Interpretation of Check Switch Results

[laman400]

I have 4 311 receivers and a quad Dish 500. About 2 weeks ago, when I tried all 4 receivers, I got an error on 2 of them that an error had been detected on my switch when I first turned them on in the morning. I did a hard reset on the front of both receivers, and have never seen the problem again. Tonight, I ran a check switch on 2 of my 4 receivers, and got a message that the test found less satellites than were previously found, and on one I said save the new results, and on the other I said cancel, thus keeping the previous results. When I looked at the details of each test, the one that I said save on, showed odd/even polarity on sat 119, but only odd polarity for sat 110. The details of the test that I said cancel on showed odd/even polarity for both the 119 and 110 sat. If I press the sys info button on the remote for each of the 2 receivers I ran the check switch test on, each show greeen for both the 119 and 110 sats, with a status of "GOOD", no signal loss detected. I don't know how to interpret the different results for the polarity test of the 119 sat I get when I run check switch on each one. The results are 100% reproducable each time I run the test. Any help interpreting what this means would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Scott6760]

There was a posting at work the other day about this problem. There is a certian software revision on 311 rcvr's only (maybe L492, not sure) that doesn't recognize 110 even transponders during a check switch. Just verify through a sys info(which you did) or by manually checking the signal on the even TP's. As long as you aren't missing any channels you are fine.

 

[boba]

Stop running switch tests and you won't have problem messages to worry about DISH has lousy software so unless you have a problem ignore it.

 

[dishcomm]

Stop running switch tests and you won't have problem messages to worry about DISH has lousy software so unless you have a problem ignore it.

Hmm I wish I had the stones to say that to all of my "inquisitive' customers. On occasion I will get a service call order. I call the customer and the first words from them are "well I was in the menu to look at the signal strength and..."
I get a bit aggrevated when customers futz( that's a yankee word) with the EQ. They should just watch tv and if it doesn't work we'll fix it..
On these occasions I end up going the custs house and there is nothing wrong with the system. I get to close the w/o and get paid. But somethimes these know it alls aren't happy until someone explains Einstein's Theory of Relativity to them. In other words, "it works, leave it alone" isn't what they want to hear. So what do they do?..They call Dish for the same reason and we get hit with a trouble call when there's nothing wrong with the EQ...
I wish Dish would show soem balls and charge these people for tampering and/or making frivolous requests for a tech. That would teach them...
Again, these occasions are extremely rare. But they certainly stand out in the memory banks.

 

[Andrewwski]

Customers can do whatever they want.

That doesn't mean you have to fix it for free.

 

[dishcomm]

Customers can do whatever they want.

That doesn't mean you have to fix it for free.

no they cannot. And yes it does. How long have you been a tech? How long have you been a contentious individual. Please do not post to me any longer.

 

[laman400]

Guys, I wasn't "playing around" as you seem to be saying. I'm just a customer who really thought something was not working correctly and looked here for some help in trying to figure out what was happening BEFORE I called Dish and wasted your valuable time needlessly. If you read my post carefully, you will see that the whole situation started with 2 unexplainable (to me at least) messages that a problem was detected on my quad switch when I first turned on 2 of my receivers in the morning. I had never seen a message like this in the 6 years I have had my Dish system and I was concerned something wasn't working correctly. I followed your tip I had seen here to try a hard reset which seems to have fixed the problem. Then I ran the check switch test to verify that all was ok and received the results about the polarity dropout on one of the sats, and asked for your help in figuring out if I really had a problem or not before calling Dish for a service call. As a novice, I think I followed all the steps I have seen here in trying to establish if I had a problem or not. Have a little patience with us who are not as knowlagable as you installers are. I was only trying to get some info from you. Isn't that what this site is all about?

 

[Pepper]

exactly, but some people are more helpful than others.

I think it's either what scott6760 said (which I have never heard about before) or a flaky LNBF.

 

[eastside]

laman400 - There is a known hardware issue with 311 receivers that are directly connected to DISHPro LNBs. They won't recognize the even xdrs on a check switch test. However, if everything else checks out, then you should have no programming interruption.

dishcomm - If troubleshooting is done correctly by DISH tech agents, there shouldn't be any TCs created for situations like the one you discussed. In practice, there will always be customers who aren't happy until they know just enough to really screw up their systems. But generally, when customers call in for tech help (regardless of whether or not a DNS tech, RSP or retailer has been out previously for the same issue), they just want the system to work. If the rep is confident and knows his/her stuff, the customer will almost always accept the given explanation (even if it's "There's no problem here").

 

[RandallA]

"Have a little patience with us who are not as knowlagable as you installers are. I was only trying to get some info from you. Isn't that what this site is all about?"

Yes, that's what this site is all about "customers helping other customers". We have installers on board and we appreciate their inside knowledge and help but some of them believe that we shouldn't even touch the equipment.
Can you imagine how many calls Dish Network would get if this site wasn't around? Sometimes all it takes is a check switch or reboot to fix the problem.

To answer your question, yes I saw a bulletin but don't remember where about even transponders having problems on the 311s.

Here you go:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...ignal-display-issues-w-dp-twin-quad-lnbf.html

"New Technical Information Bullet (TIB) – DISH 311 receivers with software version P417 may not display even-numbered transponders from 110°W in the Installation Summary screen if the receiver is directly connected to a DISH Pro Twin LNBF or DISH Pro Quad LNBF. This issue is a display problem only; the receivers can still receive even-numbered transponders.

o Check Switch Test – If you run a Check Switch test on a DISH 311 and the Installation Summary screen does not list 110°W even transponders, go to the Point Dish screen (MENU-6-1-1) and verify signal on a 110°W even-numbered transponder, such as 12 or 14. If the signal is displayed on 110°W even-numbered transponders on the Point Dish screen, do not replace any equipment. This issue will be corrected in an upcoming software release."

 

[laman400]

RandallA:
Thanks for the info at the bottom of your post. This is EXACTLY the "problem" I am experiencing. That's all I was looking for here, an explanation that would avoid a needless service call. Most on this board are very helpful to us novices, some are not unfortuneately. Thanks again for posting the answer and source!!

 

[RandallA]

Well, let's thank Stargazer for posting the info.

 

[BobaBird]

That's one I missed for EKB: 311 Software History . Let us know if the problem is fixed when you get P419.

 

[Fitzie]

You never quite know when something you read here will help. For example, a few days ago I lost all channels from 2 of the Dish satellites. I remembered someone had posted a comment that this had occurred to them, and they had remedied the problem by going to the "check switch" item. I hit the "check switch" menu item, and behold, the 2 missing satellite channels are back. What the heck "check switch" has to do with this I don't know, but I do know the remedy works sometimes.

Saved me a lot of worry and probably a service call, though I would have done a receiver reset before I called anyone, and that might have solved the problem too.

Regards,
Fitzie

 

[dishcomm]

laman400 - There is a known hardware issue with 311 receivers that are directly connected to DISHPro LNBs. They won't recognize the even xdrs on a check switch test. However, if everything else checks out, then you should have no programming interruption.

dishcomm - If troubleshooting is done correctly by DISH tech agents, there shouldn't be any TCs created for situations like the one you discussed. In practice, there will always be customers who aren't happy until they know just enough to really screw up their systems. But generally, when customers call in for tech help (regardless of whether or not a DNS tech, RSP or retailer has been out previously for the same issue), they just want the system to work. If the rep is confident and knows his/her stuff, the customer will almost always accept the given explanation (even if it's "There's no problem here").

I agree. BUt as you know in the real world, "should" is theory, "is" is reality. The of course there is the biggest word in the English language, "if"..

 

[laman400]

Update:
I received the P419 update on 2 of my 4 receivers last night. I ran "Check Switch" on these 2 receivers just now (the 2 having the new P419 update for the 311 receiver), and the test passed without any problems being found on either receiver. The new P419 update is now seeing the even # transponders on Sat 110 OK, so the problem in the P417 update has been fixed.

 

[mdwatt]

Yep. I was gonna say software. Looks like you guys already had it covered. GO TEAM!