DISH 301 Receiver Problems (help!)

[Sandy A. Nicolaysen]

Maybe someone here can offer some insight as to why one of three
receivers stops working.

I have three DP-301 receivers from Dish Network. Two are permanently
installed at home and one which I take with me in a recreational
vehicle. The two home units have worked flawlessly for two years.
The RV unit was replaced 8 months ago when it stopped functioning.
This past weekend, the rebuilt unit Dish send me also failed.

My guess is that one of the following may be the cause of the
failures.

1. High temperature. The receiver or smartcard might not tolerate
high ambient temperature, even when unplugged, like when the RV is not
in use. Not uncommon for the interior of an RV to reach over 125
degrees in direct sunlight.

2. Vibration. The receiver may not tolerate vibrations when
traveling over the road. (I fold a blanket around it when storing for
travel)

3. Needs to hear from home? The receiver may sit for weeks at a time
with no power and no signal. Maybe the smartcard self destructs if it
hasn't heard from the mothership in a while? :)

I did all of the usual, reboot the receiver, upgraded firmware,
checked the switch, etc. Message I get is "This channel not
authorized for your smartcard", mind you that the channel is some shop
at home thing. All I receive is the NASA channel and the 101 FYI
channel.

Any help appreciated because I'm stumped on this one.


Thx
- Sandy

[jason]

call dish while it is in use and let them know your unit is not on all the
time and what the error message says, you will have programming probably
before you hang up with the operator.. if the unit doesnt hear from the
mother ship, it assumes your sub is expired.. they should have it going in
minutes

jason

Post by Sandy A. Nicolaysen
Maybe someone here can offer some insight as to why one of three
receivers stops working.
I have three DP-301 receivers from Dish Network. Two are permanently
installed at home and one which I take with me in a recreational
vehicle. The two home units have worked flawlessly for two years.
The RV unit was replaced 8 months ago when it stopped functioning.
This past weekend, the rebuilt unit Dish send me also failed.
My guess is that one of the following may be the cause of the
failures.
1. High temperature. The receiver or smartcard might not tolerate
high ambient temperature, even when unplugged, like when the RV is not
in use. Not uncommon for the interior of an RV to reach over 125
degrees in direct sunlight.
2. Vibration. The receiver may not tolerate vibrations when
traveling over the road. (I fold a blanket around it when storing for
travel)
3. Needs to hear from home? The receiver may sit for weeks at a time
with no power and no signal. Maybe the smartcard self destructs if it
hasn't heard from the mothership in a while? :)
I did all of the usual, reboot the receiver, upgraded firmware,
checked the switch, etc. Message I get is "This channel not
authorized for your smartcard", mind you that the channel is some shop
at home thing. All I receive is the NASA channel and the 101 FYI
channel.
Any help appreciated because I'm stumped on this one.
Thx
- Sandy

[vanillaicevt]

When unplugged for a long period of time, the smart card loses its memory,
just like your car stereo will lose its memory of what time it is if the
battery on your car is disconnected. When you call in, Dish will send an
activation hit, and that should take care of your problem. Another thing
that can happen with a receiver that is not plugged in for a while can be
the software is not current. If you are unsure of whether your software
is current or not, you can always download software by putting your
receiver in standby (plugged in, power off) while connected to the dish.
A message saying WARNING-061 Vital program information is now being
downloaded into your receiver will come on the screen, it takes about
15-30 minutes.

125 degrees also does sound a bit excessive, but not necessarily causing
the problem you mentioned. Also, temperature doesn't cause nearly as much
of a problem when not turned on as it does while turned on.

The vibration you mentioned would definitely cause problems on a dvr unit
that has a hard drive, but the blanket you are using should be sufficient
to protect a model 301.

[Sandy A. Nicolaysen]

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 00:03:36 -0400, "vanillaicevt"

Post by vanillaicevt
When unplugged for a long period of time, the smart card loses its memory,
just like your car stereo will lose its memory of what time it is if the
battery on your car is disconnected. When you call in, Dish will send an
activation hit, and that should take care of your problem. Another thing
that can happen with a receiver that is not plugged in for a while can be
the software is not current. If you are unsure of whether your software
is current or not, you can always download software by putting your
receiver in standby (plugged in, power off) while connected to the dish.
A message saying WARNING-061 Vital program information is now being
downloaded into your receiver will come on the screen, it takes about
15-30 minutes.
125 degrees also does sound a bit excessive, but not necessarily causing
the problem you mentioned. Also, temperature doesn't cause nearly as much
of a problem when not turned on as it does while turned on.
The vibration you mentioned would definitely cause problems on a dvr unit
that has a hard drive, but the blanket you are using should be sufficient
to protect a model 301.

Thank you so much for your help! It's fixed now.

I called Dish after 7 PM EDT, so I got a tech instead of a help desk
person. I gave him the R00 and S00 numbers, he punched them into
their computer, and the receiver came back to life.

I asked how long the receiver can remain unplugged and his response
was "depends on the condition of the capacitor", i.e. a battery.

My receiver was unplugged for at least 3 weeks. The tech said power
needs to be maintained, not signal. OK, I can live with that.

I never mentioned that I use the receiver in an RV, yet he said "we
get a lot of calls this time of year from people with RV's"

Guilty as charged. :)

Thanks again. - Sandy

[Klay Anderson]

Post by Sandy A. Nicolaysen
I asked how long the receiver can remain unplugged and his response
was "depends on the condition of the capacitor", i.e. a battery.

No, a cap is a cap. Instead of a replaceable battery, memory is sometimes kept
alive for short or moderate periods via a large charged capacitor. As the load
(the memory) drains the cap, it will die until recharged by operating the unit
from AC. This keeps it alive during shipping, power outages, etc. A battery
would keep it alive for months or years but would need replacing, is more
expensive and not rechargeable.

[BobaBird]

Post by Sandy A. Nicolaysen
I never mentioned that I use the receiver in an RV,

Maybe it's time that you do. You should qualify for the RV exemption
to get up to 2 sets of distant networks.
'
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/locals/rv_truck/index.shtml'
(http://tinyurl.com/pkkd)