# Dish Alternative



## ford93 (Jul 23, 2015)

I was cutting trees last night and was a bit careless which way some fell, my Dish 1000.2ea wasn't so lucky. I do not have the protection plan and I'm not wanting to buy a new one out of pocket just yet.

I have a Hopper 2000, Hopper with Sling, and 4 Joeys with a Duo Node. Would I be able to use my old Dish 500? I have 2 DP Duals on it and I have a DPP 44 switch laying around somewhere, I also need to find a second dish for 129 or 61.5. 

My main questions are will this work and will I be missing any channels until I get either 61.5 or 129 added.


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## RBA (Apr 14, 2013)

I think you have a misunderstanding about what comes off what satellite. If you had a 1000.2EA your HD channels come off the 72.7 satellite and local channels are on the 61.5. You got nothing off the 129 bird.

The dish 500 can be used for 61.5 & 72.7 reception your signal strength will be lower and because the spacing of the satellites is different it may be harder to aim.


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## ford93 (Jul 23, 2015)

Would it be possible to arc flip if I go with 110, 119, and 129?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

ford93 said:


> Would it be possible to arc flip if I go with 110, 119, and 129?


Only if your locals are also there. Unfortunately one needs all three Western Arc satellites to get all of the national HD channels. One needs both 61.5 and 72.7 on Eastern Arc to get all national HD channels (a few newer channels have been added to 61.5). Sticking with one complete arc is the best way to make sure you are getting the channels you are paying for ... one has to go with the arc where their locals are to get their locals.


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## ford93 (Jul 23, 2015)

My locals are on 119 SD and on 61.5 in HD. So if I go with 119, 110, 129, and 61.5 will I get all that im paying for? I have all channels except internationals.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

But why would you do that? You're over-complicating it...

Your best bet is 61.5/72.7 to get you all the HD, SD, and your LiLs in HD. There's no need to be trying to get all of those others.


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## RBA (Apr 14, 2013)

_See if DISH will even authorize on Western Arc they don't currently like mixed arc systems._


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

ford93 said:


> Would I be able to use my old Dish 500? I have 2 DP Duals on it and I have a DPP 44 switch laying around somewhere, I also need to find a second dish for 129 or 61.5.


At the point that you'd have to hunt up another dish, you're pissing into the wind.

The Dish 500 alone may work; though not optimally, if you point it in the general direction of 61.5W and 72.7W. You're on your own to figure out what the aiming parameters are.

You can also subscribe to the Protection Plan immediately and get it taken care of.

Depending on what's bent, you may be able to buy parts online.

After all is said and done, you're going to want to install a new dish anyway.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

RBA said:


> _See if DISH will even authorize on Western Arc they don't currently like mixed arc systems._


As long as you're doing your own work DISH doesn't care about the arc. But with HD locals on 61.5 DISH would install an Eastern Arc dish. While SD local channels are on 119 there is no telling how long they will remain there.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

You COULD setup a Dish500 on 119 /110 - very little HD available, but you could get TV until you can swing getting a replacement Eastern Arc dish.

You can try to get 61.5 / 72.7 on your Dish500 - From my experiance, while it is possible (at least in some locations), your signal strength is going to be not very good. Rain fade with even a light rain is all but guaranteed.

With the DPP44 switch, you could use 2 18-20 inch dish to feed your Hoppers, and these could be aimed at 61.5 and 72.7

Use www.dishpointer.com for parameters to start.

By far your best option is to call Dish, add the $8 / month Home protection plan (and cancel it after the minimum period - 6 months I think ?). On the same call, you could then schedule a tech to get you back online with another 1000.2 EA.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I see "Dish Network 1000.2 Dish 110, 119, 129 Satellites" for $80 or less.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Only problem is that the 1000.2 WA is not really applicable for the OP - he really needs a 1000.2 EA dish / LNB


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

What I keep coming back to is... his LiLs are in HD only on 61.5... and he wants 61.5... so why would you bother trying to get 110/119/129 and 61.5 instead of just setting up for 61.7/72.2? It doesn't have to be as complicated as the discussion has been once the decision is made to want his LiLs in HD.


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## Zulu (May 11, 2012)

RBA said:


> _See if DISH will even authorize on Western Arc they don't currently like mixed arc systems._


OP resides in Indiana. Of the 6 DISH markets (Evansville, Ft Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, South Bend, and Terre Haute), 4 of these markets are mixed EA/WA.



Stewart Vernon said:


> What I keep coming back to is... his LiLs are in HD only on 61.5... and he wants 61.5... so *why would you bother trying to get 110/119/129 and 61.5 instead of just setting up for 61.7/72.2? * It doesn't have to be as complicated as the discussion has been once the decision is made to want his LiLs in HD.


So OP has an SD fallback for local stations.

You can use a DISH 500 Pro Dual as a wing dish and a 1000.2 WA or a 1000.4 WA (or EA dish) as the main dish because the 1000.2 EA does not have an LNB In port.

OP, which city do you get your locals from?


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## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

I think OTA is a better fallback for locals.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Mixed arc has a tendency to confuse the Hopper.

I had a mixed arc set up 110/119/129 + 61.5 for HD locals and it was never able to figure out whether to use the SD locals on 110 or the HD locals on 61.5 when recording, so PTAT would just record 1 or 2 rarely 3 networks the rest were blank - the Mrs. did not like that her shows were being skipped, so we had to finally switch to a complete EA setup. Working fine since.


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

James Long said:


> Only if your locals are also there. Unfortunately one needs all three Western Arc satellites to get all of the national HD channels. One needs both 61.5 and 72.7 on Eastern Arc to get all national HD channels (a few newer channels have been added to 61.5). Sticking with one complete arc is the best way to make sure you are getting the channels you are paying for ... one has to go with the arc where their locals are to get their locals.


I think you would have the answer to this one:

I have the 250 package and was forced to go eastern arc due to los. I don't like EA as every rain storm I lose signal, this wasn't the case with WA. [ a tree did me in, maybe it's only temporary...]

So the question is, am I getting ALL the same stations I was getting with WA? I have always had a small fav. list,[ that I always use] so I don't know if I am missing some.

Also, why is the signal on EA weaker? I've seen this mentioned by other posters.

Are SD channels ultimately going to be eliminated? on WA I'd get [ auto] flipped over to SD when HD lost signal. I don't see that on EA.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Different satelites (the one on 72.7 is echostar8 - one of the oldest active birds in the fleet - and was designed to be at 110/119 as a CONUS satellite). There are slightly different angles on EA and it is more overhead - not punching through as much atmosphere. And - as long as you get a lock - you're not going to suffer on picture quality - the FEC helps take care of that.

Eastern Arc SD channels are on the same satellite as their HD counterparts ( in most, but not all cases) - so if HD goes out due to weather - it is likely that SD will be following shortly. This makes it prudent to me to have OTA backup of your local stations.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

scooper said:


> Different satelites (the one on 72.7 is echostar8 - one of the oldest active birds in the fleet -


Nimiq 5 is at 72.7 (Launched Sept 17th, 2009 - Active Oct 15th, 2009) ... EchoStar 8 was last seen at 77 and has been replaced by Quetzsat 1.

Ciel 2 at 129 is older as are EchoStar 10 and EchoStar 11 at 110.


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

scooper said:


> Different satelites (the one on 72.7 is echostar8 - one of the oldest active birds in the fleet - and was designed to be at 110/119 as a CONUS satellite). There are slightly different angles on EA and it is more overhead - not punching through as much atmosphere. And - as long as you get a lock - you're not going to suffer on picture quality - the FEC helps take care of that.
> 
> Eastern Arc SD channels are on the same satellite as their HD counterparts ( in most, but not all cases) - so if HD goes out due to weather - it is likely that SD will be following shortly. This makes it prudent to me to have OTA backup of your local stations.


Well, then, if EA is more overhead, shouldn't it be a stronger signal?

Does anyone know if EA carries all the same 250 pack channels as WA?

Thanks for the explanation though.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

satcrazy said:


> Does anyone know if EA carries all the same 250 pack channels as WA?


Every channel on WA is carried on EA except locals and International channels carried on 118.
One needs at least 72.7 and 61.5 to receive all national channels. 77 will add locals in certain markets.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Thanks for the corrections James


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