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Gary K

Last reply Sep 22, 2023 · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Need Repair for 9242 and 6131 Satellite Receivers

I have a 9242 and 6131. The 6131 has an external hard drive. Both, unfortunately, are showing BOOTSTRAP errors and will not get past the first bar. The receivers are both more than 10 years old.

I have been reading that this may likely be related to capacitors gone bad. I need to find someone to repair these two units. There is a complicating issue which I can discuss with whoever I find to do the repairs. But reaching out to Dish Network is not an option.

I am in Bergen County in New Jersey. If anyone can point me in the right direction for a 3rd party repair service qualified to provide this service I would be most appreciative. I can ship the receivers to the right party, but it would be enormously advantageous to find someone local if possible. I am completely incompetent with tools and soldering and anything of the kind, so the do-it-yourself approach is not viable for me.

Any recommendations would be HUGELY welcome and appreciated.

Thanks every so much!

Gary

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 4, 2023

I can show how to find the exact bad caps, and teach you how to replace without removing the main board from the receiver I used to repair 5-10 C-band receivers a week and get them from all over the US it beat working outside 99% is common sense when its bad caps, which is 75% of repairs

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Almighty1

Sep 18, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
I can show how to find the exact bad caps, and teach you how to replace without removing the main board from the receiver I used to repair 5-10 C-band receivers a week and get them from all over the US it beat working outside 99% is common sense when its bad caps, which is 75% of repairs

I would like to learn how to find the exact bad caps as well as usually i replace everything in a electronics component unless someone mentioned the specific ones like in a Panamax 1000+ Surge Protector and then replace them with Japanese uality capacitors like Panasonic, Nichicon, Rubycon, United Chemi-Con, Nippon Chemi-Con.

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 18, 2023

Almighty1 said:
I would like to learn how to find the exact bad caps as well as usually i replace everything in a electronics component unless someone mentioned the specific ones like in a Panamax 1000+ Surge Protector and then replace them with Japanese uality capacitors like Panasonic, Nichicon, Rubycon, United Chemi-Con, Nippon Chemi-Con.

Call me 203 232 8888

Almighty1

Sep 18, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
Call me 203 232 8888

Might be better if it was in writing to reference for myself and others in the future as verbally, one might not get all things down correctly while in written, it will also be beneficial to others too when they look at the post later.

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 18, 2023

Almighty1 said:
Might be better if it was in writing to reference for myself and others in the future as verbally, one might not get all things down correctly while in written, it will also be beneficial to others too when they look at the post later.

I'm bad at doing it that way unless you open the receiver up and take very high-quality pictures of everything you see You're asking a doctor to operate on your body without seeing X-rays first, let's see what you have.

Don't do it as an attachment, use the insert image, go very high resolution, with a flash, or take it outside in full sunlight, I must see discoloration of the parts heat marks on the board even dust, all are clues it's like looking at footprints, knowing what to look for.

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Almighty1

Sep 20, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
I'm bad at doing it that way unless you open the receiver up and take very high-quality pictures of everything you see You're asking a doctor to operate on your body without seeing X-rays first, let's see what you have.

Don't do it as an attachment, use the insert image, go very high resolution, with a flash, or take it outside in full sunlight, I must see discoloration of the parts heat marks on the board even dust, all are clues it's like looking at footprints, knowing what to look for.

The Op is the one who actually has something that needs fixing. I do not have something that needs fixing yet so there would be no photos I can even provide as I am not asking about something that already gone bad but it's more for future reference like I know it's easy to tell the capacitors are leaking or swollen like those from the infamous capacitor plague from 1999-2007 that put many computer companies out of business including ABIT. So it's more asking what should I be looking for and obviously, I need something that actually has bad capacitors and also good capacitors that does not have the leaking or swollen symptoms as there are bad capacitors that have dried out. So I am not asking about something I have that has problems as I already fixed the ones with problems by replacing all the capacitors with new ones which works even better than the manufacturers fix being a PC Power & Cooling computer Power Supply which had a 7 year warranty and considered the best but it failed at 5 years and they fixed it which worked for another 5 years but my fix is still working after another 10 years and still going strong. I know what you mean about operating on a body without seeing X-rays first but remember there is no body available in my case, I am asking more on how to learn the skills for a future need when I do experience it so instead of replacing everything as I do not have the diagnostic tools to test the capacitors like some people do so I will need to either replace them all or figure out how to tell if they are bad and then look for suitable replacements and it's not just the Japanese brands but also finding something that has the same specs or better specs like 105C, hours rating, among other things from places like DigiKey and Mouser Electronics which means I will only be making one order and not only ordering a few and then replace it and it doesn't work, order again and replace the other ones as that would be costly in shipping costs at $5.00 per order as the quality capacitors are less than the shipping. Also, from what I have learned, one still needs to know how each of the capacitors is used in the circuit and if it is related to the power supply output or not as a power supply output capacitor is stressed more than a general purpose decoupling capacitor. If these are general purpose parts, then 105C general purpose parts from a good vendor should do fine and all one needs to look at is the V and the uF rating but if the capacitor is power supply output capacitor, then one has to match or exceed the impendence of the original part which may be harder without actually finding the spec sheet for the original capacitor in question.

For your other comment, I am not the one who has the problem as that question should be for the OP since he would be able to show you photos and from your photo, it's obvious that the big black capacitor on the left is bad but what about the other capacitors on the right hand side of that circuit board? How do you tell which ones have problems without it having something obvious like leaking, swollen? In better words, I am more trying to learn from someone else's examples of a device with issues so when I actually have a patient/device that fails, I will atleast know what to look for and know which capacitors to replace. And what you said is true, many electronics that fail can be fixed simply by replacing the capacitors a majority of the time unless some other part(s) failed as well which is the same reason many people find things people throw away and then fix it.

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 21, 2023

Almighty1 said:
The Op is the one who actually has something that needs fixing. I do not have something that needs fixing yet so there would be no photos I can even provide as I am not asking about something that already gone bad but it's more for future reference like I know it's easy to tell the capacitors are leaking or swollen like those from the infamous capacitor plague from 1999-2007 that put many computer companies out of business including ABIT. So it's more asking what should I be looking for and obviously, I need something that actually has bad capacitors and also good capacitors that does not have the leaking or swollen symptoms as there are bad capacitors that have dried out. So I am not asking about something I have that has problems as I already fixed the ones with problems by replacing all the capacitors with new ones which works even better than the manufacturers fix being a PC Power & Cooling computer Power Supply which had a 7 year warranty and considered the best but it failed at 5 years and they fixed it which worked for another 5 years but my fix is still working after another 10 years and still going strong. I know what you mean about operating on a body without seeing X-rays first but remember there is no body available in my case, I am asking more on how to learn the skills for a future need when I do experience it so instead of replacing everything as I do not have the diagnostic tools to test the capacitors like some people do so I will need to either replace them all or figure out how to tell if they are bad and then look for suitable replacements and it's not just the Japanese brands but also finding something that has the same specs or better specs like 105C, hours rating, among other things from places like DigiKey and Mouser Electronics which means I will only be making one order and not only ordering a few and then replace it and it doesn't work, order again and replace the other ones as that would be costly in shipping costs at $5.00 per order as the quality capacitors are less than the shipping. Also, from what I have learned, one still needs to know how each of the capacitors is used in the circuit and if it is related to the power supply output or not as a power supply output capacitor is stressed more than a general purpose decoupling capacitor. If these are general purpose parts, then 105C general purpose parts from a good vendor should do fine and all one needs to look at is the V and the uF rating but if the capacitor is power supply output capacitor, then one has to match or exceed the impendence of the original part which may be harder without actually finding the spec sheet for the original capacitor in question.

For your other comment, I am not the one who has the problem as that question should be for the OP since he would be able to show you photos and from your photo, it's obvious that the big black capacitor on the left is bad but what about the other capacitors on the right hand side of that circuit board? How do you tell which ones have problems without it having something obvious like leaking, swollen? In better words, I am more trying to learn from someone else's examples of a device with issues so when I actually have a patient/device that fails, I will atleast know what to look for and know which capacitors to replace. And what you said is true, many electronics that fail can be fixed simply by replacing the capacitors a majority of the time unless some other part(s) failed as well which is the same reason many people find things people throw away and then fix it.

Well, when your eyes can not see it, you use logic most caps near heat sources die first they dry out not always show signs of being bad.

So while the unit is under power and you see it dead or acting up by not doing what its supposed to do you trick it.

With heat and with cold, if you don't have a good heat gun with a narrow tip use a hair dryer around the heat sink areas, about 3 seconds then wait another 15 seconds if needed unplug power reboot it may come back to life or the bad function work again for a minute then die as the device cools down

but that is with dry caps, what about shorted ones or even shorted transistors or chips well then the same trick can work on all parts with cold spray cheap cold spray can be made by taking dust cleaner turn the can upside down once you freeze the whole board wait 30 seconds if it comes back great also reboot great

now in either case if you got something working divide the board in half to find out which side has the issue, the divide again in the end you may need to even use a solder iron to heat the cap or a wand of cold spray to narrow down the exact part this trick works on cold solder joints too but there is one more trick

The trick is pressure if you have a bad solder joint use plastic or wood and press on the board if it comes back to life press less until you barley touch the part and it kicks back to life

I have fixed a lot of crap without knowing what is in it

another trick on a dead unit is to put a ohm meter on the power cord it should never read fully open or shorted open look for fuses, many times they don't look like fuses a short means a bad bad diode bridge or diode in the power supply check each diode one is shorted

Now how to replace a bad part with muti layer boards without unsoldering the part because the odds it will never work you must cut it apart and leave the wires from the part intack and solder a new part to what is left connected to the board

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Almighty1

Sep 21, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
Well, when your eyes can not see it, you use logic most caps near heat sources die first they dry out not always show signs of being bad.

So while the unit is under power and you see it dead or acting up by not doing what its supposed to do you trick it.

With heat and with cold, if you don't have a good heat gun with a narrow tip use a hair dryer around the heat sink areas, about 3 seconds then wait another 15 seconds if needed unplug power reboot it may come back to life or the bad function work again for a minute then die as the device cools down

but that is with dry caps, what about shorted ones or even shorted transistors or chips well then the same trick can work on all parts with cold spray cheap cold spray can be made by taking dust cleaner turn the can upside down once you freeze the whole board wait 30 seconds if it comes back great also reboot great

now in either case if you got something working divide the board in half to find out which side has the issue, the divide again in the end you may need to even use a solder iron to heat the cap or a wand of cold spray to narrow down the exact part this trick works on cold solder joints too but there is one more trick

The trick is pressure if you have a bad solder joint use plastic or wood and press on the board if it comes back to life press less until you barley touch the part and it kicks back to life

I have fixed a lot of crap without knowing what is in it

another trick on a dead unit is to put a ohm meter on the power cord it should never read fully open or shorted open look for fuses, many times they don't look like fuses a short means a bad bad diode bridge or diode in the power supply check each diode one is shorted

Now how to replace a bad part with muti layer boards without unsoldering the part because the odds it will never work you must cut it apart and leave the wires from the part intack and solder a new part to what is left connected to the board

Yes, logic would work sometimes and sometimes would not work as sometimes it can be just a defective capacitor that does not have the physical issues which are visible and also did not dry out as I have heard some people had capacitors that were new and then failed a certain time later.

The other part you mentioned are good ways for diagnostics since I thought when you replied to the OP originally, you said you can just tell visually which caps are bad.

Thanks for the tips as that's better than not having the tips.

There was a famous case in the 1990s where all Sony CRT TVs from Mexico will eventually fail all with the same problem, the tuner will not work and only show snow which is not a capacitor issue or a IC issue for that matter but more because of a cold soldering joint issue of the tuner.

I do have a current issue and this is on a 2000's PC running Windows XP 32bit, the only reason I still have it is WinFax Pro will not work on newer OSes but basically the issue is I have a nVideo GeForce FX5950 video card that drives a Silicon Graphics Inc 1600SW LCD monitor that requires a special 1600x1024 60hz video mode so I can't just replace it with another video card as it first needs to have that mode and another FX5950 is hard to find unless one was willing to pay a few hundred for one, it seems weird that usually old obsolete hardware is worthless but in this case, it seems to command a premium even for a used one. But anyways, the issue is the card works fine outside windows but once in windows, it will cause the entire monitor to go into standby so it can show video, standby for maybe 20-30 times before it is stable and then repeat again and then assuming the video is stable, there will be some areas of the screen randomly that the video will get messed up or garbled but the mouse cursor in that area will look correct but if that section is black, you will not see the mouse cursor and refrshing the desktop with F5 does not fix it, it is also causing static on the audio output of things while windows is running. What I noticed the power cable from the PC Power Supply when I opened the computer a few months later was disconnected from the video card probably from the vibration of all the fans as I do have 12 high speed 80mm fans. So what I am guessing is the video card's fan was not working as the power cable is to supply both additional power needed by the video card as well as to power the fans so either the GPU itself has the issue or other things. The capacitors might be the cause but it may be solid state caps or not as there are non-solid state capacitors that look visually similar to the solid state type. That one may be harder to figure out wat is wrong.

Another one is I have this countertop oven that when it works, it works after the problem started. Other times, as soon as you turn it on or after a few seconds or even a minute later, it will cause the GFCI outlet to trip and will continue to trip until you keep trying to turn it on with lots of patience until it no longer trips it and then it will work fine again which might be days or even months until the same problem happens again.

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 21, 2023

Almighty1 said:
Yes, logic would work sometimes and sometimes would not work as sometimes it can be just a defective capacitor that does not have the physical issues which are visible and also did not dry out as I have heard some people had capacitors that were new and then failed a certain time later.

The other part you mentioned are good ways for diagnostics since I thought when you replied to the OP originally, you said you can just tell visually which caps are bad.

Thanks for the tips as that's better than not having the tips.

There was a famous case in the 1990s where all Sony CRT TVs from Mexico will eventually fail all with the same problem, the tuner will not work and only show snow which is not a capacitor issue or a IC issue for that matter but more because of a cold soldering joint issue of the tuner.

I do have a current issue and this is on a 2000's PC running Windows XP 32bit, the only reason I still have it is WinFax Pro will not work on newer OSes but basically the issue is I have a nVideo GeForce FX5950 video card that drives a Silicon Graphics Inc 1600SW LCD monitor that requires a special 1600x1024 60hz video mode so I can't just replace it with another video card as it first needs to have that mode and another FX5950 is hard to find unless one was willing to pay a few hundred for one, it seems weird that usually old obsolete hardware is worthless but in this case, it seems to command a premium even for a used one. But anyways, the issue is the card works fine outside windows but once in windows, it will cause the entire monitor to go into standby so it can show video, standby for maybe 20-30 times before it is stable and then repeat again and then assuming the video is stable, there will be some areas of the screen randomly that the video will get messed up or garbled but the mouse cursor in that area will look correct but if that section is black, you will not see the mouse cursor and refrshing the desktop with F5 does not fix it, it is also causing static on the audio output of things while windows is running. What I noticed the power cable from the PC Power Supply when I opened the computer a few months later was disconnected from the video card probably from the vibration of all the fans as I do have 12 high speed 80mm fans. So what I am guessing is the video card's fan was not working as the power cable is to supply both additional power needed by the video card as well as to power the fans so either the GPU itself has the issue or other things. The capacitors might be the cause but it may be solid state caps or not as there are non-solid state capacitors that look visually similar to the solid state type. That one may be harder to figure out wat is wrong.

Another one is I have this countertop oven that when it works, it works after the problem started. Other times, as soon as you turn it on or after a few seconds or even a minute later, it will cause the GFCI outlet to trip and will continue to trip until you keep trying to turn it on with lots of patience until it no longer trips it and then it will work fine again which might be days or even months until the same problem happens again.

both items could be found using heat or cold spray cold fixes shorts for a short time, if not hard shorted, but goes shorted after power goes on

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Almighty1

Sep 22, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
both items could be found using heat or cold spray cold fixes shorts for a short time, if not hard shorted, but goes shorted after power goes on

I know the oven is probably easier and one thing I forgot to mention with the video card, when it messes with the video, the computer actually freezes and I know if I use software to remotely access the computer, the video will also be bad because it would cause the video driver to crash and the actual computer will no longer have video without rebooting and if I tried a video test using software on the computer, the computer would completely freeze and not be responsive as in even the keyboard lights will be locked solid when hitting caps lock until atleast 30-45 minutes later before it's available to respond again. I have no experience with cold spray but will give that idea a shot when I have time assuming I am able to buy it online . The video card will be a bit hard as I have not figured out how to disassemble it so I actually have access to see the electronics as it has a plastic shield and a fan that I have not figured out how to remove yet. I guess if that fails, I'll just use one of the two older models of video cards I found earlier today that I used originally that worked back in the 2000's before replacing it with the one that currently failed. In any case, thanks again for your tips.

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(((Garyd)))

Sep 22, 2023

Almighty1 said:
I know the oven is probably easier and one thing I forgot to mention with the video card, when it messes with the video, the computer actually freezes and I know if I use software to remotely access the computer, the video will also be bad because it would cause the video driver to crash and the actual computer will no longer have video without rebooting and if I tried a video test using software on the computer, the computer would completely freeze and not be responsive as in even the keyboard lights will be locked solid when hitting caps lock until atleast 30-45 minutes later before it's available to respond again. I have no experience with cold spray but will give that idea a shot when I have time assuming I am able to buy it online . The video card will be a bit hard as I have not figured out how to disassemble it so I actually have access to see the electronics as it has a plastic shield and a fan that I have not figured out how to remove yet. I guess if that fails, I'll just use one of the two older models of video cards I found earlier today that I used originally that worked back in the 2000's before replacing it with the one that currently failed. In any case, thanks again for your tips.

The problem could be the computer power supply not being able to keep up with any extra load you I would use heat on the caps of the power supply and see if that helps you may be getting too much AC ripple on your 5 Volt DC which will cause all kinds of crazy things to happen There is more then one 5 volt DC line, use heat on all the caps in the power supply and see if all your issues go away then use cold to screw it up as a test

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Almighty1

Sep 22, 2023

(((Garyd))) said:
The problem could be the computer power supply not being able to keep up with any extra load you I would use heat on the caps of the power supply and see if that helps you may be getting too much AC ripple on your 5 Volt DC which will cause all kinds of crazy things to happen There is more then one 5 volt DC line, use heat on all the caps in the power supply and see if all your issues go away then use cold to screw it up as a test

Hard to say as one of the reasons with PC Power & Cooling Power Supplies are expensive is it delivers the actual current of 450Watts on all the rails at the same time under full load since this is a $500 power supply while other brands usually can deliver less when under load which is why they sell for $150 or less and this is the one where I replaced all the caps with good ones. Remember the video card had external power that somehow got disconnected on it's own for 6+ months so it could also be that the GPU itself or other components died from the heat as the fan on the video card was no longer running for all that time as this machine is 24/7/365. Ofcourse it's possible it's the PSU is having problems again but the better way is just to use my other video cards which are literally almost the same model as this is just a FX5900 instead of the FX5950 currently in it, the FX5950 is just a slightly newer FX5900. I have an entire thread from 2014 on replacing the capacitors on the PSU in question at:

Replacement Capacitors for PC Power & Cooling, Inc. Turbo-Cool 450ATX Power Supply - Badcaps

Greetings: It appears that the capacitors in my PC Power & Cooling, Inc. Turbo-Cool 450ATX Power Supply need replacement. This power supply appears to be made by WIN-TACT Corp as the two circuit boards all say PC Power & Cooling, Inc. on them but one of the boards has WIN-TACT Corp stamped on...

www.badcaps.net

It looks like the PSU was the original model from before 2002 as the newer version had the Pentium 4 connector which mines does not have, when I referenced another post on neowin.net I made since it seems like I was the only one ever to talk about this model PSU on the internet. But basically, the two times the PSU failed, first time was fixed under warranty and the second time was in 2014 when I fixed it. Each time, the symptoms were the computer would work fine and then the PSU would shut off without warning similar to a disconnect of the wall outlet and there would be a big burnt smell.

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dishstaller

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 3:47 AM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

We're less than 4 weeks away from Voyager 1 reaching a distance of one light day from Earth

I've always been super interested in things space related so this is a pretty cool event coming up. Nov 18, 2026 early in the morning, Voyager 1 will reach the distance of one full light day from Earth. Took almost 50 yrs. I was 13 when it launched.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gjHK3clOwIw?feature=share

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Foxbat

Today at 12:57 AM

So, 1/1596th the way to Alpha Centauri (if it were headed that way). 79,800 years to go…

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Bruce

Today at 3:47 AM

Foxbat said:
So, 1/1596th the way to Alpha Centauri (if it were headed that way). 79,800 years to go…

Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 2:37 AM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

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....

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sdfntx

Yesterday at 4:52 PM

Devil in Her Heart - The Beatles

long_time_Dish

Yesterday at 7:21 PM

Take Me To Heart - Quarterflash

ClarkGable

Yesterday at 10:03 PM

Take Me To The River - Talking Heads

long_time_Dish

Yesterday at 10:21 PM

Don't Take Me Alive - Steely Dan

hwkn

Today at 2:37 AM

TAKE On ME-A-Ha

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Bobby

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 12:42 AM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

4K Events Discussion Thread

This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.

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Foxbat

Oct 15, 2026

Which is what is interesting, I see the 4KFox channel on 148-01 but we're not subscribed to our Locals. So why it's coming in is puzzling. I thought that maybe it was a perk for Dish subscribers for the MLB Postseason.

I set a Timer for the Indiana - Ohio State game on Saturday. I'll take advantage of it while I can.

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Foxbat

Yesterday at 4:48 PM

Foxbat said:
I set a Timer for the Indiana - Ohio State game on Saturday. I'll take advantage of it while I can.

Even though it didn't work out for the Hoosiers, this event recorded and I was able to watch it in full 4K HDR.

Bobby said:
MLB, Rays at Brewers, Friday 10-23, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.

Timer is set to Record the Series. Thanks, Bobby!

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long_time_Dish

Yesterday at 7:25 PM

No NASCAR in 4K on Sunday? Bummer...

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Jim5506

Today at 12:13 AM

long_time_Dish said:
No NASCAR in 4K on Sunday? Bummer...

It's on Prime.

long_time_Dish

Today at 12:20 AM

Jim5506 said:
It's on Prime.

Ah, ok, thanks!

Foxbat

Today at 12:42 AM

The World Series Game 1 quality was excellent, the Dolby Surround put us in the seats. Thanks, Dish!

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jcrandall

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply Today at 12:07 AM · posted in DIRECTV Programming Forum

Channels on DIRECTV Satellite and not on Stream/Internet

So...DirecTV advertises the Choice package with 95+ bonus channels for Satellite customers. You don't want 90+ of the 95...

Excluding PPV, premium networks, infomercial, shopping, religion, and non-English programming, there are 7 channels on satellite that are not on streaming:
NFL Network, MavTV, FE TV, Free Speech, NASA, INSP, and Pursuit. I'm pretty sure a couple of those are public interest that they have to carry to meet an FCC quota on satellite.

I hope they get called out for this advertising because that is ridiculous. One big network, NFL, will probably get added to streaming when their next agreement comes up, and the rest are likely very low viewership.

What about streaming, what do you get extra with the Choice package that isn't on Satellite:
Two stations - one of which is an internet TV - Fox Weather, and Heros & Icons (a diginet). Nothing special here to look at either.

If they cleaned up a couple of their agreements, added a few public interest stations to streaming, they could probably have their lineups match. It's close now, if you take out all the garbage on satellite that they earn money on. If they can sell infomercials on satellite, why can't they on streaming, seems like a miss. A bigger miss, including those stations in the "bonus channels just for satellite customers." Pretty sad marketing right there.

Attached is a comparison sheet of satellite vs streaming for the three main packages if anyone is interested.

MOD EDIT: See Post #3 for an up to date list of what channels are available on sat but not on streaming/internet, see Post #21 for an up to date list of what's available in the app for streaming customers, but not for sat customers.

DirecTV Sat vs Stream.pdf 46 KB

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mario315

Oct 14, 2026

Well, this is awkward. Today the Miami Heat announced that their games in West Palm Beach this season will be aired on WTCN Channel 43, the Sinclair independent... and the station which DTV Stream downgraded from HD to SD a few weeks ago. Makes you wonder if the Heat is aware of this.

I did find the WTCN Chief Engineer (Bill Macbeth) and he said he knew nothing of what DTV Stream had done. Will look into it and get back to me.

harshness

Oct 15, 2026

One might get the impression that what DIRECTV does, or doesn't, is becoming far less consequential than it used to be.

mario315

Yesterday at 11:55 PM

harshness said:
One might get the impression that what DIRECTV does, or doesn't, is becoming far less consequential than it used to be.

KyL416

Today at 12:00 AM

WPLG/10 Miami is now available to stream customers

The CW stations WCWW/25 South Bend and WBKP/5 Marquette are testing on the stream server

Last week they also added a bunch of CW stations that are still not available to sat customers:
WETM-DT/19 Elmira
WJET-DT/25 Erie
KLFY-DT/11 Lafayette LA
KARD-DT/15 Monroe
WVBT-DT/44 Norfolk
WTWO-DT/3 Terre Haute
WFXV-DT/34 Utica
KFDX-DT/4 Wichita Falls

Reactions: mario315

mario315

Today at 12:07 AM

Well, that was fast ! DTV Stream brought back WTCN's HD signal today.

I have to assume the station signing up a week ago as the Miami Heat affiliate here (to carry their games) did the trick. NBA magic !!!

Or the station engineer took care of the problem after hearing about it.

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niembre

Last reply Yesterday at 11:48 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

OTA no working after Update

My OTA is not working anymore. This started after the latest update. I have the OTA dongle with a OTA antenna that I've been using for years. My hopper does not recognize the dongle anymore and when I go to the OTA setting, it has a screen that says to plug a dongle into the USB. I tried unplugging and plugging back, in the same usb port and other ports. The Hopper does not recognize it. Anyone have same issue?

203 Replies · 5399 views

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Briant73

Wednesday at 9:19 PM

Anyone heard any updates on this, I'm still having the issue so thought I'd check in.

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Almighty1

Wednesday at 9:48 PM

Briant73 said:
Anyone heard any updates on this, I'm still having the issue so thought I'd check in.

No updates but if you can get DISH Technical Operations to roll you back to H710 or earlier even though H708 would be best because it also eliminates another problem like in this comment, you will also no longer have the problem as long as you don't update manually or forced to any new version until the problem is fixed as the problem started in H711 and still exist in H712 and H713.

https://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/th...ftware-version-713-is-out.423921/post-5108817

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dishstaller

Wednesday at 9:57 PM

Installed an off-air antenna a couple days ago for a customer who had just cancelled his Dish service. He had a dual off-air adapter and gave it to me. Cool. I'll keep it on the truck....might come in handy. Got to admit I don't watch anything as far as live tv goes anymore. Even if we have severe weather, our local channels will have a live feed on Youtube.

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navychop

Wednesday at 11:21 PM

In other news, it was announced that the software fix for the two tin cans and a string will not be forthcoming. A hardware fix is required. However, that fix will let you receive stations from a gazillion miles away.

Truck roll charges may apply. Two year commitment required.

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brittanygarden

Thursday at 6:24 PM

Hi all. If you were using a single tuner USB OTA adapter that is no longer working, please PM me. Thanks.

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Jim5506

Yesterday at 11:48 PM

brittanygarden said:
Hi all. If you were using a single tuner USB OTA adapter that is no longer working, please PM me. Thanks.

I have the dual tuner OTA adapter currently connected, but I have 2 of the single tuner OTA adapters that I can quickly connect - neither is seen by my H3.

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JSheridan

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Yesterday at 11:17 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

All DMA's now Western Arc

I know HipKat said that they were working on conversions but we got the official news yesterday right from Dish that starting next month all DMA's will be on the western arc, and all customers will be assigned to that. That's gonna mean a lot of customers around here aren't gonna get Dish unless there are exceptions. Too many mountains and trees.

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navychop

Oct 3, 2026

Years down the road

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renjy651

Oct 4, 2026

navychop said:
Years down the road

Looks like Charlie Ergen will never give up satellite TV. The reason Echostar 25 the most poweful DBS satellite ever built at 110 location already. Also Echostar 26 another super satellite on order for 119 orbital location will be ready in 15 months. he will have 110/119 for another 20 years. Dish will be the only satellte company left. The reason for rural areas and some people like satellite easy to operate and change channels in seconds.

Reactions: Jimbo, HipKat, MikeD-C05 and 1 other person

Mister B

Oct 5, 2026

renjy651 said:
Looks like Charlie Ergen will never give up satellite TV. The reason Echostar 25 the most poweful DBS satellite ever built at 110 location already. Also Echostar 26 another super satellite on order for 119 orbital location will be ready in 15 months. he will have 110/119 for another 20 years. Dish will be the only satellte company left. The reason for rural areas and some people like satellite easy to operate and change channels in seconds.

I hope these new "most powerful" satellites will mean that DISH can provide every channel that can be sourced in HD in HD. I do not like the fact that two of my favorite channels (Start and H&I) are SD. I was also very disappointed after installation that METV has to be streamed from my internet connection. Finally, I dropped the locals upon seeing that my local CW channel is in blurry letterboxed SD when it has been HD OTA for years.

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zippyfrog

Oct 5, 2026

Mister B said:
I hope these new "most powerful" satellites will mean that DISH can provide every channel that can be sourced in HD in HD. I do not like the fact that two of my favorite channels (Start and H&I) are SD. I was also very disappointed after installation that METV has to be streamed from my internet connection. Finally, I dropped the locals upon seeing that my local CW channel is in blurry letterboxed SD when it has been HD OTA for years.

This piece gets me - the fact that Dish has removed SD channels from satellite completely in the name of "HD upgrades". I pay for satellite TV, not streaming...I don't see why they couldn't leave the SD version of the channels on Satellite then put the HD streaming version like they have for other channels.

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navychop

Oct 5, 2026

zippyfrog said:
This piece gets me - the fact that Dish has removed SD channels from satellite completely in the name of "HD upgrades". I pay for satellite TV, not streaming...I don't see why they couldn't leave the SD version of the channels on Satellite then put the HD streaming version like they have for other channels.

CONTRACTS!

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Henry Sanchez

Yesterday at 5:21 PM

What about the commercial services? will they keep using single Stacked or DP single/dual LNB's?

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telstar_1

Yesterday at 5:58 PM

navychop said:
CONTRACTS!

At this point one can only ask whether any live ch's are still distributed in SD. Other than maybe "classics" ch's that run only older stuff

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Strega

Yesterday at 10:01 PM

Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

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Jimbo

Yesterday at 11:15 PM

telstar_1 said:
At this point one can only ask whether any live ch's are still distributed in SD. Other than maybe "classics" ch's that run only older stuff

Personally, I would HATE to see a SD Channel at this point.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 11:17 PM

Strega said:
Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

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dishstaller

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Yesterday at 11:01 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

You can't even trust the cost per ounce info in grocery stores anymore

I'm surprised Walmart hasn't banned this guy from all of their stores. He has been on their CASE the past few months.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f3zr37ekgKM?feature=share

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TRG

Wednesday at 6:41 PM

Jimbo said:
I would think that the Vendor/Maker of the product would have a say in it, showing the Correct weight ...
You would think it would be in the contract.

I do look at the ounces of items, but unless its way off, I don't check the math, may have to start now.

Remember when you use to get a 13.5 oz bag of Chips .... Thats a PARTY Size now.

I remember when a pound of coffee was 16oz. Now its 12oz, they don't call it a pound anymore and its three times the cost of the 16oz pound.

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Jimbo

Wednesday at 7:05 PM

TRG said:
I remember when a pound of coffee was 16oz. Now its 12oz, they don't call it a pound anymore and its three times the cost of the 16oz pound.

Well, they don't call it a pound anymore ....

Ice cream is that way too, use to be a half gallon, now its 1.5 quart or some say 48 oz

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NYDutch

Wednesday at 7:39 PM

Jimbo said:
Well, they don't call it a pound anymore ....

Ice cream is that way too, use to be a half gallon, now its 1.5 quart or some say 48 oz

We have a regional ice cream company here that advertises that their ice cream containers are still a full half gallon.

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Jimbo

Wednesday at 8:54 PM

NYDutch said:
We have a regional ice cream company here that advertises that their ice cream containers are still a full half gallon.

Now check and see if any of them (probably a few) are actual Ice Cream ...

Most Ice Creams are Not actual Ice Cream.
Bryers for example, call Most of thiers "Frozen Dairy Dessert"

NYDutch

Thursday at 7:44 AM

Juan said:
You need to weigh the actual bag...a deli bag weighs less than that but a thick coffee bag is gonna weigh around an ounce...an empty tin can has some weight

Products sold by the ounce, pound, etc, should always be priced for the product only. Only the shipping weight should include the packaging.

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harshness

Thursday at 9:21 AM

NYDutch said:
Products sold by the ounce, pound, etc, should always be priced for the product only.

Unless the specific product or its packaging is known at the time of weighing, estimating the tare weight for a PoS system is a tall order.

I'm pretty sure that produce bags can't get any thinner.

You certainly don't want to put unbagged produce on a belt, scale, or in a clerk's hands (gloved or not).

Jimbo

Thursday at 9:27 AM

harshness said:
Unless the specific product or its packaging is known at the time of weighing, estimating the tare weight for a PoS system is a tall order.

I'm pretty sure that produce bags can't get any thinner.

You certainly don't want to put unbagged produce on a belt, scale, or in a clerk's hands (gloved or not).

I would think that all the packaging would already be accounted for ... they weigh the container, subtract that from the scale, then add the product , so its weighing the Product only

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harshness

Yesterday at 4:42 PM

Jimbo said:
I would think that all the packaging would already be accounted for ... they weigh the container, subtract that from the scale, then add the product , so its weighing the Product only.

You would be thinking wrong when it comes to goods that are sold by weight (meat, produce, nails). Those items typically go on the scale wrapped without an associated tare. The weight only excludes the sticker because it hasn't been printed yet.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 5:08 PM

harshness said:
You would be thinking wrong when it comes to goods that are sold by weight (meat, produce, nails). Those items typically go on the scale wrapped without an associated tare. The weight only excludes the sticker because it hasn't been printed yet.

Thats ridiculous ....

Thats not how Deli does it, I know your talking pre packaged.
They need to CHANGE that.

harshness

Yesterday at 6:50 PM

Jimbo said:
Thats not how Deli does it, I know your talking pre packaged.

Perhaps only for sliced meat and cheese. Salads and similarly "shifty" or "drippy" items are typically weighed in deli cartons of some sort.

My monster burritos (up to two lbs.) are weighed in their foil jackets or paper mache take-out trays, and the jacket/tray is then "sealed" with the printed label as it comes off the printer.

Precision has to give way to practicality in situations like that.

TRG

Yesterday at 8:38 PM

Jimbo said:
Now check and see if any of them (probably a few) are actual Ice Cream ...

Most Ice Creams are Not actual Ice Cream.
Bryers for example, call Most of thiers "Frozen Dairy Dessert"

I only buy Tillamook and Alden's ice cream. The first ingredients are milk and cream.

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Jimbo

Yesterday at 9:16 PM

harshness said:
Perhaps only for sliced meat and cheese. Salads and similarly "shifty" or "drippy" items are typically weighed in deli cartons of some sort.

My monster burritos (up to two lbs.) are weighed in their foil jackets or paper mache take-out trays, and the jacket/tray is then "sealed" with the printed label as it comes off the printer.

Precision has to give way to practicality in situations like that.

What ever I get out of the Deli is put into a container when I ask them for it, they weight the container and then add the deli product, thats the way its suppose to be, if the rest of the world is screwing you, you should try the place down the street.

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Jimbo

Yesterday at 9:20 PM

TRG said:
I only buy Tillamook and Alden's ice cream. The first ingredients are milk and cream.

$7.50 a 1/2 gallon, thats worse than Bryers price wise.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 9:24 PM

Jimbo said:
$7.50 a 1/2 gallon, thats worse than Bryers price wise.

I'll give that a try next time, if I can find some in the right sugar areas.

Juan

Yesterday at 9:25 PM

Jimbo said:
What ever I get out of the Deli is put into a container when I ask them for it, they weight the container and then add the deli product, thats the way its suppose to be, if the rest of the world is screwing you, you should try the place down the street.

They are probably cheating you by swapping store brand product for name brand...those store deli's are very sketchy

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Bobby

Yesterday at 9:37 PM

$5.69 for the 48oz of Rocky Road at my Walmart.

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Bobby

Yesterday at 9:40 PM

Jimbo said:
I'll give that a try next time, if I can find some in the right sugar areas.

22g per serving.

Juan

Yesterday at 9:51 PM

Bobby said:
22g per serving.

How much is a serving?

Bobby

Yesterday at 9:58 PM

Juan said:
How much is a serving?

2/3 of a cup, a large scoop.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 10:46 PM

Juan said:
They are probably cheating you by swapping store brand product for name brand...those store deli's are very sketchy

They are made every day at this place ... it's a little Ma and Pop store ...

When ever I order something, they weigh the container (like everyone is suppose to) then weigh the product, so you actually get what your paying for lb wise ...

Jimbo

Yesterday at 10:47 PM

Bobby said:
22g per serving.

Thats about the same as the Bryers I get, I just have smaller portions.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 10:48 PM

Juan said:
How much is a serving?

2/3rds of a cup or 9 servings per container.

Jimbo

Yesterday at 11:01 PM

Bobby said:
$5.69 for the 48oz of Rocky Road at my Walmart.

Apparently my local Walmart doesn't carry that brand Tillamook ...
Kroger does .... Vanilla Bean $7.49 for 1.5 quart

Up here I have options of :
Vanilla Bean, French Vanilla, Cookies and Cream, Mud Slide and Strawberry

I will try the Strawberry and see what I think, IF the Sugar isn't any more than 22g ... it's Quite expensive.

Target does show it, cheaper, $5.99, however thier website says Not Sold in Store, closest store that carries it is 39 Miles away ....
I guess I better wait till WINTER to get it .. if it's that far away.

I'll have to check and see if Meijer has it ... YES they do ... $7.49 and a variety of Flavors

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SuperDish_Fan23

Last reply Yesterday at 10:33 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Its crazy how the ViP922 is so rare for no reason.

Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!

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Almighty1

Thursday at 8:53 PM

I remember this in the news too...

$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone

A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now- outdated phone.

www.nbcnews.com

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Bobby

Thursday at 9:21 PM

Almighty1 said:
I remember this in the news too...

$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone

A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now- outdated phone.

www.nbcnews.com

That is a misnomer. In the old days you subscribed to telephone service. That included the telephone line and one telephone. An extension cost $1 a month extra. So that $14,000 over 42 years was for the service not the leased telephone. There is no way they paid $28 a month for 42 years for a leased telephone.

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HIFI

Yesterday at 12:44 AM

anybody remember this disaster ?

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SuperDish_Fan23

Yesterday at 4:24 PM

SuperDish_Fan23 said:
Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!

Whoever still has their 922, please let me know i just wanna see photos of the ui and other stuff

Reactions: charlesrshell

slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 5:51 PM

SuperDish_Fan23 said:
Whoever still has their 922, please let me know i just wanna see photos of the ui and other stuff

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wL6dsORmXg

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telstar_1

Yesterday at 5:58 PM

Slicker guides never did much for me

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Almighty1

Yesterday at 10:33 PM

Bobby said:
That is a misnomer. In the old days you subscribed to telephone service. That included the telephone line and one telephone. An extension cost $1 a month extra. So that $14,000 over 42 years was for the service not the leased telephone. There is no way they paid $28 a month for 42 years for a leased telephone.

Good point as part of that time mentioned was before I was even alive.

While reports from the family's case focused entirely on the equipment rental charges, media records show that Ester Strogen originally started by paying $29.95 per quarter ($9.98 per month) in the 1960s for her combined telephone connection.
The actual base cost for standard residential telephone service over a 42-year period (spanning roughly 1964 to 2006) reveals how basic connection costs evolved compared to the equipment rental fees:

Historical Phone Service Rates

1960s – 1970s Base Rate: Standard local phone service was heavily subsidized and tightly regulated under the Bell System monopoly. A basic landline package with unlimited local calling typically cost between $5.00 and $10.00 per month.
1980s – 2000s Post-Deregulation Rate: Following the AT&T divestiture in 1984, base line service rates steadily climbed due to the introduction of subscriber line charges, touch-tone fees, and local infrastructure adjustments. By 2006, basic flat-rate local residential phone service hovered around $15.00 to $25.00 per month (excluding long-distance packages and taxes).

The True Lifetime Service Bill

Assuming an average baseline connection fee of roughly $12.00 a month over that 42-year span, the line connectivity itself would have realistically accumulated to approximately $6,000 in raw cash payouts.
When you bundle the actual service costs together with the escalating equipment rental fees, the total cumulative out-of-pocket phone expenses over those four decades easily crossed $12,000 to $14,000. Long-distance phone calls—which were billed entirely by the minute back then and could cost up to 15 to 30 cents per minute—would add significantly more to that historical total depending on usage.

The widely publicized calculation stems from a viral news story from 2006 involving a widow named Ester Strogen. Her family discovered she had been continuously leasing two rotary dial telephones from AT&T for 42 years.
The total cost—which actually came out to more than $14,000 by the time the lease was canceled—was calculated based on the following legacy telecom structure:

The Monthly Fee: At the time her granddaughters discovered the charges, the ongoing leasing fee was $29.10 per month for the two outdated phones.
The Math: Over 42 years (504 months), paying roughly $24 to $30 a month accumulates to between $12,000 and $14,600 ($29.10 × 504 months = $14,666.40).

Why did this happen?
Prior to the landmark breakup of AT&T ("Ma Bell") in 1984, consumers were legally not allowed to own their phones; they were required to lease them directly from the phone company.
When the laws changed and phone ownership became legal, AT&T spun off its rental division into a company called QLT Consumer Lease Services. Millions of customers, particularly elderly individuals who were used to seeing a single unified phone bill, simply never realized that the small recurring "equipment lease" line-item could be canceled by buying a cheap phone at a retail store.

Yes, leasing absolutely cost that much in reality, and the math is entirely accurate. However, the calculations performed by the family did contain one major historical nuance: they multiplied the final 2006 rate across all 42 years, which means the actual total cash paid out was likely a bit lower.
The original viral story focused on 82-year-old widow Ester Strogen from Canton, Ohio, who paid $29.10 a month for two black rotary phones until her family intervened in July 2006.
The reality behind how the cost reached that staggering total breaks down into two distinct phases:

Phase 1: The Historical Base Rate (1960s – 1984)

When Strogen first got the phones in the 1960s, renting was a legal mandate and cost a fraction of the 2006 price—usually just a few dollars a month.

The "Insurance" Mirage: In exchange for that fee, Ma Bell promised free, lifetime maintenance. If the phone broke, they replaced it instantly at no extra cost.
The Cost-Plus Reality: Because these solid-state phones were built like tanks out of heavy plastic and steel, they almost never broke. Consumers paid a continuous premium for decades for a repair service they rarely used.

Phase 2: The Deregulation Rate Hikes (1984 – 2006)

After AT&T was forced to break up its monopoly in 1984, the rental side of the business was shifted to Lucent Technologies and later a legacy holding company. To maximize profit off a shrinking customer base, they steadily increased the monthly rental fees over the next 20 years.

By 2006, the rental cost had quietly ballooned to roughly $14.55 per phone per month.
When the family discovered the $29.10 monthly charge, they looked back at the 42-year span and estimated the collective loss at over $14,000.

Even adjusted for historical inflation—where $2 a month in 1964 had the purchasing power of roughly $20 today—Ester Strogen and hundreds of thousands of other elderly Americans realistically paid thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for standard desk phones they could have purchased at retail for $10.

The exact out-of-pocket dollar amount Ester Strogen paid over those 42 years was never publicly determined, as neither AT&T nor the family had access to monthly billing records stretching all the way back to the 1960s.
The figures reported in the media are entirely mathematical estimates based on the 2006 rate. The two primary numbers used to define the "cost" are:

The Stated Media Total: More than $14,000.
The Exact Family Formula: $14,666.40. This was derived by taking her final recorded bill of $29.10 per month and multiplying it across the full 42 years (504 months).

What the True Cash Cost Likely Was

Because AT&T did not charge $29.10 a month back in 1964, the true historical cash sum she handed over was lower than $14,000. In the 1960s and 1970s, basic phone lease fees were generally bundled into standard service or itemized at just $1.00 to $2.00 a month per phone.
If we realistically assume she paid lower base rates for the first 20 years before the post-1984 deregulation price hikes took effect, a realistic estimate of the actual cash paid is between $5,000 and $7,000.

The Real Cost When Adjusted for Inflation

While the family's $14,000 calculation overestimates the raw cash paid, it actually underestimates the true economic damage when factoring in the time value of money.
Paying $2.00 a month for equipment in 1964 sounds minor, but due to severe inflation during the 1970s, those early single dollars had the purchasing power of roughly $20.00 each in 2006 terms. If you adjust every historical lower monthly payment upward to account for inflation, Ester Strogen realistically lost the equivalent of well over $15,000 in modern purchasing power by renting instead of buying.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Yesterday at 9:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Foursquare’s Hidden Location Data Became a Game #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kBKUeLHP3zY

Direct YouTube Link - Foursquare's Hidden Location Data Became a Game #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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juventusbrown

Yesterday at 9:37 PM · posted in C-BAND Satellite Discussion

40w transponder

Hi guys, is anyone getting any quality on transponder 4135 L 30000 I'm not getting any quality few weeks now.

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OTA no working after Update

All DMA's now Western Arc

You can't even trust the cost per ounce info in grocery stores anymore

Its crazy how the ViP922 is so rare for no reason.

$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone

$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone

Foursquare’s Hidden Location Data Became a Game #shorts

40w transponder