Hopper OTA USB problems

gadgtfreek

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May 29, 2006
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It's a wonder how a bit of time and experience will change your perspective. :)

I had the black channel bug hit a few days ago about 8 days after installing the module. That's one episode from two different units so far. It may have occurred more often, then the nightly reboot fixes it.

Thats what bothers me about it. its not just a thing that happens after an install, requiring a 2nd reboot, it's happening a week down the road.
 

dangue

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This could be one of the reasons why the S230 release seems to have been slowed or stopped. I haven't experienced it here, but haven't watched/recorded much OTA yet.
 

gadgtfreek

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May 29, 2006
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I wasnt gonna use it at much first, but to be honest the OTA locals look a good bit better than the Dish versions, so Ill actually be using it almost every night.
 

Skytrooper

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Nov 5, 2012
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Baden, Pa.
I wasnt gonna use it at much first, but to be honest the OTA locals look a good bit better than the Dish versions, so Ill actually be using it almost every night.
I agree about great OTA picture quality. There was a 2 month period in which that is all I used, but I missed a lot of the programming not available OTA.
 

gadgtfreek

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May 29, 2006
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Ive seen it on both Directv and Dish here. About the only channel here that looks close is Fox. Not sure why, but Fringe on satellite looks about as good as Fringe on OTA. As far as ABC, CBS, NBC and CW, not so much.

CBS is REAL bad here, so any more compression just makes it worse.
 

Skytrooper

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Nov 5, 2012
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Ive seen it on both Directv and Dish here. About the only channel here that looks close is Fox. Not sure why, but Fringe on satellite looks about as good as Fringe on OTA. As far as ABC, CBS, NBC and CW, not so much.

CBS is REAL bad here, so any more compression just makes it worse.
All my OTA channels look great, other than CBS. I noticed a variation in OTA signal strength and pixeling on Dish. I have not yet figured this one out yet.
 

MikeD-C05

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Nov 25, 2003
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My timer for 9am worked. I left, came home, and the timer for 5pm failed. Went to black at some point during the day. Sigh...

Have you deleted all ota channels , saved ,then rescanned? Also delete all ota timers and re-create them? IF not do so and report back what happens then. I had one timer that everyday gave me a black screen and it happened every day at the same time on the same channel. I deleted the timer and re-created it and the black screen problems went away. I haven't had a single black screen since.
 

lynnjohn13

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Jun 22, 2012
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PA
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has been having this problem. Although I must say, it hasn't happened since my original post on the subject!
 

MikeD-C05

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Yes I did that. All OTAs were black when it happened.

Have you tired to remove the ota tuner and then let the receiver reboot and the try to re-add it? Also make sure your tuner is not hanging or side ways behind the receiver. The directions that come with the tuner say to make sure the tuner remains flat and horizontal, NOT vertical or hanging. I had several problems with this happening till I made sure that the tuner remained flat like the directions say.
 

gadgtfreek

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May 29, 2006
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I have mine flat behind the hopper. I have not been using timers yet, when I get back from vacation I may try removing and adding the tuner and channels back.
 

Bobby

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Have you tired to remove the ota tuner and then let the receiver reboot and the try to re-add it? Also make sure your tuner is not hanging or side ways behind the receiver. The directions that come with the tuner say to make sure the tuner remains flat and horizontal, NOT vertical or hanging. I had several problems with this happening till I made sure that the tuner remained flat like the directions say.

Mike, I brought up your experience with having the module flat before and I got shot down by several of our beta testers. Scott said that he has his module hanging down the back of his TV and all works fine. To further that, I, myself, have my module laying catty whompus behind my center speaker and all is good....
 

Tampa8

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Good point actually. Should probably reboot anytime something is added or changed, as you would usually with a computer.
 

KAB

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Good point actually. Should probably reboot anytime something is added or changed, as you would usually with a computer.

Yep. Expecting to receive mine within the hour. Will connect, then re-boot before I do anything else with it.
 

KAB

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Successfully installed OTA module. Of course right now, they (channels) all show up as "Digital Service" in the guide. Should I run a check switch to force a guide update like you would do with the VIP's? Or is there a different way with the Hopper. Or, should I just wait for tonight's update?
 

3HaloODST

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Jul 2, 2010
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Check switch no longer re downloads the guide like it does with the 722 and earlier receivers.

When I first hooked OTA I didn't even have to wait overnight for all the guide data. It can also update the guide when it and all linked Joeys are in standby.

DIRT also recommends a red button reboot + standby.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys
 

KAB

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Yep, most of them have filled in. A couple of the sub channels (MeTv, AntTv) are still showing no info available. Hopefully later. And yes, they did show on my 722K
 

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