Upgrade Help OTA related

nicmartim

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Oct 15, 2008
20
1
SE Nebraska
Hey all, I just got upgraded from my 722k to the Hopper3 this morning and things went fairly well. The tech installed the DVR and one Joey w/o much issue. The one thing left lacking though was his inability to hook my OTA to the DVR. The coax that the OTA comes in on (regular RG, terminated like any other connector) has a fine thread (again, like any other RG ending). The tech showed me where the OTA was supposed to go, the same port as the remote antenna (??), and the threads there were much more coarse than the ones on my cabling. The OTA cable and the satellite feed cable have the SAME ends on them, but the Hopper3 has different fittings on the back for these feeds. First, is the OTA supposed to go in the antenna line? He fashioned a small pigtail with a splitter allowing the remote antenna and my OTA to come into the same port, but when the difference in threads was discovered he abandoned that idea. He did tell me he got my signal strength up from 30% to 65% percent on the same EA birds. With the signal increase he said he doesnt see a need for the antenna anyhow, but I told him that during storms we rely on it for weather updates when/if Dish signal drops.

Is there an adapter that the Hopper is supposed to be using to get the OTA feed into the DVR? I really liked having OTA as it provided some out-of-DMA channels that were near enough to grab a signal. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
The Hopper 3 does not have a built in OTA tuner like your 722 did. It uses an OTA dongle that plugs into a USB port. The problem is Dish doesn't any available at this time. You can purchase one from other sources, like dishdepot.com....
 
I just about fell out of my chair laughing just now picturing in my head this DISH 'tech' trying to connect an OTA antenna and the Hopper remote antenna together and then to the Hopper, and the explanations he must have been making up as he went along, all the while trying to sell the customer some screen cleaner. :p
 
I just about fell out of my chair laughing just now picturing in my head this DISH 'tech' trying to connect an OTA antenna and the Hopper remote antenna together and then to the Hopper, and the explanations he must have been making up as he went along, all the while trying to sell the customer some screen cleaner. :p

Yeah, I still have the pigtail he fashioned on top of my Hopper. I really thought Dish had integrated OTA into it's latest and greatest device. Kinda disappointed to tell the truth. Now, don't get me wrong, the Hopper is a mighty fine piece of equipment, but now I have to buy another piece to get back to the functionality I had. I guess I can sell my 722 OTA module and older USB Sling adapter to offset the cost some.
 
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