H3 Prob or ??

[xfoneguy]

Well lets see you have replaced everything except 2 things I can see- the tv and you said you removed the power strip and plugged into the wall, have you plugged a power strip into a extension cord and tried a different circuit. Try disconnecting the HDMI cable and try using AV cables from the hopper to the tv and see what that does for testing purposes. If that does nothing I would say[Who you gonna call].

I have tried replacing AV cables, etc - but I don't understand (and I really mean that!) how the TV or it's A/V cabling could cause the Hopper to split a 1 hour program into as many as 50 recorded "segments", on it's hard drive, and/or cause reboots? As I said, I certainly don't question the possibility - I just don't understand how the TV could affect the Hopper in this manner. But guys know a lot more about this stuff than I do.
The one thing I haven't tried yet is trying to connect to a different wall outlet, or probably better yet, a different circuit altogether. Even though there are other devices besides the H3 plugged in, it could be that it is maybe more sensitive to spikes? Unfortunately, all my TV's are wall-mounted and the wiring for the H3 only goes to this one room. Yeah, I'm approaching the "who ya gonna call" thing here I'm afraid

 

[xfoneguy]

I feel for you XFone - I've wracked my brain trying to think of things and I just can't, other than outside interference from a possible nearby Ham or CB Radio operator. I know some "Amateur" CB guys like to setup home base stations and push excessive power through big wattage linears (of course I never did that when I had my old Cobra GT148 Base station cough cough). Still, I can't think of anything else other than that.

The poltergeist thing did cross my mind too..... Not kidding. I used to be the tech manager for a local paranormal investigation group

No kidding - I have to confess, the whole "haunted house" thing has crossed my mind. At one time I was adamant and convinced that this HAD to be a bad Hopper - even when it was replaced twice! But I think they've replaced it 3 times now. I just don't believe that any longer. But what???

 

[xfoneguy]

Talking about power hits and spikes, etc, I'm wondering if maybe I should consider biting the bullet and buying a UPS? I'm not sure exactly how they work - would I actually be running off of the batteries without any "hits" from the line being passed through?

 

[xfoneguy]

Potentially a power spike/drop issue? How is the Hopper connected to the power source? Power strip? Maybe something is going bad in the power strip which is causing a split second drop.

I tried moving off of the strip and directly to the outlet (I hate doing that!) but unfortunately the problem remains.

 

[xfoneguy]

Have you ruled out the paranormal? Any other poltergeist-like happenings in your house?

LOL - I'm not really LOL-ing any more! I'm at the point of ruling NOTHING out any longer!

 

[xfoneguy]

Spend the 10 bucks and get a tech appointment setup, if your paying for it use it would be my advice.

Twice now (2nd time was a freebie )

 

[Cheddar_Head]

I doubt it is your problem but the TV can cause a reboot of the STB. I had a VIP722 that when reboot everytime I would turn on my new TV, several people with Sony XBR810s and 850s reported the same issue. The only fix action was to replace the 722 with a Hopper, in my case a Hopper3. Turns out the Sony and 722 had HDCP handshake issues.

You might want to try using a different HDMI port on the TV or possibly not have the hopper plugged into a TV and see if the Joeys work.

 

[Partysox]

Talking about power hits and spikes, etc, I'm wondering if maybe I should consider biting the bullet and buying a UPS? I'm not sure exactly how they work - would I actually be running off of the batteries without any "hits" from the line being passed through?

UPS is for when the power goes out you run on the battery, you are still running on house current until the power goes out. But I don't know one might condition your current some how, but this is just a shot in the dark at this point. I wish you luck on your problem because at this point I'm out of idea's.

 

[navychop]

Good UPS units will provide over and under voltage protection.

I have a couple of APC combined line conditioner/UPSes. Overkill. But needed when I first moved in and hadn’t discovered how overloaded that circuit was. Fixed that.

 

[xfoneguy]

UPS is for when the power goes out you run on the battery, you are still running on house current until the power goes out. But I don't know one might condition your current some how, but this is just a shot in the dark at this point. I wish you luck on your problem because at this point I'm out of idea's.

I do appreciate the input - any and all ideas are welcome at this point since all of the Dish people are scratching their heads!

 

[xfoneguy]

UPS is for when the power goes out you run on the battery, you are still running on house current until the power goes out. But I don't know one might condition your current some how, but this is just a shot in the dark at this point. I wish you luck on your problem because at this point I'm out of idea's.

thanks for that - this has always been my question - just exactly how/what current the box would be seeing while the house is on AC. I've never totally understood this.

 

[xfoneguy]

I doubt it is your problem but the TV can cause a reboot of the STB. I had a VIP722 that when reboot everytime I would turn on my new TV, several people with Sony XBR810s and 850s reported the same issue. The only fix action was to replace the 722 with a Hopper, in my case a Hopper3. Turns out the Sony and 722 had HDCP handshake issues.

You might want to try using a different HDMI port on the TV or possibly not have the hopper plugged into a TV and see if the Joeys work.

Great idea - I'll just disconnect the H3 from my Samsung for a while and let recordings continue for 24 hours or so ---- we can see what happens. And we can watch from the other rooms for a while too. Somehow, some way we'll get to the bottom of this!

 

[xfoneguy]

Also, I'll try getting the shortest heavy-duty extension cord that will reach an outlet on a different circuit.... grasping at straws...

 

[Pepper]

You have Joey(s) in other rooms, which are potentially on different electrical circuits?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it sounds like there might be some problem with your house electrical wiring, such as multiple ground points, such that some unwanted voltage potential is existing somewhere between the Hopper and Joeys. You could unplug the coax going into one of the joeys and test with a voltmeter between the ground (outside edge thumbscrew portion) of the cable and the plug (outside edge threaded portion where the coax goes) to see if there's any voltage there. It's a ground connection, should be zero voltage.

Does the problem go away if you physically disconnect all the Joeys and just leave the Hopper itself, connected to the TV of course?

If this is the problem, only a good electrician would be able to fix it.

Edit: looking back, you said you have wireless Joeys. Is there anything at all which is connected to the Hopper 3 which is also powered from a different circuit or room, since a wireless Joey wouldn't qualify being a non-wired connection? Could be something as simple as an Ethernet cable from the Hopper to your switch or router which is located in a different room. Or maybe the coax cable ground point is different from the house's ground point. Good luck!

 

[HipKat]

If the system is grounded, undo the ground wire

 

[navychop]

If the system is grounded, undo the ground wire

Whoo, whoo! Alert Dish! Away the retailer suppression team!

 

[HipKat]

Whoo, whoo! Alert Dish! Away the retailer suppression team!

There are a lot of times we don't ground. If a house has multiple ground points, for example

 

[xfoneguy]

To all of you who have talked about the possibility of an electrical/power problem of some sort - THANK YOU!! I still don't know the "why" yet, but I think I've maybe stumbled across the "what".
For the past couple of weeks, I haven't gone more than a couple of hours at a time without freeze-ups, and multiple "segmented" recordings that have accompanied each lockup.... and the trouble has happened consistently and continuously.
.
It's now been over 24 hours...... Yesterday, I was able to borrow a "CyberPower" UPS (I believe it came from a Costco store a couple of years ago)...... everything is plugged into it, and it is plugged into the same outlet that I have been using for the Hopper and TV.
.
Anyway, coincidence or not? I don't know, but this is the first time in weeks that I have gone for a few hours, (let alone a full 24hrs) without a glitch. My next question is: If this is/was indeed the problem, what's going on? Is there anything I need to worry about? Several of you have mentioned grounding problems (along with a few other issues) and I'm wondering now if I need to spend the money to get an electrician involved?

 

[HipKat]

Well, it couldn't hurt, that's for sure. And you may find out you have a problem that needs attention

 

[TalonDancer]

If adding a UPS solved your Hopper issues, you almost certainly have some problem on that electrical circuit. So unless you are absolutely confident of the quality and condition of the wiring throughout your house, I would call a good diagnostic electrician today. It could save your life.