Hopper OTA timers intermittently not recording

[WynsWrld98]

So OTA timers have been recording fine for many months but starting 3 days ago most of them don't record despite strong signal strength and display fine if I go to them live when they're supposed to be recording.

I did a 45 minute chat with Dish technical support they saw what was happening re: screen shots I provided agreed they should be recording but don't know why it isn't working.

In every case if you scroll up on the Schedule screen and select the program it shows Not Applicable in the Recording Started and Recording Stopped fields (see attachment) yet says Completed By Home Theater. The recordings don't show up anywhere including trash.

Anyone else see this problem? I powered the DVR down and up but problem persists.

Update: I just had the rescan message pop-up that I'm attaching. I've seen this before recently and did rescan and save OTA channels but didn't fix the problem.

 

[charlesrshell]

I have set a manual timer for the one and only OTA channel I want.

 

[WynsWrld98]

I have set a manual timer for the one and only OTA channel I want.

So were you having the same problem I described and gave up and went to manual timers?

 

[charlesrshell]

So were you having the same problem I described and gave up and went to manual timers?

I don't use the OTA timers unless we have lost signal for some reason or to record something on the sub channels. I have set two test OTA timers to fire off at 1:30 PM CST for a test on my backup Hopper 3. Channel 005-01 and 009.01. Will let you know how goes it.

 

[pattykay]

I used to have the same problem shown in the first post, almost every time I would try to record OTA on my Wally. I would usually be trying to record two OTA channels at the same time. One would usually record, but the other one would get the "Not Applicable" even when using a manual timer for that channel. Judging by the screenshots, it does not look like you are trying to use both OTA tuners at the same time, though. Since you are seeing the "ready to scan" pop-up (I did not see that message on my receiver at any point) it seems like there may be a bad USB connection. In other words, your Hopper is momentarily losing the connection to the OTA dongle, and then detecting it again. If this happens at the start of a timer, that may cause it not to record at all. Which model of OTA tuner are you using? Some people with similar problems ("Not Applicable" messages and missed recordings) have been able to fix the issue by switching to the white AirTV dual-tuner OTA dongle.

 

[WynsWrld98]

I used to have the same problem shown in the first post, almost every time I would try to record OTA on my Wally. I would usually be trying to record two OTA channels at the same time. One would usually record, but the other one would get the "Not Applicable" even when using a manual timer for that channel. Judging by the screenshots, it does not look like you are trying to use both OTA tuners at the same time, though. Since you are seeing the "ready to scan" pop-up (I did not see that message on my receiver at any point) it seems like there may be a bad USB connection. In other words, your Hopper is momentarily losing the connection to the OTA dongle, and then detecting it again. If this happens at the start of a timer, that may cause it not to record at all. Which model of OTA tuner are you using? Some people with similar problems ("Not Applicable" messages and missed recordings) have been able to fix the issue by switching to the white AirTV dual-tuner OTA dongle.

I have a black Dish branded OTA Dongle DISH Lark Dual OTA Adapter for Hopper and Wally Units. When the rescan message popped up last night I immediately went to the channel I record from and it played fine. That message only stays up for 30 seconds or do then disappears on its own. When I was on chat with Dish and a timer was set to record that didn't while I was on chat that message never came up. I never record multiple OTA timers at same time because all of my OTA timers have been for the same channel all along. The OTA Dongle is only 9 months old and was bought new.

 

[charlesrshell]

I don't use the OTA timers unless we have lost signal for some reason or to record something on the sub channels. I have set two test OTA timers to fire off at 1:30 PM CST for a test on my backup Hopper 3. Channel 005-01 and 009.01. Will let you know how goes it.

WynsWrld98 both OTA timers test worked as advertised. See pics of the timers before and after they fired off in the Schedule folder. Both recordings worked too. See pics of both recordings in the Recordings folder. I am on the Western arc in the St Louis DNA. Maybe you have an OTA Adapter issue. Let me know of any other test you wish for me to perform.

 

[dennispap]

So OTA timers have been recording fine for many months but starting 3 days ago most of them don't record despite strong signal strength and display fine if I go to them live when they're supposed to be recording.

I did a 45 minute chat with Dish technical support they saw what was happening re: screen shots I provided agreed they should be recording but don't know why it isn't working.

In every case if you scroll up on the Schedule screen and select the program it shows Not Applicable in the Recording Started and Recording Stopped fields (see attachment) yet says Completed By Home Theater. The recordings don't show up anywhere including trash.

Anyone else see this problem? I powered the DVR down and up but problem persists.

Update: I just had the rescan message pop-up that I'm attaching. I've seen this before recently and did rescan and save OTA channels but didn't fix the problem.

I have the same problem as you. See this thread talking about it.

OTA Module headache

I was able to get my OTA antenna installed for $0 and overall it works very well. There are a couple guide issues, but I'm willing to overlook those since they're not with the Big 4 networks.... As I was probably posting my other posts, our Local ABC is off my Dish. So, maybe getting an OTA...

www.satelliteguys.us

 

[WynsWrld98]

I have the same problem as you. See this thread talking about it.

OTA Module headache

I was able to get my OTA antenna installed for $0 and overall it works very well. There are a couple guide issues, but I'm willing to overlook those since they're not with the Big 4 networks.... As I was probably posting my other posts, our Local ABC is off my Dish. So, maybe getting an OTA...

www.satelliteguys.us

Did you ever get it working?

 

[dennispap]

Did you ever get it working?

The last 2 times i tried it it worked. Because of the unreliability i quit using ota timers.

 

[pattykay]

Going back and remembering the details from when I was having this problem, I think that I may have a solution for you, WynsWrld98. First, you need to understand how the dual-tuner OTA adapter works. Recordings are done by default on Tuner 2. Tuner 1 is only used when Tuner 2 is already being used for another recording. Unfortunately, this "Not Applicable" issue mostly occurs with recordings being made by Tuner 2. So, if it is the only OTA timer recording at that time (or the OTA timer with the highest priority) then you are more likely to see this issue with that timer.

As a work-around, try setting a new OTA timer to record a different channel at the same time as the show that you are actually trying to record. Make sure that this new timer has a higher priority than your existing OTA timer. This will bump your existing timer to Tuner 1, where it is more likely to actually get recorded. I hope this helps.

 

[WynsWrld98]

I did some test timers tonight Adam-12 and The Flintstones did record OTA there were no other OTA recordings at same time. But then at 9:30 Green Acres didn't record with Not Applicables.

I just setup two OTA timers to record at same time but neither recorded and both say Not Applicables for Recording Started/Stopped. Drats.

This afternoon I switched to a different OTA dongle but the result was the same.

 

[jepropst]

So OTA timers have been recording fine for many months but starting 3 days ago most of them don't record despite strong signal strength and display fine if I go to them live when they're supposed to be recording.

I did a 45 minute chat with Dish technical support they saw what was happening re: screen shots I provided agreed they should be recording but don't know why it isn't working.

In every case if you scroll up on the Schedule screen and select the program it shows Not Applicable in the Recording Started and Recording Stopped fields (see attachment) yet says Completed By Home Theater. The recordings don't show up anywhere including trash.

Anyone else see this problem? I powered the DVR down and up but problem persists.

Update: I just had the rescan message pop-up that I'm attaching. I've seen this before recently and did rescan and save OTA channels but didn't fix the problem.

I have experienced exactly the same problem. The only solution I have found is to create a customer autotune timer scheduled to autotune the channel one minute before the time of the program that I want to DVR record. I have discussed the issue with the Dish tech support but I sense that they are not very familiar with actually using the OTA adapter with the hopper.

 

[WynsWrld98]

Te

I have experienced exactly the same problem. The only solution I have found is to create a customer autotune timer scheduled to autotune the channel one minute before the time of the program that I want to DVR record. I have discussed the issue with the Dish tech support but I sense that they are not very familiar with actually using the OTA adapter with the hopper.

Replacing the OTA Dongle fixed the problem but costs a lot and wasn't very old.

 

[jepropst]

Te

Replacing the OTA Dongle fixed the problem but costs a lot and wasn't very old.

I had the problem using an older Dish OTA single channel Dongle. Dish provided me with a brand new dual channel OTA adapter and I still have the same problem. Dish also thought it might be the Hopper 3 and they replaced my Hopper - no change.

 

[WynsWrld98]

I had the problem using an older Dish OTA single channel Dongle. Dish provided me with a brand new dual channel OTA adapter and I still have the same problem. Dish also thought it might be the Hopper 3 and they replaced my Hopper - no change.

Wow that's really odd.

 

[Roooster]

So OTA timers have been recording fine for many months but starting 3 days ago most of them don't record despite strong signal strength and display fine if I go to them live when they're supposed to be recording.

I did a 45 minute chat with Dish technical support they saw what was happening re: screen shots I provided agreed they should be recording but don't know why it isn't working.

In every case if you scroll up on the Schedule screen and select the program it shows Not Applicable in the Recording Started and Recording Stopped fields (see attachment) yet says Completed By Home Theater. The recordings don't show up anywhere including trash.

Anyone else see this problem? I powered the DVR down and up but problem persists.

Update: I just had the rescan message pop-up that I'm attaching. I've seen this before recently and did rescan and save OTA channels but didn't fix the problem.

 

[WynsWrld98]

I'm back to the Not Applicables in the start/stop times in OTA recordings yet they say completed. The new dongle lasted for a few months but now back at square one. I disconnected the OTA dongle, rebooted, attached it, scanned channels and saved but isn't fixing the problem. Ugh!