Recording MLB on 721

[RolloTomasi]

I have a DP721 and can't record baseball on my sports alternate channels, 444-453. I select a future game from the guide, as I would select any other program to record. The timer fires as scheduled, appears normal [red record light is on], but when I play it back, all I get is the Dish logo. If I rewind the recording to the beginning, it shows 303 minutes and some odd seconds, [the 5 hour block plus 1 minute early and 3 minutes late, i.e. the default]. After about a minute, it says I have an hour or so left on the recording. In other words, the game itself gets skipped.

If I set a manual timer by pressing the record button during the game, it will record. Kind of tough to do if you're not at home though.

I am one of the lucky people with two sports channels, Fox North 436 and Comcast Chicago 429. My local team, the Milwaukee Brewers, is broadcast on the alternates. However, the Cubs and White Sox, which are on Comcast, will record just fine. I only have this problem when recording from the alternate channels.

The techs have no knowledge of this issue, but I asked one this morning to report this to the software department, assuming it was a software issue.

I also have a 508 and have no issues recording baseball on that receiver.

Has anyone else noticed this with the 721?

 

[8bitbytes]

You have to start the timer AFTER the event begins - I know, I used to have a 721.

 

[RolloTomasi]

You have to start the timer AFTER the event begins - I know, I used to have a 721.

I would be surprised if no one has complained to Dish about this, and it wasn't addressed in a subsequent firmware update. Any current 721 users care to chime in?

I was originally told by tech support that the receiver needed to be replaced. Of course, the replacement behaved identically.

 

[RolloTomasi]

2008 update. It still doesn't work.

I can set a manual timer and it will work, but not from the guide.

The same applies to my 501. I also cannot use the 'Dish Pass' feature for a Sports Alternate. D* has confirmed this as well.

I also have Comcast Sports Chicago, and everything seems to work fine to record a Cubs or White Sox game, but not the Milwaukee Brewers which are only broadcast on a Sports Alternate channel.

Customer service has been no help, even when I talked to an advanced tech [who really did seem to know what he was talking about].

I've been offered an upgrade to a 622 but I won't do that [and pay a DVR fee] unless I can be assured that the 622 will work as I intend it to. And no one at D* can confirm whether it does or doesn't.

Is anyone able to set a record timer from the Guide on ANY dvr model for Sports Alternate channels?

 

[Chinatown]

Yes., but only using the Dish Pass. Just type in your team

It automatically finds the alternate, or the local channel . It starts when the pregame begins.

I also have them set to run an extra hour, in case there are extra innings.

 

[garys]

I also cannot use the 'Dish Pass' feature for a Sports Alternate. D* has confirmed this as well.

OK, but why would D* (Direct tv) confirm anything on an E* (Echostar or Dish Network) system?

 

[RolloTomasi]

OK, but why would D* (Direct tv) confirm anything on an E* (Echostar or Dish Network) system?

Sorry for the incorrect 'code' Gary. I was referring of course to Dish.

Yes., but only using the Dish Pass. Just type in your team

It automatically finds the alternate, or the local channel . It starts when the pregame begins.

I also have them set to run an extra hour, in case there are extra innings.

As I stated in my update post, I tried using the Dish Pass on my 501 receiver and it didn't work. The SETUP worked, the timers show as being scheduled, and the timer fires, but not the actual recording. It behaved as I described in my original post [beginning and ending 'Season Ticket' logo only].

I'll also add that setting a recording from the guide no longer works on the 501 as it did last year. A manual timer is the only alternative [and very inconvenient].

Which receiver model are you using? The Dish Advanced Technical rep I spoke to was fairly specific that the Dish Pass feature would not work for alternate channels, but maybe he was only referring to the 501.

The 721 does not have the Dish Pass feature.

 

[UGAChance]

Change the Start Early to 0 instead of 1 minute or Edit Time of timer.

The problem is that you do not have Authorization until the Event starts, so it tunes to the Dish Slate Channel when you have a recording that starts 1 minute early. On the newer receivers it defaults to Start 0 minutes early and End 0 minutes late.

 

[styxfix]

Change the Start Early to 0 instead of 1 minute or Edit Time of timer.

The problem is that you do not have Authorization until the Event starts, so it tunes to the Dish Slate Channel when you have a recording that starts 1 minute early. On the newer receivers it defaults to Start 0 minutes early and End 0 minutes late.

I would go even one step further and start the recording one minute after the your show starts. Yes, that means to you have edit your timers. This is a problem on the RSN alt channels. I had to do this all the time with my 921 and they both have some of same software.

 

[8bitbytes]

Change the Start Early to 0 instead of 1 minute or Edit Time of timer.

The problem is that you do not have Authorization until the Event starts, so it tunes to the Dish Slate Channel when you have a recording that starts 1 minute early. On the newer receivers it defaults to Start 0 minutes early and End 0 minutes late.

Exactly.

That's what I told him last year - start the timer AFTER the event begins. Any channel showing a Dish Slate until the event begins is treated like a PPV event and you will not get access to it until the event actually begins, just like you said.

It's just the way it works.

The other problem I had with the 721 was that when I recorded a ballgame, if the game ended early and went back to a slate, the slate would tell the 721 that the slate program was 12 hours long and would freak out the 721. So at one point late in the game, if I paused the game, when i hit play again, the recording would flip back to the beginning of the recording.

To solve that problem, Dish replaced my 721 with a 942, free of charge or fee. Those days are over now...

 

[RolloTomasi]

You have to start the timer AFTER the event begins - I know, I used to have a 721.

I assumed you meant one must start the timer manually while the game is in progress by pressing the 'record' button.

I now have a more serious problem, in that the 721 won't lock on to the transponder. It behaves like the wiring or switch is bad [only the even # transponders have problems, signal alternates from zero to good every second or so] but signal is good when I hook up my 501.

I'll try changing the timer to not fire early and see if that helps on the 501. I think the 721 is toast, which is probably for the best.

 

[hperry]

I'm seeing a similar issue on my 622 with recordings on NESNHD. I record the red sox game every day and have noticed a few occasions where the recording is just the "tune into this channel for your favorite teams" banner for the entire recording. And when playing this recording back during the time when the game should be on, the receiver seems confused because the "waiting room" music stops playing and FF and REWIND don't work properly (the time doesn't move forward/backward). So it's just like what the OP sees but my recording doesn't exactly "skip" the entire time for which the game should have recorded.

After reading comments in this thread, I have a theory that this issue may be caused by Dish's failure to properly queue the NESNHD schedule in the guide data. They seem to load in several days worth of games at a time. But they sometimes don't do it until the last minute. For instance, tomorrow's game is not in the guide yet on NESNHD although it is listed on NESN (SD). So I'm thinking these last minute schedule changes might be interfering with the receivers ability to "authorize" the game.

 

[UGAChance]

I now have a more serious problem, in that the 721 won't lock on to the transponder. It behaves like the wiring or switch is bad [only the even # transponders have problems, signal alternates from zero to good every second or so] but signal is good when I hook up my 501.

Check for LNB Drift.

 

[RolloTomasi]

Check for LNB Drift.

I mentioned that I connected a 501 to the same input coax as the 721 and had no issue with the signal. And its only the 110 even transponders that have the issue. The odds are fine. And, no, the ones I'm having problems with are not spotbeams. 110 TS 24, the transponder with the RSN feeds is one of those acting up.

I'm a user and not a professional, does this still sound like LNB Drift?

BTW, on my 501 I changed the DishPass timer to not start a minute early. It now works great. And an 'Advance' tech told me recently that no-way, no-how will DishPass work with RSN programing. Go figure.

 

[UGAChance]

I mentioned that I connected a 501 to the same input coax as the 721 and had no issue with the signal. And

501 has drift compensation software and 721 does not. Go into the Super Diagnostics Screen from Menu->System Info and when it checks the signal on your sats... see if it says LNB Drift or WARNING Check Details.

 

[RolloTomasi]

501 has drift compensation software and 721 does not. Go into the Super Diagnostics Screen from Menu->System Info and when it checks the signal on your sats... see if it says LNB Drift or WARNING Check Details.

It does. "LNB Drift Detected. 0x0d, 0xa1, 110 e-7"
Would someone like to translate this?

 

[UGAChance]

It does. "LNB Drift Detected. 0x0d, 0xa1, 110 e-7"
Would someone like to translate this?

The LNB your 110 is coming into is drifting for the EVEN transponders.

-5 is on the verge and -7 is 2 megahertz further. You should not be locking on any channels on 110 EVEN transponders.

0x0d = DP DUAL LNB
0xa1 = Cal Amp Manufacturer... since Dish has won the lawsuit I guess it is common knowledge... I can say who it is.

CALL DISH and tell them you have -7 drift and your 721 has no 110 even channels... channel 211, 216, 218, 219.

 

[RolloTomasi]

I did that last night. The tech said that -7 was borderline, and the there IS compensation software built in to the 721, I think he was feeding me a line of BS, or he didn't know. A tech is scheduled to be here in two WEEKS!. I trust you guys here more than the techs, that's for certain.

Fortunately, there is little that I watch on the 110 evens, especially since my alternate RSN has now been moved to 119 [at least it was on 119 yesterday when I checked].

After pushing a little, I was told that IF the 721 needs to be replaced, since it is an owned receiver and without a DVR fee, I would be given a fee-free 522. I'd take that deal, especially since the 522 has DishPass software whereas the 721 does not.

They even waived the service call fee of $29 after I complained about that, as well.