Is my UTV dying/tuners going bad?

I have a UTV that had those problems as well. Shortly after those problems started on my box, one tuner died.

Now may be a good time for you to open up the UTV and clean the fan mounted on the hard drive housing. Also plug the unit in and check to make sure it's working properly. The fan is shown on the left side of this picture: http://www.blindsquirrel.org/UTV/P1000738.jpg

Excessive heat will cause freezing as well. Do you have your UTV in a closed cabinet?

Check history for any transitions between 1 and 2 tuners and back. That usually preceeds total tuner failure.

I assume you've unplugged from power for a while, as that also has at times corrected any problems.

It also could be your hard drive. How old is it; is it an orignal 35 hour drive? I've found they go faster than higher speed, higher density drives that I replaced all of mine with. And as mentioned look for heat problems. I have a thermometer on the left (from the front) of mine and with cooling fans it reads less than 90 deg f. And none of the vents on the left or rear feel warm. Without fans, these vents feel quite warm to the touch.

If you do open your UTV don't forget to REMOVE the Access Card first.

That could spoil your day. The Card contacts might be pulled out of alignment and would require some "surgery" and plenty of time to get them back into place.

I would agree with all the above... Start with Heat related concerns and check History for repeat Tuner issues (not weather related). I have a Sony UTV that has shown "pixelation /freezing issues" that I "fixed" using a PC Card Slot Blower Fan.

The Blower Fan fits nicely over the "Tuners" inside the UTV. I've attached them with bolts or twist ties ("heavy duty" plastic ones, not the metal ones)... using the rear vent holes. So it can be quickly attached/removed with no drilling etc. (Just flatten the "slot" to sit flush inside the UTV and you are ready) The Power is provided via a pass-thru Molex connector that runs off the UTV's Hard Drive Power Connector.

The blower fan is a bit loud but if the unit is in an enclosed space it isn't likely going to be an issue. I'd say it's about the same noise level as other fan powered DVRs. My HDVR2 (DTV Tivo DVR) is about as loud. It keeps the "heat sink" on the base of the UTV almost cool to the touch.