Dish receiver finds very little Ota channels

dieharddan

Member
Original poster
May 14, 2019
11
4
usa
Hello, I recently plugged my outdoor tv antenna into my vip211k dish receiver and am only able to receive 6 channels (sometimes 11) while my tv, hdhomerun and android tv box can all pick up 70+ channels. I went in and changed a few different setting related to ota in the menu but it didn't help. Do you think there's an issue with my receiver or are the tuners in theses generally very weak?
 
I would try swapping the input to the TV tuner on the 211K with one of the other devices to see if the signal strength changes.
 
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What kind of signal levels are you getting on the channels the 211 can pull in? Maybe you're dealing with a bad/weak OTA tuner.
 
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But are you using a single line from the antenna or are you splitting it? Splitting it will degrade the signal strength.
If I remember correctly, the cable comes off the antenna to a splitter outside the house, then from the splitter to a wall plate behind the tv where I can screw a short coax cord directly to the dish receiver
 
I wish I had more that I could add. I'm on the Hopper 1 and run from OTA on my roof, into the house, to a wall plate, to amp inside the house, to splitter, then one directly to TV and second to Hopper OTA dongle. With that setup, I notice slight weaker signals through the Hopper, mainly on channels broadcasting from a greater distance. But, where I get about 45 channels via the TV directly, I get 40 to 42 on the Hopper. When I had the VIP 722k, I ran directly to the receiver and switched the cable with the TV to test each, I noticed a similar difference in strength. But, it must be noted that was 7 years ago. So, signal strengths and channel offerings aren't 100% comparable then as is to now.

If you aren't using an amp, could that be your issue?
 
I'm not using any amps and only one device at a time

When you try the other devices, you simply unscrew the coax from the 211 and attach to the other devices, is that correct? If so it does seem like there is a problem with the tuner on the 211. I have no experience with that receiver to know how good it is. My Vip 612 does not pull in stations as well as my Tivo or TV, but not that much different.
 
When you try the other devices, you simply unscrew the coax from the 211 and attach to the other devices, is that correct? If so it does seem like there is a problem with the tuner on the 211. I have no experience with that receiver to know how good it is. My Vip 612 does not pull in stations as well as my Tivo or TV, but not that much different.
That is correct, I unscrew from the 211 and screw into another device for a 60+ channel gain. I guess that's what i'm trying to figure out is if my receivers tuner is bad or this model is not very good for ota.
 
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That is correct, I unscrew from the 211 and screw into another device for a 60+ channel gain. I guess that's what i'm trying to figure out is if my receivers tuner is bad or this model is not very good for ota.

You nailed it, that's the question. I don't happen to know that.