# Help! R22 - Not providing SD locals



## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

I need help trying to figure out what is going wrong with my new R22 DVR.

Our R15 went out on us last Saturday. It was for our 4x3 SD sanyo tube TV. With the R15, we received are locals in SD. We have a slimline 4 dish and a small second dish.

When we received the R22 it had the connetion cables that go between the two coax and the DVR. So we hooked those up, because in the set up it stated they were required. 

Once set up was complete, we noticed that our locals that are coming in through the R22 are the HD locals. 

We know this because:
1) One of the channels we receive KWWB is only available in SD. That channel is no longer available to us through the R22.
2) The locals that are coming through on the R22 have the borders around them that you would typically see if you were watching an HD station that was broadcasting a show in SD.

We know also know that this is not a result of some digitial converstion by our locals stations because:
1) The R15 that took a dump on Saturday was receiving the SD stations, including KWWB as normal.
2) Our really old receiver, pre R15, in the bedrooms is still showing SD locals just fine
3) My HR21 in the basement is providing me with both my SD locals and my HD locals and my SD locals are as normal.

Any advice. I have been dinking with this R22 for two days now and cannot figure out what is happening.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Balestrom said:


> I need help trying to figure out what is going wrong with my new R22 DVR.
> 
> Our R15 went out on us last Saturday. It was for our 4x3 SD sanyo tube TV. With the R15, we received are locals in SD. We have a slimline 4 dish and a small second dish.
> 
> ...


You could try a RBR and see it that helps?.


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## Luck255 (Mar 5, 2009)

When you go through the guided setup set the dish type to "round and 72.5" instead of the slimline and see if that helps. I'm assuming the second dish you are referring to is the 72.5 dish for locals. This way the DVR does not look for the mpeg4 channels off the new HD satelites. Not sure if this will work but its worth a shot.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

Luck255 said:


> When you go through the guided setup set the dish type to "round and 72.5" instead of the slimline and see if that helps. I'm assuming the second dish you are referring to is the 72.5 dish for locals. This way the DVR does not look for the mpeg4 channels off the new HD satelites. Not sure if this will work but its worth a shot.


Actually you are thinking along the same line as me. My old R15 was set up something like that. I tried to do that last night but there were some many options of Round and **** that I didn't get through them all. I cannot remember if I tried the "round and 72.5" option last night, but the ones I did try totally elminated my locals. I can try it again tonight.

The only thing that bugs me about it (logically anyways) is that my HR21 is set up as slimline 4 and its providing me with both my HD locals and my SD locals. If I need to change the settings, why would it need to be set up that way for the R22 and not the HR21?


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

Jhon69 said:


> You could try a RBR and see it that helps?.


Are you referring to the red button reboot... RBR. Tried that with no luck.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Balestrom said:


> Are you referring to the red button reboot... RBR. Tried that with no luck.


OK.Can you change resolutions on your R22?.If you can(there have been some of those get out before) you would have a HR21 and need to set up the picture to 4:3 and hide/unhide SD duplicates in System Info.Also it would say in System Info:R22/HD enabled.


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## miketorse (Jul 30, 2008)

Jhon69 said:


> OK.Can you change resolutions on your R22?.If you can(there have been some of those get out before) you would have a HR21 and need to set up the picture to 4:3 and hide/unhide SD duplicates in System Info.Also it would say in System Info:R22/HD enabled.


I would be shocked.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

Jhon69 said:


> OK.Can you change resolutions on your R22?.If you can(there have been some of those get out before) you would have a HR21 and need to set up the picture to 4:3 and hide/unhide SD duplicates in System Info.Also it would say in System Info:R22/HD enabled.


When you say resolution, are you referring the 4:3 vs 16:9. It was set to 4:3. I changed it to 16:9 just out of curiosity and it did nothing.

I will have to check if it says RR22/HD enabled. I do know that the system is set to 480P. I have found no way to change it to 480I to see if that would make a difference. On the receiver itself, it won't let me change to anything when I press the buttons. As far as trying to do it in the HD menu, it is locked so all I can do is change from 4:3 to 16:9. I can not access the video tab or the TV resolutions tab. Just the TV Ratio Tab.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I think you are dealing with two different issues here. First, your locals from the 72.5 satellite are what you were getting on the R15. Those are eventually going to go away completely so you need to work on getting your mpeg4 locals working properly (which means you need the SLimline 5, not round, as your dish type). If you want to try and keep the 72.5 locals for the short term, choose slimline plus 72.5.

Your mpeg4 locals are probably the 16:9 format cut down to 4:3. This is an issue that comes from TV stations not sending true 4:3 SD on their digital transmissions and you (either the R22 and/or the TV) having to adapt the aspect ratio. This typically results in what you are seeing, the picture with pillar boxes around it. There is not much you can do about that. Adjust for the best you can get. I'm sure it is no consolation, but people using an off-air signal with a digital converter box have the same problem.


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## miketorse (Jul 30, 2008)

carl6 said:


> I think you are dealing with two different issues here. First, your locals from the 72.5 satellite are what you were getting on the R15. Those are eventually going to go away completely so you need to work on getting your mpeg4 locals working properly (which means you need the SLimline 5, not round, as your dish type). If you want to try and keep the 72.5 locals for the short term, choose slimline plus 72.5.
> 
> Your mpeg4 locals are probably the 16:9 format cut down to 4:3. This is an issue that comes from TV stations not sending true 4:3 SD on their digital transmissions and you (either the R22 and/or the TV) having to adapt the aspect ratio. This typically results in what you are seeing, the picture with pillar boxes around it. There is not much you can do about that. Adjust for the best you can get. I'm sure it is no consolation, but people using an off-air signal with a digital converter box have the same problem.


Carl - I was thinking the same thing, however it confuses me that the OP says he is actually missing one local channel (broadcasting only in SD) completely. Is D* dropping these 72.5 channels completely that don't have an HD signal?


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## Luck255 (Mar 5, 2009)

miketorse said:


> Carl - I was thinking the same thing, however it confuses me that the OP says he is actually missing one local channel (broadcasting only in SD) completely. Is D* dropping these 72.5 channels completely that don't have an HD signal?


It sounds like he has just the slimline picked and the receiver isnt looking for 72.5. That may explain why it is missing the one SD.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

carl6 said:


> I think you are dealing with two different issues here. First, your locals from the 72.5 satellite are what you were getting on the R15. Those are eventually going to go away completely so you need to work on getting your mpeg4 locals working properly (which means you need the SLimline 5, not round, as your dish type). If you want to try and keep the 72.5 locals for the short term, choose slimline plus 72.5.
> 
> Your mpeg4 locals are probably the 16:9 format cut down to 4:3. This is an issue that comes from TV stations not sending true 4:3 SD on their digital transmissions and you (either the R22 and/or the TV) having to adapt the aspect ratio. This typically results in what you are seeing, the picture with pillar boxes around it. There is not much you can do about that. Adjust for the best you can get. I'm sure it is no consolation, but people using an off-air signal with a digital converter box have the same problem.


Thanks for the feedback.

When I get home tonight I will look for the slimline plus 72.5.

Our HR21 is set to slimline 4 according to the information I gleened from the HR21. What I don't understand is that it doesn't look like its set to a slimline plus 72.5 (at least I didn't see it on the screen when I went into the INFO and TEST) screen... unless the full description didn't fit on the screen??? The HR21 is receiver receives my SD locals just fine.

Regarding the last point that you made, I am not exactly sure what you mean. The local SD is being sent normally (all my other receivers are getting it without the boxes), and I am assuming sent MPEG 2 through my smaller dish. I think that the only thing in MPEG 4 would be sending is our HD's channels, which is why I am not seeing WKKB on the R22. WKKB is not being broadcast by DirecTV in HD. And based on everybody's feedback I am guessing that it is why its missing on my R22, because its recieving the MPEG4 channels.


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## miketorse (Jul 30, 2008)

Luck255 said:


> It sounds like he has just the slimline picked and the receiver isnt looking for 72.5. That may explain why it is missing the one SD.


But his HR* is set to slimline only and he's getting all his HD and SD Locals normally. Which tells me that the process of moving his SD locals off of 72.5 has started. Therefore, on his R22, he should be able to get all SD locals (including the one he's missing) with just setting it up as a Slimline.

Granted, Carl is right with his post, I'm just harping on the fact he's missing the SD only station.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

Luck255 said:


> It sounds like he has just the slimline picked and the receiver isnt looking for 72.5. That may explain why it is missing the one SD.


I can confirm that I currently have only slimline 4 picked. (Thanks DirecTV customer support for walking me through the set up, looks like you were wrong as usual.)

As I said, I was messing with other set up options earlier looking for one with a smaller dish. I probably was just selecting the wrong options (there is like a billion and one dish options in the set up screen).


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

miketorse said:


> But his HR* is set to slimline only and he's getting all his HD and SD Locals normally.


That is what confuses me. It is the reason I stopped looking different dish options last night. I got frustrated because none of them were working, so I figured I'd try and mirror the HR21 set up. The INFO & TEST option on the HR21 told me slimline 4 and nothing else.... could it have left of the (& 72.5) due to room on the screen?

And to the other point made... I am not getting the only SD local station on the R22 and I am getting it on my HR21 and my older receiver models.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Balestrom said:


> When you say resolution, are you referring the 4:3 vs 16:9. It was set to 4:3. I changed it to 16:9 just out of curiosity and it did nothing.
> 
> I will have to check if it says RR22/HD enabled. I do know that the system is set to 480P. I have found no way to change it to 480I to see if that would make a difference. On the receiver itself, it won't let me change to anything when I press the buttons. As far as trying to do it in the HD menu, it is locked so all I can do is change from 4:3 to 16:9. I can not access the video tab or the TV resolutions tab. Just the TV Ratio Tab.


OK it's an R22.:sure:

480p is HDMI/Component,480i is S-Video/AV.


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## miketorse (Jul 30, 2008)

Balestrom said:


> That is what confuses me. It is the reason I stopped looking different dish options last night. I got frustrated because none of them were working, so I figured I'd try and mirror the HR21 set up. The INFO & TEST option on the HR21 told me slimline 4 and nothing else.... could it have left of the (& 72.5) due to room on the screen?


Not sure. I'm not in a 72.5 market so I'm not sure how it actually displays. You can go to your signal strength screen (Menu --> Setup --> Satellite --> view signal strength), and if 72.5 is part of the setup, there will be a signal meter for that satellite.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

miketorse said:


> Not sure. I'm not in a 72.5 market so I'm not sure how it actually displays. You can go to your signal strength screen (Menu --> Setup --> Satellite --> view signal strength), and if 72.5 is part of the setup, there will be a signal meter for that satellite.


Excellent point. I didn't even think about that. I will do so when I get home from work!


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I also agree that you should not need 72.5 any more if your SD locals are now on 99 or 103. But, the 99/103 version might give you the pillar box/letterbox, or center cut, display as opposed to the full regular 4:3 which you should still get off 72.5. Eventually though, 72.5 will no longer be there and you need to make your system work without it for long term use.


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## Balestrom (Jan 12, 2007)

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody who provided insite to this issue.

Changing to Slimline+72.5 resolved the issue completely! After looking at different areas of my HR21 I did find that it was the same set up. I guess I did not look hard enough the first time.

Of course, I didn't help much in the description, Slimline 4! I can be a complete dork sometimes. :grin: It was slimline 5! So much for my memory. 

Again, thank you! 

Regarding the DirecTV customer support team who first had us set it up the wrong way, and second when my wife called them back told her there was nothing she could do about it and that the box issue was something she'd have to live with, well they get a F for flunk!!!!!! 

I can only imagine if this had been a customer similiar my mother or sister, who both have DirecTV. They would have not known any better, they would not have known about this site to get resolution and likely they'd either have put up with a problem that they didn't need to or quit DirecTV. Customer Service would have lead them down the totally wrong path and they'd have to suffer with it.

I am thinking about penning a letter to DirecTV regarding this issue. A polite one, but one that lets them know what happened.

I just don't know who to send it to in order to get it beyond the 1st line of Customer Service support so it actually can make an impression. Any ideas?


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

carl6 said:


> There is not much you can do about that. Adjust for the best you can get. I'm sure it is no consolation, but people using an off-air signal with a digital converter box have the same problem.


*OH, NO they don't!!!* My "digital converter box" lets me choose "cropped" or any other screen style I like (squeezed, letterbox, native, etc.) eliminating bars and other annoying formats *but these options are still blocked out on the R22 even though they have nothing to do with HDTV other than the fact that they are located in the HDTV menu!*


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

ThomasM said:


> *OH, NO they don't!!!* My "digital converter box" lets me choose "cropped" or any other screen style I like (squeezed, letterbox, native, etc.) eliminating bars and other annoying formats *but these options are still blocked out on the R22 even though they have nothing to do with HDTV other than the fact that they are located in the HDTV menu!*


I must agree. I wish D* would UNLOCK these features. As they do not pertain to HD. Yes My DTV converter box lets me choose format size also.


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

Your locals are probably now all MPEG4, which means when you do your dish set up tell the box you have the Slimline Dish... It can see the locals coming from them. As far as the "borders" go there is nothing that can be done about them at this time... You even have to suffer with them being grey...

I have 1 hooked up to a 4:3 tv and when I set the R22 to 16:9 it stretches my locals out to fill the screen but everything looks stretched vertically.


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## dvisthe (May 27, 2007)

dodge boy said:


> Your locals are probably now all MPEG4, which means when you do your dish set up tell the box you have the Slimline Dish...
> 
> 
> > Do you need BBCs to see local MPEG4 SD channels?
> ...


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

dvisthe said:


> dodge boy said:
> 
> 
> > Your locals are probably now all MPEG4, which means when you do your dish set up tell the box you have the Slimline Dish...
> ...


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## dvisthe (May 27, 2007)

dodge boy said:


> dvisthe said:
> 
> 
> > dodge boy said:
> ...


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## GiantFan (Oct 31, 2006)

I have an R22-100, and I did not even install the BBC's - they are still in the box. So I believe that they are only needed for HD Mpeg4, not SD.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

GiantFan said:


> I have an R22-100, and I did not even install the BBC's - they are still in the box. So I believe that they are only needed for HD Mpeg4, not SD.


Depends on the market and what spot beam (and what satellite and band Ka high or Ka low) the locals are on. Some may need BBC's, some may not. But because it is related to spot beam, it could vary from city to city (market to market), and just because they are not needed in one location does not mean they are or are not needed in another location.


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## dvisthe (May 27, 2007)

GiantFan said:


> I have an R22-100, and I did not even install the BBC's - they are still in the box. So I believe that they are only needed for HD Mpeg4, not SD.


Only one of my local channels is MPEG4 SD (WQMY-53). And yes, as soon as I installed the BBCs the channel came in.


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

dvisthe said:


> dodge boy said:
> 
> 
> > dvisthe said:
> ...


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