# Location, Location, Location



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

I would like to see everyone put their location in their profile. It doesn't have
to be specific - just a general idea of where you're posting from. This is of
interest to the many of the rest of us when posting about subjects where
location is relevant, such as weather, satellite signals, natural disasters and
the like. We're not going to show up at your house for dinner but it would be
nice to know your location and would contribute to our understanding of your
post, and, possibly, even have more empathy for your situation.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I'm a fan of putting in the DMA.

Sometimes you can actually get an idea of a possibility through Google.


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

I *had* it in. You guys "erased" it when you changed the forum software. Anyway, I do put a vague reference when I think it's relevant.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

But that would take out the need for all the 'where are you post' when the OP sez 'here.'


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

There are times where location is relevant ... and times when it is not. Do not assume that people know where you are unless you have completed the location field or mention a location in that post. Most of the people on the site have no clue.

But the flip side is don't expect a location more detailed than needed for the post. Is the difference between San Diego and Seattle relevant when mentioning a problem that affects the pacific time zone? No. "West coast" is good enough ... and only someone seeking irritation would complain that "west coast" was not good enough. (West coast of Florida? West coast of Michigan? West coast of the Missisippi river? Read in context and simply stating "west coast" is fine.)

While your pet peeve may be not knowing someone's location, their pet peeve may be being asked when it is irrelevant.


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## Eva (Nov 8, 2013)

I've seen another forum where they had a plug-in that took your IP's location and stuck it in the location field. Many QQed about it and the admin removed the feature, especially since IPs may change for some, like showing "Los Angelos" on one time, then "Bakersfield" the next time the person logged on.


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

I can see where that would be a bad idea. At work we use Comcast fiber and that network locates to Laurel, MD - just a little ways from Denver Even at home my ISP is located about30 miles away so I always get suggestions of Colorado Springs stores rather than Denver. 

I also dont get why some people are so sensitive about location. While I would never put my address on a forum a city certainly doesn't give you much to go on.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I can think of reasons why people might not want to say where they are... but what I don't get is when someone asks for help that is location specific and then doesn't want to say where they are.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

longrider said:


> I can see where that would be a bad idea. At work we use Comcast fiber and that network locates to Laurel, MD - just a little ways from Denver Even at home my ISP is located about30 miles away so I always get suggestions of Colorado Springs stores rather than Denver.
> 
> I also dont get why some people are so sensitive about location. While I would never put my address on a forum a city certainly doesn't give you much to go on.


Well, depending on the city, if you put where you actually are, that can really narrow it down. If someone that lived here locally put Rabbit Hash for location, that narrows it down considerably. If they put the DMA/largest city of Cincinnati, then of course that is pretty broad.

Of course if someone lives in the Glendive DMA and puts it as such, you've immediately narrowed it down to about 4000 homes.

And then are those that don't put the location in their profile, but it's (fairly) well known which city they're in.

Thinking more about it, I think I'd actually rather more put their setups in their signature, or at least spell it out when they have an issue. At least base model of receiver for those unfamiliar with SWM etc.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Eva said:


> I've seen another forum where they had a plug-in that took your IP's location and stuck it in the location field. Many QQed about it and the admin removed the feature, especially since IPs may change for some, like showing "Los Angelos" on one time, then "Bakersfield" the next time the person logged on.


And of course, the members who are using fake addresses to qualify for out-of-market broadcast TV locals aren't to hot about being outed, either.


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## Dude111 (Aug 6, 2010)

James Long said:


> There are times where location is relevant


Indeed....... I like to keep my location PRIVATE........

Why does anyone need to know where someone is??


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Dude111 said:


> Why does anyone need to know where someone is??


If someone is posting a location based message (such as "my locals are out") a location is very helpful. But in most cases location is not required.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

The incidence of disruptive rain fade varies geographically, and off-air reception challenges are unique to exact physical locations, and prices of many related products and services vary locally as well.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

It's also needed for posts asking about sports blackouts, especially this time of the year when ESPN and ABC does a reverse mirror for college football, along with ESPN College Extra where some games are subject to blackout if a local broadcaster picks it up (even if it's a subchannel or a cable only local sports channel)

For Dish with the Eastern Arc migration in some markets, it helps to know where someone is if they complain about being told they need to migrate to get HD service.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

As noted, there are specific times where a location is important (when asking for help with reception is one of them). When asking about something location based please give your location ... and if someone forgets, try not to get too upset. We were all newbies once.

More times than not location is irrelevant. You don't need to know the location of a person if they are discussing how awful "Under the Dome" was this season. Unless of course you want to apply your own stereotypes to why someone may or may not like the program (ie: "Of course you hate it, you're from California ...").


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## Eva (Nov 8, 2013)

If an outage, someone can say "I'm on the west coast and NBC is dead as a duck tonight" or something like that.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

Still too vague. There are about a dozen different NBC stations they can be referring to from San Diego to Anchorage if their definition of "West Coast" is touching the Pacific ocean, even more if their definition of "West Coast" is like the networks as in every market that's on a 3 hour delay from the "East coast" feed.

It's like a problem with one market that spans multiple states. People in NJ, NY, PA and CT can say they are having problems with their locals, but if none of them say what specific locals they get, you won't know if it's a problem affecting multiple DMAs like NYC, Hartford, Philly, Albany, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester and Scranton or if it's just limited to NYC.

Knowing the specific market lets everyone check into what it is and helps the people that do monitor this forum like Dish's DIRT team report it. We can also check local news/weather reports and the station's website for details to see what it is and possibly give you an idea on what's going on. Like in the past there have been several situations where people posted about problems with locals and they ended up being issues that were out of Dish's and/or DirecTV's control:
- A station having transmitter problems so they're only broadcasting in SD on a subchannel of another station in the market
- a massive ice storm that brought down several towers and cut power at transmitter sites in several markets
- Superstorm Sandy interrupting the fiber network that carried several east coast markets to one of the regional uplinks


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

KyL416 said:


> Still too vague.


So ask ... politely ... instead of condemning a poster for not finding the location field in the settings or forgetting to say if they are in Oregon or California when they say "my NBC is out". And if one cannot ask politely then let someone who can answer the post.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Whenever anyone poses any question that is lacking information, I always try to answer as best I can BUT also note that additional information from the person would help them get better answers.

As we've noted, most of the time your location is irrelevant... but for LiLs, RSNs, sports blackouts, and dish-pointing questions (to name a few) your location is necessary to provide the best answer... but it's still up to the person asking the question if they want to reveal where they are to get those more accurate responses.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

I don't trust people that hide basic info.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Drucifer said:


> I don't trust people that hide basic info.


I don't trust people who demand unnecessary information. Providing a location is OPTIONAL and will remain optional. It is not required for participation on our forums.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Drucifer said:


> I don't trust people that hide basic info.


I'm not a New Yorker, but isn't Hudson Valley a bit vague? 

Can be near NYC or Albany.


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## Dude111 (Aug 6, 2010)

Drucifer said:


> I don't trust people that hide basic info.


Well Im not trying to make anyone not trust me,I just value my privacy....

I mean The staff here knows where I am but I think only they need to know really......


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

Drucifer said:


> I don't trust people that hide basic info.


I don't trust anything that walks on two legs. That said, I agree with James. Providing a location is "optional" and is not "required" for participation.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Completely with James here. There's no real need for debate. Location is optional for everyone. Some of us don't mind sharing, others do. The only time it becomes an issue is when someone asks a question where their location matters for a correct solution. In such cases, they have a choice of disclosing their location and getting an answer, or accepting that there is only so much help that can be offered.


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## Eva (Nov 8, 2013)

Also agree, should always be optional.

Meanwhile in other news... :hurah:


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