Problem recording locals

[yardline]

So I have a strange problem. If I set my 622 to record a show on my locals, whether off the Sat or OTA, on playback there is tons break up in the signal. But if I watch it live, it's okay.

This evening, I was watching (WTVT Ch13, Tampa) OTA (signal strength 97), hit record and continued to watch, the picture was perfect. After 10 minutes I stopped and played back the recording and it was unwatchable, tons of breakup and pixelation and audio dropouts. Plus, while it was recording, the 622 was very slow to respond to commands, like 5 seconds after each button press. It got a bit more responsive after I stopped recording, but still slower than it used to be.

My software version is L621. I can gladly provide any other details as well.

Any ideas? Is there a hard reset I can on the receiver to try and help?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[boba]

Do a hard reset.

 

[jlo]

signal okay on both tuners?

 

[yardline]

61.5 has a strength of 52. I do show LNB drift on 61.5 of (e-14). Could the 622 be so occupied with trying to get a signal on 61.5 that it's bogging everything else down?

 

[sam_gordon]

I used to have the exact same problem recording one of my OTA channels. I tried grounding my antenna, using a surge protector, everything Dish would recommend... little help. At the time that channel was VHF, and I had an EXTREMELY strong signal (the transmitter was about 4 miles away). That channel has since moved to a UHF frequency, and I haven't had a problem since then. I know this doesn't help you, but the channel you're having problems with is also VHF.

Too much signal (at least OTA) can mess up some receivers, and I wonder if the Dish DVRs (I have a 612) have a problem with strong VHF reception. If you want to decrease your signal level, get a standard splitter and hook it up (antenna --> splitter --> DVR). You only need to do one side of the split. If you REALLY want to decrease your signal, try an 8-way splitter.

If this doesn't help, you might want to subscribe to the locals and actually record them from satellite instead of OTA.

 

[yardline]

If this doesn't help, you might want to subscribe to the locals and actually record them from satellite instead of OTA.

Well the strange thing is, I have the same problem if I record off the locals off the Sat.

 

[TheKrell]

Too much signal (at least OTA) can mess up some receivers, and I wonder if the Dish DVRs (I have a 612) have a problem with strong VHF reception.

Strong UHF stations can do this as well. I have a channel 30 RF24 that is only 2.5 mi away. When it came on June 12th, it wiped out most if not all of my channels on one of my 612s. (Maybe both; I was struggling with the first one until I fixed it.) I had to (1) pull off my distribution amp, (2) use a 4-way splitter, and (3) carefully rotate my antenna to null out that station before I could get anything (including that station) reliably. The signal strength meter on a 612 isn't. It's some sort of inverse error rate meter which folds over (i.e. goes lower) when the signal strength is too high. Why can't we have a simple, useable, straightforward signal strength meter? An error rate meter is also nice to have, but not if it's the only meter, and not if it's erroneously labeled signal strength, and not if it folds over and misleads everybody!

 

[sam_gordon]

Well the strange thing is, I have the same problem if I record off the locals off the Sat.

Since I don't subscribe to the locals, how do you know you are recording off the satellite feed vs. OTA?

 

[yardline]

Since I don't subscribe to the locals, how do you know you are recording off the satellite feed vs. OTA?

OTA is channel 13-1 and off the Sat is 13-0.

 

[KAB]

Any ideas? Is there a hard reset I can on the receiver to try and help?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Unplug the receiver for a couple of minutes.

 

[yardline]

So as a follow up to my own post, I eventually called Dish, told them the problem and they concluded the RX was dying. As I had signed up the week before for DHPP (wink, wink) they sent out a refurb replacement and now everything records and plays back fine.

The only problem is, this one has a high pitch whine all the time. It does seem to run cooler and I can close it inside my entertainment center and not hear it. But I may call to complain in a few weeks. Does anyone have experience to know if they will replace a RX due to a noise complaint?