Dish Network DTVPal Plus - Page 12

Go into the menu Setup/System Setup/Inactivity Standby and make sure that "Enable" is selected for activation.


Since you are not routinely getting the guide download at power on, you are probably not in a market where CBS is broadcasting a TVGOS signal.
That will trigger the guide download at power on. And all of your local station clock times will be synchronized to your local CBS time.

Therefore, you may see different clock times on different channels. One may be 9 minutes behind, while others may differ.
When you change main channels you may see the time jump.

If all of your stations are the same 9 minutes behind, then email your CBS station and ask them to correct their PSIP clock time.

If I unplug the box, won't that erase everything I've done and I'll have to run the Setup again from scratch (and re-rename my channels)?

Unplugging the unit will not erase your previous set up.

Hi Beeper. The inactivity standby timer is definitely enabled. I live in New York City, so I'm definitely in a market where CBS is broadcasting the TVGOS signal (WCBS). All stations were nine minutes behind, but this morning, when I turned the box on, it was only two minutes behind (clock says 9:58 AM, but shows scheduled for 10:00 AM are starting across all channels). Two minutes is better than nine minutes, but still slightly annoying. I don't think I've ever seen the time be completely accurate! Maybe it is WCBS whose PSIP clock is off.

Okay I unplugged the Pal+, and then plugged it back in again and it re-downloaded the EPG data, and now the clock is spot on, so this is not a case of WCBS's PSIP time being off, this is defintiely a problem/flaw with the Pal+. We'll see how long it takes for it to drift off again.

I experienced a few isolated problems with the PP that have not reoccurred, so what you experienced may have been a one time event.

As I posted before, one of my boxes refused to turn on - until I unplugged it and plugged it back into the same outlet - it came on right away.

The first time I turned on one of the boxes, the downloading of the guide never moved on to the next step - displaying the station.

And third, the program guide got stuck on the displayed page.

None of these events have reoccured, but their occurrence leads me to believe that I cannot trust this box to run error-free always. When it runs well, it is very enjoyable to use with all the information being displayed and the ease of use.

That's just not possible. According to the "experts" here, the Pal Plus has no flaws - it's just that you're not understanding how the Pal is designed to work.

LOL,
that sounds like a quote from tech support..

Well I just had that problem. The box was turned off and when I picked up the remote and tried to turn the box on, no dice. I had to unplug and then re-plug it in to get the box to turn on. That bothered me.

I thought that stuff was fixed in the later firmware versions, but if not, it could be your CBS station not having a good signal. I had this issue with the F103 Pal when it lost the CBS time lock. If it lost the lock while viewing, it drifted. If it lost the lock in standby, it picked the current channel's time, so I got in the habit of leaving it on CBS in standby. The problem did fix itself a few months later, which suggests it was a CBS signal problem. So hopefully things will get better for you, too. I don't trust either the Pal or the Zat as much as a VCR, but it's better than nothing.

Do people here generally just leave their boxes on 24/7 or do you turn your box off when not viewing television? I've been turning the Pal+ off overnight and whenever I am not watching television. I've been doing this out of a concern for overheating.

Hi folks. A simple question... I think.

How MANY events can one program via DTVPal Plus' "Event Timer" feature? Unlimited? Limited?

I've Googled & read a DTVPal Plus' manual - I found no mention of the # of "Events" one can program.

===========================

Why does this matter? AFAIK, in June our beloved Tivo Series 1 unit will stop functioning (NO Tivo Series 1 support for DTV converters)!!!

We use our Tivo, W/O Tivo service, as just a "greatly-improved VCR." We've confirmed our Series 1 Tivo CAN record from a DTV converter box -- but the Insignia DTV box we have ain't programmable to change channels.

We record 5hr-8hrs of TV per day, every day! Can DTVPal Plus' "Event Timer" feature handle loads like that, help us duplicate the functionality of our Tivo?

Thanks much.

(BTW, we're in the middle of San Francisco, high on a hill. Our Insignia box works fine. Anyone near us have trouble w/ DTVPal Plus? And are they available at B&M stores near SF?)

I would always turn it off unless there's some special reason you might have for not doing so.

Just a little sarcasm.

I run mine in TVGOS mode. I turned it on a couple of months ago, set it up for TVGOS operation and put the remote in the drawer... haven't touched it since. I have had no problems and have consistantly received the full eight days of TVGOS Guide data without interuption.

The only thing I have changed in my scheduling behavior is, when two events are back to back on different channels, I stop the earlier event one minute early and the subsequent event one minute late. (This may be overkill but it works.) If the two events do not have a break in between, my unit (Toshiba RD-SX34) doesn't send the G-Link signal correctly. I guess it is busy setting up to record the next program and the PP doesn't change channels. This seems to be a Toshiba issue, not a PP one.

BTW, I feed the PP signal into the unit via Line1.

Still can't get my G-link to work. This is so frustrating. The only response tech support gave me was "Unfortunately, we do not have a status report for this situation at this time. Generally these issues are resolved via software."

But they don't give you a clue as to when you can ever get that software! At least, in my case, they've told me that I found a definite problem, that engineering knew about it, and that's all.

How would you install any software updates to a Pal+ anyway?

I asked how you would get it and they said " Unfortunately there are no software updates for the DTVPal Plus at this time." And good question as to how you'd install any software updates.

I doubt this is the problem but am I supposed to say "Yes" or "No" to the "cable box" having a digital service package?

Some people here (with overactive imaginations, IMO), were speculating early on that the Pal might receive updates OTA - but that's a highly doubtful scenario.

I would say "yes" to the digital service - so it can use three or more-digit numerals. Plus, that assures that it knows you will be using an external box.

What people were doing last year was sending their boxes back to Dish as defective and getting a new one back, praying that they would ship the latest software.

Does anyone here know where to get a G-Link cable to work with the Pal + unit? Thanks.

Frances

I heard you can get cheap ones on ebay? If I remember correctly


here is one I found. Think this is what you looking for?

http://www.replacementremotes.com/Ca...INK-CABLE.html

They just told me: "Unfortunately software cannot be updated in the DTV Pal units. No new software has been released for the DTV Pal. Please reply back or contact customer service at 1-800-333-3474 for any updates on future software releases."

It's a condition of all CECBs that no ports are available for Software updates. At least outside mounted ones.

If it's the same as all decoder boxes it can't be left on for more than 8 hours unless you keep hitting the remote button all night. all converter boxes have a 4 hour minimum and maximum 8 hours run time after the last time the remote has been pushed.

Unless, of course, you disable it. Which is certainly possible on the DTVPal series, and most other CECBs as well.

it has 5 timer event slots, if its anything like my TR40 and i think it is....it should be many more than 5 imo but thats what the gods at echostar blessed it with....and no limitation of the number of hours per event, as far as i know....

This is the second time the same Pal Plus box I have didn't turn on when prompted to do so by way of the remote, which did turn on my other PP box fine.

Prior to this event, I had enabled the box to turn off after 4 hours of inactivity, and before leaving, had pressed the APT button on the box so as to not have the PP box turn itself on while I was taping a show on analog transmission.

The box did turn itself off as programmed to do so by way of the inactivity setting, but would not stay on when I pressed the power button on the remote. The green light on the box would turn on for a brief second and then turn itself off. I unplugged the cord, waited about 30 seconds, plugged it back in only to see the green light turn on for a brief second and then go dark. I did this one more time to the same result. I waited for a few minutes and saw the green light stay on for about 15 to 30 seconds and then go out. I thought it was doing maintenance and when I pressed the power button, I got the same result.

I unplugged the box for a longer time, then plugged it back in, and after hitting the power button a few times (I don't recall the sequence of what I did at this point I was so frustrated.) the box finally powered itself on. I have noticed that when the power button is hit, the green light blinks for a very brief second, and then blinks again, staying on. That's what it did.

I was thinking that this might somehow be related to using the APT buitton as the last command prior to it turning itself off, and when it is prompted to turn itself back on, the APT last command might be confusing its program. I don't know. I thought that this time the box was not going to turn itself on at all, as I watched it closely, when it was prompted to stay on, it would turn itself off. This was the second most serious "mysterious failure to operate as expected event" I have had with this box.

Nope My aunt does not USE timers at all and had the same problem months ago with the PAL.

It seems to be a fault that they never fixed from one firmware to another

As lexus2108 stated, this is a bug that has been in all firmware versions, and occurs regardless of how it is used.
The light on the unit will blink because it receives the remote command, but will not power on.

Normally, unplugging the unit for a brief period of time fixes it.
You do have to wait for the 20-25 second boot time after plugging it in before you use it. (Green light off)

There isn't any apparent rhyme or reason. It can occur twice a month and then not occur again for 6 months or more.