# Getting cold feet, opinions please.



## psternklar (May 3, 2007)

Hi,
I live upstate NY (near Albany) and getting DISH on 5/26. The installer recommended 2 dishes for a 622/322 install. I currently have Time Warner cable and the PQ is good. The reason for the switch is lack of HD (A&E, NG). With DHA the install and equipment is free (for 18 month commitment). I have been reading some posts stating poor PQ on DISH. Is this a problem? Also, will I need to clean snow/ice off the dishes? I am looking forward to the 622 and HD lineup. Any thoughts? Thanks for helping this noob out!


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Poor PQ , maybe for SD channels on a very large screen, but when you blow 480i up that big you can expect to see all the flaws in the picture, and Dish does squeeze the bitrate on SD channels.

HD PQ is very good and improving with their experience tweaking mpeg4. You often get that "looking through a window" feeling.

You will get two dishes because you are probably not in line of sight of the 129 satellite. But no fear, all the national HD is mirrored on 61.5.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

I have a 61" set and E* does a good job of taking care of it. I've been with those guys for over 10 years and have not regretted it a bit. 

John


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

I've had comcast,D* and E* in the last 13 mo's. HD is comparable between them all and looks good on all. Big diff was SD. SD looks much better from E* and D* on a bigger screen. I recently swapped from D* to E* because of HDDVR issues and am very happy. The americas 250 is great and E*'s HD channel offering is topped by noone.


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## Grandpa Train (Mar 19, 2005)

Jim5506 said:


> Poor PQ , maybe for SD channels on a very large screen, but when you blow 480i up that big you can expect to see all the flaws in the picture, and Dish does squeeze the bitrate on SD channels.
> 
> HD PQ is very good and improving with their experience tweaking mpeg4. You often get that "looking through a window" feeling.
> 
> You will get two dishes because you are probably not in line of sight of the 129 satellite. But no fear, all the HD is mirrored on 61.5.


Dish does not mirror all HD content on 61.5. They added FOXNS and Sportsouth HD on 129 but not on 61.5. I have 61.5 so I cannot get the BRAVES in HD.


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## psternklar (May 3, 2007)

Thanks for the replies. Any comment on the need to clear snow off the dish? Thanks.


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

It can be needed, though I've never had to here. Of course, you guys get a bit more snow than we do.... There are "tricks" people claim to use but I doubt how well they work. One is spraying the dish with "PAM", the stuff you put on cooking pans or skillets. If you put it on routinely, I guess it could work, but if you put it on in the summer, you think it will still be effective 6 months later ??

Talk to the installer about this concern. He could simply mount the dish in a location you can reach vs it being on a 2nd story roof (24' up) like mine.


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

psternklar said:


> Thanks for the replies. Any comment on the need to clear snow off the dish? Thanks.


 They sell "dish heaters" that will melt the snow off the dish


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

All SD is going to look weak and soft on a 65" set. It makes no difference which provider that you have. When you are blowing up 480i to that size you will see why we are going to HD. SD is barely watchable anymore.


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## yardbird (May 7, 2007)

re: snow on the dish...
I live north of Buffalo, NY... and about 8 miles east of Niagara Falls, NY. We get snow. I have not EVER had to clean snow off my dish. I actually installed my dish myself many years ago. It has been upgraded since, by installers, but using teh same mount. I mounted it where I could reach it from the ground in case I needed to clean it off.  I've never had to do that. I also have a second dish up on the roof where I CAN'T reach it and I've never had to clean anything off that one either.


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## psternklar (May 3, 2007)

Thanks for the help. One more question... I know the standard answer of ymmv in the PQ E* vs Cable. Has anyone had TW and switched to E*? Comparisons in SD and HD quality would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

psternklar said:


> Has anyone had TW and switched to E*? Comparisons in SD and HD quality would be appreciated.


 I had TWC and their HD service (didn't pay extra for the HD "tier") for 2 years then switched to E*. I got my local ABC, CBS, and FOX (no WB or NBC) as well as Discovery HD and TNT-HD from TWC. I switched to E* to get *more* HD plus to get access (integrated and DVR'able) NBC. I knew that the PQ would probably not be as good as TWC's but I honestly either can't notice it or don't care. Having so little to compare apples to apples doesn't help but Discovery HD on Dish is still very good PQ. Does someone have numbers that "prove" it's not as good ?? I'm sure someone does... TNT-HD's PQ is so hit or miss I won't bother comparing the two.


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## MarkoC (Apr 5, 2004)

I live in Minneapolis and in seven years I have never had to clear anything from one of my dishes.


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## lpmiller (Mar 8, 2007)

I live in minnesota too, and had to clean my DTV all the time. But it's in my front yard so it wasn't a big deal.


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## Oldford (Jun 23, 2006)

I had TWC (analog) and Dish at the same time several years ago. The PQ on Dish was head and shoulders over TWC. Please note that this was pre "digital" cable, but I dumped TWC and have been a happy Dish customer since.

HTH, Eric


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## gizmotoy (Apr 19, 2007)

I recently switched from TWC to Dish to get more HD channels. Unfortunately I immediately noticed extra artifacting, particularly on Discovery HD, during very high-motion scenes. I even have excellent satellite reception. It seems Dish might compress a bit more than TWC, though it's only noticeable when the screen is literally filled with motion. For example, I watched Planet Earth with a screen full of thousands of birds flying around that had quite a bit of artifacting. I probably only notice it on Discovery because it's the only channel that routinely has enough motion to bring out the artifacts, rather than Discovery being overly-compressed compared to the other HD channels.

It's a tradeoff, I think. More HD channels for slightly reduced HD quality. Overall I'm happy with the switch.


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## GOHAWKS (Dec 20, 2005)

I live in Iowa and have the Superdish, I had to clean my dish twice this winter in heavy snow, you might have them mount it within reach.


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## dahenny (Apr 16, 2007)

Some years we get 100 inches of snow, but mostly in the 70 inch range. 
Here's the deal...If you normally get "dry snow", you will never have to clean your dish cause it just falls off. It's the wet heavy snow that will give problems. This past winter I think 2 times was the snow heavy enough to accumulate on the dish.:grin:


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## Charise (Jan 25, 2004)

dahenny said:


> Some years we get 100 inches of snow, but mostly in the 70 inch range.
> Here's the deal...If you normally get "dry snow", you will never have to clean your dish cause it just falls off. It's the wet heavy snow that will give problems. This past winter I think 2 times was the snow heavy enough to accumulate on the dish.:grin:


Exactly. I haven't had to clear snow off the dish, but the couple of instances we have had freezing rain, after it's finished raining I've lost picture for a while. Both times I haven't done anything, and reception has been fine the next day.

I need to read more anyway.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

A hair dryer and an extension cord works wonders with ice and snow.


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## ls7dude (Jan 31, 2007)

I have had Dish since 2002 and I never have cleaned the dish and have only had a problem with rain a handful of times.


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## psternklar (May 3, 2007)

Thanks all,
My first install attempt was a no go. The installer was a private reseller and I did not like that he tried to change the deal on arrival. I now have an install scheduled for this weekend through E* directly. I like that through E* there is no added early termination fee. WIth the original installer there was an approx $350 added early termination fee.


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