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lost my utv to lighting

post #1 of 8
7/31/07 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Lighting struck and took out both of my UTV receivers. The service guy came out, and since I had a service contract he replaced both receivers with R15 at no charge. After using these for a short time I almost cried. I grabbed one of the UTV receivers, packed it up and ran to the post office to send it to CCS, I surely hope they can repair it.
After a few day of using these R15 units I have found that some things that I thought were missing are just awkward to access, but some important UTV features just seem to be missing.
1. No instant 30 second skip, of course
2. No Auto-record that I can find. This is a feature I use a lot.
3. The To do List is limited to 99 items which will happen quickly if you schedule shows that play 5 to 7 times a week. There may be other limits I haven't encountered yet.
4. The buttons on the remote control don't appear to be electronically debounced, when you press some of them, it's like you press them more than once. I got two of these remote control and they both behave the same.
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post #2 of 8
7/31/07 at 4:32pm
Would this be the "Blinking Green Light of death"?

The "No Video on power up"?

The "Black Smoke and Open Flame is destroying my Home Entertainment Center" problem?

I'm sure there are other issues... But I'd think these are fairly common (except maybe the last one).

Some TLC and time for Troubleshooting might be all you need to "restore" these UTVs to Service.

The Green Light of Death and No Video issues tend to pop up after a "bad power" event... (If you don't already own a UPS or Battery Backup Power Strip... You can find a basic model fairly cheap.)

So I'd suspect it is one of those common issues. Hopefully that is all CCS will find wrong with them. Maybe clean the Mother board and check the cables and fuses and send it back no worse for wear.

If you still have the second UTV you might try a few troubleshooting tips to see if the UTV is just "playing dead".

Be sure to pull the Access Card before opening a UTV!

Let us know if you want some help.
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post #3 of 8
7/31/07 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
One utv was completely dead, no power light of any kind. The 2nd already had one tuner that was too bad to use before the lighting strike, so I didn't have an antenna connect to it at the time. After the lighting, the good tuner in the 2nd receiver was gone and the one that was too bad to use was the same when I connected an antenna to it. The hard drive in the receiver appeared to be OK; I have about 70 hours recorded which appears to be just fine. I decided to keep this receiver and watch some of the recorded shows and send it off for repair later.
I failed to mention that when they installed the new R15 receiver they also had to replace the multi-switch (I think that is what it is called) that the antenna leads go to before the receivers.
I hope you are right and CCS can repair it, they have had it for a couple of days now and I haven't heard from them.
I'd appreciate any suggestions for bringing this one I have back to life.
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post #4 of 8
7/31/07 at 7:11pm
OK I assume you still have the UTV with two "fried tuners" still at home? Watching the recorded programs still on the drive?

The "completely dead" one is at CCS? I've found CCS to have a rather quick turn around so I'd suspect you'd have it back by this time next week (If it's a straight forward fix and they aren't backlogged).

RE: "Completely Dead". When you applied power did you happen to hear the Hard Drive and/or Internal Fan spin up? If no AND you ruled out a bad power cord or outlet... It MIGHT just be the Power Supply Fuse. CCS or you could swap that out with a fresh one from Radio Shack or a local Hardware Store.

If the Fuse is OK double check the Power Connector's contacts inside the UTV... make sure they are still in good shape. Also check the Power Supply/Mother board Ribbon Cable is OK. Usually pulling it out,checking/cleaning the contacts, and reinstalling it can't hurt. (Look for burned or damaged ribbon cable)

As for "two burned out tuners"... I'd only recommend if you haven't already, try a different "good" setup (Maybe one of the R15s) and reboot the UTV (UTV Code 12357 for example). Leaving it unplugged may also help. It probably will only bring back 1 of the tuners and then maybe only for a short period of time (24-48 hours)... It all depends on how far gone it is...

The R15 probably needed a new Multi-Switch... so not sure if the Switch was replaced because it was fried or just didn't meet the needs of the R15. I assume they also upgraded/replaced the Sat. Dish and LNB, maybe ran a few more cables from the Dish?

Good Luck.

Dave
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post #5 of 8
8/1/07 at 12:45am
Curious about a lightning hit... Does the lightning come down from the dish thru the lnb down to your multi-switch?

When I installed my dish long ago, I recall a thick ground wire to the house ground. Isn't that supposed to protect from a hit?

What about a multiswitch, will it just pass on any juice, won't it just fry itself? This thing has some sort of smarts in it. Is it just a smart relay so the juice is still directly connected to the utv and a hit would be passed on?

And what about power. A UPS won't protect unless its a voltage spike on power line. Can a lightning hit cause that? What's it do, hit a transformer or something?

I guess I'm a bit Tesla-challanged
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post #6 of 8
8/1/07 at 9:36am
Thread Starter 
I did have a good earth ground, installed it myself (well, my young son did). It was the standard copper grounding rod about 8 feet long. I also had a surge protector, that I paid around $70 to get, on the receiver that was completely fried. And it did take out at lease part of the multiswitch.
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post #7 of 8
8/1/07 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
Good news, CCS just called, and they have repaired one UTV and they are shipping it back today. When I get an opportunity I might try opening up the one I have left, an see if I can spot any of the things that Dave suggested.
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post #8 of 8
11/23/07 at 8:53pm
What ever anyone else says nothing protects better from a Lightning strike then having all your equipment unplugged from the grid (maybe throw/pull some breakers or fuses too?).

I've been doing some DIY upgrade/projects around the house now that Winter has arrived and I've been looking into Surge Protection and/or reducing receptacle clutter (I should get a pic of my UTV "Rats Nest" up for people to gasp at in horror).

Tmoody paid $70 for a surge protector... any specs people like to share on what they'd like to see on $70 surge suppression equipment?

I've been thinking of installing Surge Protection Receptacles (Duplex Outlets w/Surge Protection built in). Either as additional protection (Front Line Defense) to the UPS/Surge Strips or as protection on currently unprotected areas were a common power strip surge protector wouldn't be reasonable.

I'm also planning on replacing a few duplex outlets with "triplex" outlets where I need an extra receptacle and have an adapter/strip or two doing the job.

Less clutter and more flexible protection that doesn't require a clunky UPS/Power Strip is what I'm looking for right now.

I've gotten complacent with my Power Strip placements and the idea that they will protect my UTVs/Computers/etc... I should make more of an effort to disconnect before serious storms and take care not to overload things unnecessarily.

My HDTV,Computer,Home Entertainment Center, etc. would probably thank me if I can get this project done properly.
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