Closing in on one month of no service or spotty

[ashecnc]

I'll try to be brief, I have the Hooper, I have had this for a year. As of a month ago, I was very happy with the features it had. Starting 4 weeks ago, I would come home, turn on tv system etc, and the channel it is on will be frozen on the screen. Sometime between 10-3 pm. Remote doesn't work, nothing, have to do a reset, then it worked again. A tech came out, said dish was showing wacky readings, changed dish out. In about 2 days, it was freezing again. I called Dish, they sent me a replacement Hopper. It worked for 6 days, now the hard drive is totally messed up. I can only watch live TV, and it freezes. I can't use the DVR part at all, if I do, I can watch 30 seconds, then it freezes 30 seconds, over and over. The other two TVs are worthless because the Joeys are on delay I think from the DVR, so it plays 30 seconds, freezes 30 seconds, remote takes 30 seconds to respond. I told Dish, please send someone here and replacement this unit, not later or days with a refurbished unit, which was junk. So I have another one coming, but today I called one final time, to state that I should have a zero balance, since I haven't seen or watched anything for 4 weeks, they gave me a credit for 40.00. Someone is coming Wednesday only after I said I was cancelling, why pay for something I can't use or see? They keep offering me free Showtime, etc etc, I finally had to talk loud and say, that's great, but how is this going to help me????? The Hooper will not play, so giving me every channel in the world sounds nice, but I have to see it to like it! Thats my rant, never had this happen, so far its not leaving a good taste in my mouth, and I've been a customer for years.

 

[Jimmerinwi]

Did the tech check the voltage? It's possible that the outlet the Hopper is plugged into is wired wrong. If your constantly going through receivers, that's what I would check. Just my thought.

 

[ashecnc]

Yes he looked at that last time, all good, new home wires etc, worked great for one year, then poof.

 

[ChadT41]

I'm going with grounding. Try this. Unplug coaxial and power cables for the hopper. Let stand for 30 minutes. Plug power back in. Once restarted, plug coax back on. See if that makes any difference at all.

 

[boba]

Well if you're so happy maybe it is time to call Directv

 

[osumike]

My guess would be a cable problem somewhere. Could be a low frequency barrel in the wall plate, could be that the stinger is too short on the host port of the node, or just not going in straight. If the lnb and the hopper has been replaced, and the electrical wiring has been confirmed, it has to be a cable issue. Especially if the joeys are acting the same way, as they get all their info directly from the hopper.

 

[Scherrman]

This is not a poor product problem, this is a result from something else. Like osumike said, it's got to be something with wiring, wall plate or something. When swapping out receiver doesn't fix the problem then the problem lies somewhere else.

 

[boba]

Where is DIRT seems like someone should have checked in on this thread?

 

[KAB]

Where is DIRT seems like someone should have checked in on this thread?

And do what? The OP has a service call on Wed.

 

[Scherrman]

And do what? The OP has a service call on Wed.

Maybe they can make the OP feel better by singing Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty.

 

[Jim5506]

Is the Hopper setting out in the open air.

These units run hot and must have good ventilation.

Add a small fan to pull hot air out of the right side of the unit.

 

[dvrexpander]

I could only guess there could be several reasons for this issue. Heat was mentioned yes, also wiring - many people insist on using existing wiring in the home and while yes I've seen a hopper run off RG59 (yeah I know its stupid but it has worked) it will only work for a while. I've read someone suggest low pass barrel, yep this will do it and so will signal levels could have been tree growth? Since Dish was changed I assume signal is fine so lets go beyond that, receiver been swapped ok lets go beyond that and then what about the node and cables... this is what I'd check cause this is likely the issue. Without a complete visual of the layout its hard to speculate either way.
Be nice and cool with the tech, after all they are there to help you and are likely not getting paid much since it is a service call anyway. If the problem gets solved by some cable reworking and such that takes longer than 1 hour be sure to tip the guy/girl cause again beyond an hour its really costing them.