Program guide only 4 hours long

Tony S

SatelliteGuys Pro
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Lifetime Supporter
Sep 7, 2003
1,502
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Hills of Eastern CT
I just noticed that the program guide on my HWS is very short. It is only showing the next 4 hours and nothing after that. As a result, none of my timers are scheduled to start because there is no program guide information.

I have tried a front panel reset, and pulling the AC plug reset, but still no program guide. I have also tried to advance the program guide past the last entry (in the hope that that would download the guide), but that did nothing In the old days, you could do a check switch and force the program guide to download. Is there a way to force the guide to download?
 
I just noticed that the program guide on my HWS is very short. It is only showing the next 4 hours and nothing after that. As a result, none of my timers are scheduled to start because there is no program guide information.

I have tried a front panel reset, and pulling the AC plug reset, but still no program guide. I have also tried to advance the program guide past the last entry (in the hope that that would download the guide), but that did nothing In the old days, you could do a check switch and force the program guide to download. Is there a way to force the guide to download?

You can force a guide download by turning off or putting in standby the Hopper and all the attached Joeys. You also have to be sure nothing is recording or scheduled to record for the next 30 minutes or so. After a few minutes a message should appear on the screen indicating a guide download in progress with a percentage progress report.
 
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I just noticed that the program guide on my HWS is very short. It is only showing the next 4 hours and nothing after that. As a result, none of my timers are scheduled to start because there is no program guide information.

I have tried a front panel reset, and pulling the AC plug reset, but still no program guide. I have also tried to advance the program guide past the last entry (in the hope that that would download the guide), but that did nothing In the old days, you could do a check switch and force the program guide to download. Is there a way to force the guide to download?
I have the older vip211k and that feature is still there, to check switch. The Hoppers do not allow that?
 
You can force a guide download by turning off or putting in standby the Hopper and all the attached Joeys. You also have to be sure nothing is recording or scheduled to record for the next 30 minutes or so. After a few minutes a message should appear on the screen indicating a guide download in progress with a percentage progress report.
If the guide doesn't need updating, will a message still appear on the screen indicating a guide download in progress with a percentage progress report?
 
Thanks...Why does the green light stay on for a while (never timed for length) when I use the remote Power button? Guess I should find my manual If I even have one!
Just the way it is. Hopper will time out in five minutes then the green lite goes out.
 
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Thanks...Why does the green light stay on for a while (never timed for length) when I use the remote Power button? Guess I should find my manual If I even have one!

The green light stays on and your buffers are preserved for 5 minutes when you use the 54.0 remote to turn it off. You can turn the TV back on and watch the count down. All other remotes turn it off with no delay.

If you want it to go off immediately then use the power button under the door on the front of the receiver.
 
I just noticed that the program guide on my HWS is very short. It is only showing the next 4 hours and nothing after that. As a result, none of my timers are scheduled to start because there is no program guide information.

I have tried a front panel reset, and pulling the AC plug reset, but still no program guide. I have also tried to advance the program guide past the last entry (in the hope that that would download the guide), but that did nothing In the old days, you could do a check switch and force the program guide to download. Is there a way to force the guide to download?

Did you get your guide back? There are several reasons that can be but short of a receiver problem it often is a signal problem from the satellite where the full guide is, could be a one time thing or ongoing. Are you missing any channels?
 
The first thing I tried was JSheridan's suggestion. PTAT was recording, so I turned PTAT off and then reset my HWS so that nothing would be recording. Then I shut off the receiver (standby) and used my Fire Stick to watch Netflix for the next hour. When I turned my HWS back on, there was still no program guide.

The next thing I tried was to go into the Diagnostics menu and selected: Status, Check Status. Everything checked out OK except that the box marked 'A' (System Status) had an error. The error was: 'port 1, no signal'. I assumed that that meant I was not getting a signal from one of the satellites (I am on Eastern Arc - 2 satellites) and that would explain no program guide.

Then, still in the Diagnostics menu, I selected: Dish, Test Installation. When the test completed, it stated that it found 'less satellites than I had previously', and prompted me to either select Save, or Cancel. At the same time that this message was being displayed, the screen showed that both the satellites (61.5 and 72.7) were both receiving signals and the boxes that indicated the signal was OK were both checked. I selected 'Cancel' and did not save the results of the switch test.

Believe it or not, when I exited out of Diagnostics, when I was back watching TV, a pop-up showed up on screen that said the receiver was downloading the program guide and warned me not to try recording or setting any timers until it was finished. A couple of minutes later, the download finished and my program guide went out to 8 or 9 days like it should.

I am confused about what happened. It looked like me performing the Test Switch was what finally provoked the program guide to download. The other weird thing is that no channels were missing when the guide refused to download. I do not understand why I saw the 'port 1, no signal' error when no channels were missing. Maybe doing the switch test made the receiver come back to life?

Anyone have any thoughts about what might have happened?
 
Sometimes a simple check switch can act like restart on your computer..... sometimes. Possibly, there was a signal loss and one Sats never reacquired? You should t ry another Check Switch (Test Installation) and see if you get that same Pop up about having less satellites. Possibly your LNB is starting to fail? Or might have ice/water/condensation behind one the the "eyes"?
 
If I remember correctly, there are 2 guides available, one the week+ and the other 3-4 days , each on different satellites
you may have been losing signal on the satellite with the extended time guide .
 
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OK, I finally figured out what happened, and everyone's suggestions were correct.

About a week ago, I had a lot of tree work done in my yard. After looking at the dish, I found that the LNB was damaged (most likely by a falling tree branch) . The plastic housing of the LNB where it attaches to the mast was broken, and the tree guys decided that they could just put it back the best that they could using electrical tape. Since the LNB is no longer mounted stablely, it gives me intermittent connection. Sometimes the signal is good, an sometimes it is bad, losing connection completely with the 72.7 satellite. After looking at it,I am very surprised that I got any signal at all.

I know that accidents happen, but the tree guys never told me that they had broken my LNB. I'll have to call them tomorrow and give them a 'peice of my mind'.
 
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