the "monster" and then see if the problems came back.


I'll bet he has problems with computers too. Next the remote won't work. Sounded like he tried to do too much with too little knowledge and too much faith in the D* contracted installer. $12.50 an hour, you get what you pay for. I would not even consider letting an installer touch an HR20.

Will you stop calling yourself an "old fart"? You will never be younger than you are today. You don't sound "old". Curious.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

rich584 said:


> I'll bet he has problems with computers too. Next the remote won't work. Sounded like he tried to do too much with too little knowledge and too much faith in the D* contracted installer. $12.50 an hour, you get what you pay for. I would not even consider letting an installer touch an HR20.
> 
> Will you stop calling yourself an "old fart"? You will never be younger than you are today. You don't sound "old". Curious.


But I can remember being very much younger than today...:lol:

Sometimes I need to let these "kids" know that I need to whole word tyoed out to understand.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> But I can remember being very much younger than today...:lol:
> 
> Sometimes I need to let these "kids" know that I need to whole word tyoed out to understand.


They do write horribly at times. I had to explain to my 17 year old son that if he was going to send me text messages on my phone to knock off the abbreviations and write clearly and concisely so that I could decide whether to do what he was asking me to do or not.


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## eddy13 (Jun 4, 2007)

so does it sound crazy that i need to connect the receiver box straight to my wall outlet without a power surge... could it really be that the power surger was part of the problem for the hr20 stalling and acting quirky..... its working perfectly now with 2 full days after i disconnected the box from the back and connected it straight to my wall outlet away from the power surger... should i disconnect from the wall outlet and back to my power surger.. or if all is working fine should leave it.. problem is that if a storm comes every time I have the electricity flicker my hr20 will power of and restet or worst of all sine i live in miami and alot of lightning my receiver my get fried one day...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

read post #51


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

eddy13 said:


> so does it sound crazy that i need to connect the receiver box straight to my wall outlet without a power surge... could it really be that the power surger was part of the problem for the hr20 stalling and acting quirky..... its working perfectly now with 2 full days after i disconnected the box from the back and connected it straight to my wall outlet away from the power surger... should i disconnect from the wall outlet and back to my power surger.. or if all is working fine should leave it.. problem is that if a storm comes every time I have the electricity flicker my hr20 will power of and restet or worst of all sine i live in miami and alot of lightning my receiver my get fried one day...


117 Volts is 117 Volts no matter where it comes from as long as it is an AC source at 60 Hertz. Did you buy the Monster surge protector? What kind of surges are you worried about? Most electrical products will run from 95 to 130 VAC with no problem. And before anyone comments, a DVR is an electrical device as well as electronic device.

If lightning strikes your DVRs power source nothing will protect it unless you pay many thousands of dollars for a real surge protector.


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