# HWS - tuner 3 keeps freezing



## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Suddenly (last couple of days) I've noticed one of my two Hoppers With Sling misbehaving. I first noticed when PTAT didn't record. I checked the daily schedule for Monday, and it said PTAT was "Deleted by user livingroom". Nope, nobody deleted anything. Any why can't I watch locals? It seems tuner1 and tuner2 are OK, but tuner3 is frozen. If I change channels from the frozen image, I get a black screen. So long as I choose something outside the locals, tuner1 or tuner2 is brought into play and it works fine. So I reboot. Everything goes back to normal. Next day (Tuesday) PTAT records OK. But just when I start to think it was a glitch, local program on channel 4 freezes this morning. Press red button - yep, tuner3 is hosed. Everything else works. This has repeated a number of times today. I had to configure the upstairs Hopper to grab PTAT for a while.

Now I have to contact Dish and get this thing replaced. I've tried pressing the red button, pressing the "reset" icon in the settings, even unplugging power/plugging it back in. After a while tuner3 freezes again.

Anyone else seen this? I suspect a firmware update triggered this, but alas there's no "when did this thing last update" log (or is there?). Also I can't roll it back to a previous version as a test.

So now I have to save all the recordings onto an external drive before they come to take it away. These things have been fairly reliable up until now.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

tuner's can is very hot area inside of H/H2 - try to add more cooling for the DVR


----------



## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Here is an update. 

I enabled PTAT on the upstairs unit. It failed to record PTAT all the way through last night. We left the TV monitor on, and the program froze - just like the downstairs unit!

The configuration is:

DPP 1K.4 looking at 77, 72 and 61.5 (port 4 vacant)
DUO Node
2x HWS receiver running firmware S503 NDGB
1x Joey (powered off, unused)

So I checked the "System Status" - and it shows poor signal strength on 61.5! That's where the locals are. It also says, in the details, that we've lost signal several times over the last few days.

Wow. I guess I know what I need to fix now... It's great to have some tools on the receiver.


----------



## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

OK. I noticed that the signal strength for 61.5 was acceptable for tuner1, but tuner2 had difficulty locking it in, and tuner3 didn't see it at all. I'm not sure what's up with that. Perhaps the way DPP hardware stacks the tuner frequencies makes tuner3 the pickiest (due to cable attenuation)? The run from the node to the receiver is fairly short, and consists of high quality cable.

Anyway, I went to the dish and realized the source of the overall problem. My wife's River Birch tree. One of the three trunks has grown to the point where it now blocks the signal for 61.5,

On a whim I replaced the DPP 1K.4 LNBF (I have a spare). This had the effect of reducing the signal seen on tuner1, but strangely enough tuner3 locks on easily now. The strength is very low compared to 72 or 77, but it is THERE and that may be the needed difference.

I will wait to see what happens with PTAT tonight before I lop off that trunk of the tree or move the dish.


----------



## zerdian1 (Jun 26, 2014)

I have noticed that some or all of PT does NOT get recorded. I started recording PT on both Hoppers. 
I had previously stoped PT because that was the work around ATS said would correct the problem with the faulty recording of high priority programs on 2nd Hopper.
Now that I know that Hopper ATS is flakely, I reenabled PT on that received. My wife has bulk recordings on her Brazilian Channels 18 hours per day. We break it into 3 hour blocks.
She also skips commercials and skips past shows that are unimportant to her.
The schedlue changes fairly often and the times change without notice on the Brazilian station. Teh program guide is days behind in getting corrections to shows and show names.
So we are very happy that dish has enabled block manual timers on the Hoppers, like we had on our 722's..


----------



## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

There are a number of folks all over the map seeing this problem with S503 firmware. It isn't the low signal strength at my location that causes it.

Thread here.


----------



## zerdian1 (Jun 26, 2014)

My Hopper System Info:
SW Version is *S503 NDGD* 5/30/14, 4:05AM.
MY BOOTWARE VERSION IS *1513 NDGD*
Transceiver Firmware *005a*.


----------



## zerdian1 (Jun 26, 2014)

All three tuner strengths are green and average 56+/-1.


----------

