Is it us, or is it them? (Hopper or network?)

[Electrojim]

Running a Hopper 3, which is programmed to record GMA when it is first aired by the local ABC affiliate at 4AM, west coast time (7AM 'real time' in New York). Two anomalies noticed over the past few months, the second one seen first time today on playback.

1. First, there are occasional periods of black screen, no picture no sound, which seems to be recorded that way by the Hopper. If it were a satellite signal loss, I'd expect to see the Hopper put a lost signal notification on the screen, but the screen just remains black. I can fast-forward through the outage and the program picks up after a few seconds to maybe a minute. This happens only a few times a month, no big deal.
2. But today, something really strange came up on playback. Sound was recorded just fine, no gaps, stuttering or artifacts, but the picture was a series of 'stills,' single frames that would update every couple of minutes. This occurred during the entire hour+ of recorded program time, including the 2 minutes before GMA started, and 2 minutes after GMA ended. Again, I'd expect a 'having difficulties' slide on the screen if this were actually broadcast this way, either from the ABC network or from Dish.

Are either of these problems anyone has seen with the Hopper 3? It's always on the same GMA programming, never anything else recorded during the day or night.

 

[Bobby]

Running a Hopper 3, which is programmed to record GMA when it is first aired by the local ABC affiliate at 4AM, west coast time (7AM 'real time' in New York). Two anomalies noticed over the past few months, the second one seen first time today on playback.

1. First, there are occasional periods of black screen, no picture no sound, which seems to be recorded that way by the Hopper. If it were a satellite signal loss, I'd expect to see the Hopper put a lost signal notification on the screen, but the screen just remains black. I can fast-forward through the outage and the program picks up after a few seconds to maybe a minute. This happens only a few times a month, no big deal.
2. But today, something really strange came up on playback. Sound was recorded just fine, no gaps, stuttering or artifacts, but the picture was a series of 'stills,' single frames that would update every couple of minutes. This occurred during the entire hour+ of recorded program time, including the 2 minutes before GMA started, and 2 minutes after GMA ended. Again, I'd expect a 'having difficulties' slide on the screen if this were actually broadcast this way, either from the ABC network or from Dish.

Are either of these problems anyone has seen with the Hopper 3? It's always on the same GMA programming, never anything else recorded during the day or night.

Let me ask this, are you recording from an OTA channel via an OTA adapter?

 

[Electrojim]

Let me ask this, are you recording from an OTA channel via an OTA adapter?

Hi, Bobby; no, it's the ABC 'local channel' from Dish.

 

[Bobby]

Hi, Bobby; no, it's the ABC 'local channel' from Dish.

So, is it only on GMA or does it happen with any other ABC programming?

 

[Electrojim]

So, is it only on GMA or does it happen with any other ABC programming?

The only time we've seen either strangeness, and remember, #2 was first time today, is during playback of GMA. That program is recorded at 4AM local time, if room temperature or anything similar might be an issue, although the house doesn't vary more than ±10° over 24 hours. And even though that's pretty early for the west coast, I can't believe that someone at ABC or Dish wouldn't put up a flag, especially for this morning's "slide show."

 

[Pepper]

Local stations in our area are notorious for having things automated, and not noticing if something is messed up. Probably the same situation where you are, especially at 4am.

 

[Electrojim]

Local stations in our area are notorious for having things automated, and not noticing if something is messed up. Probably the same situation where you are, especially at 4am.

Sounds like a hopeful answer to me. Nevertheless, they do live local news at 5AM, so someone ought to have been watching the air monitor. We'll see what happens this coming week. Thanks for the post.

 

[sam_gordon]

Sounds like a hopeful answer to me. Nevertheless, they do live local news at 5AM, so someone ought to have been watching the air monitor. We'll see what happens this coming week. Thanks for the post.

Assuming they're automated, the people getting ready for the 5AM local news are getting ready for the 5AM local news. They're not going to pay close attention to what's on air. That's not their role. OR, if they've noticed, there's not a lot they can do except report it.

If you're really concerned about it, note the time it was happening (down to the minute), and reach out to the station. Even better if you can provide a video showing the issue. Let them know you're recording on a DVR. If they're like many stations (but not all), they'll have a 24/7 recording of the air signal that they can look at the same time.