[DWhite]

Has anyone recently had any experience trying to get their 5000 mod RA'd? I have a 5000 HD modulator that has gone bad. I called Dish Networks RA department to see if I could get it RA'd.

The first time they said it shouldn't be a problem. Instead what I got in the mail was a 6000 ota module. I called back when I received the wrong piece. I was told then that I could not RA the 5000 HD mod. They said that they no longer support the item. Basically I was SOL. I took it up the ladder as far as I could. In the end I basically got the same answer. Dish Network no longer supports the 5000 receiver nor the 5000 HD Mod. They have "End of Life" everything associated with it. Bummer for me I guess.

Makes me wonder what is going to happen if my 6000 receiver goes out after the 921 model has hit the streets.


Has anyone had any recent experience with this? Can someone tell me how I might be able to go about it another way?


I appreciate it,


DWhite

 

[gridleak]

What's wrong with the modulator? Does it function sometimes, or just not at all? Did it ever work properly?

 

[DWhite]

yes it used to work fine. Now it is working very intermittently. Most of the time it does not work at all.



DWhite

 

[gridleak]

The most likely problem areas are dirty contacts on the connector that joins the modulator to the 5000, and dirty contacts in the antenna relay. Otherwise there's not much else to wear out of go bad.


Removing and reinserting the modulator into the 5000 a few times might clean the connector. If the problem is the relay you will notice that turning the 5000 off and on, or switching to the menu and back has an effect on the picture quality. If the relay is bad a good technician could replace it, but an easier approach would be to bypass it so that the modulator remains permanently in satellite mode.


Another trick to try is adding a VHF line amp between the modulator and your HDTV tuner. The modulator is known to put out a weak signal, so an amp can help overcome bad connections etc.


Finally, if you don't need it for recording you could always sell it to someone who does. Even a broken modulator is worth a few hundred dollars.

 

[Pericles]

This is why i have extended warranty on both my 5000 receiver and the HD module. They will HAVE to replace it because I am paying for it...

Quote:

Originally posted by DWhite Has anyone recently had any experience trying to get their 5000 mod RA'd? I have a 5000 HD modulator that has gone bad. I called Dish Networks RA department to see if I could get it RA'd. The first time they said it shouldn't be a problem. Instead what I got in the mail was a 6000 ota module. I called back when I received the wrong piece. I was told then that I could not RA the 5000 HD mod. They said that they no longer support the item. Basically I was SOL. I took it up the ladder as far as I could. In the end I basically got the same answer. Dish Network no longer supports the 5000 receiver nor the 5000 HD Mod. They have "End of Life" everything associated with it. Bummer for me I guess. Makes me wonder what is going to happen if my 6000 receiver goes out after the 921 model has hit the streets. Has anyone had any recent experience with this? Can someone tell me how I might be able to go about it another way? I appreciate it, DWhite

 

[jacmyoung]

Quote:

Originally posted by Pericles This is why i have extended warranty on both my 5000 receiver and the HD module. They will HAVE to replace it because I am paying for it...

Don't be too sure, most likely they will ship you a Dish6000 for exchange. This happened to me and another user, both had "extended warranty" from Dish. I end up "fixing" the mod myself.

 

[JeremyJ]

I thought that by law, electronics companies had to keep parts in supply for at least 3 years after a product has been EOL.


Jeremy

 

[Jerry G]

Quote:

Originally posted by JeremyNeish I thought that by law, electronics companies had to keep parts in supply for at least 3 years after a product has been EOL. Jeremy

That may be true, but if the company gives you a newer product, the 6000, as a replacement, they may be off the hook. One could argue that the 6000 doesn't allow recording which the 5000/HDTV modulator does. Dish could respond that copying is no longer legal so they aren't required to give you the same capability. It's an interesting situation, and I certainly don't know the ultimate answer. I'm just posing various scenarios. If my HDTV modulator goes out, I'll be in the same situation.

 

[jacmyoung]

Lets all hope our 5000 mod goes out after the 6000 is replaced by the 920. Like that will ever happen.

 

[Glimmie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jerry G Dish could respond that copying is no longer legal so they aren't required to give you the same capability.

What does "no longer" mean? Nothing has changed in the law since they sold the first unit. That works both ways. Personal copies always were legal. Pirate duplication was always illegal. This is still the case.


As for the modulator, stay on their case and esculate this higher and higher. You are on excellent ground with your extended warranty.


Think about it - in the entire Echostar organization they don't have a few stashed away for circumstances like this?

 

[Jerry G]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glimmie What does "no longer" mean? Nothing has changed in the law since they sold the first unit. That works both ways. Personal copies always were legal. Pirate duplication was always illegal. This is still the case.

That translates into pressure from Hollywood, the same pressure that made Panasonic stop selling their DVHS recorder.


BTW, when one of my Panasonic DVHS units died (still under warranty), Panasonic claimed they couldn't fix it and didn't have a replacement unit anywhere. No amount of arguing did any good. They refunded the purchase price, but that still left me without a second recorder.

 

[bb1987]

I am pretty sure that by law Dish is obligated to repair the mod for a period of 7 years from the time that it was sold.


Bernhard

 

[Glimmie]

Quote:

Originally posted by bb1987 I am pretty sure that by law Dish is obligated to repair the mod for a period of 7 years from the time that it was sold. Bernhard

I beleive that is correct but most laws have exceptions. They call it a "force majure" in contracts that allow an out for unforseen circumstances. Example would be a legal documentc housed in WTC on 9/11 that did not get filed. There is an automatic extension under this clause.


Dish could claim some parts unavailibility and get around it. And if they offer you a new 6000 free, you really don't have much ground.


However:

Under the current laws recording HDTV with as 5000 setup IS NOT illegal. Therefore you should be able to demand that capability be fixed under warranty or even out of warranty within 7 years. I'm no laywer but this would be an interesting case.

 

[Marissadad]

 HERE is where I got this:


B. DISH Network, at its option, may replace your covered product with one of like kind and quality; like kind and quality are determined by DISH Network.


They can replace the equipment if they want to.

 

[michaeltscott]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glimmie However: Under the current laws recording HDTV with as 5000 setup IS NOT illegal. Therefore you should be able to demand that capability be fixed under warranty or even out of warranty within 7 years. I'm no laywer but this would be an interesting case.

But there is also nothing explicitly legal about it, either. The 1984 Sony v. Universal Supreme Court decision (reversing the overturning of a District Court decision by the Court of Appeals, I think), explicitly states, in Footnote 2 , that the issue of recording pay television is not taken into consideration, and that it is a ruling on recording, free, over-the-air broadcasts only. It would be a very interesting case that might end before the Supreme Court.


-- Mike Scott

 

[Glimmie]

Quote:

Originally posted by michaeltscott But there is also nothing explicitly legal about it, either. The 1984 Sony v. Universal Supreme Court decision (reversing the overturning of a District Court decision by the Court of Appeals, I think), explicit states, in Footnote 2 , that the issue of recording pay television is not taken into consideration, and that it is a ruling on recording, free, over-the-air broadcasts only. It would be a very interesting case that might end before the Supreme Court. -- Mike Scott

Both Dish Network and DirecTV have previously liscensed the manufacture of DVHS recording dveices, Dish to JVC and DirecTV to RCA. These technology would enable "library building" with a digitl copy identical to the native DBS bit stream. Currently both Dish and DirecTV directly manufacture and/or liscense the manufacture of disk based recording systems.


So it would seem the two largest pay television distributors are endorsing recrding by default.

 

[michaeltscott]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glimmie So it would seem the two largest pay television distributors are endorsing recrding by default.

So the claim on the table is both that recording of their programming is fine with DISH and that they're stopping support of the DISH 5000+Modulator because they don't want people to use it for recording. You can't have it both ways--either their reasons for ceasing support of DISH 5000 has nothing to do with HD recording or they don't support recording of everything, any way you want to do it.


Recording DVB quality video to a D-VHS tape is not the same as recording HD quality video to a storage device on a PC. Their warrantee agreement allows them to, in lieu of either fixing or replacing the unit, pay for it. I'll bet that a suit demanding that they replace the unit with one that you can use to record HD with a HiPix card or something similar would result in them giving monetary restitution for it.


-- Mike Scott