942 Ota

[mothergoose45]

I have read several posts with people talking about the 942 OTA tuner not working correctly. Is there a problem with it, or is it not as good as the 811. Just want to make sure there is a fix if something is wrong. Want the 942 but need the OTA to work properly.

 

[joemama]

I don't have any trouble with it.

 

[Grandpa J]

My 942s OTA channels are better than my 811s were.

 

[VMsat]

When I first had my 942 installed everything worked okay. i have my OTA and Sat coming into the house over one coax, then at the box i used a splitter/diplexer and plugged the OTA side into the OTA slot on the back of the 942. I only have 2 digital stations that I can pick up where I live, channel 9-1,2,3 and 20-1,2. When i first had my 942 installed both channel 9 and 20 worked. Then a few days ago I noticed that channel 20 did not work. I shows that there is a signal of anywhere between 80 and 93 but the screen in black. I have tried everything I can think of to make this work. Channel 9 still works with no problem. I thought mayber there was a problem with the station so I plugged the OTA coax straight into the tv and channel 20 works fine that way using the digital tuner within the tv. Have any ideas? I might try and split the OTA and Sat into two coaxes on the roof then bring both into the house and see if it works this way.

 

[Minsk1]

In my case 942 OTA tuner is much stronger than 811 one. We have two low-power stations. 942 works just fine, 811 is breaking. So I use Voom box for locals instead of 811 and it works fine. Without splitter 811 will work too. But I need splitter. So I ordered signal amplifier in addition to Titan 7777 preamp. Will see if it helps.

 

[bookwalk]

Our 942 OTA works ok, BUT the guide shows no programming details for 4 out of the 5 local stations we pick up OTA--it shows the call letters, station, etc, but nothing but "Digital Service" where the programs should be.

Is this normal or what could be wrong?

Using the Wineguard Sensor II (powered) from VOOM and connected and powered through the OTA input on the 942.

 

[dougmcbride]

Our 942 OTA works ok, BUT the guide shows no programming details for 4 out of the 5 local stations we pick up OTA--it shows the call letters, station, etc, but nothing but "Digital Service" where the programs should be.

Is this normal or what could be wrong?

Using the Wineguard Sensor II (powered) from VOOM and connected and powered through the OTA input on the 942.

The "Digital Service" issue is known and being worked on with a few other 942 issues according to the folks over at dbstalk. There is actually a thread in the 942 support forum there where people are reporting what stations they are not receving guide data on and it is being passed along to DISH.

Doug

 

[lapplegate]

Our 942 OTA works ok, BUT the guide shows no programming details for 4 out of the 5 local stations we pick up OTA--it shows the call letters, station, etc, but nothing but "Digital Service" where the programs should be.

Is this normal or what could be wrong?

Using the Wineguard Sensor II (powered) from VOOM and connected and powered through the OTA input on the 942.

Bookwalk,
Are you subscibing to the dish locals package?

I am not sure, but I believe the 942 is like the 921 and requires that you subscribe to the Dish locals and it pulls the program information from them.

 

[sampatterson]

My 942s are better than the 811 or 921s I had. I have bad multipath problems and the 942 seems to be able to handle it better.

 

[shanewalker]

I am one of those unfortunate souls having OTA issues with my 942. I've had technicians try all sorts of checks/combos--even having swapped out an 811 to check wiring in the room with the 942, as well as running a line straight from the antenna (no sat feed/diplexer)...no go on several Chicago locals (big three networks and PBS 11 the only solid/non-pixellated channels).

I've been around and around the various forums, and one thread over at DBStalk seems to suggest others in other markets are having similar issues and that it might be the tuner's software that has a bug in it. Here's a link:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=41135&page=2

I'm curious if this breaks down to particulars of market/frequency/network and the tuner software. Don't know much along that angle, but when my question about the 942 OTA tuner was addressed in last nights Tech Forum, they leaned towards particular broadcaster/942 incompatiblities. Anyone have a 942 in the Chicago area, and if so, are you experiencing probs with OTA?

 

[shanewalker]

Follow-up on my OTA issues...a $9.99 variable attenuator from Radio Shack seems to have done the trick. Seems things were overmodulated, when set to medium strength, bingo, I get good artifact-free lock on all the channels. I'm watching 32.1 Fox ("House") right now, and though the signal has cut out for a split second and there were some hints of audio drop-out, that might just mean I need to do some minor tweaking (or when the mandate kicks in the broadcast power might jump and I'll have to reset this whole thing anyway).

So, I guess the 942 has a tuner much more sensitive to overpowered/overmodulated signals coming down the wire. I'm going to call E* tomorrow and let them know, as many folks might benefit from the same relatively simple fix (until they can [hopefully] provide a permanent remedy via software update, etc.). Might be that certain markets/locations are more prone to 8VSB overmodulation and that's why it seems to be affecting only pockets of 942 owners...but again, I'm no expert on these matters, so my language or logic could be way off.

 

[jerastan]

well i'm in the same boat as many others now. switched from voom to the 942 and have 1 ota now vs. 10 before. alll the moron at d/n could say was "the 942 ota tuner was no good."

 

[normang]

well i'm in the same boat as many others now. switched from voom to the 942 and have 1 ota now vs. 10 before. alll the moron at d/n could say was "the 942 ota tuner was no good."

I somehow doubt that a CSR would say that the 942's tuner is bad or "no good", I suspect that there is something about your installation is faulty or its possible that you have a defective 942. But to just come out and say I had 10 channels before and only one now when so many other people are having few or no issues, some even say they think that the 942 tuner is better, leaves one to wonder what is wrong in your setup in the first place, if your 942 is not defective.

 

[jerastan]

I somehow doubt that a CSR would say that the 942's tuner is bad or "no good", I suspect that there is something about your installation is faulty or its possible that you have a defective 942. But to just come out and say I had 10 channels before and only one now when so many other people are having few or no issues, some even say they think that the 942 tuner is better, leaves one to wonder what is wrong in your setup in the first place, if your 942 is not defective.

well, i was as taken back as you are doubtful. he was telling me how my $800.00 voom stb had the best ota tuner ever and the 942 was one of the worst. as far as issues go, do a search my friend. both here and the dbs site have plenty of folks having 942/ota "issues." it could be an installation problem, but it hasn't been confirmed yet, hence my post.

 

[jerastan]

oh, it was an "advanced technician" that made the statement about the tuner.

 

[normang]

oh, it was an "advanced technician" that made the statement about the tuner.

I find this even less likely.. These people aren't going to talk to customers and slam their own products if they value their jobs. Much of customer service in many companies is monitored, they aren't going to say things to slam their company or its products, the most they should do is try and resolve your problem, and if they suspect a defective product, setup a replacement.

If you really suffered a 90% channel loss from one box to another, and nothing else has changed, I would suspect a hardware problem and ask for a replacement.

 

[jerastan]

I find this even less likely.. These people aren't going to talk to customers and slam their own products if they value their jobs. Much of customer service in many companies is monitored, they aren't going to say things to slam their company or its products, the most they should do is try and resolve your problem, and if they suspect a defective product, setup a replacement.

If you really suffered a 90% channel loss from one box to another, and nothing else has changed, I would suspect a hardware problem and ask for a replacement.

well, you can doubt it all you like. the guy was a complete ass. he told me right off the bat that they don't support ota. come on man. you're kidding right? i'm pretty sure i have better things to do than fabricate some story about these people. so far the d/n folks have not offered to send the installer back out to fix it. they have only told me that i could continue to use the voom stb or amplify the current line. i did talk to the installer myself today. he was not very well rehersed w/ the ota stuff. i should've just contacted the guys that installed my voom stuff. they were awesome.

 

[bookwalk]

Bookwalk,
Are you subscibing to the dish locals package?

I am not sure, but I believe the 942 is like the 921 and requires that you subscribe to the Dish locals and it pulls the program information from them.

Yes--I do subscribe.

 

[RogerD]

When I first had my 942 installed everything worked okay. i have my OTA and Sat coming into the house over one coax, then at the box i used a splitter/diplexer and plugged the OTA side into the OTA slot on the back of the 942. I only have 2 digital stations that I can pick up where I live, channel 9-1,2,3 and 20-1,2. When i first had my 942 installed both channel 9 and 20 worked. Then a few days ago I noticed that channel 20 did not work. I shows that there is a signal of anywhere between 80 and 93 but the screen in black. I have tried everything I can think of to make this work. Channel 9 still works with no problem. I thought mayber there was a problem with the station so I plugged the OTA coax straight into the tv and channel 20 works fine that way using the digital tuner within the tv. Have any ideas? I might try and split the OTA and Sat into two coaxes on the roof then bring both into the house and see if it works this way.

I like to concure on this finding. I live in Bay Area and I receive many OTA channels. I have no problems with the other channels that I used to get except channel 20-1 and 20-2 for some reason. Their signal strength is actually better than other channels I am getting. I can see the picture but there are horrible pixelations. This only happens to 942. I have two 811 that basically uses the same OTA feed and channel 20 comes in fine for them. I unplug the same OTA cable to my 942 and plug it into a VOOM box or my TV's ATSC tuner and they all receive channel 20 fine. It is not like 942 has a worse tuner than the others because it seem to pick up some channel stronger than the others. But channel 20 is a problem for some reason. 942 may have a bug for that particular frequency. Weird.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

I like to concure on this finding. I live in Bay Area and I receive many OTA channels. I have no problems with the other channels that I used to get except channel 20-1 and 20-2 for some reason. Their signal strength is actually better than other channels I am getting. I can see the picture but there are horrible pixelations. This only happens to 942. I have two 811 that basically uses the same OTA feed and channel 20 comes in fine for them. I unplug the same OTA cable to my 942 and plug it into a VOOM box or my TV's ATSC tuner and they all receive channel 20 fine. It is not like 942 has a worse tuner than the others because it seem to pick up some channel stronger than the others. But channel 20 is a problem for some reason. 942 may have a bug for that particular frequency. Weird.

I get 20.1 and 20.2 just fine with my 942 so i dont think it is the reciever.