Missing HD Channels in Guide with 1000.2 WA Dish Network?

[DialgaChampion]

Hi there, I wonder if someone can help me.

I signed up with Dish a few days ago. Rochester, New York. I bought a Hopper, 1000.2 WA dish with the three LNB setup, and a Duo Node. I have three lines running from the dish into the node.

When I pull up the TV guide on the Hopper itself, it seems like I'm missing a lot of HD channels that I should be getting.

I'm on the America's Top 250 package. When I run a Check Switch on the receiver, I see green checkmarks for all 3 tuners next to 119, 110 and 129. Signal strength for 110 is around 40, and for 119 it's around 70. For 129, signal strength for transponders 1, 4, 6, 8, 16-32 are all 50 or higher. Transponders 2, 3, 5 and 7 are below 30 strength, and all the other ones don't have any signal strength (9-15). Also, don't know if it matters, but when I select some of the transponders, the word "Transponder" changes to "Spotbeam". I also went into the Diagnostics System Status screen and there are green rectangular boxes under all three 119, 110 and 129. To the right of the 129 box in Row 'G' is an X with no colored box under it.

It seems like I'm getting all the channels from 110 and 119. Some from 129 are coming in HD. I've made a list here of the HD channels I'm getting in the guide:

DIY HD -- Sat 110
NFL HD -- Sat 129
AXS HD -- Sat 119
MLBNA -- Sat 129

HUSLR Channel 497
ULTRA Channel 502
THTRE Channel 503
MOVIE Channels 504-522
BBGL Channel 9559

That's it. All the other channels that show up in the guide are in SD only.

Now, I know the hard drive in my Hopper isn't working -- the HDD shows up with a big red X on the diagnostics screen. I know this must be the reason why the channel logos don't appear in the guide, and probably also the reason why I can only see 1 hour of programming in advance, instead of 9 days. I'm already having a replacement receiver sent to me.

Here's my question though. Would the failed hard drive also prevent the other HD channels on 129 from appearing in the TV guide, or did my installer align the dish wrong? Should I have gone with the Eastern Arc, instead of Western, since I'm in New York? And if using the Western Arc is fine with where I'm located, and the dish is possibly pointed wrong at the Western, then why does the Check Switch give me strong signals for all 3 satellites?

 

[ChadT41]

Go to the List and see where your locals come from. I would guess you should be EA. that said, the failed equipment could be apart of it. Lastly, make sure and PM a dirt member and see if you are subscribed to HD. That is the most likely culprit.

 

[JSheridan]

Like Chad said it sounds like you don't have HD enabled on your account. I'd check that first.

 

[Tampa8]

You did put up the incorrect ARC. Rochester locals in HD are only on the Eastern Arc, 61.5. To get all the channels on the Eastern Arc including your locals in HD you need 61.5 and 72.7

That said, once your account is provisioned correctly, meaning you are set to have HD, and your package is correct it can come from any satellite that has the particular channel you want. If you don't care about your locals in HD they are in SD on the ARC you installed, the Western Arc. Once you get HD added to your account you will have all the HD channels except your locals with the three Satellites on the Western Arc assuming those readings of signal strength are high enough. Keep in mind DISH is making changes and your locals in SD on the Western Arc may not continue to be there.

It's possible you may just need a rehit to your account. It sounds like you bought your own equipment and installed it, so I don't know what you told DISH when you called to start service.

 

[ChadT41]

You did put up the incorrect ARC. Rochester locals in HD are only on the Eastern Arc, 61.5. To get all the channels on the Eastern Arc including your locals in HD you need 61.5 and 72.7

That said, once your account is provisioned correctly, meaning you are set to have HD, and your package is correct it can come from any satellite that has the particular channel you want. If you don't care about your locals in HD they are in SD on the ARC you installed, the Western Arc. Once you get HD added to your account you will have all the HD channels except your locals with the three Satellites on the Western Arc assuming those readings of signal strength are high enough. Keep in mind DISH is making changes and your locals in SD on the Western Arc may not continue to be there.

It's possible you may just need a rehit to your account. It sounds like you bought your own equipment and installed it, so I don't know what you told DISH when you called to start service.

Precisely my thoughts on the situation.

 

[DialgaChampion]

You did put up the incorrect ARC. Rochester locals in HD are only on the Eastern Arc, 61.5. To get all the channels on the Eastern Arc including your locals in HD you need 61.5 and 72.7

That said, once your account is provisioned correctly, meaning you are set to have HD, and your package is correct it can come from any satellite that has the particular channel you want. If you don't care about your locals in HD they are in SD on the ARC you installed, the Western Arc. Once you get HD added to your account you will have all the HD channels except your locals with the three Satellites on the Western Arc assuming those readings of signal strength are high enough. Keep in mind DISH is making changes and your locals in SD on the Western Arc may not continue to be there.

It's possible you may just need a rehit to your account. It sounds like you bought your own equipment and installed it, so I don't know what you told DISH when you called to start service.

Thanks for the advice. I'll go ahead then and set up the other arc for the locals. As for the other HD channels that I'm missing, I still don't know what the issue is. I PM'd a DIRT member, they confirmed the account was set up for HD and they did a rehit. Still nothing. After that failed, I tried again to go into Menu > Settings > Diagnostics, set the receiver to Factory Defaults and then selected Reset Receiver. Took a few minutes, popped up the message about the failed hard drive, acquired the satellite signal again, and... still no HD channels in the guide.

I'm hoping that if I get the EA dish set up, once I get the replacement receiver with a working hard drive in it, maybe it'll solve it? There's nothing else I can think of that would cause the guide to only display the specialty channels like ESPN, Cartoon Network, Discovery, etc. in SD.

Also Chad, I'm starting to lean towards your idea that the failed hard drive and whatever else is wrong with this unit must be part of this problem.

 

[DialgaChampion]

Ok, so I just had the receiver replaced today, and while the hard drive in this one is working, I'm still missing the HD channels. Checked the guide, set it to "All Channels" and also checked in the settings to make sure "HD and SD" was selected. Also tried "HD Only". Same thing, the HD versions of the channels are not appearing in the guide at all.

I need to have the installer come back anyway to switch the setup to the Eastern arc for my locals, but maybe you can help clear something up for me. The installer who set up my 1000.2 Western dish said that all I need is the Eastern LNB, and he can use my existing dish and equipment, and just re-point it.

On the other hand, other people are telling me that for an Eastern set-up, I also need a different dish, a different skew plate, a different arm and a different bracket.

Do you happen to know anything about this?

 

[RONZ]

Ok, so I just had the receiver replaced today, and while the hard drive in this one is working, I'm still missing the HD channels. Checked the guide, set it to "All Channels" and also checked in the settings to make sure "HD and SD" was selected. Also tried "HD Only". Same thing, the HD versions of the channels are not appearing in the guide at all.

I need to have the installer come back anyway to switch the setup to the Eastern arc for my locals, but maybe you can help clear something up for me. The installer who set up my 1000.2 Western dish said that all I need is the Eastern LNB, and he can use my existing dish and equipment, and just re-point it.

On the other hand, other people are telling me that for an Eastern set-up, I also need a different dish, a different skew plate, a different arm and a different bracket.

Do you happen to know anything about this?

Yes this is true. The dish it self can be for either arc. The LNB is what makes the difference. I would think that your account is not set up for HD is the issue

 

[MikeD-C05]

If you have a 211k or 211z and you don't specify to DISH that you want it activated for HD, you will only get Sd channels. I had this happen with my 211k on my aunt's account who has only the Welcome pack. I had to call back and get them to authorize HD.

 

[DialgaChampion]

Yes this is true. The dish it self can be for either arc. The LNB is what makes the difference. I would think that your account is not set up for HD is the issue

If you have a 211k or 211z and you don't specify to DISH that you want it activated for HD, you will only get Sd channels. I had this happen with my 211k on my aunt's account who has only the Welcome pack. I had to call back and get them to authorize HD.

The only device on my account is a Hopper that I purchased outright, and I had it replaced with another Hopper when I found out the hard drive in the first one was broken. Just signed up with Dish a few weeks ago, so I've never had any 211s or VIP receivers, or anything older than the Hopper.

I'm almost positive it's an issue with picking up the 129, even though according to the Diagnostics screen, I'm getting around 40-50 signal strength from it. Already gone through two Hoppers. I contacted DIRT and had them rehit the account multiple times, and they also confirmed the account was provisioned for HD, and still, hours later, only getting 3-4 HD channels and that's it.

What else could it be, other than the dish not properly getting the signal from 129 since I'm more on the eastern side of the continent.

 

[ChadT41]

Is your LNB purchased as well? My guess at that point is a bad LNB.

 

[DialgaChampion]

Is your LNB purchased as well? My guess at that point is a bad LNB.

It is. That's why I was wondering if the Eastern LNB is interchangeable with the Western one. Since I have to get it changed to Eastern anyway for the locals to be in HD, I figured I'd just return the Western one and have the installer replace with the Eastern, as long as I can use the same dish and arm and skew plate, etc.

 

[ChadT41]

Oh, if having an installer, they'll handle everything. Don't let them leave til you verified everything working. There is a chance it is he cable or node, but I would lean towards the LNB.