Replacement VIP722, now poor OTA reception

sswenson

Member
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
7
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I have a VIP722 with an antenna connected connected for my OTA channels. With my amplified antenna on the roof, I can pull in most of the Chicago Locals (I live about 60 miles west of Chicago) including 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50, 56 etc. Last week, Dish sent me a new VIP722 to replace my old one that apparently had a broadband issues. I used to get about 18 - 20 OTA channels, now with the replacement receiver, I am lucky to get channels 2 and 7.

To verify that the antenna and wiring is working, I disconnected the antenna from the 722 and connected the coax to the antenna input on the TV. Did a scan and again, I am getting channels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50... so I know its not an issue with the cabling or the antenna. Any reason for the poor OTA lock on the 722? Did i get a bad box and need to give dish a call back, or is it a merely a crap shoot on how well the receiver pulls in the locals and I drew a short straw.....
 
Something may be loose on the OTA connector on the unit. I doubt it's a "short straw" scenario, but I'd keep drawing...
 
I have a VIP722 with an antenna connected connected for my OTA channels. With my amplified antenna on the roof, I can pull in most of the Chicago Locals (I live about 60 miles west of Chicago) including 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50, 56 etc. Last week, Dish sent me a new VIP722 to replace my old one that apparently had a broadband issues. I used to get about 18 - 20 OTA channels, now with the replacement receiver, I am lucky to get channels 2 and 7.

To verify that the antenna and wiring is working, I disconnected the antenna from the 722 and connected the coax to the antenna input on the TV. Did a scan and again, I am getting channels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50... so I know its not an issue with the cabling or the antenna. Any reason for the poor OTA lock on the 722? Did i get a bad box and need to give dish a call back, or is it a merely a crap shoot on how well the receiver pulls in the locals and I drew a short straw.....

I agree with dare2be that its something with the OTA connector. PM me your account number and we can get it replaced for you.
 
Zach ... it would be nice to know.. that in cases like these, do the receivers come in on RMA with the notation from you or any other tech as to why they sent out a replacement?

or is it more worth it for the customer to slip a piece of paper in there, describing the problem so that whomever gets the unit can have it first hand..
 
I have a VIP722 with an antenna connected connected for my OTA channels. With my amplified antenna on the roof, I can pull in most of the Chicago Locals (I live about 60 miles west of Chicago) including 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50, 56 etc. Last week, Dish sent me a new VIP722 to replace my old one that apparently had a broadband issues. I used to get about 18 - 20 OTA channels, now with the replacement receiver, I am lucky to get channels 2 and 7.

To verify that the antenna and wiring is working, I disconnected the antenna from the 722 and connected the coax to the antenna input on the TV. Did a scan and again, I am getting channels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 23, 26, 32, 35, 38, 50... so I know its not an issue with the cabling or the antenna. Any reason for the poor OTA lock on the 722? Did i get a bad box and need to give dish a call back, or is it a merely a crap shoot on how well the receiver pulls in the locals and I drew a short straw.....

Dumb question but you DID run a scan for locals after hooking up the replacement, right?:confused:

Ed

MENU-6-9-Scan Locals
 
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Zach ... it would be nice to know.. that in cases like these, do the receivers come in on RMA with the notation from you or any other tech as to why they sent out a replacement?

or is it more worth it for the customer to slip a piece of paper in there, describing the problem so that whomever gets the unit can have it first hand..
That would probably get the unit sent back to the customer, with the resolution of "problem solved...unit had stray piece of paper attached to it that was interfering with the proper operation of the unit" :D
 
In my case, my replacement 722 had significantly lower sound out of TV2 outputs than my previous one. I will most probably be taking advantage of the 922 offer as soon as my new ehd arrives and I can dl all the programing from my 722's internal hd.
 
Zach ... it would be nice to know.. that in cases like these, do the receivers come in on RMA with the notation from you or any other tech as to why they sent out a replacement?

or is it more worth it for the customer to slip a piece of paper in there, describing the problem so that whomever gets the unit can have it first hand..

When I was sending back 721s that died, the instructions said to include a sheet of paper describing the problem. It was always a failed HDD or power supply. <sigh> I really loved the 721.
 
Dumb question but you DID run a scan for locals after hooking up the replacement, right?:confused:

Ed

MENU-6-9-Scan Locals


Yes I did, In fact I scanned locals several times thinking maybe the weather was impacting the signal strength, I tried it in the morning, mid-day, evening... There was no cloud cover....
 
Update -

Continuing from the OP, Zach got me out a replacement receiver (replacement #2) the next day (Friday). I disconnected the old receiver, hooked up the new one, plugged it in and it would not boot up, the green LED Power light was on for TV1. After 3 - 4 minutes, the TV flashes a message that there is no signal and is shutting down. Turn back on TV and wait. After a period of 10 minutes or so - nothing. Ended up calling tech support to figure out what the problem was. Tech support had me swap HDMI cables, switch from using input 1 to input 2 on the tv, unplugging and plugging back in the receiver, and even tried connecting to TV via composite cables etc - nothing, no picture, no bootup. After about 45 minutes with tech support, he decided it was a bad receiver, he reactivated my existing receiver (Replacement #1) and sent me out another (Replacement #3), Got replacement #3 on Wednesday (10/19), hooked it up this morning and deja vu, green LED power light is on for TV1, no picture no boot up (this one also has a very noisy fan and/or HD).... As with replacement #2 (when I was talking to tech support) replacement #3 is connected to TV1 via HDMI cable, when I plug in the receiver, i get nothing, just a green LED power light for TV1, the receiver does not boot, ask me to authorize, nothing. I open the door on the right to hit mode / select / reset etc, and nothing... Disconnected the receiver (replacement #3) and reconnected (replacement #1) and it booted right up, downloaded the program guide... just no OTA reception.

I will call tech support in the morning to see what they say.. will let you know what happens -
 
Did you by any chance hook up your ehd before you tried to activate your receiver. If you did, that's your problem. You can't hook up an ehd until your receiver is fully activated. I know from expererience. I tried it once and it wouldn't boot so
Dish sent me another 722. It wasn't till someone here mentioned that you couldn't hook up the ehd right off the top that I was able to activate my receiver.
 
Your description is exactly what I experiences. Loud fan, no boot up etc. Tech support didn't ask about the ehd. I have suggested making a sticky thread on the procedure installing a replacement dvr with instructions for the earc and the warc, including when to reattach the ehd.
 
Did you by any chance hook up your ehd before you tried to activate your receiver. If you did, that's your problem. You can't hook up an ehd until your receiver is fully activated. I know from expererience. I tried it once and it wouldn't boot so
Dish sent me another 722. It wasn't till someone here mentioned that you couldn't hook up the ehd right off the top that I was able to activate my receiver.

Ok, went back and reconnected the receiver, it booted fine.. I must have had the EHD hooked up before... receiver is now activates and downloading the program guide. Thanks Man!
 
Glad I was able to spot the problem. I learned from my mistake. Now if someone else has the problem, you can point them in the right direction.

This is what this forum is good for. CSR's need to have this senerio added to their scripts.
 
Glad I was able to spot the problem. I learned from my mistake. Now if someone else has the problem, you can point them in the right direction.

This is what this forum is good for. CSR's need to have this senerio added to their scripts.

I am passing that suggestion along to the team in charge of troubleshooting.
 
As a point of interest, I would suspect that any OTA reception problems that were specific to one receiver (that is, one has good reception and another has poor reception in the same configuration) would be caused by the tuner module. In my case, my 722 came without the tuner and I had to buy one and install it myself (a simple task.) If I was experiencing the poor reception problem described here, I would have swapped tuner modules from the receiver with good OTA reception to the new receiver with poor OTA.
 
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