The purpose of this new thread is to raise awareness among of you who may be considering adding a 522 receiver to your Dish Network accounts of a serious design fault (I would call it a bug, but Dish says it was a design choice), on the 522 receiver.
In a nutshell the bug (or design choice as Dish likes to call it) is that the 522 receiver will NOT work well unless your receiver is able to download the 9 day program guide (EEPG).
Without the EEPG (9 day program guide) your receiver WILL NOT be able to use Name Based Recording or Recurring Events properly. No recording events will be created on a recurring automatic basis when a new program guide is downloaded to the receiver.
A more detailed explanation of how this affects the receiver is contained in the complaint letter that I wrote to Echostar (a copy of which is shown below).
I would like to encourage all of you who are affected by this issue to contact Dish Network and complain about the situation.
Please write a complaint explaining them clearly that you are facing this same problem (you can cut and paste parts of this message if you want) to the following email addresses
ceo at echostar period com
dishquality at echostar period com
NOTE: The system won't allow me to write the addresses posted above in standard format, since I am new on this bulletin board. Please put the address in standard format before sending your complaint to echostar.
Since the problem with the 522 receivers is due to the fact that they require the EEPG (9 day guide), and the reason a lot of us are unable to get the EEPG (9 day guide) is becausse it is located on a weak transponder (29) of a weak satellite (satellite 110). I have written a complaint letter to Echostar in which I outline what they should do to solve the issue. Feel free to cut/paste areas of this e-mail when you write your own complaint letter to Echostar. Please note that in order for Echostar to do something about this issue they need to receive more complaints on this issue, or otherwise they consider the issue 'statistically insignificant'.
Letter I wrote to Echostar:
I would like to file a complaint regarding the choice of Echostar to only put the 9 day program guide (EEPG) on transponder 29 of the 110 degree satellite.
The choice to put the EEPG only on transponder 29 of the 110 degree satellite AND at the same time designing receivers (like the 522 which I own) that will ONLY work properly when they have the EEPG (9 day guide) is making our equipment useless.
I believe Echostar should do AT LEAST ONE of the following things to help those of us who are having problems.
1) Echostar should put the 9 day EEPG ALSO on the 119 degree satellite. Echostar has installed SO MANY DVR/PVR units that numberwise there is already enough justification to put the guide also on satellite 119. You have the 44 guide on EVERY single satellite. Why not have the EEPG at least on two satellites (the 110 and the 119)?
2) Echostar should move the EEPG (9 day guide) to another transponder on satelite 110 which has more power, an is therefore MUCH more likely to be received by ALL Echostar Subscribers regardless of whether they live in the continental USA, Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribean, etc...or even people like me who have trees/buildings in the way who can receive transponders 1 to 21, but NOT transponder 29!!!! (most of the transponders from 1 to 21 are OK).
3) Echostar should update the internal software of the DVR/PVR receivers so that the receivers will fetch the 44 hour guide whenever they are unable to fetch the EEPG (9 day guide). At the present time if a DVR/PVR is connected to both satellite 110 and 119 and it is unable to fetch the EEPG program guide (for example because transponder 29 can't be received..eventhough transponders 1 to 21 CAN be received) from satellite 110 it simply wont fetch ANY guide at all. A simple 'Conditional' in the programing of the receiver would solve the problem. Something like: If EEPG can't be retrieved during the first three attempts retrieve the 44 hour program guide.
4) Echostar should update the internal software of its newest PVR/DVR receivers (like the PVR 522) so that they are able to work properly with the 44 hour program guide. A person who has the receiver connected to both satellite 110 and 119 but is unable to access the EEPG because of the weak signal of transponder 29 will NOT get ANY program guide at all as documented in point 3 above. A receiver that is connected to one or more satellites (like the 119), but NOT to the 110 satellite WILL be able to download the 44 hour program guide successfully. However, the PVR 522 receivers only work well when they have access to the EEPG (which currently is only available through a weak transponder (transponder 29) on the 110 satellite. If a person (like me) can't receive a good signal from transponder 29 (because it is too weak to pass through trees, neighbour walls, etc) the PVR 522 recurring events and name based recording WILL NOT WORK properly. The reason for this is that Echostar currently has a software on the PVR 522 receiver that REQUIRES the 9 Day EEPG program guide for the NBR (name based recording) and recurring recordings to work properly. Withou the EEPG the recurring events/nbs will ONLY work initially (when the recurring event is first setup), but will NOT setup new recording events as new programming days are downloaded by the receiver. So in essense, a person who can't receive the EEPG will be able to ONLY setup recurring events that span 44 hours; and then that person will have to reprogram the receiver's recurring events to be able to record those shows again. The receiver WILL NOT setup new recording events as days go by...unless it has the EEPG (which is ONLY available on transponder 29 of satellite 110).
Please note that Echostar DOES NOT mention ANYWHERE on the manual that people who buy a 522 receiver need to have access to satellite 110; NOR do they mention that a VERY good signal to satellite 110 is needed (where transponder 29 gets a very strong signal). In fact the manual of the 522 shows MANY different ways of installing the 522 receiver, which include connecting it to other type of dishes that are NOT the 500 series dish. So in short, Echostar has failed to state the requirements for the good funtioning of this (and perhaps other) receiver(s).
A few days ago I spoke to 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department). He told me that he didn't view the problems that some of us are facing with the 522 as a problem, because we were not 'statistically insignificant'. When I asked him what he meant by 'statistically insignificant he told me that we were a small group of customers who were facing this problems, and Echostar wasn't going to chance things for us.
I find 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department), statement VERY rude and unprofessional.
First of all I don't know how Mr. 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department), arrives at the conclusion that we are not 'statistically significant'. The amount of discussion on this topic on satellite bullentin boards on the internet is quite large; and people who take the time to document their problems on a satellite bulletin board on the internet are a small minotiry of the people affected by the issue. So the number of affected people is larger than that shown on discussion boards on the internet.
Second, even if the number of dish network customers affected were relatively small, compared to the total population of dish customers, I still don't believe that a customer oriented company like Dish Network would simply ignore the problem that were are facing and completely refuse to tackle the problem, simply because we are 'statistically insignificant'.
Third. Dish Networks DID NOT state in the manual OR on its website that having access to the 9 day EEPG was a requirement for the 522 receiver to work. They did not say that the 522 receiver required access to the 110 satellite for it to work, and they also DID NOT state that a 500 antenna was needed. Therefore, Dish Networks has a certain obligation to fix this problem since they did not state it as a requirement. I for once BOUGHT my 522 receiver (I didn't lease it); so I expect the problem to be fixed; otherwise I won't be able to benefit from my purchase and it will have been money wasted!
Fourth. In addition to those of us in the continental USA who are unable to receive transponder 29 of satellite 110 (and therefore can't receive the EEPG), there is all those people in Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribean...who are ALSO unable to receive transponder 29 of satellite 110, even if they buy a large dish that allows them to get transponder 1 to 21 of satellite 110. I find it completely ridiculous that Echostar would put the EEPG on a satellite that is difficult to reach in some parts of the USA, when they have a satellite (119) that can be easily received everywhere. Even if satellite 119 was full and there was no more space for the EEPG on that satellite, Echostar could put the EEPG on a more powerful transponder on satellite 110 so that people could easily get the 9 day guide. However, instead of this, Echostar has chosen a weaker satellite and as weaker transponder to put a guide that is no longer an 'option' to have it, but a hard SOLID requirement of the new receivers (like the PVR 522) for them to work properly. Without he guide the receivers do not work properly; so Echostar has a customer service obligation to put the guide in a place that can be easily accessed by EVERYBODY no matter where in the USA we live; OR change the programming of the receivers so that the 9 day program guide is not a requirement but rather a 'nice to have' thing.
In a nutshell the bug (or design choice as Dish likes to call it) is that the 522 receiver will NOT work well unless your receiver is able to download the 9 day program guide (EEPG).
Without the EEPG (9 day program guide) your receiver WILL NOT be able to use Name Based Recording or Recurring Events properly. No recording events will be created on a recurring automatic basis when a new program guide is downloaded to the receiver.
A more detailed explanation of how this affects the receiver is contained in the complaint letter that I wrote to Echostar (a copy of which is shown below).
I would like to encourage all of you who are affected by this issue to contact Dish Network and complain about the situation.
Please write a complaint explaining them clearly that you are facing this same problem (you can cut and paste parts of this message if you want) to the following email addresses
ceo at echostar period com
dishquality at echostar period com
NOTE: The system won't allow me to write the addresses posted above in standard format, since I am new on this bulletin board. Please put the address in standard format before sending your complaint to echostar.
Since the problem with the 522 receivers is due to the fact that they require the EEPG (9 day guide), and the reason a lot of us are unable to get the EEPG (9 day guide) is becausse it is located on a weak transponder (29) of a weak satellite (satellite 110). I have written a complaint letter to Echostar in which I outline what they should do to solve the issue. Feel free to cut/paste areas of this e-mail when you write your own complaint letter to Echostar. Please note that in order for Echostar to do something about this issue they need to receive more complaints on this issue, or otherwise they consider the issue 'statistically insignificant'.
Letter I wrote to Echostar:
I would like to file a complaint regarding the choice of Echostar to only put the 9 day program guide (EEPG) on transponder 29 of the 110 degree satellite.
The choice to put the EEPG only on transponder 29 of the 110 degree satellite AND at the same time designing receivers (like the 522 which I own) that will ONLY work properly when they have the EEPG (9 day guide) is making our equipment useless.
I believe Echostar should do AT LEAST ONE of the following things to help those of us who are having problems.
1) Echostar should put the 9 day EEPG ALSO on the 119 degree satellite. Echostar has installed SO MANY DVR/PVR units that numberwise there is already enough justification to put the guide also on satellite 119. You have the 44 guide on EVERY single satellite. Why not have the EEPG at least on two satellites (the 110 and the 119)?
2) Echostar should move the EEPG (9 day guide) to another transponder on satelite 110 which has more power, an is therefore MUCH more likely to be received by ALL Echostar Subscribers regardless of whether they live in the continental USA, Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribean, etc...or even people like me who have trees/buildings in the way who can receive transponders 1 to 21, but NOT transponder 29!!!! (most of the transponders from 1 to 21 are OK).
3) Echostar should update the internal software of the DVR/PVR receivers so that the receivers will fetch the 44 hour guide whenever they are unable to fetch the EEPG (9 day guide). At the present time if a DVR/PVR is connected to both satellite 110 and 119 and it is unable to fetch the EEPG program guide (for example because transponder 29 can't be received..eventhough transponders 1 to 21 CAN be received) from satellite 110 it simply wont fetch ANY guide at all. A simple 'Conditional' in the programing of the receiver would solve the problem. Something like: If EEPG can't be retrieved during the first three attempts retrieve the 44 hour program guide.
4) Echostar should update the internal software of its newest PVR/DVR receivers (like the PVR 522) so that they are able to work properly with the 44 hour program guide. A person who has the receiver connected to both satellite 110 and 119 but is unable to access the EEPG because of the weak signal of transponder 29 will NOT get ANY program guide at all as documented in point 3 above. A receiver that is connected to one or more satellites (like the 119), but NOT to the 110 satellite WILL be able to download the 44 hour program guide successfully. However, the PVR 522 receivers only work well when they have access to the EEPG (which currently is only available through a weak transponder (transponder 29) on the 110 satellite. If a person (like me) can't receive a good signal from transponder 29 (because it is too weak to pass through trees, neighbour walls, etc) the PVR 522 recurring events and name based recording WILL NOT WORK properly. The reason for this is that Echostar currently has a software on the PVR 522 receiver that REQUIRES the 9 Day EEPG program guide for the NBR (name based recording) and recurring recordings to work properly. Withou the EEPG the recurring events/nbs will ONLY work initially (when the recurring event is first setup), but will NOT setup new recording events as new programming days are downloaded by the receiver. So in essense, a person who can't receive the EEPG will be able to ONLY setup recurring events that span 44 hours; and then that person will have to reprogram the receiver's recurring events to be able to record those shows again. The receiver WILL NOT setup new recording events as days go by...unless it has the EEPG (which is ONLY available on transponder 29 of satellite 110).
Please note that Echostar DOES NOT mention ANYWHERE on the manual that people who buy a 522 receiver need to have access to satellite 110; NOR do they mention that a VERY good signal to satellite 110 is needed (where transponder 29 gets a very strong signal). In fact the manual of the 522 shows MANY different ways of installing the 522 receiver, which include connecting it to other type of dishes that are NOT the 500 series dish. So in short, Echostar has failed to state the requirements for the good funtioning of this (and perhaps other) receiver(s).
A few days ago I spoke to 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department). He told me that he didn't view the problems that some of us are facing with the 522 as a problem, because we were not 'statistically insignificant'. When I asked him what he meant by 'statistically insignificant he told me that we were a small group of customers who were facing this problems, and Echostar wasn't going to chance things for us.
I find 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department), statement VERY rude and unprofessional.
First of all I don't know how Mr. 'Steven Murphy' (Technical Product Support Department), arrives at the conclusion that we are not 'statistically significant'. The amount of discussion on this topic on satellite bullentin boards on the internet is quite large; and people who take the time to document their problems on a satellite bulletin board on the internet are a small minotiry of the people affected by the issue. So the number of affected people is larger than that shown on discussion boards on the internet.
Second, even if the number of dish network customers affected were relatively small, compared to the total population of dish customers, I still don't believe that a customer oriented company like Dish Network would simply ignore the problem that were are facing and completely refuse to tackle the problem, simply because we are 'statistically insignificant'.
Third. Dish Networks DID NOT state in the manual OR on its website that having access to the 9 day EEPG was a requirement for the 522 receiver to work. They did not say that the 522 receiver required access to the 110 satellite for it to work, and they also DID NOT state that a 500 antenna was needed. Therefore, Dish Networks has a certain obligation to fix this problem since they did not state it as a requirement. I for once BOUGHT my 522 receiver (I didn't lease it); so I expect the problem to be fixed; otherwise I won't be able to benefit from my purchase and it will have been money wasted!
Fourth. In addition to those of us in the continental USA who are unable to receive transponder 29 of satellite 110 (and therefore can't receive the EEPG), there is all those people in Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribean...who are ALSO unable to receive transponder 29 of satellite 110, even if they buy a large dish that allows them to get transponder 1 to 21 of satellite 110. I find it completely ridiculous that Echostar would put the EEPG on a satellite that is difficult to reach in some parts of the USA, when they have a satellite (119) that can be easily received everywhere. Even if satellite 119 was full and there was no more space for the EEPG on that satellite, Echostar could put the EEPG on a more powerful transponder on satellite 110 so that people could easily get the 9 day guide. However, instead of this, Echostar has chosen a weaker satellite and as weaker transponder to put a guide that is no longer an 'option' to have it, but a hard SOLID requirement of the new receivers (like the PVR 522) for them to work properly. Without he guide the receivers do not work properly; so Echostar has a customer service obligation to put the guide in a place that can be easily accessed by EVERYBODY no matter where in the USA we live; OR change the programming of the receivers so that the 9 day program guide is not a requirement but rather a 'nice to have' thing.
