Dish 20.0 IR Remote works for awhile then it

Apr 14, 2009

-   Interesting discussion; this is my first Satellite TV and after many years of cable -- and I'm starting to regret this!

After I signed for the service the technician came and installed the system and called downstairs for a quick walk thru; half way through demonstration the remote stopped responding. After 30 minutes of troubleshooting he decided to swap the unit with brand new remote and nothing worked. This went on for at least 3-4 hours and decided to call it day and scheduled another appt for the following day.

The next day he came with his colleague and brought with them a powered UHF antena. I was out that day, but they told my wife that our Phillips HDTV is interfering with the IR by absorbing the signal as TV attempts to adjust the brightness automatically in response to the ambient lights. Well, they hooked up everything and it seems to work fine.

When I came back from work, the problem resurfaced again. I've tried everything and still nothing. I called for help and recommeded another visit; since the appt is for another week - I switched back to my cable (still have not cancled it yet). Yesterday and they came back and hooked everything back and run all sort of diagnostic, the darn thing started working. They waited for 30-40 minutes to see if the problem resurfaced again. No problem it work fine and they left.

As I was watching TV late into the night, the darn remote started acting up again. The RED light on the remote control and UHF atena flickers but nothing happens. I rebooted the unit few times and the problem stil there.

My question is -- my cable box (with comparable function - HD and DVR) works just fine with my TV; I'm curious as to why EchoStar have not been able to factor this problem when they buil these units (perhaps IR spetrum that doesn't interfere with the TV or other requipments). I would be interested to know if they have plans to address this? I really don't think is fair to ask customers to disable HDTV's important feature (auto brightness, potentially would have an impact on power saving) just to fix the remote control.

-   mantle_us

Mar 27, 2009

-   I have a similar/same problem. My #1 remote works fine in the daytime, but fails to control the HD receiver at night when the room is dim. I can still control my TV with the DISH remote, but can't control my receiver. I have to turn on all the lights in the family room in order for the remote to work with the receiver. I have a Sony BRAVIA 52" LCD TV.

Anyone know of any fixes? I called DISH technical support and they were no help, they've never heard of this problem. They're going to send me a new remote to see if that helps, wish me luck.
-   taco23

Mar 17, 2009

-   I have been doing some online research and have discovered that MAYBE the fluorescent light bulbs in my table lamps are causing interference with the IR remote control for Dish VIP722 receiver. I noticed that most of our problems with the new receiver happen in the early morning and late evening when the lamps are on. I am going to switch out the fluroescent bulbs to regular bulbs to see if this helps and will post solution if it fixes the problem. -   go hogs

Mar 17, 2009

-   I am having the same problem. Dish Network has been here four times for this VIP722 receiver we had installed March 10th. They first switched out the remote control, it did not fix the problem. Then they switched out the receiver. The problem is still there. (TV 2 is fine) Last night I was thinking that it works fine before daylight and until around dark, so I got up at 1 AM and tried a couple things. With the table lamps only on, and it dark outside, the remote did not work. With the overhead light on, and the table lamps and it dark outside it did work. I know that sounds nuts, but that was one observation last night. The technicians I talk to over the phone are not help whatsoever and I am ready for them to come get this thing out of my house! -   go hogs