# problems with Dish HD



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

I just got Dish HD this past weekend and I've been having problems. I have the 622. The box has rebooted once but it was at 3am and wasn't that big of a deal since it hasn't done it again. It also for some reason decided to add Sportscenter to my DVR timers. So I woke up one day to find 9 hours of Sportscenter on my box. Deleted all that and the timer and it hasn't come back so hopefully that was a one time problem as well. 

The main problem is picture breakups and sound drop outs. It does that probably about 2 or 3 times an hour. They only last a few seconds but that's enough to be bothersome. If it was just doing that every once in a while I would be fine, normal problems everybody has. But 2 or 3 times an hour all the time on every channel seems a bit much.

The next biggest problem is movement. The picture distorts pretty bad anytime anything moves. I've read about how 1080i can cause that some but I've switched the settings on the box and TV to 720p and 540p 480p and so on and did a million combinations of them all and nothing changes it or helps it. I also hooked the box to a standard def TV and watched standard programming and saw the same thing. So I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do between the box and the TV.

But the absolute biggest problem is flashing lights. If I watch a program with flashing lights the picture goes completely haywire. So live music performances are almost impossible to watch. If I watch Leno or Letterman because I want to see the band on the show that night, the entire show looks gorgeous, but as soon as the band plays and they have a little light show going on...no more picture. This past weekend there was a Velvet Revolver concert on HDNet or something. I tried to watch it. In between song stage banter, looked great. But here are two pictures of what I saw when the band started playing and the lights started moving and blinking.....

home.comcast.net/~lethargic/tv1.jpg

home.comcast.net/~lethargic/tv2.jpg

Obviously the line and light in the middle of the screen is the flash on the camera, couldn't figure out how to turn it off. But everything else is my great looking pristine hd picture.

Heres the kicker. I had these same problems but much much much MUCH worse with Comcast HD. Those problems are what lead me to switch to Dish. The problems are better with Dish but still pretty bad. I thought it was a problem with the cable from the splitter to the TV, but the Comcast tech checked it and said the signal was fine. And the Dish installers said it was also getting a good signal. I'm getting 86 on 110, 108 on 119 and 71 on 129.

So what else could be causing it?? Is this *gasp* relatively normal? I would hope not. If this was normal then why do HD channels play music concerts? haha I was gonna swap out a unused cable from another part of the house and see if that helped but the stupid Comcast installers snipped the jack off it. 

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. I sure do wish I could get all this mess straightened out some before the fall tv , hockey, football and basketball seasons all get going so I might actually get some enjoyment out of watching TV again. I've only been a HD viewer for a couple of months now so I'm not exactly sure about what's to be expected and whats not yet.


----------



## R_Childress (Jan 4, 2006)

Check your hdtv type setup in the menus. The 622 defaults to 480i, try changing this setting to 720p or 1080i and see if this helps.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

I've tried all settings.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Moved to support area to get the eyes of other 622 users. 

Since you are seeing this both with Dish and Comcast, I would suspect your TV is the root cause. 

What TV do you have? 
What connection are you using from the 622 to your TV (HDMI or Component)?
You mention 540p, the 622 does not have a 540p output setting. I am confused?
Does your TV require to manual set the input resolution? if it does, start with 1080i and 1080i then. 

You mention you see the same thing with SD is this with the same TV. Do you have another TV in the house you can test your SD signal. Is the SD from Coax or through composite? 

I have never heard of the particular content (Flashing on a concert) causing problems.. Very odd.

and :welcome_s to the site. Hope you find it comfortable here to hang around. Great group of people.


----------



## Jolard (Feb 14, 2006)

This is NOT normal, and I agree, it sounds like it must be your TV. Either something is set incorrectly on the TV, or your TV is just dying. What a pain in the neck! Sorry.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

> What TV do you have?
> What connection are you using from the 622 to your TV (HDMI or Component)?
> You mention 540p, the 622 does not have a 540p output setting. I am confused?
> Does your TV require to manual set the input resolution? if it does, start with 1080i and 1080i then.


It's a Toshiba. Forget the model number right now. But it's fairly new and I don't have this problem on any other HD source. Such as the xbox 360 hd-dvd etc.

The TV has 540. Like I said, I tried a combination of everything to see if anything changed. Tried both TV and box at 1080. Tried both at 720. Tried 1080 and 720. 720 and 540. On and on. Just trying to see if anything helped or made a difference.



> You mention you see the same thing with SD is this with the same TV. Do you have another TV in the house you can test your SD signal. Is the SD from Coax or through composite?


I have the 622 hooked up to the HDTV through HDMI (the comcast box was DVI, so two different hookups, same sorta problems) and then I have a standard TV hooked to the TV2 RCA A/V output into a RF Modulator into a coax. So the standard TV sees the exact same thing thats coming through the HDTV and the errors come through on that TV as well.

And it's not like it messes up in a different way or at different times. If I DVR something and it does that flashing lights thing, it records that way. I would think that if the TV is causing it, the errors would look different every time I watch it and not be saved on the DVR that way. Know what I mean? Like maybe the artifacts would be different sizes or in a different part of the screen. But it's exactly the same way everytime I watch the messed up part and it's saved that way.

The only thing *I* can think of is that it's the cord coming from the splitter to the TV. Because that coax is built into the wall. We just added this room last year and thought it would be good idea to just have a coax jack right in the wall next to the TV. I've since re-thought that since it makes it impossible to replace that cord if something goes wrong with it. I would like to try hooking it up with a different line but like I said before, the comcast idiot snipped my other wire.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

HDlover said:


> Sounds like you're not getting a strong enough signal to me. Have you checked your signal strength.


I'm getting 86 on 110, 108 on 119 and 71 on 129.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

So your coax is hooked to a seperate TV other than your Toshiba and you are seeing the same thing. That is interesting. I suggest posting your Toshiba model number. Someone might have the same model and can reply back. Also I would try component and see if you get the same result.

<<Off topic>>
Are you aware that you can hook up the 622 directly to your coax and assign a channel to it and you don't have to to through the RCA A/V output to RF modulator that you are now doing.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> <<Off topic>>
> Are you aware that you can hook up the 622 directly to your coax and assign a channel to it and you don't have to to through the RCA A/V output to RF modulator that you are now doing.


Yeah but the comcast box couldn't do that. I HAD to use a RF modulator with that and so since I wasted money to get it I'm gonna keep using it. haha


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Might want to remove it to make sure that piece of the equation from the puzzle. Don't have a clue why that would cause the issue you describe, but I am always one for narrowing the problem.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

First of all...540p is the same as 1080i. Some Toshibas are funky that way. 

My advice: first, see if the problem continues if you connect your 622 to your TV with component video cables. Your pictures look like a video sync problem to me, which may point to your television, or it may point to the HDMI port. If you see the same thing with the 622 set to 1080i with component cables, then the problem is in your television. If component cables produce a clear picture, the problem is the HDMI port in your 622.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Mark Lamutt said:


> First of all...540p is the same as 1080i. Some Toshibas are funky that way.
> 
> My advice: first, see if the problem continues if you connect your 622 to your TV with component video cables. Your pictures look like a video sync problem to me, which may point to your television, or it may point to the HDMI port. If you see the same thing with the 622 set to 1080i with component cables, then the problem is in your television. If component cables produce a clear picture, the problem is the HDMI port in your 622.


But how can the TV be the problem if it plays with the exact same errors on a completely different TV? I even totally unhooked it from this TV tonight and used it on another normal TV and still had the same problems.

Watching Rockstar tonight there was constant minor breakups and then one part where the picture was completely broke up for about 5 minutes straight.

I'm thinking I'm gonna go ahead and try to get a new coax tomorrow to run from the splitter to the TV. Should I just go with the standard RG6 or is there something more gooder to carry HD signals that I should look for instead?


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

We must be missing something there. First off HD signal does not go from Coax to the TV. You can only get an HD signal from HDMI or component. You can watch HD content over coax but it will be at 480i. 

Does this happend with recorded content or just live?

Since this seems to happen commonly.. I really think you need to try and narrow down your sytem. Remove all variables except one. I personally would go with component because that would also answer Marks question. Disconnect all outputs except component and your audio and then see if it happens again. Make sure your TV is set to 1080i and also the 622. 

Also.. I really think you having your TV model might provide some insight. Perhaps someone else has the same model and can give a thumbs up or down if it is working for them. 

It is possible you have a bad 622, but since you mentioned that you also saw this with your other HD DVR that tends to make me think it is either your cabling, a TV configuration error, or some issue with the TV itself. Since you indicate that your RCA to RF to another set in the house also shows the same problem that would tend to make me rule out the TV configuration. Bottom line, something is not adding up.... 

You mentioned your XBOX not having any issue. Is this an XBOX 360? Are you doing 1080i out of your xbox or is it 480P. When you ran your XBOX was it connected to the exact same inputs are you 622? If not, then I would do a test using the exact same output resolution and the exact same inputs. 

Well this sure seems like a strange one... Like I suggested.. I think jumping to square one and minimizing your variables is the best course of action then add a variable at a time until the problem starts to appear again. If the issue appears with only one connection from the 622 to TV using component with the 622 having the same output resolution as your XBOX that is working. Well... that would be a first for me. Especially since your Cable box exhibited the same behavior. This would tell me that either you have two bad HD boxes or a magical XBOX.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

> We must be missing something there. First off HD signal does not go from Coax to the TV. You can only get an HD signal from HDMI or component. You can watch HD content over coax but it will be at 480i.


I'm talking about the coax from the satellite to the reciever. Not from the reciever to the TV.



> Does this happend with recorded content or just live?


Both. It DVRs the errors.



> Also.. I really think you having your TV model might provide some insight. Perhaps someone else has the same model and can give a thumbs up or down if it is working for them.


Can you come over and help me find the manual? haha



> It is possible you have a bad 622, but since you mentioned that you also saw this with your other HD DVR that tends to make me think it is either your cabling, a TV configuration error, or some issue with the TV itself. Since you indicate that your RCA to RF to another set in the house also shows the same problem that would tend to make me rule out the TV configuration. Bottom line, something is not adding up....


Actually I had two DVRs from Comcast so that would make it THREE, count em, THREE different boxes it did this with.



> You mentioned your XBOX not having any issue. Is this an XBOX 360? Are you doing 1080i out of your xbox or is it 480P. When you ran your XBOX was it connected to the exact same inputs are you 622? If not, then I would do a test using the exact same output resolution and the exact same inputs.


Yes, 360. It's 1080i. Different inputs. That is why I HAVE to use HDMI for the dish. I have no other option. I don't have any more component inputs. I can't swap them out. That would mean everytime I wanted to play 360 I would have to unhook VCR 1, unhook VCR 2, unhook the Sima box, unhook the DVD player, pull the 6 billion pound TV out, unhook the dish, plug in the 360, push the 6 billion pound TV back in, find the surround sound speaker cord that popped because at LEAST one ALWAYS pops out when I move this stuff, plug that back in, take a nap, play the 360 for an hour, then put everything back the way it was and have a heart attack. No fun.



> Well this sure seems like a strange one... Like I suggested.. I think jumping to square one and minimizing your variables is the best course of action then add a variable at a time until the problem starts to appear again. If the issue appears with only one connection from the 622 to TV using component with the 622 having the same output resolution as your XBOX that is working.


I COMPLETELY unhooked it from the HDTV and hooked it only to a standard TV with just rca a/v cords to watch the downconverted 480 signal and it STILL did it. Isn't that just about as square one as it can get?

I went and got a new coax today with every kind of shielding known to mankind on it. I believe it had tiles from the space shuttle on it.

If that doesn't work I guess I'll have to try to get another tech out here. But I'm getting near the point of just saying take this HD box and bring back my normal box. I miss the simple feeling of sitting down and watching TV instead of sitting down and turning the TV on with my fingers crossed.


----------



## dirtydan (Dec 15, 2004)

I think that you need to somehow try component just to see if it is 622 HDMI problem.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Lethargic, 

The purpose of my previous post was an attempt to try and narrow down the problem and gather more information. The model of your TV was part of the process. As for it being square on the receiver.. Well I don't think it is that square.. Here is why.

you are seeing this with 3 seperate HD DVRs from two seperate manufactures and you are seeing this from two different type of outputs going to two different TVs. Correct? If this correct.. Nothing is adding up. Either you had 3 HD DVRs exhibiting the exact same issue or I missed something inr you explanation. 

Also, Since different receivers show the same issue, This in book rules out a receiver issue. The fact that the XBOX plugged into component is most likely a red haring since that XBOX is using a different input. The problem most likely is a bad TV HDMI interface based on the information so far, but the fact you are also seeing this through the Coax is perplexing. Like I suggested (if Possible) remove your Composite to RF setup and go directly to your 622 and see if you see it that way. 

So I guess you cannot temporarly swap cables where the receivers and xbox is 
rather than swapping at your TV to avoid the 6 billion pound TV? This would answer a lot of questions. Well at least a few. 

You are welcome to try a cable swap, but I suspect it will not help. What was in the picture you posted does not look to me like a problem caused by cable feed into your receiver. If the cable was suspect I would expect other issues than the video you are seeing. 

Other option you might want to try is extend your cable to another TV and hook it directly using component, svideo or RF. (If it is close run, you need the RF modulater that came with the your 622 to avoid overpower the TV input). Watch the DVR content that exhibits your issues and see it it happens. If it does not then you know it is something in your configuration that is your root cause. 

Keep us updated. Hopefully you find these suggestions helpful in trying to track down your issue. This definitely is not what would be termed typical and needs some narrowing to see if you can rule somethings out.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

It doesn't sound like you've stripped the system down yet. You need to _temporarily_ remove everything from the ViP622 except the satellite input cables. This means removing any OTA input as well as all outputs. No exceptions and please, no excuses. After there are only three cables running into the ViP622 (power, two satellite cables), plug in a single RCA or S-VHS cable (not both) to the appropriate video output on the ViP622. Note that if you're using RCA, the output jack MUST be yellow.

Now, _temporarily_ disconnect EVERYTHING but the power cord to or from your Toshiba (make maps of where the cables go if you must). Plug the one video cable from the ViP622 into an appropriate TV input. While you're back there, record the television's model number and post it in any future replies.

Make absolutely certain that for the duration of the testing, the TV and the ViP622 are plugged into the same power strip or surge strip.

Fire up the ViP622 and the TV and switch the TV to the corresponding input. Play something troublesome that you've recorded (or tune something new) and see if the problem is still with you. If the problem has gone away, add cables back one at a time until the system starts messing up again.

It is a near certainty that the problem lies in your configuration given that it has failed with similar devices. I have a sneaking suspicion that something in your system is backfeeding voltage into the system and causing the video to overdrive.

We take helping you very seriously. Please don't answer direct questions with "haha".


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

> The purpose of my previous post was an attempt to try and narrow down the problem and gather more information. The model of your TV was part of the process.


I understand that. And if I knew it I'd tell. But it's not on the TV itself anywhere and I can't find the manual right now. doh



> you are seeing this with 3 seperate HD DVRs from two seperate manufactures and you are seeing this from two different type of outputs going to two different TVs. Correct? If this correct.. Nothing is adding up. Either you had 3 HD DVRs exhibiting the exact same issue or I missed something inr you explanation.


No you heard it correct unfortunately. It's not the reciever. That would be too easy.



> Also, Since different receivers show the same issue, This in book rules out a receiver issue. The fact that the XBOX plugged into component is most likely a red haring since that XBOX is using a different input. The problem most likely is a bad TV HDMI interface based on the information so far, but the fact you are also seeing this through the Coax is perplexing. Like I suggested (if Possible) remove your Composite to RF setup and go directly to your 622 and see if you see it that way.


Here's what I've done so far. With the comcast hd-dvr I saw it through a rca cable AND a DVI cable. With Dish I've seen it through HDMI, coax and rca. And I've seen this all on 3 different TVs with three different HD-DVRs. The ONLY thing that has been consistent on all these things is that they've all had the same coax running from the satellite to the reciever. This coax is only about a year old so I'm not sure if it's bad or not, the thing that concerns me about it is that it's built into the wall and it's in the same part of the wall as the light switch, the power lines and the telephone line is. So my hope is that that could be the problem. That it's getting some kind of interference from the electrical lines in there and the new better shieled wire coming in a different way will solve it. So I'm gonna wait and see what happens tonight with this new line before I try switching out anything else.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lethargic said:


> The ONLY thing that has been consistent on all these things is that they've all had the same coax running from the satellite to the reciever.


If there were a problem with the RG6, it wouldn't manifest itself this way. You've got what looks like a line level video problem coming from something connected into your system. Think of it as an output plugged into an input of the same device and giving feedback.


----------



## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

Actually, since most of the other variables seem to have been eliminated, the coax has to be a suspect at this point.

Do you ever see any warnings from the 622 about lost signal? I'm not sure how long the signal has to drop for the 622 to trigger its popup message, but let's assume a very short drop doesn't trigger it.

So, if that's the case, and you have a bad connector on either end of the coax that has an intemittent connection, you could be getting very short signal dropouts. That would cause transient sound dropouts and pixelation.

Similarly, there could be a break in the center conductor somewhere along the line that mostly touches together, but sometimes doesn't.

Also check the wallplate connector and be sure the satellite side is firmly screwed in, as well as the room side.

There really aren't many more failure points that haven't been explored. Is there any possiblity of running a temporary RG6? Or, just wait for the new coax.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

harsh said:


> It doesn't sound like you've stripped the system down yet. You need to _temporarily_ remove everything from the ViP622 except the satellite input cables. This means removing any OTA input as well as all outputs. No exceptions and please, no excuses.


Excuses? All I said was I was gonna wait until I find out if the new coax fixes it before I fool around with trying all that. Unless somebody can really give me a reason why I would need to do that after I've COMPLETELY unhooked it from that TV and hooked it to a COMPLETELY different TV in a COMPLETELY different room with nothing but a rca cable and the problem still persists I'll wait a couple of days before trying it. Because that tells me it has nothing to do with the TV setup if it does it on another TV and the only thing hooked up is the input and the output (I even managed to use the yellow output jack believe it or not) and it still does it. AND the dvr RECORDS the errors. I can unhook the box and drive it your house and hook it up and play shows and you'll still see the errors because the box records the shows that way. To me that sounds like it's a incoming signal.

Has anybody EVER heard of something like that happening? A problem with the configuration to the TV that causes the problem to backtrack and get recorded on DVR??

But we'll find out in a couple of hours when I watch Rockstar. I have NEVER been able to see a single episode of Rockstar this season where these problems didn't pop up so it's the best test. If its still screwed up then I'll either be unhooking everything or shooting myself. If I don't post again, I decided on option 2. So far, it's looked better. I haven't seen any breakups through I've still noticed some distortion with onscreen movement but from I've read that's not completely abnormal with 1080. Of course now I'm getting that annoying audio skip that other people have posted about in the other thread. Lord have mercy.



> We take helping you very seriously. Please don't answer direct questions with "haha".


I don't believe I answered any questions with "haha". I have answered some questions with a small bit of humor because I'd rather be friendly and conversational instead of just doing a straight Q&A. If I wanted to have a boring conversation I'd talk to my family. haha See? "haha" is my LOL or stupid little smiley faces. I just can't bring myself to use those things. Sorry for trying to find a small bit of humor in my 2 straight months of pain and misery and hundreds of dollars of spent money. "haha" doesn't mean I don't appreciate the help because I do.



> Do you ever see any warnings from the 622 about lost signal? I'm not sure how long the signal has to drop for the 622 to trigger its popup message, but let's assume a very short drop doesn't trigger it.


I've never seen a popup but when I check the signal drops on the menu there are quite a few there ecspecially on tuner 2.


----------



## welchwarlock (Jan 5, 2005)

Perhaps you are being radiated by a high power Radar, Microwave, or other RF source. Are you near any microwave towers, Ham Radio tower, TV Station, airport, defense contractor, military base, Homeland Security Office, embassy, or foreign consulate?

WW


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

welchwarlock said:


> Perhaps you are being radiated by a high power Radar, Microwave, or other RF source. Are you near any microwave towers, Ham Radio tower, TV Station, airport, defense contractor, military base, Homeland Security Office, embassy, or foreign consulate?


Not that I'm aware of.

Had DirecTV for years up until 2 or 3 months ago and never had any signal issues or picture problems or anything with them.

And yes it's still messing up.

I believe I might be able to get the component cables unhooked from the DVD player and down to the Dish box without moving the entire setup. So I'm gonna try unhooking the HDMI and other stuff and see how it does only through the components as I wait for help to move the rest.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Oh well. Couldn't get the components to reach the box so I'm gonna have to stick with HDMI two more days. Talked to Dish about it they wanted to send me a new box. I had to convince them I knew it wasn't the box so that they would just send a actual person to take a look at everything. Then after that, since it most likely won't be fixed, Sunday is the day I'll be able to move everything around and start from scratch.

Now if I could only keep it from recording hours and hours of stupid crap for no reason. Today I turned the box on to find episodes of flipper, episodes of some video game show and several versions of the same movie from the family HD channel that it decided to set up a record all pass for. It has a mind of its own and I don't like it's taste in programming.

Edit - By the way, reading through other threads. (I think I've just about been through them all this week.) I've just seen several mentions that HDMI cables carry both the audio AND video. But I get no audio. All I get is video. I had to use hdmi for video and rcas for audio. If I'm not getting audio through the hdmi cable could that be another symptom?


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lethargic said:


> If I'm not getting audio through the hdmi cable could that be another symptom?


Not all televisions receive audio through HDMI. Some TVs with two HDMI ports receive audio on one HDMI port but not the other. Again, you would need to know what model television you have in order to look it up.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

lethargic - change your TV2 UHF remote address. That's probably why you're getting the extraneous recordings.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Mark Lamutt said:


> lethargic - change your TV2 UHF remote address. That's probably why you're getting the extraneous recordings.


Yeah. I figured that out. I had went to bed and left something recording to the VCR. Checked the tape the next day and instead of having it I had somebody going through all the menus setting it up to record Flipper and all that. I hope the person who DVRs Flipper and a bunch of family programming ended up with the Cannibal documentary and horror movies I put on there.

We have a box upstairs backfeeding the TV2 signal into a downstairs bedroom. The damn remote in the bedroom can BARELY reach the upstairs box but yet some dude in a completely different house can reach mine with no problem.

The Dish tech dude was pretty much as puzzled as anybody else. Once again it LOOKS like a wiring issue or something or a problem with HDMI, but since it records the errors and shows them on other TVs it doesn't make much sense. So, he really didn't do much but replace some jacks and talk about Xbox 360 vs PS3.

Sunday I unhooked everything and started from scratch. Replaced some wires. Untangled anything that was tangled. More importantly, switched the 622 from HDMI to component. Everything is hooked by up now but nothing is plugged in. I also got rid of the RF modulator and some other stuff. So hopefully that'll do something. But I doubt it. Picture still doesn't look great. Movement on screen, camera moves, cuts and edits all still look blocky. Audio still skips on my locals (which he blamed on the fact that I had a optical cord hooked up for 5.1, but taking that off didn't help).

But I haven't seen any total picture breakups.....yet.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Oh well, it still stinks. I unhooked everything before Rock Star tonight. Watched it. Didn't help. Just about ready to scream and jump off a roof.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

So with RockStar you only had your 622 hooked to your TV through component with nothing else hooked up except audio? or do you have output connections hooked to the 622?

Definitely a strange one.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> So with RockStar you only had your 622 hooked to your TV through component with nothing else hooked up except audio? or do you have output connections hooked to the 622?
> 
> Definitely a strange one.


Just component and audio. And the Dish guy after inspecting it and watching the problem was completely convinced that it had nothing to do with the TV.

He suggested that the wire from the dish into the house may have gotten messed up with some recent contruction on the house. But that wouldn't have explained the reason it did it with comcast. But it might explain why EVERYTHING looks crap even when it works fine and the audio skips. I am so sick of blocks. Nothing is smooth. Even Jay Leno looks average and with Comcast HD Leno looked absolutely *amazing*. It doesn't even look HD. It looks halfway between HD and SD. I don't know how to explain it. But even with the desk on Leno it's kinda dark on the sides and lighter brown in the middle. But on mine that dark brown and light brown doesn't just smooth together like it should. It looks blocky. Like the desk is made of legos and the ones in the middle are a lighter color and they over lap one peg. haha Like I said, don't know how to explain it. It's kinda like taking a 25 gig video file and compressing it to a 4 gig dvd. It looks very, very compressed. A lack of definition and lack of smoothness. Like I'm watching videos of HD Leno on youtube instead of the actual show. The two standard boxes have the same problem but it's not as noticible. The HD seems to amplify the problem. Honestly. I'd really love to give up and go back to normal TV. But I don't know if I can live without the Monsters channel anymore. Dang. I thought that thing would never show much that I didn't already have but I'm DVRing that channel left and right. Thankfully I don't have many problems at all with THAT channel. I guess 1 out of 2398734 channels ain't bad.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

You are having no issues with the Monster channel at all? Is Jeno Leno HD Dish or OTA HD? I am really confused now.. IS it only one channel you are having issues with? I thought it was accross the board, missed that one.

If it is Dish HD local wonder if that stream is having issues. From the pictures you posted it looks like nothing I have seen when there is signal issues. One thing you can do is get the channel you are seeing it on the most and check the signal strength for that transponder to see if it is low (That is if it is a Dish HD local).

I am still confused. If it was the cable coming into the box, I would expect it to be across all channels not just one.


----------



## wingnut1 (Nov 10, 2005)

Lethargic, do you have the HDMI and the yellow RCA cable plugged in at the same time? This could cause some interference. Are you recording Rockstar off of the OTA or Satellite input? They come off different inputs and cables. If it is off the OTA you could be getting interference with the OTA signal to your antenna. Do you have two cables coming from you Dish, or from a switch or do you have a separator and what kind of switch are you using?


----------



## rickfromthesticks (Sep 22, 2004)

While I'm not a tech, I do love the wires! When the installer put my 622 in a couple of weeks ago he said the old 811 was pixelating because I had a coax with copper wire between the surge supressor and the satelite receiver. (I don't know what his coax is made from unfortunately)

He replaced it and the improvement is marginal, but it's possible the cable you replaced has the same issue. However, if you are close enough to someone else to get their remote controlling you, I'd put my money on some sort of interference from outside.

Sometimes it's convenient living in the sticks!.
Rick


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> You are having no issues with the Monster channel at all? Is Jeno Leno HD Dish or OTA HD? I am really confused now.. IS it only one channel you are having issues with? I thought it was accross the board, missed that one.


I have problems across the board just some channels seem worse than others. Local channels ARE the worst. And they are the ones that have audio skips. While the Voom channels seem to function the best.



> If it is Dish HD local wonder if that stream is having issues. From the pictures you posted it looks like nothing I have seen when there is signal issues.


The pictures were from HDNet. Not local.



> I am still confused. If it was the cable coming into the box, I would expect it to be across all channels not just one.


None of them are perfect. Everything looks a bit subpar. And then everything seems to have it's own set of problems. Such as Showtime seems to flicker a lot in the background and then other channels look grainy. The one thing they have in common are the blockiness and movement distortion and flashing lights causes picture breakup, sometimes severe.

I'm not getting anything OTA.



> Lethargic, do you have the HDMI and the yellow RCA cable plugged in at the same time? This could cause some interference. Are you recording Rockstar off of the OTA or Satellite input? They come off different inputs and cables. If it is off the OTA you could be getting interference with the OTA signal to your antenna. Do you have two cables coming from you Dish, or from a switch or do you have a separator and what kind of switch are you using?


Just component, nothing else. I have no OTA antenna or anything hooked to it. Two cables from dish. One comes only to this box, the other splits to two other rooms.



> He replaced it and the improvement is marginal, but it's possible the cable you replaced has the same issue. However, if you are close enough to someone else to get their remote controlling you, I'd put my money on some sort of interference from outside.


The tech that came out last week checked the cables and said they were fine. He said some of the jacks had problems and replaced them but had no problem with the wires themselves.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Boy.. I would say if you have not swapped out the 622 then do a swap this is by no means normal, but I keep thinking about the fact the cable box showed the same symptoms which is a huge red flag for something external to your receiver is causing the issue. 

Have you tried moving your 622 to the other room and hooking it up and seeing if the problem moves with the 622? That is the only other suggestion I have to try and narrow it down. 

Did you ever find out the TV model? Someone else had a issues and had a Toshiba. Sounded similar to yours but from what Mark posted back it looks like he has a loose cable on one of the inputs.


----------



## SteveRS (Feb 8, 2004)

Lethargic said:


> I just got Dish HD this past weekend and I've been having problems. I have the 622. The box has rebooted once but it was at 3am and wasn't that big of a deal since it hasn't done it again. It also for some reason decided to add Sportscenter to my DVR timers. So I woke up one day to find 9 hours of Sportscenter on my box. Deleted all that and the timer and it hasn't come back so hopefully that was a one time problem as well.
> 
> The main problem is picture breakups and sound drop outs. It does that probably about 2 or 3 times an hour. They only last a few seconds but that's enough to be bothersome. If it was just doing that every once in a while I would be fine, normal problems everybody has. But 2 or 3 times an hour all the time on every channel seems a bit much.
> 
> ...


Yes there are motion artifacts (pixelation)
Yes there is intermittent video break up (pixelation)
Yes there is very brief audio drop outs(about 1/2 second or less)
The only thing I haven't seen is flashing lights

Don't let anybody tell you there are no problems with Echostar HD broadcasting!
I know because I own the 622.

Don't listen to the pod people!


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Steve I don't think no one was saying that you don't ever see any of the first three you mentioned. I for sure was not. It is a matter of frequency and since we all have different use case scenarios (Example: You record a lot of little video music snippets while most of my recording is Kid Shows for my Son and HD movies/Reality shows for me) and ofcourse we all have different levels of what we consider acceptable. 

Based on the OP, what was described and shown in the pictures to me seem more severe than anything I personally have experienced. 

As for the pod comment.. Lets keep it professional and avoid the rocks. We all have our opinions and our experiences we are drawing from. Yours may differ than mine or other folks so name calling just does add any value in the support area.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Well, I watched one of the other TVs today more than I have and it seems pretty bad on them too. I figured I'd watch football in there so I wouldn't have so much motion problems and it didn't really help. So the only problem that is central to the HD box is the flashing lights thing. The others also have motion problem and artifacts popping up and they're all standard tvs and boxes. So if the normal boxes are doing the other stuff as well I figure it has to be something else. I guess I'll have to get them out here one more time to try the new line from the satellite that the last tech suggested. I'd be much happier if the only thing I had to deal with was the flashing lights and everything else worked better.

Oh and when I have audio drop outs it's a lot longer than 1/2 a second. It'd be 5, 10, 15, 20 seconds. But those are rare. It's mostly just skips for me. Like somebody will be talking and all of a sudden it does bbbbbbbthis. Sounds like the TV has gas. Which I hope it does because I hate it.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

I went and got a antenna today and put it on. Not I'm getting locals OTA so now I don't have to hear that annoying audio skip. 1 problem fixed.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Now I AM having trouble with the box itself. It keeps getting stuck one one tuner and acting like the other doesn't exist. I was recording something and trying to swap to the other to watch something else but it just wouldn't do it. Tried to change the channel hoping it would auto swap but it just changed channel on the one tuner and stopping my recording. And all the crap I did ended up making my recording being in a bunch of few minute blocks. Had to cancel the recording and switch the box into dual mode and back into single mode to snap it out of it the first time. The second time I once again had to stop whatever it was recording and THAT fixed it, but now only one tuner had sound. So I had to reboot again to get back the sound. Oh and one of my locals isn't working at all anymore. Just a black screen. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Thats the sound of me losing my mind.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Lethargic, whether you've done it before it not, it's time to call Dish and get your 622 replaced. What you're describing now sounds very much like receiver failure to me.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Lethargic, whether you've done it before it not, it's time to call Dish and get your 622 replaced. What you're describing now sounds very much like receiver failure to me.


You aint heard nothing yet! My local channel came back. And then another quit working. And then as I was flipping through the rest to see if anything else was out. The box went to the acquiring signal screen and never moved past 0 of 5. And none of the buttons worked. So I had to unplug it. A few minutes ago I was watching ESPNews when it suddenly locked up and then EVERY channel went out. Black everywhere. Went to point dish to check signal and it said it couldn't FIND a satellite and froze the box again.

If I replace my box is there ANYTHING I can do about the gajillion things I have saved on it that can not be replaced? I am not about to miss the season premieres of every damn show I watch just because these people gave me one of these crunked up boxes. Will it play DVRed material if it's not hooked to the satellite so I can get everything watched before sending it back? Like when I left Direct I still had a ton of stuff on the DVR but I just threw it in the bedroom and hooked it to the VCR and could still watch stuff from it no problem even though I didn't have DirecTV at all anymore.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Well, if every channel is black, and the box can't find any of the satellites, then you're going to have a hard time watching any season premiers with it...

To answer your question, no there's not really anything you can do to get your programming off of the hard drive (if it's SD, you could pick up a pocketdish and transfer it off that way). Yes, it should play recorded material even if it's not connected.


----------



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well if you have a DVDR you could record it using the outputs also the same with a VCR but you will be offloading at 1x speed.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

Got my new box tuesday. Still doing the same problem. All the lights on the front go out and tuner currently in use loses all sound even on recorded programs. Have to switch to other tuner to hear anything. Have to reboot to get it back working correctly 1 - 3 times a day. 

Finally got to watch a show on my OTA antenna that had a signal of 90. Didn't have any of the movement or flashing light problems with that. So all that is just on stuff from Dish.


----------



## pjm877 (Apr 27, 2003)

Lethargic said:


> Now if I could only keep it from recording hours and hours of stupid crap for no reason. Today I turned the box on to find episodes of flipper, episodes of some video game show and several versions of the same movie from the family HD channel that it decided to set up a record all pass for. It has a mind of its own and I don't like it's taste in programming.


 Did you change the Ch # remote two uses. If so, might be time for to do a exorcism on that 622

Oh and welcome to the group..

Just thinking out loud.


----------

