# 1000+ vs. Two dish setup for Detroit



## ryan8886 (Sep 19, 2006)

Help! NEWBIE HERE!

I had my Dish 1000+ and ViP 622 installation scheduled for today. I live in the Detroit area and pull my HD content from 129. However, after getting up on the roof (yes..on the roof...read some nightmare stories about how Dish only wants these mounted on poles in Detroit area!), the tech advised that my tree line appears to be about 1-3 degrees too high to allow a good lock on the 129 bird with the 1000+. He stated I might have to switch to a 2 dish setup and pull HD in off 61.5.
He mitigated this by saying he had only been doing installs for about 6 weeks AND it was pitch black out (about 9:00pm) when he was up there (yeah...running a little late for that 12p-5p appointment window!  ) I've ended up having to reschedule to this Friday so someone with more experience (and daylight, hopefully) can look things over.

I've been researching all the 1000+ and 622 stuff for weeks now (took a month to get an install date). My plan was to avoid a second dish being mounted to my roof, but now have a whole new bunch of questions.

1) If I get stuck having to go with the 2 dish set up...what dishes are they going to use? Two 500's or a 500+ and a 500? Is there a difference? It's my understanding that I need to pick up 118.7 for my locals in HD

2) Should I push for the 1000+ still..even if the LOS is a little tight for 129? I've read on here it has a weak signal to start with. Remember...we're talking only 1-3degrees elevation...the very tips of the trees.

3) Saw some older threads here indicating that 61.5 may have the HD content shifted off it in the near future and that 129 should be getting some signal help from a new bird soon. Any truth to this and should it be a factor in what I'm pushing for? If I go with pulling off 61.5, am I only going to have to upgrade equipment in the future?

4) Any idea WHY E* put all their HD content on a bird that's so low in the sky?

All these may have been answered in other threads.....but I'm too tired right now to sort through all of them. Forgive me if this is duplicate stuff. Appreciate any help anyone can give me. 

-Ryan


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

1. IIRC, the Detroit HD locals are on 118.75, not 61.5. The Dish500 Plus and Dish1000 Plus are by nature the same dish. The 1000 Plus is an add on, a bracket that comes off the side of the main feed-horn, in-order to support the 129 orbit.

Now having said this, if Detroit HD's aren't important to you, the a 2 dish setup will do fine. But why? Again, per another thread in here, a Dish 1000 Plus can be roof mounted, But DNSC will only do it as a last resort. A local retailer can help you get it installed on the roof.

2. From what I see, the 129 signal on the Plus dish improved significantly. As did the other non-FSS positions. Also, the larger reflector helps for higher immunity to rain-fade, the includes fade from rain and minor-moderate foliage.


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## sNEIRBO (Jul 23, 2006)

A 500+ will hit 110, 118.7 and 119 for you. So you can get the Detroit HD Locals (trust me it is worth it get the Detroit HD Locals). Then there would be a second dish to pull in 61.5. Those 4 LNBs will be combined at the DPP44 switch to pump the 4 LNB signals into your receiver. My understanding is that 61.5 is stable, and not going away anytime soon. So I would say you are safe with a dual dish install hitting 61.5 for your HD content. PLUS since our CBS Station is Owned and Operated by CBS Corporate, you can request the East Coast or West Coast Network Feed for CBS. I am not sure which Sat the West Coast feed is on though, so not positive you could get that with a 110, 118.7, 119, 61.5 setup.

That being said, a 500+ dish is the same as a 1000+ dish. So if E* installers will not install a 1000+ dish on a roof in Detroit (which was my experience with the E* installers) then they probably will not install a 500+ dish on the roof.

Some of the Sub Contractors for DISH will install a 1000+ (or 500+) on the roof. But you have to find a Sub Contractor, not a DISH Network Corporate installer. I've heard Wireless GIANT will install these dishes on a roof in Detroit. But you'll need to call E* Customer Service and ask them to transfer your install to them. Just call and explain that you want your dish on the roof, not on a pole mount, so you want a Sub Contractor to do the install for you.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

sNEIRBO said:


> A 500+ will hit 110, 118.7 and 119 for you. So you can get the Detroit HD Locals (trust me it is worth it get the Detroit HD Locals). Then there would be a second dish to pull in 61.5. Those 4 LNBs will be combined at the DPP44 switch to pump the 4 LNB signals into your receiver. My understanding is that 61.5 is stable, and not going away anytime soon. So I would say you are safe with a dual dish install hitting 61.5 for your HD content. PLUS since our CBS Station is Owned and Operated by CBS Corporate, you can request the East Coast or West Coast Network Feed for CBS. I am not sure which Sat the West Coast feed is on though, so not positive you could get that with a 110, 118.7, 119, 61.5 setup.
> 
> That being said, a 500+ dish is the same as a 1000+ dish. So if E* installers will not install a 1000+ dish on a roof in Detroit (which was my experience with the E* installers) then they probably will not install a 500+ dish on the roof.
> 
> Some of the Sub Contractors for DISH will install a 1000+ (or 500+) on the roof. But you have to find a Sub Contractor, not a DISH Network Corporate installer. I've heard Wireless GIANT will install these dishes on a roof in Detroit. But you'll need to call E* Customer Service and ask them to transfer your install to them. Just call and explain that you want your dish on the roof, not on a pole mount, so you want a Sub Contractor to do the install for you.


I was just approve for CBS HD. I had a choice of E or W and choose E. That would be my standard prime-time schedule. E is on 61.5 and W is on 148. I have both here due my SD LIL are on 148. I have the 61.5 for the original Voom setup.


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## ryan8886 (Sep 19, 2006)

sNEIRBO said:


> A 500+ will hit 110, 118.7 and 119 for you. So you can get the Detroit HD Locals (trust me it is worth it get the Detroit HD Locals). Then there would be a second dish to pull in 61.5. Those 4 LNBs will be combined at the DPP44 switch to pump the 4 LNB signals into your receiver. My understanding is that 61.5 is stable, and not going away anytime soon. So I would say you are safe with a dual dish install hitting 61.5 for your HD content. PLUS since our CBS Station is Owned and Operated by CBS Corporate, you can request the East Coast or West Coast Network Feed for CBS. I am not sure which Sat the West Coast feed is on though, so not positive you could get that with a 110, 118.7, 119, 61.5 setup.
> 
> That being said, a 500+ dish is the same as a 1000+ dish. So if E* installers will not install a 1000+ dish on a roof in Detroit (which was my experience with the E* installers) then they probably will not install a 500+ dish on the roof.
> 
> Some of the Sub Contractors for DISH will install a 1000+ (or 500+) on the roof. But you have to find a Sub Contractor, not a DISH Network Corporate installer. I've heard Wireless GIANT will install these dishes on a roof in Detroit. But you'll need to call E* Customer Service and ask them to transfer your install to them. Just call and explain that you want your dish on the roof, not on a pole mount, so you want a Sub Contractor to do the install for you.


sNIERBO,

Ahhh......so either way I'm gonna end up with that honker dish up there. BTW...no problems from my installer putting it on the roof..but he did confirm what you said (he was a sub-con). 
So if the 500+ and 1000+ are the same dish, except for the extra LNB for 129, why didn't he just go ahead and install??? I ordered the Local HD channels, so if I'm understanding things right, I need to pick up 118.7 for those...which requires the 500+/1000+, which he had here with him. As for 129, which carries all the VOOM stuff, why couldn't he have just set it up and seen if it accquired the sat or not?? Worst case scenario was they would have to come back and install another dish to mirror off 61.5 instead. Hmmmmm....Unless he just felt like not doing the install at all because it was so late :nono: or didn't know what he was talking about (he mentioned using two 500's...which must be wrong..right?)

So, correct me if I'm wrong....when they come back...they're gonna have to use the same big dish..configured as either 500+ with a second dish (probably the old 500 already up there from past service) for 61.5 or a 1000+ (same dish as 500+ with the extra LNB for 129)..correct? 
And all this hinges on whether there's a good enough LOS for 129 on the 
1000+ ?

Sounds like they really won't know for sure in my case (1-2 degrees of elevation) unless they hook it up and see what happens.

Can anyone tell me what a "good" signal is for 129 around Detroit?

Thanks for all the input!

Ryan


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## dunkonu23 (Sep 11, 2006)

Ryan,

I've got 105-08 for all four. Dunno if it's "good", but I'll tell you we've had some storms out where I live (_just_ inside Livingston county off M59) and I've not lost signal, yet. 

BTW, I have a 1000+ and it's on the roof. 

Scott


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## sNEIRBO (Jul 23, 2006)

ryan8886 said:


> ... So, correct me if I'm wrong....when they come back...they're gonna have to use the same big dish..configured as either 500+ with a second dish (probably the old 500 already up there from past service) for 61.5 or a 1000+ (same dish as 500+ with the extra LNB for 129)..correct?
> And all this hinges on whether there's a good enough LOS for 129 on the
> 1000+ ?
> 
> ...


Ryan -

You're right above - they will either put a 500+ or 1000+ up there depending on whether they can get a good LOS for 129. Again, the only difference between the two is the add-on LNB for 129.

My 1000+ is pulling mid-80s for signal strength on 129. Before I got my 1000+ installed, I was only pulling in mid-60s with my 500 dish, and I NEVER had a problem with reception. That being said, I was used to always experiencing rain fade / drop outs. With the new 1000+ DISH I have not lost my picture / signal since it was installed, no matter how bad the rain has been. That bad storm that blew through the area yesterday didn't even faze my system.

Cheers -
sNEIRBO


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## dunkonu23 (Sep 11, 2006)

Spoke too soon... the switch went out Thursday. Friday it was replaced. Still high signal strengths, though. 

Scott


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## ryan8886 (Sep 19, 2006)

sNEIRBO said:


> Ryan -
> 
> You're right above - they will either put a 500+ or 1000+ up there depending on whether they can get a good LOS for 129. Again, the only difference between the two is the add-on LNB for 129.
> 
> ...


sNEIRBO,

Thanks for all the input! Everything got installed last Friday. They got the Dish 1000+ up on the roof and dialed in pretty well. 110/119 are averaging over 100, 129 is usually in the 85-90 range and 118 is in the 75 to 85 range. According to the installer, because 118 is an FSS bird, the lower signal strength is not an issue and that even as low as 55 is "acceptable". Guess we'll see....supposed to get some heavy rain around here in the next couple days! Thanks again!


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## sNEIRBO (Jul 23, 2006)

ryan8886 said:


> sNEIRBO,
> 
> Thanks for all the input! Everything got installed last Friday. They got the Dish 1000+ up on the roof and dialed in pretty well. 110/119 are averaging over 100, 129 is usually in the 85-90 range and 118 is in the 75 to 85 range. According to the installer, because 118 is an FSS bird, the lower signal strength is not an issue and that even as low as 55 is "acceptable". Guess we'll see....supposed to get some heavy rain around here in the next couple days! Thanks again!


Glad to hear there's another happy DISH HD customer in Detroit! Here's hoping Fox Sports Detroit goes HD soon and gets added to the RSN HD feeds on DISH!


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## chriscpmtmp (May 13, 2006)

I doubt if we'll get FSD in HD anytine soon. Nobody at Dish seems to know what is going on. If they don't know we aren't on the list, how will they know to add us? Chris


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## dreslism (Nov 14, 2006)

Good to see some other Michigan subscribers.

I am in northern oakland county (Rochester Hills).

I have been trying to find out about FSD in HD.

I did find this.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/6275986

On one of their pages they state they are available to everyone and that DishN does not carry the HD feed yet, and they state on page 2 in the link above if your provider does not carry it to write to them and copy your local papers sports editor??

Anyhow I have called Dish customer service several times to ask the status or when and all I get is "We don't have that information at this time."

I asked them to please find out and let me know, they just repeat "We don't have that information at this time."

Anyone else hear anything?

The above FSN doc is dated 12/15/06, so it is recent.

--Scott


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