Hopper with Sling - Tuner 1 loses HD Signal

msticker

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Apr 15, 2006
39
2
Houston, TX
I recently had a Hopper with Sling and 3 Joeys installed. I'm having an issue where Tuner 1 cannot stay tuned to HD channels. Instead, I see an announcement that it is switching to the SD version of the same channel. A few times, it has lost the SD signal, too, resulting in a black screen. Tuner 2 and Tuner 3 (the PTAT tuner) seem to work perfectly fine. I have found that when a channel I want to watch ends up on Tuner 1, I can go tune that channel in on one of the other TVs which puts it on Tuner 2 then go back to the first TV and "join" the second TV on Tuner 2.

I'm on satellites 110, 119, and 129. Check Switch and System Info indicate that the signal is OK on all three. I've also tried doing hard resets which hasn't helped. The Hopper is on software S316.

Any ideas? Is it a bad tuner on the Hopper?


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All 4 of my TVs can view any channel on Tuners 2 & 3 and all 4 TVs cannot reliably watch any HD on Tuner 1 so, I wonder what line or bad cable it could be. I thought Tuner 3 was the one that would most likely be affected by a bad cable.

I didn't mention before that the solo node is outside near the satellite dish with one RG6 coax coming into the house.


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It's probably either a bad node or the RG6 coming into the house is bad. Each tuner uses a different frequency on the cable, so it's possible that the cable isn't transmitting the frequency correctly. You could compare this to a 3-lane highway. One lane can be unusable (tuner 1), while the other lanes will flow just fine (tuners 2 and 3).

Either way, as lucky86 suggested, I'd get a tech out, especially if you just had the system installed.
 
A check switch will show the line issue - unless all 3 tuners count up for say 4 of 4 together and quickly then there is a problem with the line or node.
When was the install done to start with as in how long has it been fine till now?

If the system was installed in the last 2 weeks be mindful that if you call to have a re-visit within 2 weeks you will cost the previous tech some money cause of a "trouble call". May not be his fault at all but it is what it is so keep that in mind.
 
Hopper system was installed about 3 weeks ago. Tech is coming this afternoon - set up by Becki B of DIRT.

It's hard to say when the problem started because, as long as you happen to be watching on Tuner 2 or Tuner 3, there is no apparent problem. I did notice the Tuner 1 issue a few days after the install but waited until at least 2 weeks had passed to request a tech.

I ran check switch a couple of times and it went through tests 4 of 4 for all 3 satellites pretty quickly and indicated that all was OK.


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OK. Tech just left.

After moving my dish from the garage to the back of the house in order to shorten the cable run, replacing the node and moving it inside, and running brand new RG6 all the way from the dish to the Hopper, the problem still was not fixed. He then tried a few things like unplugging the hopper from the power strip and plugging it directly into a wall outlet. Still no success. Finally, he said he had tried everything he could think of so, he decided to switch out the Hopper. That seems to have fixed the problem! Now, I'm up and running and all three tuners seem to be working just fine.
 
OK. Tech just left.

After moving my dish from the garage to the back of the house in order to shorten the cable run, replacing the node and moving it inside, and running brand new RG6 all the way from the dish to the Hopper, the problem still was not fixed. He then tried a few things like unplugging the hopper from the power strip and plugging it directly into a wall outlet. Still no success. Finally, he said he had tried everything he could think of so, he decided to switch out the Hopper. That seems to have fixed the problem! Now, I'm up and running and all three tuners seem to be working just fine.


I'm glad that the tech was able to get you all taken care of!
 
Yes. But Hmmmm- maybe a Hopper swap out to start with might have been a good idea.

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Yes. But Hmmmm- maybe a Hopper swap out to start with might have been a good idea.

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Replacing the receiver is one of the last things you do unless you are sure there are no other problems anywhere. If you swap out the Hopper and it ended up being an issue with the length of cable runs making MOCA weak, or bad cable to the Hopper then Dish isn't to happy that they had to pay to swap a Hopper unnecessarily.
 
I could tell the tech was hesitant to switch out the Hopper. He was going to try everything in his "bag of tricks", first. I don't blame him.


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