VIP612 issues

grt

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Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
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I've had a VIP 612 receiver since September (hooked to a 1000.2 dish) and it's been "quirky" since new. I've attributed the issues to software problems (I've got L602) but recently things have gotten bad enough that I'm wondering if it's the unit itself.

The unit becomes unresponsive to the remote occasionally -- within about 20 seconds it starts responding again. I've changed UHF channels on the remote, pointed the remote at the box, changed the remote's batteries, etc. but it still happens.

Other issues include audio dropouts (very bad on the last episode of Extreme Trains on the History channel (the one about the circus train, if anyone else saw it)) and now occasionally very "jerky" video on HD broadcasts (I'm watching Snakes on a Plane on HBO, but also noticed it on a recorded (DVRd) HBO broadcast from earlier in the week).

Signal levels on 119 and 110 are 70-80 and on 129 in the 50s. SD content does not seem to be affected, only HD broadcasts.

Do these sound like generic 612 issues, or should I have my receiver replaced?
 
I've had my 612 for a month now and have same "jerky" problems while watching my football games I have previously recorded. I hope it is sotware related and will get fixed through download. I have been a dish customer and installer for 6 years and realize it is a complete roll of the dice to phone them and hope to get someone who could actually address this or any HD problem. I'm sure they would send you or me another receiver if we complained enough. I'm going to stick with mine for a while longer and try to gather more info on my own. Hopefully someone reading your post will have had a similar experience with solution.
 
The video stutter seems to be a new thing (I was out of town for a couple of weeks) whereas the unit has always had occasional audio stutter and the issues with the remote not being responsive.

The video stutter appears to be related to the amount of motion in the scene -- a camera pan shot where the whole scene is "moving" can trigger it. I don't see it all the time but it's enough now to be highly annoying.

It almost seems as if the 612 is running out of processing power when rendering HD scenes with a lot of motion. Could this be related to the move from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 for HBO? Did that happen over the past two weeks?
 
I actually had a trouble call today where the UHF on a 612 stopped working all together after two weeks of use. Three remotes sent by Dish, none worked. I flipped the key on the remotes to the black (IR) side, readdressed them, and they worked flawlessly.
 
My first receiver, model 4900, worked flawlessly for 7 years. Last year I upgraded to HD initially with a 211 (still no problems) and then a couple of months ago replaced it with a 722 and 612. Both have been a little quirky but I'm reluctant to ask for either to be replaced for fear of getting ones with worse problems.

The 612 rebooted on its own during the day a few times but that problem seems to have stopped. No remote problems or HD picture stutter, but its set to 780p. The red record light has never worked.

The 722 has the HD video stutter, especially during football action scenes, but only on OTA signals. There is no stutter at all using the OTA tv tuner or on satellite channels. Our locals are not in HD so I can't test them. I also have problems scheduling recordings and must use the weekly option (I've seen this problem mentioned in another post.)
 
I would call Dish and either setup a service call or get unit replaced.
I don't know much about 129 except its dying. But I have 2 612 and a 622. The 612 is a little slower responding, but I've not had the issues your having. I use the 61.5 for my HD with the 1000.4 dish.
 
FWIW, a couple of months back, my original 612 remote completely quit working with the receiver. So, I programmed my TV2 remote for my 622 to control my 612. Worked flawlessly for about a month and then the 612 stopped responding to that remote. :confused: Reached in the drawer and pulled out the original 612 remote and BAM!!! it was working flawlessly. :rolleyes: I attributed it to software revisions. Haven't had any issues since (with the remotes).
The picture still jerks from time to time. And it takes "a few seconds" for the receiver to respond to remote commands sometimes. But it's in the bedroom and the receiver is there really to catch overflow HD recordings from the 622's three tuners. :hungry: Mostly stuff we don't "have" to watch but would like to check out.

The price of technology, I guess.

David
 
I do notice a video stutter on HD shows that have lots of camera movements and "action." This has to be a processing problem.

It's only rebooted once by itself, and it was after it recorded a program in standby mode. Didn't lose the recording, just something weird that happened.

One thing it is though is quite and cool (as in it doesn't burn my hand like my 622 did).
 
I haven't had any problems with my 612 and my remote, but the unit is in the bedroom which is close to a neighbor's house, and it seems HIS remote will start changing channels, rewind and forward, and even tried to order a PPV. Is this possible from his remote? :confused:
 
Whenever my VIP starts acting quirky, such as frequent signal loss, slow responsiveness to remote, screen stutter, I just perform a warm reboot and a check switch. This seems to clear up my problems for a few weeks.

It seems like the unit needs a warm reboot after some software updates.

Just my experience, your may vary.

Bob
 
Just some updates:

Per the suggestion of another poster here, I changed my remote to IR (somewhat counter-intuitively by flipping over the tab to the black "UHF" side) and it SEEMS that the issues with occasional non-responsiveness are gone (that is, so long as I am pointing the remote AT the 612)

Also did a "hard reboot" of the 612 (I pulled the plug) and it SEEMS that the HD video stutter is gone as well, at least for the time being. I thought the unit rebooted itself automatically every morning at 3AM? The fans sure do go into overdrive at that time.
 
vip612

This may be a dumb question but the day my vip612 was installed the power supply on my Samsung HDTV blew. After having the power supply replaced it just blew again 3 days later. The TV had worked perfectly for years. Is there any way that the DVR could be sending a pulse that could damage the TV? It doesn't seem likely but I don't know much about electronics.
 
This may be a dumb question but the day my vip612 was installed the power supply on my Samsung HDTV blew. After having the power supply replaced it just blew again 3 days later. The TV had worked perfectly for years. Is there any way that the DVR could be sending a pulse that could damage the TV? It doesn't seem likely but I don't know much about electronics.

Kind of the same thing happened to my first new 50" Samsung plasma TV: Had a vip612 installed and then the screen on the TV failed (at least according to the Samsung tech who came out and first thought it was a blown power supply). Luckily Amazon swapped out the broken TV with a new one. Lord knows what would have happened had I purchased the television from a retailer with a less forgiving return policy. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but Samsung does not recommend plugging the television into a power strip/surge protector. I, too, know little to nothing about electronics, and this seems risky since I'd rather not have my television ruined by a power surge or lightning strike, but I've followed Samsung's advice with the new TV and plugged into a wall outlet and haven't had any problems yet. It's been a couple of weeks since the replacement, so I'm hoping the television will continue to fare better than its predecesor.

As for my 612, I also have some audio drop outs and video freezing during DVR playback of HD from local channels. I noticed it first during the Eagles-Vikings playoff game (FOX) last weekend, but I caught a few instances while watching recorded SVU (NBC) last night (but not nearly as bad as the football recording, which was almost unwatchable). I've soft and hard rebooted (the only solution DISH has given me so far when I call them), but with a new baby in the house, I'm not sure if that solved anything because I have little to no time to watch television anymore. I think the 612 is running software version L604, but I'd have to check to confirm. If I have time today, I'll double check.
 
Checked software version last night - L602. Also, no problems watching HD football games, both CBS and FOX, last night, so I'm hoping the reboots perhaps fixed the problem for now.
 
I have about had it with DH today Tuesday my retched vip 612 has been rebooting all day long twice up to 45 minutes before it came back on. Is there any end in sight? I have a tech coming out later this week for the second time! The last time they replaced the cable. That last till the next evening called DH and had to jump through a hoop. This morning more hoops when I called not to mention a very rude tech.

I'm wondering how do I get out of my 2 year contract and to to direct.
 
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