Hopper 2 and Winegard SK 1000 Problems

[dwillms98]

12-23-2017
Winegard SK 1000 elev fail message appeared on control box
Went online and found a procedure that did an Elevation reset and satellite resumed and locked onto the correct satellites watched TV without a problem.

12-26-2017
Winegard would not stow — went into control box menu and pushed many buttons and resets till
the satellite went to stow position

12-28-2017
Arrived at our location for the next 2 months and turned on the SK 1000 and it immediately went into the straight up position, stopped and left in that position.

12-29-2017
Winegard was called and they immediately shipped a replacement SK 1000 dome unit under warranty.

01-08-2018
Winegard dome unit was installed.

From that time on the unit has not worked without going through the following process, sometimes many times during an evening of trying to watch TV — Have had many conversations with both Dish and Winegard. Both companies say the other component is causing the problem. Dish did replace the Hopper on 01-31-2018 - New Hopper was installed and the problem persist.


HOPPER START UP

Check switch status progress msg 833

Acquiring Signal msg 535

TV will start on a channel — very random which one

Try to change channel

1. Check for Obstructions - requires restart by pulling 110 volt plug
restarts the whole process again

2. Local channels on SD
requires restart by pulling 110 volt plug
restarts the whole process again

3. Both scenarios will occur
requires restart by pulling 110 volt plug
restarts the whole process again

4. If it restarts on channel 103 everything is OK
Usually after 2 or more restarts

if this occurs msg appears that Program and DVR are being updated.

After watching a saved program on DVR and switching to Live TV
Screen msg signal code 31-12-11


PROCESS STARTS OVER AGAIN

[Dutch_12078]

What TechWriter said, and "MENU, MENU, 3, 5" gets you there even quicker. 😉

[TechWriter]

dwillms98 wrote:

Check switch status progress msg 833

Acquiring Signal msg 535

After you pull the Hopper's plug and Msg 833 (or 535) appears, press the remote's MENU button twice. The following screen should appear.

Scroll down to Dish and then to Test Installation:



Then select Test Installation and Check Switch Status Progress (058) will appear:



When Check Switch is done, you'll be able to see if all three satellites have been acquired.

[Bill_Satellite]

You are not going to replace a $1500 antenna with an $1800 antenna to solve a minor issue. None of this has anything to do with EA or WA satellites, however. He says he is able to local channels in SD (WA) so he is locked on correctly. The "*" indicate that the antenna has located the satellites and I have not seen any information on what the Hopper is showing for signal strength when this problem occurs. I could be nothing more than bad/loose coax connections or a problem with the Hopper but if the signal strengths are good, it's not the Winegard.

[TechWriter]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Just because EA satellites are available does not make the WA satellites unavailable. He should have no problems locking onto the WA satellites from OH.

Yes, but after OP's "many conversations" with DISH and Winegard, it's still something to consider before doing this.

[Bill_Satellite]

Just because EA satellites are available does not make the WA satellites unavailable. He should have no problems locking onto the WA satellites from OH.

[TechWriter]

Some parts of Ohio (OP's location) are served by DISH's Eastern Arc sats. The SK1000 can only acquire Western Arc sats.

So you might be in an area with inferior Western Arc reception. If you can get the Hopper running for a while, check the sat signal levels. (Press the "Menu" button twice. Then scroll down to "Dish".)

[Bill_Satellite]

I believe others have also reported that the Hopper must be powered off (unplugged?) while the Winegard does its search. Once it's locked on you can power up the Hopper.

[gatorcq]

Here's the thing. Your winegard does not need to be connected to the Hopper to work.
So, disconnect the cable from the Winegard to your Rv.

Then turn on WG. When it stops, do you * next to the 3 Satellites? If yes then it is locked on. Now connect the Hopper. Do you have a Solo node in line or what? Now you go to system setting ??? Antenna ? Check Switch?

[old_guy]

I have more problems with hopper than any tv provider I've had. I can't wait for my contract to be up so I can go back to directv.