# ViP211 OTA Dropouts



## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

I'd like to know how many ViP211 users have the same problem that I have. One of my digital channels will show 100% signal strength, but will drop the signal and the picture for a few seconds, about once per minute. This is a new behavior for my 211. I've had the receiver for more than a year, and this just started a month or so ago.


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## RandallA (Feb 4, 2005)

The problem started for me with the latest software update. I have 100% SS on the meter but the receiver keeps dropping the signal and the picture. I have the same antenna connected to the Samsung TV tuner and don't have any problems there. Never had this problem before.


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## Art2 (Jan 17, 2007)

Same here. Have to reset the receiver and sometimes unplug it and at times that doesn't work.

Not a problem when I'm using my antenna. The box needs a fix.


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## bhenge (Mar 2, 2005)

Same problem here on my 2 211's and 1 411. A re-boot restores OTA function for a short period. My old Samsung OTA tuner works fine.


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## Mr.72 (Feb 2, 2007)

I suspect 100% SQ could be a problem. try an attenuator.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

Mr.72 said:


> I suspect 100% SQ could be a problem. try an attenuator.


What would cause 100% SQ to become a problem, when it hadn't been one before, and isn't on other digital channels?


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## cyberized (Mar 7, 2003)

I TOTALLY LOSE ALL my OTA Signals through my 211 once in a while and MUST do a "HARD" Re-Boot of the 211 and then it picks them ALL up again. Aggravating! Also, I will throw in one more PEEVE - loss of my HD signals for VOOM Channels from that lousy 129 SAT....pay $20 a month and it's a "crap shoot" attempting to watch their programming off of 129.


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## Suriel (Apr 22, 2006)

Using indoor OTA to view local PBS HD, 96-100 signal strength, but with signal drops and very aggravating pizzlelation.


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## Quakeman (Apr 23, 2007)

New to the forum, but I appreciate your input. I've had this problem since upgrading from my old 6000, which did not have the dropout problem. 

My symptoms typically are a freezeup and then blackout for a second or two. For whatever reason, if I'm watching something with rapid background changes, the problem is worse. For example, if something blows up on Enterprise on HDNet, it will always black out. Movie trailers are the worst, it's almost impossible to get through one. I also had a lot of trouble during the basketball final four this year, which of course has a lot of changing of angles, background changes from light to dark, etc.

When local channels put their SD ads on during an HD broadcast, I get these symptoms.

If I pull up the channel menu and watch the little inset picture, the problem disappears. That makes me believe it's not a reception issue. This "cure," however, defeats the purpose of having a nice, big HDTV.

My local signal strengths are in the mid to high 90s, and I checked the sat signal strengths and they're all over 100.

Any input on a fix would be greatly appreciated. I know a tech guy who suggested that it might be some kind of buffer problem (i.e. there's not enough memory or speed).


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

I'm forwarding a link to this poll to Dish Network technical support today. Since the poll closes after noon today, you might want to vote and add any comments this morning.


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## Sandman (Sep 23, 2002)

cyberized said:


> I TOTALLY LOSE ALL my OTA Signals through my 211 once in a while and MUST do a "HARD" Re-Boot of the 211 and then it picks them ALL up again.


This happens to me also, but so far as loosing an ota signal for a moment, no I do not have that problem,

Bob


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## richiephx (Jan 19, 2006)

Over the last 2 weeks, I have had to reset my 211 receiver at least 5 times because I completely lose all OTA digital channels. After I reset the 211, the channels are back. I have called E* several times to get the usual "I don't know what you're talking about" response.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

Well it happened to me today... Didn't know what it was for a bit, but I was reminded it could be this glitch, so as soon as I did a hard re-boot, I got all my OTA's back. Can't figure this out..I haven't had a software update for the 211 in some time & that's usually when things go crazy.

Ken


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## Sandman (Sep 23, 2002)

Today I was repositioning my hd antenna and had removed the coax to make things easier, when I reconnected the coax my ota locals were gone, a hard reboot brought them back, 

Bob


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Sounds like that is the answer Ken. A hard reboot. Glad it worked. Now if they would just fix it permanetly via software update.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> Sounds like that is the answer Ken. A hard reboot. Glad it worked. Now if they would just fix it permanetly via software update.


Yeah, thanks for reminding me of this glitch, Mike. It did correct the problem..

Ken


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Your are welcome and call anytime you need me.


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## Skates (Apr 15, 2004)

I've had my new 211 for just a week and last night I lost all of my OTAs. A soft reboot got them back.


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## jbjsm (May 15, 2005)

Skates said:


> I've had my new 211 for just a week and last night I lost all of my OTAs. A soft reboot got them back.


This is my second 211 since January. The first one started dropping OTA channels intermittently and eventually lost all of them permanently. Dish replaced the receiver last month and now the replacement is showing the same symptoms. Signal strength on OTA channels is 90-100, but the channels only stay locked for a few seconds. A power button reboot restores some of the channels for a little while. A hard reboot does the same. Called Dish tonite and they offered a replacement, but I've had enough! Upgrading to a VIP 622, the only other MPEG4 receiver available. The 211 needs a major redesign/upgrade.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

jbjsm said:


> This is my second 211 since January. The first one started dropping OTA channels intermittently and eventually lost all of them permanently. Dish replaced the receiver last month and now the replacement is showing the same symptoms. Signal strength on OTA channels is 90-100, but the channels only stay locked for a few seconds. A power button reboot restores some of the channels for a little while. A hard reboot does the same. Called Dish tonite and they offered a replacement, but I've had enough! Upgrading to a VIP 622, the only other MPEG4 receiver available. The 211 needs a major redesign/upgrade.


I've read reports of the 622 doing the same..

Ken


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## bobed2121 (Apr 5, 2007)

Gentleman what are you talking about? I have the 211 but I'm not having any problems with it. Is this only happening to you over the air (OTA) antenna connected signals? Excuse my ignorance I'm not completley familar with Sat Dish TV yet. I am getting my local channels via my DN provider. I pay the extra $5 per month to get them. Granted they are not HD but they are acceptable. Why do you guys use an HD antenna in addition to Dish's into your 211's? Is it for the HD brodcasts or to save $5 per month? Just wondering?


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

bobed2121 said:


> Gentleman what are you talking about? I have the 211 but I'm not having any problems with it. Is this only happening to you over the air (OTA) antenna connected signals? Excuse my ignorance I'm not completley familar with Sat Dish TV yet. I am getting my local channels via my DN provider. I pay the extra $5 per month to get them. Granted they are not HD but they are acceptable. Why do you guys use an HD antenna in addition to Dish's into your 211's? Is it for the HD brodcasts or to save $5 per month? Just wondering?


It could be for both reasons you mention above. Some subs do not have the LiL's (locals via Dish) available in their area. And of those that do, many of those local networks are not broadcasting in HD. And even if they were, HD via an OTA antenna will always (in most cases) provide better PQ than SAT (even if it's only slight). With your 211, you can seamlessly intergrate your OTA locals through the receiver's digital OTA tuner provided you have an OTA antenna installed. Keep in mind however, the 211 will only accept & transmit *digital* locals, not analog.

FYI: The OTA glitch everyone is referring to in this thread is only with OTA locals..

Ken


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## Quakeman (Apr 23, 2007)

bobed2121 said:


> Gentleman what are you talking about? I have the 211 but I'm not having any problems with it. Is this only happening to you over the air (OTA) antenna connected signals? Excuse my ignorance I'm not completley familar with Sat Dish TV yet. I am getting my local channels via my DN provider. I pay the extra $5 per month to get them. Granted they are not HD but they are acceptable. Why do you guys use an HD antenna in addition to Dish's into your 211's? Is it for the HD brodcasts or to save $5 per month? Just wondering?


We do not get local channels through Dish in HD, thus the OTA antenna.

I think we're talking about two different problems, and I have had both. I thought we were talking about momentary dropouts during HD broadcasts, with the picture going out and then coming back on in a few seconds. For me, that happens both on sat and OTA. When it does this, it makes things like movies and sports totally unwatchable. "He drives, he shoots, he . . " HEY, THERE'S NO PICTURE!

The other problem is that the box "forgets" all the OTA programmed channels. I had this happen a couple times, and lacking any better ideas, just unplugged the box and plugged it back in. That seemed to fix it.


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## dkjohn (Feb 22, 2006)

Anyway to send this thread to Dish so we can be heard its such a pain in the butt.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

dkjohn said:


> Anyway to send this thread to Dish so we can be heard its such a pain in the butt.


I did that, a couple of weeks ago. I sent this thread, and a similar one at satelliteguys. I got an email back saying that they're working on the problem.



tech said:


> Thank you for your e-mail. Thank you for providing the information for our engineering department. They will try to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there is not a way for us to know the status of their work; these issues are usually fixed in a software update. Please remember to turn off your receiver when you are not watching TV, so that it can receive the update when it becomes available.


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## John W (Dec 20, 2005)

Mikey said:


> I did that, a couple of weeks ago. I sent this thread, and a similar one at satelliteguys. I got an email back saying that they're working on the problem.


Any new word on this continuing problem?


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

John W said:


> Any new word on this continuing problem?


No, just deafening silence. I'm waiting until the next firmware release before nudging them again, just in case they really are working on it.


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

John W said:


> Any new word on this continuing problem?


Any word on this continuing problem?


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## richiephx (Jan 19, 2006)

My 211 OTA went died again last night and I missed about 10 minutes of the program I was watching because I had to reset the receiver to get it back. I was angry and called E* tech support. The tech I talked with didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I told him to generate another engineer's report. What should we expect when E*'s front line doesn't know there's a problem or, maybe they are told to act dumb?


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

I've had no further contact with E* tech support. If the next release of Vip211 firmware doesn't fix this problem, I'll assume we're being ignored and I'll check some other OTA options.


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## laperuz (Jun 22, 2007)

Hi! Just wanted to pitch in here. My 211 is actually OK but VIP622 has an issue with TWO OTA channels - 13 (carrier ch. 61) and 2 (carrier ch. 56) broadcasting from New York. Now, I'm right across Hudson River from the towers in direct view and have a large antenna on the roof. The signal strength on 622 is 90 (for ch.13) and 100 (for ch.2). But every few minutes it drops all the way to ZERO or drops significantly to wreck havoc - huge pixelization or yellow screen with no audio. I am pretty sure it is not my setup as the VIP211 in another room works just fine. I even tried to feed it with different cables, checked all my connections - they are fine! I also tried to uninstall-rescan channels to no avail... Calling D* had not helped at all - they acted unaware... Hope there's help... soon!!!!!!


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## gardner174 (Jun 27, 2007)

bobed2121 said:


> Gentleman what are you talking about? I have the 211 but I'm not having any problems with it. Is this only happening to you over the air (OTA) antenna connected signals? Excuse my ignorance I'm not completley familar with Sat Dish TV yet. I am getting my local channels via my DN provider. I pay the extra $5 per month to get them. Granted they are not HD but they are acceptable. Why do you guys use an HD antenna in addition to Dish's into your 211's? Is it for the HD brodcasts or to save $5 per month? Just wondering?


Both - I can't see paying Dish for local channels that I can receive for free. Why would you have an HDTV and not want your channels in HD? Plus, I get many more HD channels from my UHF antenna than Dish offers with their local package.
With Dish they only offer five local channels in my area. I get eleven HD locals with my UHF antenna.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

For the first time last night, my 211 dropped all my OTA locals. What I thought was strange about this however was that they still showed up in the EPG, but were completely dead when I tuned to each one. I did a hard re-boot & all was ok, but nonetheless it was very aggravating.
What's also so strange about these glitches is how they can affect some units, but not all and how some folks started having the problem some time ago, but mine just started. There is absolutely no pattern!! Makes it extremely difficult to troubleshoot...

Ken


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## Sandman (Sep 23, 2002)

I don't think there is any pattern of how the 211's handle or mishandle OTA'S, mine only looses one channel every night, it's always the same but almost without fail it will drop the channel overnight, it is listed in the guide, but when I try to view the channel it asks for a password, reboot and it comes back

Bob


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

Yesterday my 211 downloaded the L3.46 firmware, and it seems to have fixed my OTA dropouts on PBS. Anybody else have success with the new firmware?


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## Sandman (Sep 23, 2002)

PBS is the channel I am having issues with, have not received L3.46 yet

Bob


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

Mikey said:


> Yesterday my 211 downloaded the L3.46 firmware, and it seems to have fixed my OTA dropouts on PBS. Anybody else have success with the new firmware?


i have 2 vip 211, neither one got the update yet. I hope it fixes the ota droput problems!!!


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## howie14 (Apr 10, 2007)

Well, I suffered the dropout problem on Saturday with signal strength going from 100 to 0 and back again. Even when it said 100 there were breakups. Most of my Baltimore stations were affected, although I could pull in DC-twice as far away-quite well.

It lasted through the day even after a reset. I got them back last night.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

howie14 said:


> Well, I suffered the dropout problem on Saturday with signal strength going from 100 to 0 and back again. Even when it said 100 there were breakups. Most of my Baltimore stations were affected, although I could pull in DC-twice as far away-quite well.
> 
> It lasted through the day even after a reset. I got them back last night.


Dish rolled the 211 firmware back to L3.45 about two weeks ago. It did fix the OTA dropout issue, but seems to have crippled the HDMI output. It lookes to me like the dropout issue affects stronger stations more than weaker ones.

Maybe the next release will solve the dropout issue, and stick.


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## howie14 (Apr 10, 2007)

Mikey said:


> Dish rolled the 211 firmware back to L3.45 about two weeks ago. It did fix the OTA dropout issue, but seems to have crippled the HDMI output. It lookes to me like the dropout issue affects stronger stations more than weaker ones.
> 
> Maybe the next release will solve the dropout issue, and stick.


I was one of those problem HDMI people. It completely quit as long as I had L3.46. On the other hand, I never really experiences the dropouts with this receiver using L3.45 until Saturday. My first 211-exchanged for another problem-never really picked up OTA at all.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

howie14 said:


> I was one of those problem HDMI people. It completely quit as long as I had L3.46. On the other hand, I never really experiences the dropouts with this receiver using L3.45 until Saturday. ...


I'm wondering if your station increased power on Saturday. Stronger stations seem to be a problem for the 211 now.


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## howie14 (Apr 10, 2007)

Mikey said:


> I'm wondering if your station increased power on Saturday. Stronger stations seem to be a problem for the 211 now.


If the power increased, at least two stations were in cahoots. I had dropouts on all the digitals from both WMAR (ABC affiliate) and WBAL (NBC).

I'm continuing to pickup everything fine now.


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