We have a new HD OTA channel in our area. It comes in with a strong signal and good picture. However, I have noticed a strange problem when watching this new channel. My DirecTV HD Tivo (version 6.3d) keeps freezing up. If I leave it on the channel for more than a minute or two and then click a button on the remote, such as guide, info or channel up or down, the display freezes up and the remote and even the buttons on the receiver itself will not do anything. The program keeps playing, but the guide or info display never goes away and I can't change channels or go into the menus, "now playing" list or anything else and finally have to unplug it and reboot. This has happened at least 10 times since I first started receiving the channel. At first I thought it must be a problem with my receiver, but it never happened before and does not happen on any other channels. Today I left in on another channel for several hours with no problem and then changed over to the new channel and within 3 minutes the receiver froze. Could something in an OTA signal cause a receiver to freeze up like that?
Strange"freezing up" problem
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Yes. Absolutely, and I have heard of this exact same scenario before.
The key is "new" channel. There is probably something in the configuration of the 8VSB modulation or the SMPTE310 signal that the HR10 is not happy with. It may only apply to certain receivers, but if enough people call the station and carefully explain to the Chief engineer what they are experiencing, they will likely be compelled to fix it. Eventually.
Be sure to copy the GM and the PD in your emails (make a friendly call first and then immediately send a friendly confirming email--it's harder to ignore email, especially if everyone's boss is in the loop) as you want those in a position to fix it to be sufficiently motivated. The AVS reception thread for your city might have the "send to" contact info you need, and may have others posting the same experience.
The key is "new" channel. There is probably something in the configuration of the 8VSB modulation or the SMPTE310 signal that the HR10 is not happy with. It may only apply to certain receivers, but if enough people call the station and carefully explain to the Chief engineer what they are experiencing, they will likely be compelled to fix it. Eventually.
Be sure to copy the GM and the PD in your emails (make a friendly call first and then immediately send a friendly confirming email--it's harder to ignore email, especially if everyone's boss is in the loop) as you want those in a position to fix it to be sufficiently motivated. The AVS reception thread for your city might have the "send to" contact info you need, and may have others posting the same experience.
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This happens from time to time here in LA on KCAL. They recently added true HD broadcasts on their digital channel 9-1 for Dodger and Laker games as well as their local newscasts. Now sometimes it will totally lock up the HR-10; once it even caused a reboot.
Last night I thought the picture (on another channel) did not look as good as it should. I checked the settings and discovered that the video output was set on 480i. I assume that all the resets and power outages we have had the past several weeks during the rain storms must have caused this. I changed it back to 1080i and have not had any more problems with the new HD channel causing my receiver to freeze up. If this was the cause, why? I still do not understand why this one new OTA HD channel was the only channel that I was having the problem with. Why shouldn't 480i work on the new channel just like the other channels? Seems really strange to me.
Ever since v6.3 has been out, we get the same problem with our HR10-250 on only OTA channels (one in particular is really bad).
My wife is about to kill the DirecTivo unit. HR20 is NOT an option. I will never hear the end of it from her when the usability of the interface changes. I don't have time to constantly answer her questions.
My wife is about to kill the DirecTivo unit. HR20 is NOT an option. I will never hear the end of it from her when the usability of the interface changes. I don't have time to constantly answer her questions.
We don't have any new channels, but I have had the same "remote lockout" problem described here, solved only by a reboot (power down/up). I don't recall it being on any particular channel, but I will pay more attention. Since I received 6.3e, it has not happened, but perhaps that is only a coincidence. MOre time will tell for sure.
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