Directv Hughes E86 problem (1 Viewer)

[Jean D]

So, last night as I was about to watch Carnivale on HBO in HD, I went to turn on my Hughes E86, and nothing happened. no green light no anything. so I went behind and unplugged it, waited 20 seconds or so and replugged it into my Monster power surge protector. the green light came on on the E86, but no signal was sent to the tv, and in about 3 seconds the green light turned off. The unit cannot be manually turned on anymore. But if I unplug it and replug it back in the light comes on for about 3-4 seconds before shutting off. Any ideas why this would be happening? The unit is less than a year old. I think its about 10-11 months old. Tonight when I get home Im going to try to find my paperwork and make some phone calls. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[John S]

Sure sounds like it just plain has went out sorry to say.

 

[Robert_J]

Did you have it in a well ventilated area? The E86 runs HOT. The heat will take it's toll and it will stop working. That's why most new models are fan cooled.

-Robert

 

[Alan M]

Funny you should mention the E86.Mine just died also.It started to lose channels that previously I recieved.I could watch a channel and the next day,it told me no signal could be found on that channel.Lost more and more channels everyday.

After doing the normal home fixes(reboot,check dish and connections,call directv),it seems its now history.

The good news is,Directv sent me a new HD reciever for $149 to replace it.Hope you solve your problem with your E86.

 

[Jean D]

I had mine in a well ventilated area. I know it runs hot, It was the first thing I thought of too.
Something funny happened last night however. I was on XBox Live and I noticed that the green light on my E86 would turn on every few minutes and then shut off again. This continued all night until I unplugged it. So this morning I grabbed my Hughes E86 Owners Manual and Im going to try to contact the correct people to get this issue resolved. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the responses guys.
Alan, you said Directv sent you a new receiver? Was your E86 still under warranty? Did you contact Hughes? Im just not sure on who I should call first. Mine should still be under manufacturers warranty. I hope.

 

[Jean D]

OK, I just called the Hughes # in the Owners Manual. it gave me a # for Directv Customer Support. I explained my problem and they said they could ship out a refurb. HD reciever. Once I get that I ship them my E86. They didnt know what make/model I am going to recieve though. They said it would be a current model and newer than my E86. I asked about a warranty on this refurb unit. they said they beleived it was 90 days. So, they are sending it. I have no other options I suppose. Im just worried im going to get a not so good reciever. can anyone comfort me on this issue?

 

[Alan M]

Hi Jean,
Yep,Hughes is out of business.I tried the same number and later found out they are kaput.My E86 was no longer in warrenty.Directv sent me another another hughes reciever although a much newer model(htl-hd).I have had directv since 97,so they waved the $149 price.
A word of warning Jean.Mine came with a universal remote that would do everything but change the aspect ratio of the reciever.I complained to a supervisor about this until I was blue in the face,finally,they are sending me the hrmc14 remote that goes with this box.
Good luck and happy HD viewing.

 

[Jean D]

Alan, I hope I dont get that problem, but I dont understand how changing the aspect ratio from the remote of the reciever would be bad. Isnt it in the setup menu of the reciever to set the aspect ratio? or do you like changing the ratio depending on the content? cause Id keep mine at 16x9. Or am I not understanding you on that?

 

[Alan M]

HD comes in on my tosh 65h82 full screen(as long as its 1080 and not letterboxed)in 16x9.With directv,I find that some sd content and some 720i content will give me black bars.While my rptv has modes to stretch these,I find it also distorts the image.I find the crop mode on the E86 fills the screen without distorting the image,although I do lose some of the picture on the edges this way.

Since I am aware of burn in problems on rptv's I always fill the full screen.The remote directv sent me (universal remote) would not access that part of the new recievers menu( different menu then the E86).This is why I am getting the correct remote.BTW,watching dvd's,I always watch them in the mode they were shot in,letterboxed or not.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jean D]

I just hope I get this reciever before Superbowl. Last year I didnt have the equipment in time to watch it in HD. this year my equipment breaks. Im not a sports person, but I want to see the game in HD.

 

[Jean D]

So last night I figured for the hell of it, I'd plug the reciever in to see if I could watch the OC in surround sound and widescreen.....It worked.

So now, my question, is should I return my old reciever, or keep it. MY E-86 has had one other issue, which may or may not be the fault of it. the uhf antenna I used for local HD channels, hasnt worked in a while. but the antenna still has power, and it plugged in correctly, nothing has been changed. So I wonder if its the E86. anyone else get that problem? Ill chime in again when the new reciever gets here, and you guys can tell me if its a keeper or not. Thanks again. Im just trying not to get screwed on this.

EDIT: the new reciever is the Hughes HTL-HD model. any comments on this model? Alan, I noticed that was the model you recieved. How do you like it compared to the E86?

 

[Jean D]

OK, so I got it up and running, worked great. except, at around noon, I had to call Directv to complain that on the Fox HD East coast feed, I had no picture, I did however, have sound. They were gonna look into it. I called 3 hours later and they said that it wasnt just me. So, I couldnt watch the Superbowl in HD. Yeah, Im a little angry , thats 2 years in a row now, that Ive missed it. and I had a house full of people a little disappointed by this as well. I mentioned this in annother thread but nobody has responded to it yet, I figured there would be a huge thread already if it wasnt just me.

What I do like about this Receiver model is that when you watch the music stations. the text of the the artist, song, album etc. scrolls right on the reciever, so you dont need your tv on at all to find out who your listening to. Very subtle and clever feature.