My five-year old UTV system has lost the ability to get a signal - adjusting the dish does not seem to help...can't get any signal...I see on the Microsoft UTV site that there was an update on January 23 (I assume that was Jan 23, 2007), but since I don't have a landline, I have not downloaded it yet.

What I am wondering is: Can I download the update, using a USB-ethernet adapter?

Or should I take the box to a friends house, and use their landline?

Or, is it possible that the tuners themselves malfunctioned? Reception has been poor lately...when I checked the signal strength last week, I was only getting a signal on one tuner.

The box still plays back recorded programs just fine, although stuff recorded recently has glitches...

If your UTV has any life left... you may be able to get a Signal (at least for a few moments or hours)... after rebooting or resetting (unplug or punch in reset code like 12357).

This is assuming your DTV setup is otherwise in excellent condition (and receiving a signal) and not the cause of the Signal loss.

I don't think the UTV website has been updated in years. That's probably not 2007. I woudn't bother to try a download if you have 3.7 (more than a few years old). If you can watch recorded shows etc. but can't record, check all the lines up to the dish. Try swapping lines 1 and 2, usually only 1 tuner goes at first.

Tuners are very common problems. Check your history to see if there are tuner messages.

I saw your post and could not help but see the parallel between what you are experiencing and what I just went through. Can you get a signal at all? Go to the signal strength part of your settings menu and check the signal strength. If you are getting any signal at all and it drops out occassionally then it is more than likely the tuner. You can read all of what I did in my post called "Symptoms of a failing Hard Drive". Good luck.

Yep. If a full on Tuner Failure is confirmed your Fix is either to replace or repair the UTV.

CCS repairs both UTV Tuners for $130 and has a rather fast turn around and does Warranty it's repairs so for those that want to continue using UTV can... It just may cost a bit.

Considering how each of my UTVs only cost me between $50-$100 back in the day... A few bucks to keep them going a few more years isn't a bad investment for me. Had my Sony UTV repaired by them sometime back instead of switching to a DTV Tivo... I'm glad I did...

As Guy5 has mentioned there are "cheaper" options if you want to upgrade...

I had one tuner go but I had bought 2 spares for about $50 each off ebay a while back.

So, I have one spare with 2 tuners and 1 with one tuner.

They backup my two primary utvs - one still going strong in my 7th year. I still have a kept recording of the first Lord of the Rings ppv at the bottom of my shows.

I figure I can go for a long time, as long as dtv doesn't pull the plug. If they ever get the bugs out of their current boxes, and add the 30sec skip, I'd consider it. But only if and when they force me to switch.