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TuxCoder
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Well I'm happy to soon have a 921. You would think getting a new receiver like this would be a simple event, but not with me. I like to think through all my new possibilities till my hair hurts. :) Not even 24 hours after my name was drawn and I have many questions.

First, I'm a DHA customer with 522 and AT120+Locals (bill is $39.99 AT120+$4.98 VOD+lousy Ohio tax). It appears DHA will let me add the 921 to my account as if I purchased it, correct? Also, adding the 921 will add another $4.98 VOD fee and a $5 additional receiver fee, right? All the DHA documentation I can find only mentions the $5 rental fee instead of the normal additional receiver "mirroring" fee. I would have the 921 plugged into the phone line just like my 522 is now.

Now it gets a little more complicated. My 522 stays in single mode, so that brings my usage of it much closer to the functionality of the 921. In fact, the 921 seems to be quite a bit more than a 522: HD receiver, more DVR space than 522 if storing only SD, integrated off-air tuner for digital AND analog, A/V input, etc. I can make use of both receivers (even though it's just me living here), but what if I just want to replace the 522 with the 921? Somehow I don't think that would fly with DHA, but does anyone think there would be any hope?

Installation: if I add the 921 to have both receivers, E* wouldn't require a professional installer to run the new lines from my DP34, would they? FYI, I signed up through Radio Shack which means my service agreement is directly with Dish Network. On the other hand if I'm able to, and decide to, just swap receivers I don't see any problem at all with me just disconnecting the 522 and putting the 921 in its place.

Off-air tuner: simple question, the manual didn't seem to answer though... does it store the analog and digital stations intermixed in the channel list? For instance, in my area I would see (among many others): 7 (analog), 7.1, 7.2, 16 (analog), 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, and so on?

A/V input: does it work well? Just change to channel 0 at any time to see it? PIP support? I seem to remember the manual showing a screen shot of a DVR event being set up for channel 0 (AUX). I assume this illustration was straying from reality--it cannot record off the analog input, right?

Fun & games: I plan on slowly assimilating the 921 into my setup one step at a time. For instance, I'd like to play around with at first it not connected to the SAT feeds, then maybe connect them and play with it some more with its current software version, then let it update and play with the newer version. Finally, I'll have it authorized to fully experience the 921. :) It's a great learning process for me (go ahead, call me a geek). Any related suggestions, things to try out along the way?

Lastly, no I don't currently have an HD capable TV. But, save your guilt trips ;), HD is around the corner for me. How far away that corner is right now, I can't really answer. But as I stated above, currently the 921 looks like quite an upgrade to my 522 in single mode, even for SD programs (and downconverted HD programs from my local stations).

Since you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading this! :D
8 Replies · 2447 views
TuxCoder
Thanks for all your replies. I kinda would hate to get rid of the 522 so maybe I won't really worry about that anymore. It would save me $10 (on the other hand, it would only be saving me $10) a month... Also, just to clarify, I'm not on the DHA-12 or DHA-24 contracts, just a "service agreement" I guess would be the term (not the most unconfusing set of terms, I have to say).

And I agree Pepper, the DPP44 is tempting (a cool gadget to simplify my connections--always gets my attention) but just running two more lines from my DP34 is considerably cheaper and not very much effort. Although it is getting cold outside...

I know (from reading, at least) that the receivers are basically worthless with factory software. It's still fun to explore a little though, since once it takes the upgrade there's no turning back (who would want to, I know :)). And I like seeing/experiencing things with my own eyes. But I'll probably just be in a hurry to get it fully running anyway.

Mark - I saw games included in the 721 GPL'd source posting on Dish's website but didn't know what those were actually for. I didn't know the 921 also had them, and that they were accessible like that. "Appreciate" is probably the appropriate word. I'm sure I'll get a kick out of them but not sure just how much I'll enjoy playing them. ;)
TuxCoder
BTW, Mark, I notice your receiver collection is almost a perfect match with mine (and thanks again for my Pansat :)). Just curious, are you a Digital Home Advantage customer or did you buy your 522? If you're DHA, was there any grief from Dish when you were getting the 921 added to your account? Or is that a perfectly normal procedure that both their CSRs and their account management software can handle without it getting screwed up immediately or in the future...? Almost couldn't ask that one with a straight face. :)
TuxCoder
OK, got my 921, seems to work great and everything. :)

But it started flashing its power light at exactly 10:00pm EST (NIST time) to download the software and it's still doing it now (39 minutes later)... how long should L2.11 take to download? Also, I'd love to turn it on and see the download progress. According to Dish's website I should be able to go into the software update screen and see it download on the unused tuner, right?
B
TuxCoder said:
OK, got my 921, seems to work great and everything. :)

But it started flashing its power light at exactly 10:00pm EST (NIST time) to download the software and it's still doing it now (39 minutes later)... how long should L2.11 take to download? Also, I'd love to turn it on and see the download progress. According to Dish's website I should be able to go into the software update screen and see it download on the unused tuner, right?

Don't know that you need an unused tuner. You should have turned it on and watched, it's as fun as watching clothes go round in a front-load washer. You can, as I recall, watch 101 on the second tuner while it downloads on the first, equally fun.
TuxCoder
Hehe... retraction, about 4 minutes after I posted it did finish and update to L211. And now I just got off the phone to add it to my account.

Let the fun begin. :D

While waiting for activation, it did let me scan in all my digital OTA locals, and I seemed to be able to use DVR functions (hmm... maybe I can avoid the extra $10 and use it as a digital locals DVR? ;)). However, when on my digital OTA locals, my audio receiver just spits at me at a constant high rate. This is through the optical connection. I'll have to look into that.

Already though I've gleaned some interesting stuff out of the 921 while playing with it in the various stages I described above. For example, it had some funny guide data hardcoded into it (I've got pictures).
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so... :)
Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...
5449 Replies · 336086 views
TRG
TRG
Club sandwich and corn chowder. Iced tea.
dfergie
Chili dog bowl, water… (homemade chili)
TRG
TRG
Leftover wanton soup and pork fried rice. Water.
dfergie
IMG_5955.webp

Sweet tea…
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TRG
TRG
Tuna salad sandwich on toasted honey whole wheat bread with a handful of kettle chips. Water.
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Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68658 Replies · 2680224 views
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dishstaller
I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
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Bobby
98.6 - Keith
harshness
I'm Easy - Keith Carridine
gms49ers
It's Easy - Boston
RaiderPower
Take It Easy On Me - Little River Band
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R
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
Lately my eight year old Dell laptop has been shutting off even when I have a full battery. I have had to keep it plugged up all the time to keep this from happening. Any idea what is causing this? I replaced the battery about three years ago.
2 Replies · 46 views
arlo
A recalibration might be needed. Even if it shows full, the individual cells may have become unbalaced. And the BMS chip in the battery reports false information to the pc.
Try this. Start it up in the bios/uefi and leave it there until the battery dies and it shuts off.
It might just keep running longer than in Windows. Or run for a short while and shut off.
If it's the first case. Probably just needs a balancing. If the latter, the pack might just be dead.
Not throwing stones but perhaps just a cheaply constructed battery with substandard cells. Could be.

Patience. Keep restarting it in bios/uefi until it won't fire up anymore.
Then plug the charger in and let it complete a full charge. And see what happens. If it's better.
Do the same thing one more time. Run it until it dies dead-dead. Then just let it charge, pc shut off.
When charged, it might be better. It might not be.

There are bench jigs that read the actual BMS and override it to let a tech manually monitor and charge the separate packs. They can also reset any "time bombs" in it that cause an otherwise good pack to show bad.
Maybe Santa will be good to me some year.

You might just need a new battery. Maybe the PC power management chip is going. A Dell common thing.
Leaving a laptop plugged in with a full battery is known to reduce the life. Asus for one recommends that you don't leave the charger plugged in all of the time even when shut down. And setting Windows to charge the battery to 85% instead of 100% increases life.
That's all I got.
dishstaller
That's all I got.
That was quite enough....I definitely learned something from your post. Thanks
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
5 Replies · 285 views
b4pjoe
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
If you can't get into the router to reserve an IP address just don't use DHCP on the device that needs connected and assign it to a specific IP address in the network settings.
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HipKat
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
They are not. Your best bet is to set up a third-party router, attached to the Starlink for your server, that you can get into, like a Linksys, etc
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Foxbat
…it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
The Starlink V5 Install Kit I just got comes with the Mini Router. It is pretty limited in what it can do. For example, it can provide only one IP subnet at a time, no Guest Network, but it does support the pass-thru to a third-party Router. You can also split the Wi-Fi into separate 5 GHz & 2.4 GHz SSIDs to help some IoT devices that don't support 5 GHz bands to work.

The larger Starlink Router that still comes with the V4 Kit does support a Guest Network with separate IPv4 Subnet, but it's $120 from Starlink. And it still won't do DHCP Reservations.
harshness
If you can restrict the DHCP address space to assign addresses to one end of the subnet (i.e. x.x.x.50+), you can manually assign the IP address on pretty much any operating system. This is a default behavior on several popular routers. As the Router Mini only supports 235 devices, I expect that's already done.

Another option is to use a router that supports PoE to power the antenna. This article discusses that option (under PoE Power heading):

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Foxbat
Now that I've had the v5 kit with the Mini Router, it's not as bad as I first thought. Yes, no DHCP reservations, but you can set up multiple SSIDs that have separate IPv4 subnets, and like the big brother, you can select from 192.168.x.0/24 or 10.x.0.0/16 (where "x" is 1-4).

You can also split a subnet and have different SSIDs for the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz channels to handle some IoT devices. I haven't discovered what subnet the 2nd NIC on the router assigns, I'm guessing it's the first subnet.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
2 Replies · 51 views
dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

2 Replies · 55 views
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Jimbo
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

They will have to look at the switching sections to determine WHY 2 trains were on the same track ... at the same time.
dishstaller
Thought this article might be of interest to some of you who might travel via train.