# 811 for digital antenna signal no sub?



## rotomike (Feb 24, 2007)

can i use an 811 HD receiver to get OTA signals like digital with no subscrption? Does it have to be getting a signal from satellites? Whats the scoop?

mike


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

You can get your OTA with an 811, however if you do not subscribe to the local through Dish you do not get the guide info in the epg.


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## boba (May 23, 2003)

You should need a dish signal also.


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## rotomike (Feb 24, 2007)

this is going to be stuck on one channel forever anyway so no need for guide or anything like that but just a watchable digital OTA signal and i can get satellite signal with it but will not be subscribed to anything. Its a shut off 811 from another account. Is this doable Yes or No?

Mike


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## j wherley (Dec 30, 2005)

Yes, as long as it gets a signal from any dish location it will be able to lock ota signals! JW


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## rotomike (Feb 24, 2007)

Thank you!!


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

garys said:


> You can get your OTA with an 811, however if you do not subscribe to the local through Dish you do not get the guide info in the EPG.


Not true.

This was an error in the last two revs. OTA data is back on the 811 whether you sub or not. This mostly effected those who could receive an adjacent DMA market via OTA. In this case you should have adjacent data back as well in P3.88.

Also, in the beginning, you did not have to have a subscribed 811 to use the 811 for OTA. It did however require an active connection to live satellite connections. This may have changed recently where as the 8VSB tuner possibly may not work anymore without the 811 being subscribed to E* service. I have heard mixed feedback on this, and as such, I can not verify the info.

Jason


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## j wherley (Dec 30, 2005)

As of today I have three active receivers [501 & 508] and two inactive [811s] hooked up and I do get OTA on the 811s with most of my guide info! I just wish that you could assign a FOX tag to a channel to get that guide data!


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

I have an inactive 811 that I use as an OTA tuner. In the past the receiver has received software updates as normal. Now it's stuck at 3.81 and hasn't updated past that. 
Does anyone know if Dish stop upgrading software on inactive receivers or is it just a problem with my 811?


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

robill said:


> I have an inactive 811 that I use as an OTA tuner. In the past the receiver has received software updates as normal. Now it's stuck at 3.81 and hasn't updated past that.
> Does anyone know if Dish stop upgrading software on inactive receivers or is it just a problem with my 811?


I have an inactive 811 and I hooked it up to the Dish last week and got the latest download. 3.88 I think.:grin:


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

robill said:


> I have an inactive 811 that I use as an OTA tuner. In the past the receiver has received software updates as normal. Now it's stuck at 3.81 and hasn't updated past that.
> Does anyone know if Dish stop upgrading software on inactive receivers or is it just a problem with my 811?


I have had inactive receivers on my account, and as long as I left them connected to a live stream they updated.

Problem as I understand it, some firmware revs rely on specific drivers packages, i.e. the boot strap. If a receiver gets far enough out of date that the current firmware rev, sometimes you need to send the receiver in to be flash updated at the bench.


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

Jason Nipp said:


> I have had inactive receivers on my account, and as long as I left them connected to a live stream they updated.
> 
> Problem as I understand it, some firmware revs rely on specific drivers packages, i.e. the boot strap. If a receiver gets far enough out of date that the current firmware rev, sometimes you need to send the receiver in to be flash updated at the bench.


Thanks for the info guys. I guess my receiver must have a problem that is causing it to not update. It's been seeing a sat signal all along so the problem shouldn't be that it's missed too many rev updates.

On the sys info the Hardware ID looks really weird. 
It looks to be gibberish - "a mal.as sS r ..." or something like that!

Could a corrupted hardware ID explain my problem? If so, I don't imagine that I have too many options for repair on an inactive receiver.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

robill said:


> Thanks for the info guys. I guess my receiver must have a problem that is causing it to not update. It's been seeing a sat signal all along so the problem shouldn't be that it's missed too many rev updates.
> 
> On the sys info the Hardware ID looks really weird.
> It looks to be gibberish - "a mal.as sS r ..." or something like that!
> ...


Can you post a picture of that screen?

I am interested in seeing that..

Thanks.


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

Jason Nipp said:


> Can you post a picture of that screen?
> 
> I am interested in seeing that..
> 
> Thanks.


Sure I can if I can figure out how. I've never done that before!
Is there a preferred method? Just a digital camera pix or is there a better way?


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

robill said:


> Sure I can if I can figure out how. I've never done that before!
> Is there a preferred method? Just a digital camera pix or is there a better way?


Just take a digital picture. You'll have to reduce the size a tad, I think the sites php limit is just under 2 meg.

Then attach it to your next post.


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

Jason Nipp said:


> Can you post a picture of that screen?
> 
> I am interested in seeing that..
> 
> Thanks.


Here's the screen shot Jason - I hope!!


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

robill said:


> Here's the screen shot Jason - I hope!!


robill, did you buy or lease this receiver?

Did you get it from Dish or like off eBay?

I was told by engineering, that the receiver will not take downloads because the Hardware ID is corrupt. I was told an NVRAM dump might correct the issue but that it was doubtful. The receiver would need to be sent in and serviced to repair the issue.

Realistically, I would pursue an express exchange.

Jason


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

Jason Nipp said:


> robill, did you buy or lease this receiver?
> 
> Did you get it from Dish or like off eBay?
> 
> ...


Jason,
I own the receiver. I bought it direct from Dish several years ago.

Since it's not activated and just used as an OTA tuner would they do an express exchange?

What's involved in a NVRAM dump? Could I do it? If so, sounds worth a try at this point.

I appreciate your info and suggestions.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

I'll PM you the memory dump instructions later today and you can try it.


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