Hopper/Joey Not Talking I Guess

[bluebirdhill3930]

New Hopper setup 3 months old. First two months no problems. Now it is like the system changes overnight. For 2 weeks every morning we watch NBC on the Joey in the bedroom. Move to the livingroom and the Hopper says it has lost the signal for the LOCALS only. Reset Hopper, everything fine untill next morning. Now it has been fine for two days. Been working with 3 local Dish techs and they are baffled. Got on the Dish sponsored forum and they have told me I am the ONLY person with this problem. Local Dish guys can find nothing wrong. Dish Internet rep suggested post here. Also something new, if we are recording a local on the Hopper move to the BR and Joey the Joey losses ALL locals until the recording stops. Then they are back.
Back ground. New home, all singal RG6 runs to a "Smart Pane". I installed mast 185 ft from house and ran RG6 to it. Dish did the instal. And once again everything was fine for 2 months. System changes almost daily. Joey looses presets on Weather Channel app and such. Dish engineers suggest moving dish closer to house but they are guessing.
Any ideas.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Did they replace the node you are using on the hopper? Did they check to see if the sat dish install is correctly run to the node? Are all coaxes connected properly to the node? Do you have bridging enabled so that the internet is carried to all joeys ? How about your mocca signal ? Does it show it is ok and connected ? These are simplistic questions, but sometimes it is something obvious that is causing the problems. Other than checking and replacing the node , coaxes , how about replacing the hopper itself or the joey?

 

[bluebirdhill3930]

Yes, the third guy replaced the Hopper. And the forth guy did some reconnects on the dish side of the node . None made a difference. What is the Mocca Signal? I will forward any and all ideas to Dish for evaluation.
Thanks

 

[MikeD-C05]

Mocca is what makes the entire thing work with hoppers and joeys. It carries the signal from the hopper to the joeys over the coax. If you hit settings then Network setup ,broadband, it should appear on the top in the red marked button on the menu, on any joeys or secondary Hoppers on your network. IF it is all green and OK on the server connection , internet connection and DHCP Acquired, you have mocca connected to all concerned. Under whole -home button you can select display settings and enable notification so if there is a problem with the mocca network , it will come up on your screen and tell you. Or you can enable it so it shows in the right side of your screen all the time . It will look like a 4 little bars and MoCa written below it . I have mine enabled for notification if there are problems only.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I would replace the node if this keeps on happening. There have been some bad nodes out there that have caused problems.

 

[skyviewmark]

I would replace the node if this keeps on happening. There have been some bad nodes out there that have caused problems.

What he said.. And sometimes the node is fine, just not connected good.. If you look at a node switch you will see a very long connector with rubber inserts. I have found sometimes that a longer stinger helps stop problems, or sometimes I have had to reseat the connector because the stinger went off center into the rubber insert instead the correct path. I think the design of the node switch leads to some of these issues..

 

[bluebirdhill3930]

First, thanks to all for the ideas and I WILL pass them along to DISH. This morning after to good mornings we were back to the same, locals on the Joeys but not on the Hopper. Checked all diagnostics on the Hopper prior to resetting same. ALL are green, say OK, or what ever. Reset Hopper and we are backup and running. The techs at DISH tell me everything the Joeys have come from the Hopper. So, if the Joeys show the locals why won't the Hopper. Ideas?
Will call DISH local super next week to do a temp location on the dish to see what happens. He says he has heard of 300' runs(mine 185') on the Hopper so he does'nt think it will make a difference
Again thanks to all and I will let you know the outcome.

 

[bluebirdhill3930]

Well Mike I lied. Did what you said and found the MOCCA status and all perameters said failed. Reset all and still showed failed. Call the local Dish tech and he said he would have to get more info from DISH. Then I did what you suggested and enabled the MOCCA status on the screen constantly. And guest what it is show 4 green bars. So is the MOCCA status bad or what?
Learning more than I EVER wahnted to know.
Thanks

 

[MikeD-C05]

Well at first the mocca will show red and failed ,but if you leave it long enough it turns green. I would just reset the network and see if it comes back green on both internet and mocca. IF so save it. IF it shows green at all times , there shouldn't be any problems with your network. Do you have your hopper connected by direct ethernet connection? IF so you also need to enable Bridging under your network. As I said before you can go into the mocca button on the top and then toggle over till you can get on to the internet buttons, then hit the blue button on your remote control twice till you see bridging. Once you select bridging and enable it and save it. This will enable your internet to both joeys and your hopper.

But I think your node is bad to be honest with you. It wouldn't hurt to change it , just to make sure it's not the problem. The only other thing I can think of is there is a problem with your sat dish install. If you have a short in any coaxes leading to your node, it will cause problems with reception on your receiver and even signal losses on one or more tuners. This too would have to be looked at to make sure there is no barrel connectors failing, or cuts or holes in your coaxes. Even a staple through your coax in the wrong place (holding up cable under you eaves of the house for example) can cause a short in your cable and then a problem with your reception.

Also I suggest a check switch run to make sure all 3 tuners are seeing the satellites and are locked in and saved. Are you able to record 3 shows at a time? Set three timers for the same time and then hit the red button on your remote to see if all 3 are recording . IF you see signal loss on one or more of the tuners , it would explain why you might not see your locals on the hopper at the same time as the joeys. I had this problem the other day on my second hopper and a check switch run corrected it.

 

[bluebirdhill3930]

Mocca is still showing failed in the test mode but the on screen bars are green. Bridging was in effect. I will ask that they change the node first. I feel all the cabling is OK. Dish to house in conduit. Then single runs to all locations from a smart panel. The guy used huge SS loom type staples so damage would be almost imposible. The check switches test I have done before and we record three things at a time all the time. The guy working with me now did redo the connectors from the dish to the node at the node. He mentioned lengthen the "stinger" like the other guy said.
Do you have an opinion on why things are fine all day and evening everyday and every evening, but during the late night when DN I am told, is downloading all the updates and stuff, the problem shows up every morning? Now it did not do it this Thursday or Friday AM, but every morning for the last 2-3 weeks with those exceptions. And everything worked fine for the first 2 months. Don't even know what the node does, but could the updates DN transmitts mess with a bad node and do what it is doing? Will pass along all thoughts to DN.
Thanks again for your thoughts and ideas.
PS; If we are recording ANY channel on the Hopper the Joeys say it has lost the reception of the satellite and is searching for same. But it only effects the local channels, all the satellite channels are still there.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I have no idea why this is happening. But through a process of elimination , is how I figure out what it CAN'T be. The only other thing I can think of is this: how long is the sat dish from your tv? IS it more than 200 ft? IF more than 200 ft from the actual receiver , it could cause problems. What kind of install you have? Is it eastern arc or western arc install? Are you using another kind of switch with the sat dish or is it just from the actual dish pro plus lnb? You know like a dish pro plus 44 or 33 or 34 switch. A faulty switch could cause problems . The lnb itself could cause problems if it is faulty. Sometimes the lnb goes south and you might have lnb drift . Replace it if need be. What strength are you getting on just the locals in your area? Is it at least 50 or above on the sat strength for your locals or it could cause drop outs. Check the sat strength while on one of your locals to check. You might not be within the spotbeam for your area. A re-point might be needed on the satellite dish itself. If you replace the node and this doesn't correct your problems the only other I would possibly replace is the joeys. After that I would be out ideas. Sorry if that doesn't help.