# OTA Timers - not firing and not showing in Daily schedule



## PittsbuRgh R (Jan 22, 2005)

Don't know if this is a bug with 6.18 or not. Mid-day yesterday my all my OTA timers stopped recording. All the timers remain in the timer list. OTA reception is fine for the channels. However, none of the OTA timers appear in the daily schedule and none of the shows are recording. I attempted setting up a new OTA timer as a test for a couple of shows 1) selecting "all" - only the show selected to set the timer was indicated as recording - subsequent airings of the show had no indicators - i.e. no circle with an x or the ota bubble indicating as recording, 2) timer set up yesterday was no longer in the daily schedule this a.m.

Tried soft reboot, power cord reboot, and check switch which had no effect.

Software version L618RBDDN
Bootstrap 1710RBDD


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

I seem to be having the same / worse problem.

My OTA timers disappeared from the daily schedule too. They do appear to be in the timer list but I guess are not getting matched as no events show under the OTA timers. I redid them and they showed briefly in the daily events but now, 24 hours later, they're gone again.


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## gregleg (Jan 4, 2004)

I'm having this problem as well on both my 722 and 622 -- my OTA timers just disappear. I tried deleting the timers, deleting and rescanning the OTA timers, and then adding the timers again, but that doesn't help. Also did a hard reboot on the 622 just in case, but that didn't help this issue (it was also acting odd in other ways, the reboot did help those at least)

My 722 has 6.17, haven't checked the 622 yet.

Guess I'm filing a complaint to Dish, for all the good that'll do...


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

gregleg said:


> ...
> 
> Guess I'm filing a complaint to Dish, for all the good that'll do...


I don't understand your comment. While some CSR's are seemingly more knowledgeable than others, I've *never* had a Tech not work to resolve a problem.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Are all three of you guys in the same area? If so.. Wonder if something from the OTA side was changed that has caused the issue. Anyone check the AVSForums for your area to see if anything was changed recently upstream. Based on the posts, looks like it is not L6.18 related and it seems it might be a localized issue.


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

Pretty interesting that the only noise on this problem is coming from three Pittsburgh-area customers. 

I guess quite likely there's something up with the local OTA data in the guide. I say this because I see that IF I make my timer events time based as opposed to content based they do NOT disappear. So if I set an OTA timer to fire every Monday at 9pm on the OTA Fox channel I will get 24 to record. However if I select 24 from the guide on the OTA channel and set it to record new (all for that matter) it's only a matter of time before the timer event disappears.

Btw, I'm still at v 6.17 so we can rule out 6.18 and I've been at 6.17 for a while before this problem occurred so it's something about the guide data or OTA programming information.

I can't quite fathom what the issue is but I'd have to guess some data representation issue. My only other guess is that Dish is an Arizona Cardinals fan and we're being punished for our SuperBowl victory?? (ALthough I think Dish still has a large support organization based outside of Pgh??)

I don't use the OTA timers too much other than to capture events on a very busy recording night (and they don't happen that often). So I've not been particularly tempted yet to deal with a call to support.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Try setting an all episode timer and see what happens. Also set an dish Pass and see if timers show up. will be an interesting data point.

Do you have local Sat HDs? If so, do you see the same thing occur. My guess at this point is something in the OTA stream has changed and confused the DVRs. It has happened in the past.


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

I do have Local HD channels and timers fire and work fine on the local HDs.

I've set an ALL eplisodes timer and I'll see if it disappears soon.

I did try a Dish Pass previously and similarly the OTS events disappeared. I may try the Dish Pass test again as I might have screwed that up. 

So you're guessing that something's changed in the local OTA streams that's not causing the timers to fire on specific events? Is it "normal" for a single local markets OTA streams to change?


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## PittsbuRgh R (Jan 22, 2005)

Tried a dish pass timer (picked a ABC show that I don't watch) - interesting result - dish pass doesn't even show the pgh ABC OTA channel (004-01) but does show the Johnstown OTA channel that I can occassional receive since I am on the east side of the city. Tried setting up a couple of additional timers for Johnstown OTA for kicks (Fox and ABC) and seem to be fine.

Have tried the "all episodes" and only the very first show will appear in the timer list and will vanish the next day.

I Do have local sat HD's - no problems with those timers.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

Since the problem is only on OTA, just for fun try deleting and re-scanning your OTA channels to see if that makes any difference. Just something else to try.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

Note that sometimes when PSIP info changes and I had to readd any ota channel, I have had to delete and add my timers for that channel in order to get my OTA to record. I do that automatically now whenever I have a problem. Sometimes the timer actually dissappears on its own in that case.


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

I deleted all my OTA timers. Deleted all my OTA channels and rescanned them and then recreated my OTA timers. The OTA timers based on guide information new/all/etc quickly dropped from the schedule again. The OTA timers created weekly/M-F continued to work. 

Not sure what's been broken but it's broken. I guess I'll wait (sort of) patiently and see if this problem spreads to other markets or if they change back whatever they changed or whatever.

This is an annoyance for sure but I can work around. But the audio drops are another story but that's another thread.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

While you wait, you might want to contact your local station and see if there were any changes. The odd thing. I ran into a thread Yesterday talking about some issues with OTA issue on a Pitt DMA. Can't seem to locate it know but I did see it here. I thought perhaps there was some relationship. If i find it I will post the link. 

Given how this problem was described. I think the next step I would suggest is contact your local station and inquire if anything has been changed in regards to the OTA signal. Equipment upgrade, firmware upgrade, any configuration changes. etc.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Have you done a hard reboot of the receiver after 6.18 was installed?


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> ... The odd thing. I ran into a thread Yesterday talking about some issues with OTA issue on a Pitt DMA. Can't seem to locate it know but I did see it here. I thought perhaps there was some relationship. If i find it I will post the link. ...


Ron,

It's really quite a short link. :grin:

Page up. :lol:


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

In response to the question above, yes there have been several hard, power cord resets along the way.

I'm not sure who would be less prepared to have the technical discussion on any changes to the OTA broadcast signal ... me or whoever answers the phone at the local stations. I'm guessing I could hold my own with the receptionist but not gain any information. If I get transferred to engineering I think I'd just not understand the information. I think my best hope is in some miracle occurring and the timers returning to normal operation. ;-)


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

I was upgraded to 6.18 overnight. 

I hard booted this morning and my time-based OTA timers were still there after the boot. I then set a "new episodes" event for sunday night on an OTA channel and so far it's still showing in the daily schedule. 

So for me, moving to 6.18 may have fixed the problem. I'll not be convinced until I see the new epi timer last a few more days but some reason to be optimistic.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well lets hope that fixed it... Strange given the symptoms. Perhaps the act of taking a software update was enough to reset something to get them working again. Very strange, but glad to hear it has been restored. Updates us if that is not the case.


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

Always good to trust the old adage if it's too good to be true then it's probably not.

It just took a little longer but the "new epi" OTA timer has now disappeared from daily events so I guess the problem was not fixed by accident.

Whatever the issue is still persists. So hard to imagine that this remains a Pittsburgh locals only issue. Others really are using event-based OTA recording in other markets and not seeing the problem. Not that I'd expect it to hit all markets but it's just odd (to me) that the Pgh OTA signals would be unique in such a bad way.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

pghDave3017 said:


> ...
> So hard to imagine that this remains a Pittsburgh locals only issue. ...


So what did Dish say when you called and told them that you (and others from the Pitt area) were having this problem?


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## PittsbuRgh R (Jan 22, 2005)

SaltiDawg said:


> So what did Dish say when you called and told them that you (and others from the Pitt area) were having this problem?


They had nothing in their databases indicating any issues in the pittsburgh area. They did offer to send someone to my house to look at my satelitte equipment, however I declined that for now as I do not believe that will fix the issue. Plus, they will probably charge for the house call....


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

pghDave3017 said:


> Always good to trust the old adage if it's too good to be true then it's probably not.
> 
> It just took a little longer but the "new epi" OTA timer has now disappeared from daily events so I guess the problem was not fixed by accident.
> 
> Whatever the issue is still persists. So hard to imagine that this remains a Pittsburgh locals only issue. Others really are using event-based OTA recording in other markets and not seeing the problem. Not that I'd expect it to hit all markets but it's just odd (to me) that the Pgh OTA signals would be unique in such a bad way.


It does not surprise me.. It is one place where you have an external interface (OTA stream data). I still have not seen any reports outside the Pitt area so I have to suspect it is localized at this point. At this point and given I am sure changes are happening due to the digital transfer that might be the cause. What we do know is.

1) It was showing up on L6.17 software and L6.18 software. 
2) A week or so back it started to show up. 
3) Only reports are Pitt.

To try and get a better understanding and possible try to establish commonality between people experiencing the issue, might make sense to describe your OTA installs. Multiple Antenna? What Sats are you pointing at, is it happening on all OTA channels or specific ones. If so, what are the OTAs you are seeing it happen with. Is the EPG guide for these locals showing accurate data. etc.

More info the better here.


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## pghbob (Sep 14, 2004)

just want to report that i'm having the same problem with my 722 (6.18). it seems to have started around the switch to daylight savings, about a month ago. i've seen the issue with ch. 2,4,11,& 53 (haven't set timers for the others). the epg appears to be accurate. i too have attempted all the suggested repairs, to no avail.



bob
pittsburgh,pa


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

If someone can pinpoint the day this started happening it might be helpful. Can I assume that 2, 4, 11, and 53 are owned by different companies?


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## Ddavis (Jan 15, 2004)

Ok, I've had this problem for a while now in the DFW TX area. The ABC channel, 008-01, loses the guide based timer after some event occurs. I suspect it's the re-boot for the nightly update, but haven't confirmed. 

Another syptom is that this channel does not appear in the SlingGuide Grid. In fact all of the old VHF channels, the 01 sub-channel does not appear. The 02 and greater are present. Also, the old UHF channel's sub-channel 01 do appear.

I suspect it has to do with the new SlingGuide support. I have reported the issue via the SlingGuide web site.

But of course, I could be seeing apples instead of oranges.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Based on the posts above.. I do suspect you are describing a different issue Ddavis, but something for the Pitt guys to report back on.


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## PittsbuRgh R (Jan 22, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> If someone can pinpoint the day this started happening it might be helpful. Can I assume that 2, 4, 11, and 53 are owned by different companies?


Started march 18. I record the news ota on chan 11. morning news recorded, noon news recorded, 5 pm news did not record.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

That's strange, Ddavis. I get 8-01 in the slingguide grid just fine. Also, I don't believe I have any missing OTA timers on it. I have multiple receivers and I'm sure one of them has an OTA event for 8-01 but I'll check on it tonight to be sure I have some and they are working.


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## pghbob (Sep 14, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> If someone can pinpoint the day this started happening it might be helpful. Can I assume that 2, 4, 11, and 53 are owned by different companies?


yes, 2-cbs, 4-abc, 11-nbc,and 53-fox.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Hmmm that is the strange part... Since it is happening multiple channels, I would expect the OTA streams to come from multiple sources which makes be believe perhaps something on the Dish side feeding the guide info got changed. 

Anything unique that you guys are aware of in terms of OTA in your area? Is it all coming from the same location? I assume different transmitters right?


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## ubankit (Jan 7, 2005)

I started having problems with the 622 ota timers disappearing (and not recording) after getting the 618 update. I'm in the Houston Tx area, so I don't think it's only confined to the Pittsburgh market. I've rescanned the locals several times, done a soft & hard reboot several times, reset the timers to "new" and they keep dropping off, I'm guessing after the daily (3 am) update. My workaround has been to set the timers "weekly" instead of "new" episodes, that's a poor solution to the problem. I thought at first the 622 was acting up (it was a recent replacement for another 622 that was sent back) but I don't have any problems on the "new" episodes for the sat timers. I talked to tech support about a week ago, they "suggested" it was probably my antenna causing the problem.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Hmmm Ddavis in Dalles area has a report here. The Pitt guys seem to indicate it is happening with all their OTAs. Is all your OTAs doing this also? I have Lost set to record tomorrow night. I am doing to take a look tomorrow. 

ubankit.. More details please as to if it is all OTAs etc. When did it start?

Strange thing here is reports came in pre L6.18 which makes me thing what is causing this is external to the box itself. It appeared for Pitt midstream of a release based on reports.


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## ubankit (Jan 7, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> Hmmm Ddavis in Dalles area has a report here. The Pitt guys seem to indicate it is happening with all their OTAs. Is all your OTAs doing this also? I have Lost set to record tomorrow night. I am doing to take a look tomorrow.
> 
> ubankit.. More details please as to if it is all OTAs etc. When did it start?
> 
> Strange thing here is reports came in pre L6.18 which makes me thing what is causing this is external to the box itself. It appeared for Pitt midstream of a release based on reports.


I've noticed it on KRIV (Fox); KTRK (ABC); KPRC (NBC);(these are the locals I typically record on, not sure if the other channels are affected since I'm not recording ota with them); best guess is it started on or about 3/17/09. I had a couple of recordings from 3/16 that were ok (both on Fox, House & 24); seems like the next day the timers didn't record from Fox (American Idol); from that point on the "new" episodes set for ota would disappear. Yeah, I thought I was going crazy 
Someone posted on the "other" site that they thought it was related to their new smart card. 
I haven't tried setting any "new" episode timers thru ota since using the weekly timers.


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## pghDave3017 (Mar 20, 2009)

I don't think I have any new data to add but I do know the OTA timers have failed for sure on NBC (PIT-11), CBS (PIT-02) and FOX (PIT-53). I had new episode timers set on the OTA channels for all 3 stations and they all vanished at the same time. I don't have any exact record of the date they dropped as I deleted the previous recordings. But it wasn't too long before I joined this thread.

I have a good ole pair of rabbit ears feeding my disk and the signal strength on my locals is excellent for the channels affected. The program guide data is fine for the OTA channels and no issues recording new-epi's of the Local HD equivalents of the OTA channels. Program guide data always seems to match.

I know of nothing exciting about the local market. To the best of my knowledge the locals have not changed anything but who knows. Daylight savings time is an interesting observation but I do see freshly set new-epi OTA timers show up and persist in the daily guide for some time so it's not like there's not set to trigger, at least for a while. But at some point something causes them to drop off. 

I had suspected the overnight program guide update or something similar but I've seen the OTA timer in my events for an hour or two and then I've gone and watched a show and an hour or two later the timer is gone. So it's not seemingly an overnight thing.

Nothing else has changed with my receiver, sat, tv configuration. My dvr is running low on disk space these days but other than that things are as they have always been with the setup.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

Ddavis, I checked my receivers and they both have "new" timers set for DFW OTA 08-01. Both are working fine with the OTA events remaining in the schedule and working correctly. So, its not everyone having this problem. Maybe its hardware version level dependent.

Is there anyone in Pitts that can report they are NOT having the OTA "new" timer drop problem?


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## Ddavis (Jan 15, 2004)

My OTA problem may be different as I read through this thread again. I had one OTA, new timer set to record "Life on Mars" on DFW ABC channel 008-01 Wednesday night. This is the third timer for that hour. When I look at the guide, the program does not show it will be recorded. When I look at the timers, the new "Life on Mars" timer is there, but has no recordings set.

If I delete this timer, go to the Guide, select the "Life on Mars" program on 008-01, create another new timer, it will now show in the Guide that "Life on Mars" OTA will be recorded. The timer will also show the program will be recorded.

Now if I do the above on Tuesday for the Wednesday night program, come Wednesday evening, the Guide no longer shows that program will be recorded. If I do the above delete and create timer again a couple of hours before, it shows it will be recorded and when the program starts, it actually does record.

The disappearing over night led me to think about the nightly re-boot and maybe there is some connection. The SlingGuide not showing OTA 008-01 I thought was just another symptom of the problem.

I have always used the satellite locals for recording and only attempt to use the OTA when I need a third recording going at the same time as two others.

Thanks,
Doug


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## ubankit (Jan 7, 2005)

I set a timer today for "Inside Edition", KPRC 002-01 (NBC), from 3:30 to 4:00 pm, for "new" episodes. The 622 recorded today's episode, however it didn't show up for any days past today. I looked at the guide description for Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday; the description in the guide all show as "new" episodes, with the original air date corresponding to the weekday. Somethings still not right, anyone think it might be guide related?


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I've had this problem for a while, but I thought it was only me. It started right after I switched my package so I figured it was related somehow. I was just too lazy to fight with the tech support to try to get it fixed. Sounds like it's not just me!

I just switched all my recordings to the sat channels. It was a real PITA too, I had about 30 of them!


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## PittsbuRgh R (Jan 22, 2005)

Has anyone been able to get this issue resolved? Dish Technical support still has no knowledge that this is an issue.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Not sure.. I just tested and it is still not working right. I wonder if it's everyone and there are just a few people who actually record OTA?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I record OTA mutiple times a weeks and have not seen this issue. Not sure what to say at this point as it seemed to crop up in Pitt at the same time and it did not appear to happen as a result of a release from what I can tell. 

So CoolGui, when did you start seeing this occur and is there anyone else in Tx seeing this? The Pitt guys are saying it is all OTA right? Is it all OTA CoolGui?


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## ubankit (Jan 7, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> I record OTA mutiple times a weeks and have not seen this issue. Not sure what to say at this point as it seemed to crop up in Pitt at the same time and it did not appear to happen as a result of a release from what I can tell.
> 
> So CoolGui, when did you start seeing this occur and is there anyone else in Tx seeing this? The Pitt guys are saying it is all OTA right? Is it all OTA CoolGui?


My ota timers on a 622 are still disappearing when I set to record "new" episodes, I tried to set several for Fox shows (KRIV-26; don't know what the digital channel number is) on Monday (4/13), they didn't appear in the schedules recordings list or show up in the guide the next day, guessing the daily update knocked them off. I'm still using the "weekly" option for ota recordings. I haven't had any problems with sat "new" timers. I'm in the Houston area.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> I record OTA mutiple times a weeks and have not seen this issue.


I should be clear that I can record from OTA fine, but when I set it to record 'all' or 'new' it doesn't catch any of the additional weeks/times something is shown.



Ron Barry said:


> So CoolGui, when did you start seeing this occur and is there anyone else in Tx seeing this? The Pitt guys are saying it is all OTA right? Is it all OTA CoolGui?


My issues are exactly the same as ubankit describes. It's only OTA, SAT timers work fine. And I'm in Houston, so maybe it's only affecting specific local areas, Houston and Pittsburgh. I know it started around March 28th or so... I am able to pinpoint it because I changed my package around that time. I thought that was the cause but after I heard other people were having the problem I didn't think so any longer. Unless we *all* recently changed our package and it happened to all of us? That seems unlikely though.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Guys, try forcing a guide data fetch to see if the timer database rebuilds your OTA timers. (Meaning, force a guide data download by scrolling to the end of the guide. If you don't get the option to update your guide data, then rescan your OTA channels, and then scroll to the end of the guide to force the download). 

This is going to be a problem in the Denver area today, as 3 of our channels went digital only last night, and 2 of them changed broadcast frequencies, which forces a channel rescan. After an OTA channel rescan, the OTA timer database is not rebuilt, meaning that any OTA timers will not fire until a guide data fetch is done.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

pghDave3017 said:


> I deleted all my OTA timers. Deleted all my OTA channels and rescanned them and then recreated my OTA timers. The OTA timers based on guide information new/all/etc quickly dropped from the schedule again. The OTA timers created weekly/M-F continued to work.
> 
> Not sure what's been broken but it's broken. I guess I'll wait (sort of) patiently and see if this problem spreads to other markets or if they change back whatever they changed or whatever.
> 
> This is an annoyance for sure but I can work around. But the audio drops are another story but that's another thread.


I think this is an old problem and appears to be DMA dependent and to also require the presence of local HD channels to exist. See this thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=139720&highlight=bbomar&page=5


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Guys, try forcing a guide data fetch to see if the timer database rebuilds your OTA timers. (Meaning, force a guide data download by scrolling to the end of the guide. If you don't get the option to update your guide data, then rescan your OTA channels, and then scroll to the end of the guide to force the download).
> 
> This is going to be a problem in the Denver area today, as 3 of our channels went digital only last night, and 2 of them changed broadcast frequencies, which forces a channel rescan. After an OTA channel rescan, the OTA timer database is not rebuilt, meaning that any OTA timers will not fire until a guide data fetch is done.


I have refetched the guide probably 10 times, rescanned the locals maybe 5 or 6 times... And it's close to 3 weeks ago, I really suspect it's something more than just the guide data. I'll try the refetch/rescan again when I get home today to make sure, I haven't tried in a week or so.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Oh I forgot to update, I tried it again this weekend and same thing. The only work around I've found that works is to set the timers to weekly instead of "All" or "New"


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I'm continuing to have problems with this. I tried to create some new OTA timers using the "Weekly" setting tonight because there were storms and OTA reception is usually more reliable and they didn't record at all. Yes, I skipped the SAT recordings and I verified the OTA were set to record properly. I don't know what to do now, it seems like OTA is not useful for anything but viewing now.


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## Ddavis (Jan 15, 2004)

In my experience, creating a new "New" timer a couple of hours before the show works.


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## lazerace (Jun 30, 2003)

I've had this problem for some time as well. I've basically redone all my timers so they use the Dish instead of OTA. I've also noticed if I create a new timer the same day it's supposed to kick off it does, but after that no go. I may try this rainy weekend to see if the OTA timers work like thay should.


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## pghbob (Sep 14, 2004)

here's a little bit of new info that may help diagnose this problem: i've noticed that over the air timers for our pbs hd ch. 13-1 are firing, unlike the network timers. but here's the difference- dish doesn't carry this pbs hd over the air ch. in pittsburgh, only the networks are spot beamed to us in hd., pbs is only in sd. 

bob


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

I just wanted to throw in that my OTA timers all just died. So there is a new area now.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Thought I would throw something elso out there i noticed. I don't know if its a coincidence but my Locals just moved from 118.7 to 129. could that have anything to do with it?


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

cdub998 said:


> Thought I would throw something elso out there i noticed. I don't know if its a coincidence but my Locals just moved from 118.7 to 129. could that have anything to do with it?


Perhaps. I know mine just moved recently too. It seems like they moved a bit before the problem started, but I can't be sure. I don't know why this would affect OTA channels/timers, but I sure don't doubt it without knowing more.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I think I have just found a correlation of the channels that don't work with OTA timers to the channels that don't show up the Dish Remote Access guide. The only channels that do show up in the Remote Access guide actually work with OTA timers. This *HAS* to be related somehow.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

CoolGui said:


> I think I have just found a correlation of the channels that don't work with OTA timers to the channels that don't show up the Dish Remote Access guide. The only channels that do show up in the Remote Access guide actually work with OTA timers. This *HAS* to be related somehow.


Thats very interesting that you mention that. I just looked at my online guide and channel 50-01 is fox HD for me on my antenna and on the sling guide it says ESPN2.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

CoolGui said:


> I think I have just found a correlation of the channels that don't work with OTA timers to the channels that don't show up the Dish Remote Access guide. The only channels that do show up in the Remote Access guide actually work with OTA timers. This *HAS* to be related somehow.


Yes definitely some interesting info. Might be releated to channels moving SATs. I would suggest the guy cdub998 try what Mark Lamett suggested to see if you can get them back. This would explain why this seems to be localized.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> Yes definitely some interesting info. Might be releated to channels moving SATs. I would suggest the guy cdub998 try what Mark Lamett suggested to see if you can get them back. This would explain why this seems to be localized.


I actually did that. tech support even had me reset everything to default and redo it guide data and all. No deal.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

My OTA timers are not firing in St. Louis. Our locals just moved from 118 to 129, as well. Missed Leno's last show because of this.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Well the tech support person told me they would send it to the engineers. he thought it was software related and that they have other reports of this problem. Said they would try to have it fixed in the next software update.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

cdub998 said:


> Well the tech support person told me they would send it to the engineers. he thought it was software related and that they have other reports of this problem. Said they would try to have it fixed in the next software update.


Glad to hear it is being acknowledged.  I sent an email to tech support detailing the problem. I got the standard "try all these things" reply, I did them anyway even though I had already done all of them. I sent a note back this afternoon explaining the problem still exists. No reply yet.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

TubaSaxT said:


> Glad to hear it is being acknowledged.  I sent an email to tech support detailing the problem. I got the standard "try all these things" reply, I did them anyway even though I had already done all of them. I sent a note back this afternoon explaining the problem still exists. No reply yet.


Your best bet is to do a live chat with them. Thats what I did. then I explained what was happening and what I did to troubleshoot.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> My OTA timers are not firing in St. Louis. Our locals just moved from 118 to 129, as well. Missed Leno's last show because of this.


TubaSaxT, I have my 129 disconnected and 61.5 connected in its place on the DPP44 switch. Receiving HD locals thru 118 and SD locals thru 110. I am having trouble with OTA channels not setting for "New" and "All" for ABC, CBS, and NBC. Five other OTA channels are working OK. This problem started around 26 May on three of my DVRs. Dish engineering is suppose to have some kinda answer for me by June 12th. I will post here what they have to say.


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## Apure (Jan 24, 2003)

It appears that the issue is related to the remote access grid. My OTA timers started disappearing as soon as I signed up for remote access. I just checked the grid and sure enough the missing timers are for the channels missing on the remote access grid: 003-01, 006-01, 007-01 and 042-01

This is for the Omaha area.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

This happenned to me this morning. I've been recording CBS Sunday Morning OTA for many years. This morning's show was nowhere to be found, even though the Timer is still present. I see no record of the event being recorded or skipped. In fact, next week's show is not even scheduled. This is quite odd. I noticed that today's event is in HD, which may be a first. It's always been in SD. Perhaps this is a clue. But I see no reason why an OTA show in SD that has a current timer should no longer record due to a mere resolution increase. Same time and channel. I touched nothing.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

moman19 said:


> This happenned to me this morning. I've been recording CBS Sunday Morning OTA for many years. This morning's show was nowhere to be found, even though the Timer is still present. I see no record of the event being recorded or skipped. In fact, next week's show is not even scheduled. This is quite odd. I noticed that today's event is in HD, which may be a first. It's always been in SD. Perhaps this is a clue. But I see no reason why an OTA show in SD that has a current timer should no longer record due to a mere resolution increase. Same time and channel. I touched nothing.


Sunday Morning went HD with the annual "By Design" episode a couple of weeks ago. So it's doubtful that had anything to do with it unless your local didn't carry it that way until today.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

moman19 said:


> This happenned to me this morning. I've been recording CBS Sunday Morning OTA for many years. This morning's show was nowhere to be found, even though the Timer is still present. I see no record of the event being recorded or skipped. In fact, next week's show is not even scheduled. This is quite odd. I noticed that today's event is in HD, which may be a first. It's always been in SD. Perhaps this is a clue. But I see no reason why an OTA show in SD that has a current timer should no longer record due to a mere resolution increase. Same time and channel. I touched nothing.


There's another in St. Louis. Is that 3 or 4 of us now? Be sure to send tech support an email.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

pghbob said:


> here's a little bit of new info that may help diagnose this problem: i've noticed that over the air timers for our pbs hd ch. 13-1 are firing, unlike the network timers. but here's the difference- dish doesn't carry this pbs hd over the air ch. in pittsburgh, only the networks are spot beamed to us in hd., pbs is only in sd.
> 
> bob


As I mentioned before, this is not a new problem. It existed in Nashville, Dallas, and Minneapolis as long ago as last October. This OTA timer issue only happens with channels that have a satellite HD counterpart, which happens to be FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS in Nashville. Any other OTA channel does not have a problem, even if there is an SD satellite equivalent. I also get the FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS network channels OTA from Huntsville AL which is outside my DMA. However, they have satellite guide data since they are carried (but not in HD), even though I can't subscribe (outside DMA). So, I keep my antenna pointed at Huntsville and record these channels OTA and all timers work. The only way to record OTA from the Nashville channels, once this problem surfaced, is to use weekly timers. And, the Nashville HD channels are on 129.


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## Apure (Jan 24, 2003)

bbomar said:


> As I mentioned before, this is not a new problem. It existed in Nashville, Dallas, and Minneapolis as long ago as last October. This OTA timer issue only happens with channels that have a satellite HD counterpart, which happens to be FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS in Nashville. Any other OTA channel does not have a problem, even if there is an SD satellite equivalent. I also get the FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS network channels OTA from Huntsville AL which is outside my DMA. However, they have satellite guide data since they are carried (but not in HD), even though I can't subscribe (outside DMA). So, I keep my antenna pointed at Huntsville and record these channels OTA and all timers work. The only way to record OTA from the Nashville channels, once this problem surfaced, is to use weekly timers. And, the Nashville HD channels are on 129.


In my case, the issue manifested once I registered my receivers for remote access. And as I explained earlier, it only affects the channels not listed on the guide at the remote access web site.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

I wonder if this might be related to the fact that the St. Louis DMA moved last week from 118 to 129. While this is a rather weak argument, it is a change nevertheless. I deleted the OTA timer and immediately created a new one. Next Sunday's episode is now scheduled to record. This is odd since I was unable to get it to record with the previous timer, which has worked for years! Again, this is the OTA shannel, so one would think the satellite counterpart, regardless of which bird it's coming from, would matter. But the old timer seems to have magically expired.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

moman19 said:


> I wonder if this might be related to the fact that the St. Louis DMA moved last week from 118 to 129. While this is a rather weak argument, it is a change nevertheless. I deleted the OTA timer and immediately created a new one. Next Sunday's episode is now scheduled to record. This is odd since I was unable to get it to record with the previous timer, which has worked for years! Again, this is the OTA channel, so one would think the satellite counterpart, regardless of which bird it's coming from, would matter. But the old timer seems to have magically expired.


I am having the same problem in the St. Louis DMA. Still pulling in HD locals from 118 since I have 129 disconnected. Problem started around 26 May only on OTA CBS, ABC, and NBC when I set the timers to All, New, and Once. Daily and Weekly seem to work OK. All other OTA channels are working OK. I have to call Dish tech support back on 12 June to find out what their answer is to the problem. It sure has been a pain since I use OTA timers for bunches of channels on the weekend.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

moman19 said:


> I wonder if this might be related to the fact that the St. Louis DMA moved last week from 118 to 129. While this is a rather weak argument, it is a change nevertheless. I deleted the OTA timer and immediately created a new one. Next Sunday's episode is now scheduled to record. This is odd since I was unable to get it to record with the previous timer, which has worked for years! Again, this is the OTA shannel, so one would think the satellite counterpart, regardless of which bird it's coming from, would matter. But the old timer seems to have magically expired.


The tech told me that would have nothing to do with it (for what thats worth.)


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

charlesrshell said:


> I am having the same problem in the St. Louis DMA. Still pulling in HD locals from 118 since I have 129 disconnected. Problem started around 26 May only on OTA CBS, ABC, and NBC when I set the timers to All, New, and Once. Daily and Weekly seem to work OK. All other OTA channels are working OK. I have to call Dish tech support back on 12 June to find out what their answer is to the problem. It sure has been a pain since I use OTA timers for bunches of channels on the weekend.


My old and my new timer (for CBS Sunday Morning) were both set for OTA and Weekly. But the old one refused to add next week's show to the to-do list. The new timer (at lower priority) added it immediately. This is strange indeed. I think I'll simply delete and then recreate all OTA timers to see what happens. Something had to change, but no one seems to know what that something might be. There was no recent software update.

I find it odd that you would disconnect 129 other than to prove a point. That's where much of your HD programming originates. I have the CBS show set to OTA due to conflicts with other events at that time time. As a real news junkie, I record all the Talking Head shows. Sunday morning is a ripe time.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

moman19 said:


> My old and my new timer (for CBS Sunday Morning) were both set for OTA and Weekly. But the old one refused to add next week's show to the to-do list. The new timer (at lower priority) added it immediately. This is strange indeed. I think I'll simply delete and then recreate all OTA timers to see what happens. Something had to change, but no one seems to know what that something might be. There was no recent software update.
> 
> I find it odd that you would disconnect 129 other than to prove a point. That's where much of your HD programming originates. I have the CBS show set to OTA due to conflicts with other events at that time time. As a real news junkie, I record all the Talking Head shows. Sunday morning is a ripe time.


The reason I have 129 disconnected is because Dish does not have a five satellite switch. When I joined Dish in September 2007 the St Louis DMA required the 1000+ (110, 119, 118, 129) dish. The Pentagon Channel (9405) that I like to watch comes in on 61.5. So, I have a second 500 dish for that bird. There was no need to run with 129 so I have it disconnected. The only thing I lost was one HD sports channel. Now it appears that the HD local channels for St Louis comes in on 129 and 61.5 so I guess I don't need 118 any more. I am not sure which dish installs now for the St Louis DMA. Does anyone know?


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

charlesrshell said:


> The reason I have 129 disconnected is because Dish does not have a five satellite switch. When I joined Dish in September 2007 the St Louis DMA required the 1000+ (110, 119, 118, 129) dish. The Pentagon Channel (9405) that I like to watch comes in on 61.5. So, I have a second 500 dish for that bird. There was no need to run with 129 so I have it disconnected. The only thing I lost was one HD sports channel. Now it appears that the HD local channels for St Louis comes in on 129 and 61.5 so I guess I don't need 118 any more. I am not sure which dish installs now for the St Louis DMA. Does anyone know?


I would guess that the first choice would be 110, 119 and 129 as they can be seen with a single dish and includes the HD Sports channel (is it FSMW?).


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

I got installed at my new place 6 weeks ago with a 1000+, but that was before the locals were added to 129. I would assume if you don't need international, new installs would get a 1000.2.

I kept my old 1000.2 from Tulsa, in case I ever wanted to take it on the road. It seems that it might be more use now. 

Are your guys' newly created OTA timers still there?


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

New Observation: All my previous posts are in regards to my Vip622. I also have a Vip722 in the family room and both DVRs have similar timers. In fact, the 722 also has a CBS Sunday Morning via OTA timer. However, unlike the 622, that timer has not failed. Same firmware, programmed the same way, etc. This makes no sense. Good luck nailing down this bug.......


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

charlesrshell said:


> TubaSaxT, I have my 129 disconnected and 61.5 connected in its place on the DPP44 switch. Receiving HD locals thru 118 and SD locals thru 110. I am having trouble with OTA channels not setting for "New" and "All" for ABC, CBS, and NBC. Five other OTA channels are working OK. This problem started around 26 May on three of my DVRs. Dish engineering is suppose to have some kinda answer for me by June 12th. I will post here what they have to say.


Talked to Dish today. No engineering answers has been annotated in my account. He said to check back in 72 hours.


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

Did anyone every get a fix for this problem? After the DTV switch, my 722k started acting the same.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

I called on 20 June. Still nothing annotated in my account. She is going to re-submit the problem to engineers again and for me to check back in 72 hours. This is unbelievable. It makes the 722k useless for me.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

girdnerg said:


> Did anyone every get a fix for this problem? After the DTV switch, my 722k started acting the same.


For OTA recordings, most, but not necessary all, problems with such timers after the DTV switch have to do with PSIP changes. Recommended is to delete the timers, delete and rescan the OTA channel, download guide info, and setup timers again.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

tnsprin said:


> For OTA recordings, most, but not necessary all, problems with such timers after the DTV switch have to do with PSIP changes. Recommended is to delete the timers, delete and rescan the OTA channel, download guide info, and setup timers again.


Have tried that several times on two 722s and the 722k. Still have the same problem. Tried disconnecting the OTA coax and unplugging the DVRs too. I am having trouble with ABC, NBC, and CBS only. No problem with FOX and four other OTA channels.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

I just got the L6.21 update. That did not fix the existing OTA timers. I set up a few new ones, I'll let you know whether or not they stick.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

TubaSaxT said:


> I just got the L6.21 update. That did not fix the existing OTA timers. I set up a few new ones, I'll let you know whether or not they stick.


Well, this isn't a good sign: one of the new OTA timers I set up was for "America's Got Talent." I set it to "all." Only tonight's episode shows up on the daily schedule. Nothing for Wednesday's episode, or next Tuesday's. I guess its time to fire off another email to tech support.



charlesrshell said:


> No problem with FOX and four other OTA channels.


I am having this problem for sure on KTVI (FOX), KSDK (NBC), and KMOV (CBS). Not sure about the other OTA channels, I'll have to try those out too.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> I just got the L6.21 update. That did not fix the existing OTA timers. I set up a few new ones, I'll let you know whether or not they stick.


How did you set up the new ones? New, All, etc!!! If you did New or All, are the timers listed and ready to fire or is just one event is scheduled?


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

I re-tested mine at lunch. It's got to be a problem on Dish's end because mine work now. The only thing I did was send an email to dishquality.

Never heard back, but it's fixed. 722k with same software as before.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

charlesrshell said:


> How did you set up the new ones? New, All, etc!!! If you did New or All, are the timers listed and ready to fire or is just one event is scheduled?


I setup "America's Got Talent" on NBC as new. My wife noticed that only Tuesday's episode was scheduled to record and not Wednesday's, which is also supposed to be new. I changed the timer to all, but it is still only showing Tuesday's episode in the daily schedule.

I deleted my old "Family Guy" (on Fox) timer and created a new one, set to all. Sunday's episode is on the schedule, but that's the only one in the next 10 days, so it'll be a bit before I can come to a conclusion on that one.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> I setup "America's Got Talent" on NBC as new. My wife noticed that only Tuesday's episode was scheduled to record and not Wednesday's, which is also supposed to be new. I changed the timer to all, but it is still only showing Tuesday's episode in the daily schedule.
> 
> I deleted my old "Family Guy" (on Fox) timer and created a new one, set to all. Sunday's episode is on the schedule, but that's the only one in the next 10 days, so it'll be a bit before I can come to a conclusion on that one.


I am having trouble with using "Once" too. When I have ABC, CBS, or NBC set to do a "Once" the day before it fails to record the next day. No history of it in the timer history on what happened. It still shows up in the timer listing when it should be gone. Wish Dish would come up with some kinda fix. I will call them back tomorrow or the next day and see if they have annotated anything in my account. If not, I am going to try emailing them or the live chat thing.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

charlesrshell said:


> I am having trouble with using "Once" too. When I have ABC, CBS, or NBC set to do a "Once" the day before it fails to record the next day. No history of it in the timer history on what happened. It still shows up in the timer listing when it should be gone. Wish Dish would come up with some kinda fix. I will call them back tomorrow or the next day and see if they have annotated anything in my account. If not, I am going to try emailing them or the live chat thing.


Apparently a guide problem with the info supplied to dish by Tribune Media Services. I did a test with thes programs in NY DMA of the previous mentioned programs and do not have the same problem. Contact DISH and let them deal with Tribune and the local station.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

Talked to Dish yesterday. No engineering answers have been annotated in my account yet. They must be too busy or this OTA issue must be a big problem to fix. I wish they would give some kind of response. I will try the on line chat with Dish Techs when I have a chance.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

I think mine may be fixed. I will have to check a little more later but on the web access my channels are back to normal. Thats a good start.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

No. I tried out some timers last night. Still not working. I got the newest firmware and I think thats why my guide data on the web is fixed.


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

My 722k timers had starting working correctly there for a while. Now they are back to making me use once only timers. All and New went back to only setting for the current show I set it to. Nothing in the future gets set to record.

The 2 channels I have problems with are the 2 OTA channels that changed frequency on June 12th. All the others act normally as well as all the sat channels.

Still haven't heard back from my emails to Dish.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

girdnerg said:


> My 722k timers had starting working correctly there for a while. Now they are back to making me use once only timers. All and New went back to only setting for the current show I set it to. Nothing in the future gets set to record.
> 
> The 2 channels I have problems with are the 2 OTA channels that changed frequency on June 12th. All the others act normally as well as all the sat channels.
> 
> Still haven't heard back from my emails to Dish.


After I sent a note saying that L621 didn't fix the problem, I got: we know there's a problem, we're working on it, there is no solution at this time, thanks for choosing Dish Network. Same exact response as last time. :nono2:


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## rkh (Mar 18, 2005)

I am having problems with the OTA timers I've tried to set on my 622 for "America's got Talent"; NBC on WDIV out of Detroit. I set the timer and all looks OK, but over night it disappears from the guide. It shows in the list of timers, but when you look at the daily list of programs set to record, it's not there. I've tried "once, new, and all" with the same results. If I set it the day of the program, it records. Any suggestions?


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

Not really. I really think it's on Dish's end. Everything was fine until the DTV switch.

I've tried everything I can think of. Reboots of every sort. I even deleted all OTA channels and timers. Then I removed the MT2 module and ran it without for a while.

Then I put the module back in and re-scanned. Still acts the same.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

It's silly that I've had to go through all this, but since Dish isn't being quick about a fix, I thought I would play around. This is what I did:

1. Disconnect 118 from the switch.
2. Delete all OTA timers.
3. Delete all OTA channels.
4. Rescan OTA channels.
5. Do a Check Switch Test.
6. Save changes at the two different prompts that come up after the test.
7. Wait for the guide download to complete.
8. Recreate OTA timers.

This trick has survived one nightly reboot. I think it will need to make through I week before I'm totally confident in it, but so far so good! :hurah:

Of course, if you're relying on 118 for something else, like international channels, don't do this!


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I'm not even pointed at 118, how can you be sure your problems are related to that sat?

PS: I'm pointed at 110, 119 and 61.5


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

CoolGui said:


> I'm not even pointed at 118, how can you be sure your problems are related to that sat?
> 
> PS: I'm pointed at 110, 119 and 61.5


Honestly: I don't. 

Most of us St. Louisians started having these problems when our locals moved from 118 to 129. Why that affected our OTA timers (or even if it truly did) is a mystery. I figured it was worth a try to get 118 out of my system since I don't need it for anything else.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> Honestly: I don't.
> 
> Most of us St. Louisians started having these problems when our locals moved from 118 to 129. Why that affected our OTA timers (or even if it truly did) is a mystery. I figured it was worth a try to get 118 out of my system since I don't need it for anything else.


How are your OTA timers doing since you disconnected 118?


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

One week later, and they're all still working. :hurah: It's so strange.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> One week later, and they're all still working. :hurah: It's so strange.


I am real busy this week, but next week some time I will take 118 off line and connect 129 back up and give it a try.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I just had one not fire myself over the weekend. All things considered, it was a timer for "Meteor" part 2 on NBC Sunday night... so I really didn't miss anything good  But, it's the first time I can remember experiencing the non-firing disappearing history OTA timer.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I just had one not fire myself over the weekend. All things considered, it was a timer for "Meteor" part 2 on NBC Sunday night... so I really didn't miss anything good  But, it's the first time I can remember experiencing the non-firing disappearing history OTA timer.


I thought the movie was ok, but somethings troubling me? Why did you set it to record if you didn't think it was good?


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Perhaps he set it to record both parts but found part 1 pretty bad?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

lujan said:


> I thought the movie was ok, but somethings troubling me? Why did you set it to record if you didn't think it was good?


I watched part 1... and it was not very good... but part of me hates not knowing how they were going to end it, so I at least wanted to jump through part 2 and see what happened.

All told, I haven't lost any sleep over it, but in hindsight am still glad I set the timer because I now know I have the OTA-timer problem others have posted about so I have to be careful in case next time it is something I care more about.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> ...but part of me hates not knowing how they were going to end it, so I at least wanted to jump through part 2 and see what happened.


http://www.hulu.com/meteor


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

They saved the world of course!


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

The side stories on 'Meteor' drove me absolutely bananas. What a waste of time. I did stay to the bitter end but somehow, even regret that.


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## KingJerky (Jan 31, 2006)

I have the OTA timer problem on both 722k receivers. I'm in the Detroit, MI area...

Same exact problem as described on several posts with the OTA timer disappearing after a short time. SAT timers work fine.


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

KingJerky,

Just make sure you let dish know about it (phone or email). The more complaints they get, the more chance we get for a fix.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

No updates in a while. anyone have any luck? If not I think i am heading to D*. I hate setting up manual recordings for everything so my OTA is basically useless right now.


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## girdnerg (May 17, 2007)

I've sent 2 emails and have not heard back.

Has everyone contacted Dish in some way to let them know? The more complaints, the better.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

cdub998 said:


> No updates in a while. anyone have any luck? If not I think i am heading to D*. I hate setting up manual recordings for everything so my OTA is basically useless right now.


Everything is still good for me, a month after disconnecting 118 from my switch. But others have said that doesn't apply to them since they never got 118 to begin with.

The whole thing is very confusing.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> Everything is still good for me, a month after disconnecting 118 from my switch. But others have said that doesn't apply to them since they never got 118 to begin with.
> 
> The whole thing is very confusing.


I have not had a chance yet to disconnect 118. My wife goes back to school in about 3 weeks and I will try it then. When you did the switch did you have to redo all satellite timers?


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

cdub998 said:


> No updates in a while. anyone have any luck? If not I think i am heading to D*. I hate setting up manual recordings for everything so my OTA is basically useless right now.


I hear ya!! The work around I use is to set the timers with Weekly or Mon-Fri settings. It has been working pretty good for me with those two settings only. All, New, and Once settings are no good.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

charlesrshell said:


> I hear ya!! The work around I use is to set the timers with Weekly or Mon-Fri settings. It has been working pretty good for me with those two settings only. All, New, and Once settings are no good.


I would but my wife won't want to have to do that every time she sets a recording.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

anyone have a 722k? I am thinking about getting on them on the phone and going for that. as long as it works.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

charlesrshell said:


> I have not had a chance yet to disconnect 118. My wife goes back to school in about 3 weeks and I will try it then. When you did the switch did you have to redo all satellite timers?


No. But I did delete OTA channels and timers, rescanned and reprogrammed all of those timers to be safe.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

KingJerky said:


> I have the OTA timer problem on both 722k receivers. I'm in the Detroit, MI area...
> 
> Same exact problem as described on several posts with the OTA timer disappearing after a short time. SAT timers work fine.


Were your locals on 118.7? I just want to make sure because I just got offered one for free from dish (have to pay for the ota thought)


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

cdub998 said:


> I would but my wife won't want to have to do that every time she sets a recording.


It is not that much of a pain once you set timers up. I used Mon-Fri for soap opera timers. The once a week shows I used weekly. For Big Brother I had three weekly timers set up since it is on Sun, Tue, and Thur. It worked good. Any "once" type shows I would use either the Mon-Fri or weekly. After the once shows were done I would delete the timer. Weekly is the better way to set up one time timers. It was the only thing that I could get to work, until today. I will work on another post in a little bit. Got it working, so far anyway!!


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> No. But I did delete OTA channels and timers, rescanned and reprogrammed all of those timers to be safe.


TubaSaxT, you do good work. Taking 118 out of the loop worked. I finally had a chance today to take 118 off line and reconnected 129 back up. I did the check switch thing on all DVRs. One of my 722s is not connected to OTA. I did not do any local channel deletions or scans for the 722k and the other two 722s. For all three DVRs that have OTA, I went into the "Edit" tab and just changed the OTA timers from either Mon-Fri or Weekly to "New". Bingo, all the future timers showed up for the next nine days. I guess time will tell on how they will work. I did a test with the 722k and it is recording four shows at the same time. Got more test scheduled tonite just prior to midnite and in to the AM. All the SAT HD locals are coming in from 61.5 and SD locals from 110. Have very few SAT HDs from 129. I hope it stays that way. I would rather have the SAT HDs from 61.5. If things go good for the next week or so I think I will disconnect 129 and see what happens. I think the only thing I will lose is HD FOXMW (418). Of course I hope the dreaded OTA timer issue doesn't start to happen again. I will post here the results. Going to call Dish tomorrow and send an email telling them everything you and I have done to fix this big headache. It all doesn't make since. I wish a Dish Tech or Engineer would post things to let us know what the heck is causing all the OTA timer issues. Thanks again TubaSaxT, good catch.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

charlesrshell said:


> TubaSaxT, you do good work. Taking 118 out of the loop worked. I finally had a chance today to take 118 off line and reconnected 129 back up. I did the check switch thing on all DVRs. One of my 722s is not connected to OTA. I did not do any local channel deletions or scans for the 722k and the other two 722s. For all three DVRs that have OTA, I went into the "Edit" tab and just changed the OTA timers from either Mon-Fri or Weekly to "New". Bingo, all the future timers showed up for the next nine days. I guess time will tell on how they will work. I did a test with the 722k and it is recording four shows at the same time. Got more test scheduled tonite just prior to midnite and in to the AM. All the SAT HD locals are coming in from 61.5 and SD locals from 110. Have very few SAT HDs from 129. I hope it stays that way. I would rather have the SAT HDs from 61.5. If things go good for the next week or so I think I will disconnect 129 and see what happens. I think the only thing I will lose is HD FOXMW (418). Of course I hope the dreaded OTA timer issue doesn't start to happen again. I will post here the results. Going to call Dish tomorrow and send an email telling them everything you and I have done to fix this big headache. It all doesn't make since. I wish a Dish Tech or Engineer would post things to let us know what the heck is causing all the OTA timer issues. Thanks again TubaSaxT, good catch.


Update. This morning after all DVRs did its normal daily update thing, all SAT HDs and SAT HD Locals switched from 61.5 to 129. I think the only thing I get now from 61.5 is the SD Pentagon Channel (9405). All my OTA timer test were good. If all timers keep working good, in a week or so I am going to disconnect 129 and see what happens.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

charlesrshell said:


> Update. This morning after all DVRs did its normal daily update thing, all SAT HDs and SAT HD Locals switched from 61.5 to 129. I think the only thing I get now from 61.5 is the SD Pentagon Channel (9405). All my OTA timer test were good. If all timers keep working good, in a week or so I am going to disconnect 129 and see what happens.


All OTA timers still working good. Yesterday evening I noticed the SAT HD and SAT HD locals switched back to 61.5 from 129. Is this normal for all SAT HD channels to switch back and fourth between two satellites? I just figured once they are locked on to one satellite they would stay there.


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## TubaSaxT (Jul 16, 2006)

charlesrshell said:


> All OTA timers still working good. Yesterday evening I noticed the SAT HD and SAT HD locals switched back to 61.5 from 129. Is this normal for all SAT HD channels to switch back and fourth between two satellites? I just figured once they are locked on to one satellite they would stay there.


I never noticed them jumping back and forth between 118 and 129 when that was possible (no 61.5 for me).

It did rain a lot around here yesterday. I get more rain fade on 129 versus the other birds. Maybe they switched if you had heavy rain at your place?

And thanks for the kudos above!  I never did contact tech support and tell them what I did to fix it, so I'll probably do that too to reinforce it.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

TubaSaxT said:


> I never noticed them jumping back and forth between 118 and 129 when that was possible (no 61.5 for me).
> 
> It did rain a lot around here yesterday. I get more rain fade on 129 versus the other birds. Maybe they switched if you had heavy rain at your place?
> 
> And thanks for the kudos above!  I never did contact tech support and tell them what I did to fix it, so I'll probably do that too to reinforce it.


I did not check very much before which birds that were sending the signal. But since I took 118 off line I have started checking more often. I was really happy when I first noticed the HDs were coming from 61.5 due to the troubles 129 is having. But today I even noticed CBS at one time said 110. I made sure I was on the HD channel. Little while later it said 61.5. Maybe the Dish techs were playing around with the birds or it is not indicating correctly. Who knows. I hope to disconnect 129 next week to see how things work. But for now it sure is nice having the OTA timers work like they are suppose too. I wonder how the folks in PA, TX, and the Carolinas are doing with their timers!


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

So I am fixed. I figured out the problem around here for sure. I had someone come out and disconnect 118.7 since the origional installer put the switch on the roof. All of my timers work now and I figured out what was wrong. Now in my guide i only have the HD locals no SD. So it was getting the SD and probably guide data from 118.7 and the HD from 129. So when i tried to record a local it couldn't find data on 129. i don't care about not having SD locals but Some may. I'll report it to dish.


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## charlesrshell (Feb 24, 2008)

Update. Today I disconnected 129 and reconnected 118 back up to the DPP44 switch. On one of my 722s performed a check switch clear the matrix procedure, connected all the leads back up, performed another check switch, and then tried out the OTA timers. The original OTA timer issue came back. So there is definitely something funny going on with 118. Disconnected 118 again, left 129 disconnected, and then did a check switch on all DVRs. The OTA issue went away, all the OTA timers are setting normal. So, for now I am running with 119, 110, and 61.5 only. Running test for a couple of days to see if all the OTA timers fire off.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I wish they (Dish) would figure this one out. I could disconnect 118.7 from my setup now that my LiLs HD are on 129... but there have to be some customers who will still need 118.7 for international channels that would still have to face this bug.

I'm also curious if there's a relation to my problem with one of my locals and EPG data.

I have a local 4.1, 4.2, 4.3... and 4.1 will periodically say "no info" and then a half hour later have 9-days of EPG data... then a half hour later will be back to "no info". Only happens on that one OTA channel.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I wish they (Dish) would figure this one out. I could disconnect 118.7 from my setup now that my LiLs HD are on 129... but there have to be some customers who will still need 118.7 for international channels that would still have to face this bug.
> 
> I'm also curious if there's a relation to my problem with one of my locals and EPG data.
> 
> I have a local 4.1, 4.2, 4.3... and 4.1 will periodically say "no info" and then a half hour later have 9-days of EPG data... then a half hour later will be back to "no info". Only happens on that one OTA channel.


Thats odd. I never noticed unctv doing that before. I did hear that they are working on the signal though.

I called after they fixed it and reported. The guy told me he would let someone know. I sure hope so since I have called there like 20 times trying to get it fixed.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

cdub998 said:


> Thats odd. I never noticed unctv doing that before. I did hear that they are working on the signal though.
> 
> I called after they fixed it and reported. The guy told me he would let someone know. I sure hope so since I have called there like 20 times trying to get it fixed.


The problem I'm having with the EPG data is a Dish issue (or a receiver issue), and not with UNC.

I was having reception problems with UNC until this week, which I'm hoping means they finally got everything up and running at the higher power/elevation.

The EPG issue I have is unique to 4.1 (4.2 and 4.3 are always good data)... and basically one you have to be at your TV to notice. Timers will periodically fail too, because it the EPG data is "no info" when that timer is due to kick then poof...

That's what makes me think it might be related to the other OTA timer problem... maybe just a different manifestation of the same problem.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> The problem I'm having with the EPG data is a Dish issue (or a receiver issue), and not with UNC.
> 
> I was having reception problems with UNC until this week, which I'm hoping means they finally got everything up and running at the higher power/elevation.
> 
> ...


It could be. I know for a while there 50.1 was showing on the sling web access as ESPN HD. If you don't mind loosing the SD versions of some of your channels I would take the 118.7 out for sure.


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

I'm having the same problem in the DFW area. I can't really tell when this started, but with the new season shows and amount of travel that I do, it is clearly evident now. A little while ago, I added remote access.
Anyway, I called Dish yesterday and they said they would send me a replacement 622 and 612. I tried to explain how improbable I thought it was for two receivers to develop hardware problems at the same time, but this might have been their easy solution.

Do you think I should call and have them cancel the replacement receivers?
Can I cancel Remote Access and would this solve the problem?
Thanks in advance.


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## cthtexas (Jul 21, 2008)

Had the same problem setting timers on OTA stations; Dish replaced my receiver with a 722K but still have the problem. I think the problem is associated with me having two Dishes on my house. I had to get a second dish (pointed at 61.5) awhile back to get the Austin local stations in HD. Recently, Dish added the Austin locals in HD on the 129 satellite. So I now have a dual source of getting the the locals which I think is some how screwing up the guide info that downloads each night. If I set timers for programs that come from the satellite (not from the OTA antenna stations), the timers fire correctly. One work around is to use the "Weekly, Daily, or Mon-Fri" options instead of "All Episodes, New Episodes, or Once" option when setting timers for OTA programs. Do you have two dishes like me?


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I also have two dishes, when I got an HD receiver they put in an extra one to get 61.5 because they didn't have the necessary dish to replace the old one to get the HD channels.

Now that I bring this up, what single dish should I have? I'm getting 61.5, 119, and 110 currently on two dishes... I would rather have just one dish. I wonder if Dish will acknowledge this issue and put in the correct single dish for me.


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

I also now have two dishes pulling in 61.5, 110, and 119. At one point in the past this is the setup tha I had, then Dish put in one dish for 110,119, and 129. Then they removed one LNB and reinstalled the 61.5 dish.
The CSR I spoke with was totally clueless about this problem.
EDIT:
I guess I had the wrong sat for the third. It seems I should have stated 129 not 121. Also see
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...mer-scheduling-disappeared-8.html#post1971572


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

cthtexas said:


> Had the same problem setting timers on OTA stations; Dish replaced my receiver with a 722K but still have the problem. I think the problem is associated with me having two Dishes on my house. I had to get a second dish (pointed at 61.5) awhile back to get the Austin local stations in HD. Recently, Dish added the Austin locals in HD on the 129 satellite. So I now have a dual source of getting the the locals which I think is some how screwing up the guide info that downloads each night. If I set timers for programs that come from the satellite (not from the OTA antenna stations), the timers fire correctly. One work around is to use the "Weekly, Daily, or Mon-Fri" options instead of "All Episodes, New Episodes, or Once" option when setting timers for OTA programs. Do you have two dishes like me?


You need to have them remove the 61.5 then. Its the 2 different sats w the same data. the box uses the sat that only has the SD version to set up the timer and therefore cant find the HD version that is your ota channel.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

cdub998 said:


> You need to have them remove the 61.5 then. Its the 2 different sats w the same data. the box uses the sat that only has the SD version to set up the timer and therefore cant find the HD version that is your ota channel.


I know you were not addressing me, but this is a question I've asked and wondered about for a long while. How do you get Dish to come out and do an evaluation of your setup, realign, consolidate dishes, etc without charging an arm and a leg? My system has been through two tropical storms and a major hurricane and hasn't really ever been checked or realigned. In addition to the OTA issue, I get drop outs pretty regularly on 61.5 with just a few clouds. But I've done the check switch thing and it doesn't consistently have the "drift" above the margin (that I've read about in these forums) that dish will come out to fix.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

CoolGui said:


> I know you were not addressing me, but this is a question I've asked and wondered about for a long while. How do you get Dish to come out and do an evaluation of your setup, realign, consolidate dishes, etc without charging an arm and a leg? My system has been through two tropical storms and a major hurricane and hasn't really ever been checked or realigned. In addition to the OTA issue, I get drop outs pretty regularly on 61.5 with just a few clouds. But I've done the check switch thing and it doesn't consistently have the "drift" above the margin (that I've read about in these forums) that dish will come out to fix.


I got them to come out because I was getting pissed off. This had been going on for so long. The lady told me it would be this much but if I signed up for the DHPP it would only be this much. SO I said. "I'm not signing up for DHPP and I am not paying for someone to come out. This is your problem and you need to fix it." They said "ok"


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

Ok, an update....
As myself and everyone else here knew, the replacement receivers did not fix the problem. When I called in the second time to activate the receiver, I got a better tech support guy who marked my file with instructions to pass me onto advanced tech support if I called in a third time.
Advanced tech support actually seemed to understand, and as I sit here typing, I'm waiting on Dish to put me back to one dish thus eliminating the 61.5 sat.
Edit:
Installer just arrived and knows nothing about this issue but is willing to try it.
FINALLY....
Installer added back an LNB pointing to 129 and removed the 61.5. All works well now! I now have 110, 119, and 129 from a single dish.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I sure wish there was a direct line to someone who understands this issue... It's just not annoying me enough to spend hours arguing and dealing with people who really only read from a script. I have no problem working from home for a day while the installer comes out, but getting dish to understand and acknowledge the problem is the biggest hurdle I see... Then if the installer doesn't understand, that doesn't matter, I can just tell him "set me up with the single dish, that's what you are here for!"


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

I don't know how different Houston is from DFW in regard to the sats needed for your programming, but I would think they are the same. If so, call and ask for advanced technical support. Don't deal with anyone else. Tell them my story. Thats basically what I did. They just made me go through the hoops at first, e.g. its a problem with the OTA antenna, you need a replacement receiver, finally we'll send an installer, then the installer couldn't believe it was a problem w/ the sats, but he was willing to try and we ended up proving it to each other.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I'm not sure if it's up to date, but I looked at the "Echostar Knowledge Base" and it looks like there are some HD channels on 61.5 that may not be on 110...

Specifically I'm noticing Fox Sports Soutwest HD... However there could be others.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

CoolGui said:


> I sure wish there was a direct line to someone who understands this issue... It's just not annoying me enough to spend hours arguing and dealing with people who really only read from a script. I have no problem working from home for a day while the installer comes out, but getting dish to understand and acknowledge the problem is the biggest hurdle I see... Then if the installer doesn't understand, that doesn't matter, I can just tell him "set me up with the single dish, that's what you are here for!"


Be careful when you tell an installer to install a "single dish". I have a dish 1000+ which is a single dish that actually receives four satellites. What you really want to ask the installer is to disconnect the 118.7 satellite from the dish. You won't need it unless you subscribe to international channels.

This will resolve the OTA Timer Issue issue for Western Arc users. It affects users in St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte. These are cities that have their HD locals mirrored on 118.7 and 129.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

moman19 said:


> Be careful when you tell an installer to install a "single dish". I have a dish 1000+ which is a single dish that actually receives four satellites. What you really want to ask the installer is to disconnect the 118.7 satellite from the dish. You won't need it unless you subscribe to international channels.
> 
> This will resolve the OTA Timer Issue issue for Western Arc users. It affects users in St. Louis, Detroit, Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte. These are cities that have their HD locals mirrored on 118.7 and 129.


I don't have any of those, I'm on *110,119, and 61.5*... but some channels seem to only live on 61.5 and 129.


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## dkelly701 (Apr 15, 2007)

CoolGui said:


> I sure wish there was a direct line to someone who understands this issue... It's just not annoying me enough to spend hours arguing and dealing with people who really only read from a script. I have no problem working from home for a day while the installer comes out, but getting dish to understand and acknowledge the problem is the biggest hurdle I see... Then if the installer doesn't understand, that doesn't matter, I can just tell him "set me up with the single dish, that's what you are here for!"


I reported this to Dish last last week by email using the "Contact Us" on the website. I was called by Dish a few days later and they asked me if I would be willing to capture the log of this error on a flashdrive. I have the flashdrive and will be sending it back to them tomorrow. He asked me if I have my 722 connected to broadband, which I don't. I think that if you do, the logs can be sent immediaetly. If you have the broadband connection and are interested in helping, go to the Dish website, click on "Contact Us" and fill out ALL of the fields and perhaps they will contact you to gather more data. The person I spoke to on the telphone seemed very interested in getting this resolved.


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## cdub998 (Aug 16, 2006)

Its funny because I called and told them what the solution was after the tech came to my house. They didn't seem to care at all.


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

Nevermind the log, just send them the address to this thread!


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## dkelly701 (Apr 15, 2007)

Tom-Tx said:


> Never mind the log, just send them the address to this thread!


He mentioned that they have looked at a forum thread on this problem (didn't say what forum) and had tried some experimentation using what was talked about, but had no success with it so far. I would imagine that if this only affects certain areas/cities, it could be hard for them to replicate it at their location.

I set up a timer on every OTA channel I have yesterday afternoon. I checked this morning and the expected ones failed. I deleted those and set up a few more this afternoon and will download the data in the morning and send it out Priority Overnight. It should be back at Dish on Friday. Hopefully, they will resolve the problem quickly.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Yeah, if it is related to having 118.7 in the mix with 129 (for example) then they're still only going to be able to replicate the issue if they are in one of the DMAs that has the LiLs. I think the 118.7s are all conus, but the 129 LiLs are spotbeam... so it might not be a problem out of the market.

Of course, if they aren't in the spotbeam, they probably can't receive the OTA signal either


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

My recordings last night on my 722 were a disaster. The recordings scheduled and the problems are as follows:

Entertainment Tonight - OTA ABC 6:30 - 7:00 - Recorded fine

Vampire Diaries - OTA The CW 7-8pm - Only 15 seconds recorded 

Supernatural - OTA The CW 8-9pm - Didn't record at all even though it showed it as currently being recorded when I looked at the station last night

FlashForward - 6324 ABC satellite channel - Only recorded 53 minutes started at 7:10 instead of 7:00

Fringe - 6327 Fox satellite channel - Recorded two segments, one for one minute and the other for an hour

The Mentalist - OTA CBS 9-10pm - Recorded only 3 minutes

The Daily Show - 107 satellite channel 9:00 - 9:30pm recorded fine

When I called Dish about this they just had me pull the plug for 10 seconds and then re-boot. Anyone on this forum know what might be happening or what the cause might be? I never had this problem with the 622. I've only had the 722 for a few weeks.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

dkelly701 said:


> He mentioned that they have looked at a forum thread on this problem (didn't say what forum) and had tried some experimentation using what was talked about, but had no success with it so far. I would imagine that if this only affects certain areas/cities, it could be hard for them to replicate it at their location.
> 
> I set up a timer on every OTA channel I have yesterday afternoon. I checked this morning and the expected ones failed. I deleted those and set up a few more this afternoon and will download the data in the morning and send it out Priority Overnight. It should be back at Dish on Friday. Hopefully, they will resolve the problem quickly.


You are a prime candidate for this issue. The Raleigh HD locals are on 118.7 and 129, just like St. Louis, where I reside. If you disconnect the 118.7 sat, your issues will all vanish and you won't miss a thing unless you subscribe to an International package.

I don't see how E* can successfully test this unless they travel to one of the few DMAs that suffer this phenomenon. It clearly won't be a problem in Denver.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

moman19 said:


> I don't see how E* can successfully test this unless they travel to one of the few DMAs that suffer this phenomenon. It clearly won't be a problem in Denver.


Yep, that's pretty much what I said above. Assuming it is the same problem in all the 118.7 LiL markets, they have a few choices... but doubtful they will duplicate the problem outside those areas.

I don't have any internationals so I have been tempted to permanently disconnect my 118.7, but I just haven't done it yet. My feeling is that Dish needs to resolve this anyway because there will be people that will need the 118.7 for international packages so they ultimately have to resolve this.

I wonder, in those LiL markets, if they have effectively transitioned most/all of the dishes over to 129 so that most/all no longer need 118.7 except for internationals? IF so, maybe the solution is just taking those LiLs off of 118.7.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

Stewart Vernon said:


> .....I wonder, in those LiL markets, if they have effectively transitioned most/all of the dishes over to 129 so that most/all no longer need 118.7 except for internationals? IF so, maybe the solution is just taking those LiLs off of 118.7.


I don't understand why they haven't already done as you suggested. Surely anyone with an HD package would already be pointed at other birds. Seems like a royal waste of bandwidth at 118.7. For instance, the St. Louis LiLs appear in all their HD glory on 61.5, 129 and 118.7 (which is CONUS!). What's the point?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

lujan said:


> My recordings last night on my 722 were a disaster. The recordings scheduled and the problems are as follows:
> 
> Entertainment Tonight - OTA ABC 6:30 - 7:00 - Recorded fine
> 
> ...


Anyone?


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Fringe, and Bones OTA worked fine here, and Survivor(I hate this show) and CSI via Sat tuners no problem either. Not sure how that helps though.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

lujan, not sure what is going on there. ABQ's HD locals come only from 129°. I wouldn't expect you to be having the same problem as those whose HD locals are available from more than one slot, and they are seeing those slots, but what is your dish configuration?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

BobaBird said:


> lujan, not sure what is going on there. ABQ's HD locals come only from 129°. I wouldn't expect you to be having the same problem as those whose HD locals are available from more than one slot, and they are seeing those slots, but what is your dish configuration?


I'm not sure what you mean by configuration, but I get satellites 110, 119 and 129 and I'm connected via HDMI from the 722 to an Onkyo 905 receiver to the TV. I called again this morning to Dish and they are replacing it. I was having choppy video issues. I wish I would have kept my 622 now.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

I was really looking for which satellites you see. Nothing is duplicated across 110/119/129, so the cause of your timer problems isn't the same as for most of the others. Hopefully it's just another symptom of the problems with your receiver which is being replaced. If you don't already have an external hard drive to save the previous programs that did record, I would suggest doing so and maybe also plead your case with Dish to waive the $40 activation fee.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

BobaBird said:


> I was really looking for which satellites you see. Nothing is duplicated across 110/119/129, so the cause of your timer problems isn't the same as for most of the others. Hopefully it's just another symptom of the problems with your receiver which is being replaced. If you don't already have an external hard drive to save the previous programs that did record, I would suggest doing so and maybe also plead your case with Dish to waive the $40 activation fee.


Thanks for the input. I will plead my case and see what happens.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

BobaBird said:


> I was really looking for which satellites you see. Nothing is duplicated across 110/119/129, so the cause of your timer problems isn't the same as for most of the others. Hopefully it's just another symptom of the problems with your receiver which is being replaced. If you don't already have an external hard drive to save the previous programs that did record, I would suggest doing so and maybe also plead your case with Dish to waive the $40 activation fee.


I asked for them to waive the activation fee but they offered a $5.00 reduction on my bill for 8 months so I accepted.


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## totolos (Feb 11, 2004)

So I am with everyone here, frustrated by the OTA problems with my 722k and 622 receivers. I found that scheduling it M-F caused them to show up in the Daily Schedule but trying to choose "All Episodes" or New Episodes" is a complete failure. I am in the Pittsburgh market. What is latest opinion on the cause or work-around for this?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

totolos said:


> So I am with everyone here, frustrated by the OTA problems with my 722k and 622 receivers. I found that scheduling it M-F caused them to show up in the Daily Schedule but trying to choose "All Episodes" or New Episodes" is a complete failure. I am in the Pittsburgh market. What is latest opinion on the cause or work-around for this?


I just always do one-time manual timers and never use the "All Episodes" or "New Episodes". People say I'm missing out on the capabilities but then, I never miss an episode for this reason anyway.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I believe if you read further back in the thread, someone identified the issue as having more than one dish and getting guide data from two sources. So when you schedule a program when the guide data gets updated somehow it comes from a different source and doesn't acknowledge your timer to be the same channel. I don't have the technical details, but it sounds feasible to me. I'm just not sure I could get all my channels with a single dish, or if I could make dish send someone out to give me a new dish without charging me. I've just using the OTA for timers, which I know is not a real solution, but I just got tired of dealing with it.


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## totolos (Feb 11, 2004)

Thanks for the updates. I really rely on the "New Episodes" feature and do think that creating manual timers every week is huge pain. I did find that I could schedule an OTA event using the M-F setting and it seemed set to record all week. It even skipped one day when a different show took the time slot. However, I'd miss the show if it changed times.

I'm going to give it my all to get Dish to research this problem. Has anyone concluded that Pittsburgh or Houston happen to be bad markets and that other locations work just fine? Since I live in Pittsburgh, I'd like to know if anyone here is able to create reliable OTA timers. Is it working for anyone in Pittsburgh?


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

totolos said:


> So I am with everyone here, frustrated by the OTA problems with my 722k and 622 receivers. I found that scheduling it M-F caused them to show up in the Daily Schedule but trying to choose "All Episodes" or New Episodes" is a complete failure. I am in the Pittsburgh market. What is latest opinion on the cause or work-around for this?


Do you have a Dish 1000+? This will let you "see" four satellites. Assuming you do, If you disconnect the LNB for the 118 satellite, all your Timer issues will disappear after you've done a CHECKSWITCH. You should not do this is if you subscribe to any international services. Otherwise, pulling that satellite will make no difference other than fix the issue.


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## totolos (Feb 11, 2004)

That's interesting. I do have the Dish 1000 so I'll have to experiment with this over the weekend. What does Dish have to say about this behavior? The line they gave me last night when I tried working with a first-line CSR was that OTA recording is a bonus feature that they provide. It is not a core function of the receiver and its performance cannot be guaranteed. I understand that poor reception would be my problem but this sure seems like a bug that they can fix.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I'm not even getting 118 so this doesn't apply to me...


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

CoolGui said:


> I'm not even getting 118 so this doesn't apply to me...


I believe there might be a market or two that also have duplicated locals on 129/61.5 as well... So 118 isn't the only way to have the conflicting scenario that might have been to blame for the OTA timer issues.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Indeed... I have 110 and 119 on one dish and 61.5 on the other. Still having the problem as of two days ago when my wife set a recording on the wrong channel and missed something


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I think my problem resolved itself when they took the Raleigh DMA off 118... so I only get them from 129 now and didn't have to disconnect 118... just had to delete and re-set the timers and I haven't had any issues in a while.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Well if I wanted to, the only way I could remove 110 from the mix is to access the dish itself? Mine is on my roof and I'd rather not go up there and mess with it. It would be nice if I could disable it from the sat receiver.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

CoolGui said:


> Well if I wanted to, the only way I could remove 110 from the mix is to access the dish itself? Mine is on my roof and I'd rather not go up there and mess with it. It would be nice if I could disable it from the sat receiver.


I wouldn't do that either.. in fact I never did leave my 118 disconnected except to try and diagnose the problem. I always stood by the notion that Dish needs to fix it so it isn't a problem to have the same channel on 2 SATs.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I hear you, and I agree... but that doesn't get my OTA timers working correctly and they haven't been for months. Dish must not be that concerned with it.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

CoolGui said:


> I hear you, and I agree... but that doesn't get my OTA timers working correctly and they haven't been for months. Dish must not be that concerned with it.


I forgot how many months of talking to them before they finally fixed the OTA EPG data for my PBS station. I lost count after 4 months of problems... so yeah, I hate to say it but sometimes it does seem like they don't care about some things much.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

Just wanted to update this thread... after I got a Dish 1000.2 pointing at 110/119/129 now my OTA channel timers seem to be working fine. I know that was suggested to be the problem before, and I accepted that, but I wanted to confirm that getting on the proper Western Arc did fix it for me.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

CoolGui said:


> Just wanted to update this thread... after I got a Dish 1000.2 pointing at 110/119/129 now my OTA channel timers seem to be working fine. I know that was suggested to be the problem before, and I accepted that, but I wanted to confirm that getting on the proper Western Arc did fix it for me.


To top it off, you are NOW enjoying BBC America at the sametime.


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