MMDS DVR Loss of Signal - any ideas?

Got back from vacation, the Thomson DVR is showing "loss of Signal".

House was unoccupied, the DVR recorded everything up to December 30th
(= all it was tasked to do), nobody messed with the box.

Contacted UPC, went through a sequence of steps which did not resolve the problem, booked a visit (earliest appointment is Monday).

Problem is - part of the attempted resolution included a factory reset which puts the DVR into setup mode (which failed). I was told if I left the DVR unplugged for 25 minutes, it would exit the setup mode on next power up.

It's going into setup mode every time

I'd like to watch some of the stuff I recorded in case they take the box away Monday, is there anyway to get the DVR back into "normal" mode, at least I could then watch the recorded shows even if there is no live TV?

Anyone seen this before?
Is failure of the MMDS antenna/downconverter the likely cause of no signal (assuming the tuner is OK)? I was an NTL customer, the antenna is installed about 12 years.

Anyway to test if the MMDS downconverter is OK?
PSU is putting out 27.5 volts (unloaded).

Gerryo