# Dish 921 Setup Experience (long)



## Jason Kragt (Dec 20, 2002)

Here is a record of my experience setting up a 921. Others have done this before me, but I just thought I would write everything down to see if there have been any changes since the true pioneers set up their systems almost a year ago now. This is my first experience with digital OTA and HD.

First, I should probably list what I have today:
- Dish Network 501 (which I intend to replace with the 921)
- a Samsung TXN2745FP "Enhanced Definition" televison
- an old Sears television in another room (with a coax line to the 501/921)
- a "Royal 17" antenna (I believe manufactured by Antennacraft) designed for the Grand Rapids area
- a Dish 500 legacy dual LNB dish with two SW21 switches
- Zenith 5-device learning IR remote control

Even though my 501 has only has one tuner, I ran two coax lines from the dish to the receiver area, anticipating that I would buy a 721, 921 or 942 someday. I route the 501's RF output to my old TV in another room and control the receiver through the walls using the UHF remote control. I want to do the same thing with the 921 but realize that it needs to be in "SD" mode in order to use the channel 3/4 output. I want to control the 921 in the living room using the IR learning remote.

The Samsung TXN2745FP televison only accepts 480i and 480p out of the box. However, 1080i can be enabled using the service menu. Evidently Samsung manufactured several different models out of the same base. I purchased the low-end model and made the changes that should enable 1080i. This will be my first opportunity to see if this hack works since I have never had a true 1080i video source until now.

The Grand Rapids DMA has some unique characteristics. There are three main transmitter locations. The "Royal 17" is a three-antenna combination designed to receive the correct channels from each location without ghosting. With the way that they assigned digital frequencies out here, I hope to able to receive the digital channels by repointing the top and bottom antennas. My antenna is in the attic. I am not using an amplifier. If I encounter signal problems, I will consider moving it on the roof or purchasing a good amplifier.

I viewed the digital channels with the analog TV and looked at the snow. Anyone watching me through the window must have thought of the movie "Poltergeist"! The snow on 7 of our 9 digital channels looks very white compared to unused channels. I'm trying to determine the correlation between the color of the snow and the resulting digital signal. My hope is that all 7 stations that have steady white snow will be reliable. Their analog counterparts each have a good picture with no ghosts but some have more snow than I would like.

Now for the fun part! The 921 ships with the following accessories:
- platinum remote control
- a hefty Y, Pr, Pb component video cable
- an s-video cable
- a small UHF remote antenna
- phone cable
- a small length of coax cable
- a combination audio and composite video cable
- AAA batteries
- channel guide
- a thick user's guide

In short, this is basically the same stuff that comes with every Dish Network DVR receiver with the addition of a component video cable.

The back of the 921 looks exactly like the pictures that others have posted, but there are no FireWire ports. (Or more accurately, it looks like they have been covered up.)

The receiver started flawlessly in safe mode with both SD and HD output. It popped up a messages saying "Your receiver has not yet been authorized." Pressing OK a few times brings up channel 101. The NASA channel can also be viewed. The program guide is still downloading and not available yet. 

Some menu options work. I checked my switches and everything seems OK. Signal strength is almost exactly the same as it was on my 501. Two spot beams and a few conus transponders top out at 125. Everything else (except spot beams and one conus transponder) are above 100. The phone line diagnostic passed OK. Checking the "Software Update" menu reveals that a software upgrade has been downloading for the last minute or so. I changed the display output to "1080i only". The monitor flickered and I still have a picture. Woo-hoo! I think that my Samsung does indeed do 1080i on the cheap.

OK, I think that I have done just about everything I can without being authorized. It's time to call Dish. I used the "technical help" menu option (number 3) and it seemed to be the right choice. The CSR authorized my system but I don't think that either of us was patient enough. We ended up rebooting a couple of times and interrupting the software upgrade download. I'm going to eat lunch and wait until the entire upgrade completes. I probably should have waited for the upgrade to complete before authorizing the system.

The upgrade process took about 45 minutes. Be patient while the 921 reboots. It takes a while. Now I'm scanning for analog and digital channels. It found 12 analog channels, including two distant stations from Milwaukee and South Bend Bend and three low-power UHF stations moderately close. It found 8 digital channels, but that number includes the subchannels. This gives me ABC (41), NBC, PBS, FOX, UPN and weather radar. CBS and our second ABC (13) did not come in despite having a bright snowy picture in analog. Apparently, a strong analog signal is a more reliable indicator of digital reception than white snow on the digital channel.

I hacked into an old Winegard antenna and pulled the pre-amp out of it. I put the pre-amp and power inserter into the line and got about 10 to 20 extra points on the signal. That was enough to add CBS and get PBS more reliably. It also picked up another digital PBS transmission on channel 5 from Kalamazoo. It would have been nice to get channel 39 (our second ABC affiliate) and 44 (our PAX and WB affiliate) in digital, but I can't say I'm too disappointed with what I'm getting now. My amplifier isn't that great since I pulled it out of another antenna. I'll probably purchase a Channel Master 7777 sometime to replace it.

It is taking a while for me to get used to having to set screen formats and ratios. The 921 lets you choose between 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. It also lets you choose among 16x9 and two 4x3 modes. On top of that, my TV has normal, wide and zoom modes. After working with it a while I can find a combination that works best for a particular channel. However, what works best for one channel doesn't always look that good on another. It also appears that some channels broadcast in different formats throughout the day. I'm going to have to play with this more before I can say exactly what is going on.

I checked TitanTV to find out when I might be able to view my first HD program. It was "The Young and the Restless". I have to say the picture was incredibly sharp. It was a little dim, but I think I can correct for that. I was impressed. It will be fun to catch the next CSI in HD (assuming, of course, that a world leader doesn't die at the end of it this week like last week).

Now for the major disappointment. When viewing satellite channels, every few minutes an error 005 box pops up and says that I am not authorized to view the channel I am watching. The problem goes away only to pop up again in a few minutes. Advanced Technical Support could not help and they say that I need to contact the retailer to obtain a replacement. The retailer said he didn't have any 921s to send and I need to contact Dish. Ugh! They took my number and promised to call back in 24 hours. I've been reading that other new 921 owners are having similar problems with long wait times. I'll post back when and if they make progress on this.

I'm not sure if I can really post any conclusions yet since I'm still in the middle of things. Dish had the opportunity to impress me if the installation would have gone flawlessly, and I gave them every opportunity to do so, but they (or the 921) blew it. I'll wait it out and demand a new (not remanufactured) 921 with no shipping cost if they can't fix it over the phone. You've got to make the best of it! In the meantime, there is plenty that I can do with my antenna system and amplifier to see if I can capture that last ounce of signal strength. I'll also play with live OTA broadcasts (especially the HD ones) and recording OTA.


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## redfishhunter (Aug 5, 2004)

Ever wonder why some dealer try to discourage their sub. from getting a 921...For us it is a daily occurence and we loose money at it also...Seems like Dishnetwork does not care anymore....They better get a serious attitude adjustment....


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

I hooked mine up last week, it showed the not authorized for this channel only for a short time until I guess it got all the info it needed...


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

redfishhunter said:


> Ever wonder why some dealer try to discourage their sub. from getting a 921


I do wonder but for a fact one dealer is so inept they couldn't find there a** with both hands. If you want to know which dealer I'm talking about, you will instantly know when you see them frantically trying to find their backside without success.


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## tahoerob (Mar 22, 2003)

Jason Kragt said:


> ...............
> 
> It is taking a while for me to get used to having to set screen formats and ratios. The 921 lets you choose between 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. It also lets you choose among 16x9 and two 4x3 modes. On top of that, my TV has normal, wide and zoom modes. After working with it a while I can find a combination that works best for a particular channel. However, what works best for one channel doesn't always look that good on another. It also appears that some channels broadcast in different formats throughout the day. I'm going to have to play with this more before I can say exactly what is going on.
> 
> ...


If you have a 16*9 TV with component or DVI, the TV will probably default to "FULL" mode when the 921 is set to HD. All the channels will look fine. HD channels/OTA will be in 16*9. SD or non-HD OTA will default to 4*3 with sidebars. You can then use the 921 remote to further change aspect modes via the sat box. The TV will stay in "full" due to HD input.

Some people monkey around with more complex settings but I do not.
I set 921 to 16*9 at 1080i (my TV is 768 native). I do not mind SD with sidebars since any other aspect change distorts teh PQ too much. However, a letterbox SD movie or show wll have both top/bottom bars & sidebars!! I then will use the "zoom" mode via 921 & the picture fills in nicely. Ex. Star Trek on UPN or most movies on IFC or AMC.

I chose the 1080i setting on the 921 since I would rather my Sony electronics upconvert or downconvert the content & not the 921, since most HD is 1080i. Thus, the HD will passthrough the 921 & my TV will change to appropriate output.

I do NOT have any SD video output from the 921, only component. Thus, I can stay in "HD" mode.

As for second part above, you must now become intimate with the REBOOT scenarios!!!!  A reboot will actually fix a lot of problems that pop up. 
There are 3 ways:
1. PULL POWER PLUG from wall. Turning the 921 off is NOT enough. This is the BEST way but not the most convenient depending on where the plug access is.
2. PRESS & HOLD POWER BUTTON. This works but I do not like it. 
3. PULL & REPLACE SMARTCARD in front panel. This is the easiest & my favorite but does run risk of card dammage if done too hard or too often. I did this weekly in the beginning, but RARELY now.

Sometimes if 2 & 3 do not work , you have to do #1.
Please note that REBOOT cycle is a full 3-5 minutes (seems long!!). Once you see Silver circle it has started. It should end with last channel coming in view with sound & video. HOWEVER, if on a music channel, it may not show video. Use remote to press in channel number ex. 1-0-1 & NOT up or down buttons.

In the beginning, it may take all night for all channels & guide to activate. I have had problems that took 5 reboots to fix. I even had some ominous messages about root software needing to reboot!! However, the 921 came through to work. It now works great except for rare 0 sec recordings & need for OTA guide. Good Luck.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, PULL POWER PLUG....WAIT A MINUTE.... REPLUG TO REBOOT!!!!


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Jason K said:


> This gives me ABC (41), NBC, PBS, FOX, UPN and weather radar. CBS and our second ABC (13) did not come in despite having a bright snowy picture in analog. Apparently, a strong analog signal is a more reliable indicator of digital reception than white snow on the digital channel.


Actually, it's not a reliable indicator at all - unless the digital and analog signals are coming from the same transmission site, and at similar power levels. This is less frequent than you might think.


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## bbriggs (Dec 17, 2003)

My 16x9 set allows all settings except 'Full' mode with 1080i input. The TV's various zoom/stretch modes aren't much better than those of the 921, however. The stretch mode of 921 overstretches material with sidebars to not only eliminate the sidebars but also a good portion of the image. Given all that, I agree with Tahoerob - sidebars are the lesser of evils.


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## Jason Kragt (Dec 20, 2002)

Just an update....

I grew impatient and decided not to wait for dish to call me back. I called back and the CSR said that he had no options. I had to wait for THEM TO CALL ME, and sometimes it was taking up to a week for callbacks. I told him that having to wait one week JUST TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD REPLACE THE UNIT was unacceptable and asked him to cancel service.

This, of course, finally put things into motion. I got routed to an account manager and he was able to ship a new unit out to me. 

I guess the moral of the story is that when all else fails, threaten to cancel.


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