I gotta throw this out for perusal. I don't dispute that it could be a grounding/static build up issue, but on a different note;

Are the satellite recievers being turned off when not in use?

I've been integrating Scientific Atlanta 3250's, 8100's, and 8300's, as well as Dish Network QAM recievers. I don't control power (since there's no discretes).

I get calls all the time about no audio, or the HD quits working, etc. This can really be a PITA since the recievers are in racks, or are audio only (with no display to see what's up). I can't walk them through it on the phone.

The only thing that knocks them out of this state is a hard reboot.

Lately I've been forcing customers to turn them off and on, and I have one in my own house now to play with. The problems are diminishing rapidly. I turn mine off when not in use, no funny business for 2 months.

I've heard that some boxes don't do any software updates while in an 'on' state; no update, and they quit working (thank you all you pirates). Anything to this?

Also, along the lines of bad grounds, heat seems to be an issue. These set tops consistently put out more heat than most of the amps I install, and leaving them on all the time doesn't seem to help that either. I've been giving them more room in racks and that seems to help.

Sorry for the long winded post; what I was trying to say is... turn them off?