Problems With Dish 1000 and ViP 622 DVR installation

Guys I have a problem with my new Dish 1000 with the ViP DVR.

Let me explain.

The contract installer first made the mistake of bringing the wrong dish and receiver. I had ordered the DISH Network ViP 622 DVR with HD channels and he brought the most basic receiver with the Dish 500.

He said it would be better just to let him install it and then call The Dish Network to straighten it out.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get the DVR but I had a 125 signal and one awesome picture compare to the crappy Charter Cable that I had before.

O.K. so 3 weeks later with two re-schedules including one no show the same installer arrives early Saturday mourning.

He tells me this will be an easy 30 minute job.

Well 3 hours later he tells me that trees are in the way and he had to remount the Dish higher up on my roof which was well hidden before.

He remounted the dish up almost to the top of the roof and very visible.

This didn’t make sense because I had a 125 signal before.

The installer then tells me that he now has to hit 3 different Satellites which is hard to do.

He also states that most installers try to avoid the ViP 622 DVR because it’s so hard to install.

I do have some trees across the road and to the right of where the Dish is pointed but I just don’t see them as being in the way. After all the new Dish is mounted higher and I had a 125 signal before when it was mounted lower.


I might add the installer also told me that they he was no longer allow to mount the Dish on a pole. So I guess drilling two holes in my New Roof were o.k.

The installer had major problems getting a signal with some error message about the Switch.

By this time the temperature had got up around 95 and the roof was burning hot to the touch.

I believe he got the signal and because it was so hot he didn’t want to “fine tune the dish”.

Also when he moved the dish up higher on the roof he just added the addition cable making a splice and wrapping the ground wire around the other ground wire. I like one continuous wire from the dish to the house.

After the initial install of the Dish 1000 with the DVR I took some brief signal tests via the Point Dish Screen:
SATELLITE 110 68 EchoStar 110 West
SATELLITE 119 90 EchoStar 119 West
SATELLITE 129 71 EchoStar 129 West

The HD channels were not stable and if it gets just a little cloudy all the channels would go out.

As it stands now I don’t have any HD T.V. and the most of the other channels come and go.

I also must add that the Service Company that the dish installer contracts from has a telephone number that I have called many times. I don’t believe there is anyone at the other end because I have put my phone on speaker and worked around the house for hours at a time and no one ever answers.

I called the Dish Network and they told me it was my responsibility to get the installer to come back out. Luckily I started a chat session and this time the person at Dish gave me a repair date of 2 weeks from now.

Does anyone have any input? I live in North Carolina. Is it really hard to receive or tune to the 3 different satellites at same time like he says?

Point Dish Signals
Satellite 61.5 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 Wrong Sat-EchoStar 119 West
Satellite 105 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 Wrong Sat-EchoStar 119 West
Satellite 110 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 Wrong Sat-EchoStar 119 West
Satellite 118 – 0 Signal Transponder 08 Not Locked Name Not Acquired
Satellite 119 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 LOCKED-EchoStar 119 West
Satellite 121 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 Wrong Sat-EchoStar 119 West
Satellite 129 – 0 Signal Transponder 08 Not Locked Name Not Acquired
Satellite 148 – 93 Signal Transponder 08 Wrong Sat-EchoStar 119 West

Many of the above start out Locked but then turn to Wrong Satellite.


Thanks for any input.

Sorry to hear your story. I had a bad experience too. I wound up doing over half of the installation myself.

Ran all the cables....while the contractor took 3 hrs. just to mount the dish & another 2 hrs. programming my ViP622 & 1 322 receiver.

Install was free because of promo ( wasn't going to pay it anyways)

The 1000 is very hard on lazy installers because of getting line of sight on 3 sats.

Your SS's seem low. Id call Dish back out, if they cant get you any better and you are still losing channels in clouds, have them install a 2nd dish for one of the sats.

I did this at my place, I have a 1000 on 119 and 110 and a D500 on 129. Mush better SS. Ive heard Dish will do this for free if you are having problems.

I have a poor signal strength with my dish 1000 and have also heard adding a dish 500 would give me better signal strength/reception.
I asked the installer about this and Dish Network tech..both said no..unless you want the international channels.

So,I'm frustrated.Who will add a Dish 500 and not give me excuses.I live in the county of Los Angeles near Santa Monica.:rolleyes:

Well, there are a couple of ways.

You can do it yourself(what i did).

You can get your local instaler to quote you on a job for adding a D300/D500 to your setup for 129 or 61.5 and then re-peaking the 1000.2 to 110/119. I have 80's and some 90's on 129 now. This might cost a bit, but if your hiring them to do it, then they should do wahtever you tell them to. I imagine Dish is only going to do this for free if you complain a great deal.

Here's the link to my post of my install.

500 added to 1000.2 setup (http://www./dish-network-technical-discussions/97410-added-d500-today-my-1000-2-129-a.html)

There is a Brand New Dish Network D500 W/ DPPTWIN LNBF & Mast on ebay for $32.00.

I woul post the link but I'am not allowed to since I have less than 5 post.

Would that work?

I THINK the twin is meant to see two satellite, so youd have to cover one lnb with foil, should not be a biggie.

I have the DPDual, which has two ouputs but is a single LNB so that when you align it the sat hits dead center in the dish, which is slightly better.

Whats the S&H? Seems like itd be high. I got my whole setup for $82 shipped.

What if I have a dish 1000 and not a Dish 1000.2..can I still have a D/300 or D/500 added to a dish 1000?:confused:

You can still add it, BUT I dont know if youll need a switch for a 1000.

The 1000.2 actually has one input on it which is great because you run a cable from the D500 to the 1000.2 and the receiver picks it up that way. I do not know if a 1000 has an input. Youll need to check with someone who knows better before proceeding.

You could call like dishstore.net or something and ask them what youd need.

So,you think this will improve my signal strength if I have a D/300 or D/500 added to my Dish 1000? Right?

129 will be vastly improved and you can adjust the 1000 to pick up 110/119 better.

I just phoned one of the installer's who asked me alot of querstion's..like..how long have you been a Dish customer and how many tv's you have and what kinds of receiver's do you have.He asked me why I wanted the D/500 added..so i told him.He then said that he was'nt as knowledable about this as his partner and that the partner would call me back about it.

Elwaylite,WHY should this be so complicated?!!!! Will the installer get in trouble with Dish Network?I mean,how stupid is this?:mad:

Its so complicated because Dish put hd on a weak satellite (129) and trying to get all 3 off a 1000 is not easy.

They should not get in any trouble, its your stuff, they should be able to come out and add a dish if you want them too. Many do their own installs anyways. My setup with the 1000.2 and 500 is rock solid and there is nothing Dish can say about how it was done.

I think the reason they came out with the 1000.2 is to give it the extra input and to make it slightly larger. I think the input is for areas that need 61.5 and cant get 129.

I just called Dish technical and they said they never heard of a dish 1000.2 !!! They also said there was a new LNB for the dish 1000 that they might be able to add to my dish for better signal strength.The tech put me on hold for 15 minutes and then told me I did'nt qualify for that LNB..she also said I could hire a installer to purchase one..I told her I was quoted $200 from an installer..tech then said I'm sorry sir,but you still don't qualify for that in your area.I then asked to talk to a supervisor...and right now I'm on hold for a supervisor !!!!!!!!:mad:
UPDATE. The supervisor told me she'll see what she can do..am now on hold with her.She also said the D/1000.2 is so new that even Dish Network does'nt sell it yet..but local retailer's do.

Thanks for the information elwaylite.

I went ahead and ordered the New Dish and everything off ebay for $32.00.

I may call Dish back and explain I'm not happy and ask them about getting a better LNB. I'm sure I have a good singal.
After all my signal strenght was 125 with the standard Dish 500.

I beleive your right. I had a lazy installer.

I just called Dish technical and they said they never heard of a dish 1000.2 !!! They also said there was a new LNB for the dish 1000 that they might be able to add to my dish for better signal strength.The tech put me on hold for 15 minutes and then told me I did'nt qualify for that LNB..she also said I could hire a installer to purchase one..I told her I was quoted $200 from an installer..tech then said I'm sorry sir,but you still don't qualify for that in your area.I then asked to talk to a supervisor...and right now I'm on hold for a supervisor !!!!!!!!:mad:
UPDATE. The supervisor told me she'll see what she can do..am now on hold with her.She also said the D/1000.2 is so new that even Dish Network does'nt sell it yet..but local retailer's do.

Man, some CSR's are horrible. There have been many 1000.2's installed. The guy that put mine in was a Dish eomployee, not a sub contractor. What a mess.

Thanks for the information elwaylite.

I went ahead and ordered the New Dish and everything off ebay for $32.00.

I may call Dish back and explain I'm not happy and ask them about getting a better LNB. I'm sure I have a good singal.
After all my signal strenght was 125 with the standard Dish 500.

I beleive your right. I had a lazy installer.

If needed, you can get a I adapter and a single LNB for not to bad, and put them on the 500. Still easier than fighting with dish about it.

The dish you jusy ordered will have a Y adapter since it has 2 lnb's.

Just a few things. It is doubtful that before you had a signal strength of 125- the scale goes to 125. Rarely does anyone ever get 125 even on a clear sunny day. You were probably looking at the scale and not what filled up the scale. HD comes off either 129 or 61.5. Signal strength of 25 and below is when you encounter problems. Your signal strength seems to be very healthy. More than likely, you either have a loose cable connector on the dish itself or an unstable place where its mounted. I believe a pole mount is best but make sure its driven into the groud good. I had to have dish come out and drive my pole in further in the ground because a slight wabble caused me to keep losing signal. This can occur when mounted to home. I would not want anything drilled into my roof. Just that too much damage can occur. Get it mounted on a pole. Make sure they run the check switch and that all satellites report on test. Also make sure receiver has current software and rec # and smartcard number are correct. - verify with tech support. 622 is not any harder to install than 722, main difference is the second room with the sd connection and getting tuned to correct channel - defaults either 60 for over the air or 73 for cable ( can be changed via menu 6-1-5 modulator output ) just check tv menu for tv2 setting . Also make sure uhf remote ( tv2 ) can change channels. When you sign the work order at the end, you are in essence saying the job is completed to your satisfaction. To avoid an argument let them know what you want and see if they can accomodate you. Also spend time with sales rep to fully understand what you are getting and fees. They ask how many tv's you have and what kind to determine how many dual tuners and how many HD receivers you need. If you think you are going to get HD in the future, have them install a hd receiver like 211k or 722k and ask for the OTA module ( over the air module that would give you standard def coax output ) it will save you a service call in the future- module cost 29.99

Need support call 800-333-3474

Just a few things. It is doubtful that before you had a signal strength of 125- the scale goes to 125. Rarely does anyone ever get 125 even on a clear sunny day. You were probably looking at the scale and not what filled up the scale. HD comes off either 129 or 61.5. Signal strength of 25 and below is when you encounter problems. Your signal strength seems to be very healthy. More than likely, you either have a loose cable connector on the dish itself or an unstable place where its mounted. I believe a pole mount is best but make sure its driven into the groud good. I had to have dish come out and drive my pole in further in the ground because a slight wabble caused me to keep losing signal. This can occur when mounted to home. I would not want anything drilled into my roof. Just that too much damage can occur. Get it mounted on a pole. Make sure they run the check switch and that all satellites report on test. Also make sure receiver has current software and rec # and smartcard number are correct. - verify with tech support. 622 is not any harder to install than 722, main difference is the second room with the sd connection and getting tuned to correct channel - defaults either 60 for over the air or 73 for cable ( can be changed via menu 6-1-5 modulator output ) just check tv menu for tv2 setting . Also make sure uhf remote ( tv2 ) can change channels. When you sign the work order at the end, you are in essence saying the job is completed to your satisfaction. To avoid an argument let them know what you want and see if they can accomodate you. Also spend time with sales rep to fully understand what you are getting and fees. They ask how many tv's you have and what kind to determine how many dual tuners and how many HD receivers you need. If you think you are going to get HD in the future, have them install a hd receiver like 211k or 722k and ask for the OTA module ( over the air module that would give you standard def coax output ) it will save you a service call in the future- module cost 29.99

You do realize that you responded to a post over 2 years old. I'm sure things have been resolved by now.

I just don't want someone to have to go on some sort of hunt buying crap they don't need. An installation by dish should be done properly and to a customers satisfaction. You either pay for the installation or are making a contractual commitment to keep their services in exchange for them doing a proper install. If it aint working, you have 90 days to get it done correctly, ( covered by the warranty ) many people are not aware of this and start buying all this crap and being told incorrect information by technicians or cust service agents. Why should anyone have to go out and buy a bunch of crap to get the service they signed up for. Technicians are in a hurry to get to their next job and when the work order is signed, they get paid. Then you find that a bunch of stuff is missing or defective or someone else has to come back and do it right. If the service guy says he forgot a part and wants you to sign something and he'll be back with the part, tell him you'll sign it when the job is completed. Otherwise, you just may never see him again.