Troubleshooting Your Dish Network Receiver
It has happened to all of us. It’s fourth and ten with just 1:42
to go in the second half – and of course your team is down. The
weather outside is getting worse and worse. Suddenly, the image
on your TV looks eerily like the snow falling outside your
window. It is a race against the game clock to get picture back
on your TV before you have to resign and just look for the score
on the evening news.
Remember, only on a rare occasion will you lose picture with
Dish Network – when you do, more often than not, there is
nothing wrong with your equipment or the service. This article
discusses some of the easiest and fastest ways to troubleshoot
your Dish Network receiver.
From High in the Sky to Your
Dish Network Receiver
Dish Network uploads programming to its satellites via gigantic
transmission stations on earth. The digital image travels upward
through the atmosphere where it eventually finds satellites
orbiting the Earth miles above the United States. Those
satellites capture and resend the digital signal in such a way
that nearly everyone with a plain view of the sky can receive
it. The signal is collected by the ubiquitous mini-dishes and
sent through cables to your Dish Network receiver, which is set
up to decode and convert the digital signal to a viewable
picture. That viewable picture is transferred to your brand-new,
56 inch widescreen plasma TV, where only moments ago you were
watching the second half of your favorite team’s football
game.
The Game Plan
If you suddenly lose picture on your TV, the problem could be in
any one of six places – but before you panic, let me tell you
you’re only going to have to check four of
them.
- The Dish - If something interferes with
the signal getting from the satellite down to your dish the
picture is obviously going to suffer. If the signal is
completely blocked, your picture will disappear. Make sure that
there is nothing between your dish and where your dish is
pointing in the sky. This could include: a tree branch, your
motor home, your neighbor’s motor home, a build-up of snow, ice,
or excessive water on the dish, or anything else you could
possibly imagine. Luckily, the solution is simple. Get the
signal flowing freely back to your Dish Network receiver by
removing the obstruction. Of course, if the obstruction is your
neighbor’s prize winning oak tree, be judicious as you
contemplate ways of removing it (i.e. talk to her about it and
figure out a solution together). If it is ice or snow just wipe
the dish clean, and you’ll be back to your game before they even
snap the ball. - The Cables and Connections - The wiring and
connecting pieces that carry the signal from the dish to your
Dish Network receiver could also be part of the problem. It is
unlikely that the image will suddenly cut out on you, especially
in the fourth quarter, if the wiring is bad. The easiest way to
test this is to ensure that the integrity of the cables is still
intact and that all of the connections are tight. If you are
still not getting picture to your television, try plugging the
cables into another TV, or routing the picture through your VCR.
If you still have no football game, try using different cables.
If the picture comes back at any time while you are doing this,
you’ve honed in on where the problem is and you can go about
fixing it… after the game, of course. - Your Dish Network Receiver - On a very rare occasion,
your receiver may stop receiving or decoding the signal
properly. To fix this, simply unplug the receiver for 30 seconds
and then plug it back in. (Don’t worry – 1:42 can last anywhere
from 5 to 30 minutes at the end of a football game.) You can
also try taking the programming card out of the receiver and
then putting it back in again. Both of these steps help reset
the receiver, and it should start functioning properly again as
soon as you turn it back on. - Your New Plasma TV - I’m no expert on troubleshooting
TVs that cost more than my car, but checking the cables and
connections is never a bad thing. A word of advice from one who
has been there and done that – make sure the back of your huge,
heavy television is readily accessible. The only thing that will
make you more angry than missing the miracle comeback of your
favorite team in that game you are missing, is dropping that
massive television on your toes as your were breaking your back
moving it out from the wall.
The good news is your team came back from behind and won. The
better news is you read this article and were able to watch it
live. The best news is you kept your cool and because your wife
was so impressed with the way you handled the whole situation,
she bought you a pool table.
