# DISH Says I Must Redirect My Antenna



## Don M (Jul 1, 2006)

I received a letter from DISH today. It said that in order to keep receiving my HD signals I needed to redirect my antenna. They said they would do this for free. Has anyone else received such a letter? I live in the Texas Panhandle and currently receive my signals from 119, 110, 148 and 129. At present I am having no problems with my HD signal. Thanks for any information.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

What DMA ? 

I don't think ANYBODY needs 148 right now, so the question is whether your HD locals are on 129 or 61.5 /72.7/77


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

scooper said:


> What DMA ?
> 
> I don't think ANYBODY needs 148 right now, so the question is whether your HD locals are on 129 or 61.5 /72.7/77


The panhandle is either El Paso or Odessa/Midland.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

There are no satellites at 148 currently, so that orbital isn't doing anyone any good...


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## Slamminc11 (Jan 28, 2005)

Michael P said:


> The panhandle is either El Paso or Odessa/Midland.


actually, you might want to add Amarillo to that list, maybe even Lubbock as well since those two cities are actually in the panhandle with DMA's and neither El Paso nor Midland/Odessa are...


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## Don M (Jul 1, 2006)

Michael P said:


> The panhandle is either El Paso or Odessa/Midland.


I live just outside Amarillo.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Don M said:


> I received a letter from DISH today. It said that in order to keep receiving my HD signals I needed to redirect my antenna. They said they would do this for free. Has anyone else received such a letter? I live in the Texas Panhandle and currently receive my signals from 119, 110, 148 and 129. At present I am having no problems with my HD signal. Thanks for any information.


Unless they are going add Amarillo HD on another satellite, it makes no sense to me although are you sure its 148 and not 118?


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## Don M (Jul 1, 2006)

I talked to DISH again today and was told that my antenna needed to be redirected so that I will get signals on 61.5.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Don M said:


> I talked to DISH again today and was told that my antenna needed to be redirected so that I will get signals on 61.5.


Uh...???

Did they explain why? It makes no sense to me because you can't get some HD channels with 110°/119°/61.5° and you can't get your SD locals without 110°.

You should be directed to one of the "Arcs." The Western Arc is 110°/119°/129° and the Eastern Arc is 61.5°/72.7°/77°. What's your dish configuration?


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## faulkner1953 (Dec 13, 2008)

I got the same letter. I'm just north of Dallas( in McKinney). Currently pointed at 110, 119, 129. I'm puzzled, although I haven't been following any of the forums lately. I got on here today to see what's up.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

faulkner1953 said:


> I got the same letter. I'm just north of Dallas( in McKinney). Currently pointed at 110, 119, 129. I'm puzzled, although I haven't been following any of the forums lately. I got on here today to see what's up.


OK. Well, someone must know something I don't.

Dallas HD I believe has been on both 110° and 61.5° while some of the SD has been on both as have Houston (actually some Houston SD is on 119° and 61.5°). *Is there some big plan in the works to move all or a portion of Texas off of the Western Arc and onto the Eastern Arc?* That seems like a pretty big undertaking and despite the fact that Texas is comparatively flat there are still going to be some people who won't have a clear LOS to 61.5°/72.7°/77°.


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## cditty (Nov 27, 2009)

Dallas was announced as one of the original Eastern Arc markets. They just never converted everyone over.

I live in Louisiana and I will be an Eastern Arc market eventually, as they uplinked my HD locals on 77.

In Dallas, they have left your locals on both arcs. They are just now starting to make sure everyone is pointing where they should be, so they can stop carrying redundant content on each 'arc' to add more Lil.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

cditty said:


> Dallas was announced as one of the original Eastern Arc markets. They just never converted everyone over.
> 
> I live in Louisiana and I will be an Eastern Arc market eventually, as they uplinked my HD locals on 77.
> 
> In Dallas, they have left your locals on both arcs. They are just now starting to make sure everyone is pointing where they should be, so they can stop carrying redundant content on each 'arc' to add more Lil.


That makes sense, but surely they aren't going to do it by "redirecting" the dishes. In most cases won't they be installing 1000.4 dishes replacing the existing dishes? I guess for those with a 500 and a wing dish they could aim the 500 at 72.7°/77° and the wing dish at 61.5°. But they'll have to replace any 1000.2 dishes.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Both the Lubbock and Amarillo SD locals are on the same spot beam off 110 presently and neither have HD locals.

Unless they are going to put HD locals on a spot off 61.5 I see no rhyme nor reason to re-point the 148 sat to 61.5, of course I have had 110/119/129/61.5 for over a year now. Only a couple of public service channels are on 61.5 that are not on 129.


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## cditty (Nov 27, 2009)

phrelin said:


> That makes sense, but surely they aren't going to do it by "redirecting" the dishes. In most cases won't they be installing 1000.4 dishes replacing the existing dishes? I guess for those with a 500 and a wing dish they could aim the 500 at 72.7°/77° and the wing dish at 61.5°. But they'll have to replace any 1000.2 dishes.


You are correct, they will be replacing the current dishes with 1000.4

That is the repoint.


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## Don M (Jul 1, 2006)

cditty said:


> You are correct, they will be replacing the current dishes with 1000.4
> 
> That is the repoint.


That is what the Tech did for me. He took out the old dish and installed the new version. The signal quality on the non HD channels nearly doubled. The HD channels went up by a few points.


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

I am in dallas, got the letter too... dish guy is here now. 

I had 110, 119, 129 & 61.5 - he says I don't need 61.5 any more so he's disconnecting it and playing around with stuff I don't understand.

I got 61.5 in order to get PENTAGON... I have Americas 250 HD

The rep on the phone said stuff was leaving 129 (I think - Indian accent)
And the installer guy has heavy spanish accent.

I am confused. HELP!


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

plarkinjr said:


> I am in dallas, got the letter too... dish guy is here now.
> 
> I had 110, 119, 129 & 61.5 - he says I don't need 61.5 any more so he's disconnecting it and playing around with stuff I don't understand.
> 
> ...


If you got that letter - You'll still be getting 61.5, as they should be converting you from Western Arc (129,119, and 110) to Eastern Arc (61.5, 72.7, and 77) .


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

he says yeah but i have perfect line of site to 1000.2 whatever that means


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## jclewter79 (Jan 8, 2008)

This is interesting, I am in the Sherman/Ada market and their HD locals are on both 61.5 and 129. I have a western arc setup as that was what they did here before the HD locals were lit up. As I understand it, all new installs in the area are eastern arc now so maybe I will be getting a letter soon also.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

cditty said:


> You are correct, they will be replacing the current dishes with 1000.4
> 
> That is the repoint.


Is DISH actually going out and converting Western Arc customers over to Eastern Arc in some markets? If so, why? (such as plans to eventually remove locals off of the Wetern Arc)?


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

tkrandall said:


> Is DISH actually going out and converting Western Arc customers over to Eastern Arc in some markets? If so, why? (such as plans to eventually remove locals off of the Wetern Arc)?


You got it - move over what they can to Eastern Arc so they can accomodate more HD.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

plarkinjr said:


> he says yeah but i have perfect line of site to 1000.2 whatever that means


You can do it now - or you can do it later (and pay for the privilige of keeping Dish service).


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

scooper said:


> You can do it now - or you can do it later (and pay for the privilige of keeping Dish service).


Wonderful....
He's gone now, and I'm missing my 61.5 and ch9402 because of it.
Called 800-333-DISH and they wanted to send another tech out to hook 61.5 back up.... but the call dropped before that was completed. I called back and I'm on hold waiting for a customer service supervisor..... The guy at the call center says I only need 110, 119 & 129, which I've had all along. To get 9402, he says I have to have 61.5, and that there would be a charge to hook up the dish.
I'm telling him I think it is complete BS that they came out, disconnected 61.5.

I love how the robot man says "Hey, I see you are one of our best customers - Thanks"

2.5 hrs into this ordeal and I'm worse off for taking the Urgent Action in the letter.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

plarkinjr said:


> Wonderful....
> He's gone now, and I'm missing my 61.5 and ch9402 because of it.
> Called 800-333-DISH and they wanted to send another tech out to hook 61.5 back up.... but the call dropped before that was completed. I called back and I'm on hold waiting for a customer service supervisor..... The guy at the call center says I only need 110, 119 & 129, which I've had all along. To get 9402, he says I have to have 61.5, and that there would be a charge to hook up the dish.
> I'm telling him I think it is complete BS that they came out, disconnected 61.5.
> ...


More like a victim of a lazy tech who didn't want to do what you were supposed to be having done. At the very least, if the tech didn't want to do the EA (1000.4) conversion, he SHOULD have left your 61.5 alone.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

scooper said:


> You got it - move over what they can to Eastern Arc so they can accomodate more HD.


Interesting. I assume local channels is the driver. When did they start this and which markets are under the focus right now? Small markets first? I wonder what kind of timeline they are under.

In order to free the bandwidth by off loading locals from the WA, they would have to convert everyone over in a given market or else any remaining WA setup customers would have to lose their locals.


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## Ddavis (Jan 15, 2004)

I got the letter last week. I called and talked to a Re-direct CSR. I told him that I already receive 61.5, 110, 119 and 129 with a Dish 1000 and a Disk 500. He told me that thier records said I wasn't getting 129. Thus the letter to re-point my 61.5 to 129. I declined the re-point since I was getting all four satelites.


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

scooper said:


> More like a victim of a lazy tech who didn't want to do what you were supposed to be having done. At the very least, if the tech didn't want to do the EA (1000.4) conversion, he SHOULD have left your 61.5 alone.


Possibly.... but, a guy was here just a few minutes ago to inspect the work. He said that I already had 129, but that their records did not indicate that. The CS supervisor I spoke to earlier today said the same thing. The consistent story they are giving me today is that "all" of the programming on 61.5 is moving to 129 (which isnt exactly true). The CS folks, and the inspector both essentially said "well, if you already had 129, we really shouldnt have done anything" and "the letter was sent because the system didnt know you had 129". The inspector also said it was weird because the recivers are supposed to report that info to HQ as well.

In any case, they are coming back out Wednesday to hook 61.5 back up. I get Pentagon, but 9402 (HHS) is gone, not sure what else is missing yet.

I've sent a letter to [email protected] expressing my annoyance, and concern that either the letter was triggered in error, or that the folks on the ground don't know what to do.

P.S. CS Supervisor couldnt do anything to compensate me for the $200 of my time this has all wasted so far.


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

Ddavis said:


> I got the letter last week. I called and talked to a Re-direct CSR. I told him that I already receive 61.5, 110, 119 and 129 with a Dish 1000 and a Disk 500. He told me that thier records said I wasn't getting 129. Thus the letter to re-point my 61.5 to 129. I declined the re-point since I was getting all four satelites.


That's what I should have done.... but I trusted they knew what their system was doing (or going to do) better than I did.

How do you get to a "re-direct CSR"?


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## slimer123 (Mar 21, 2010)

For those of you confused about the issues with the letters, let me a give a little insight. Dish is attempting to consolidate locals and other programming so that all any customer will need (with the exception of Maine and a portion of the west coast) is one dish, either pointed at the WA (1000.2, 500, or 500+) or the EA (1000.4). This will allow them to better allocate satellite resources to carry more programming. As far as the letters alerting customers to the need for re-point, they are based upon the orbitals listed on the customer's account according to the original work order for install. If the technician decided to put in a nonstandard configuration for some reason and did not report it to customer service then their records are incorrect, causing the confusion. Dish constantly changes the location of channels between orbitals, usually keeping them within the same group, but they are doing a major shakeup right now to get more HD locals up and running.


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## JR_Baas (May 5, 2005)

Is there a document anywhere that list what markets should be on which arcs?


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

JR_Baas said:


> Is there a document anywhere that list what markets should be on which arcs?


I'd like to know that and I'd be most curious as to which markets they intend to focus on re-setting up existing western arc customers onto the eastern arc (complete with receiver swaps as required). This would strike me as a huge undertaking as so many customers in the eastern U.S. are set up with a western arc dish arrangment. If DISH is actually looking to shut down western arc broadcast local channels for certain eastern U.S. DMAs, it would be fascinating to know what their game plan is for that.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Over time - - over time... 
There is no way they have enough receivers to change everybody at once.

They'll do it with the current carrot/stick approach, focusing on the carrot for now (HD, etc.) Gradually you will see a hardening up to start moving customers over to the preferred arc.


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## Ddavis (Jan 15, 2004)

plarkinjr said:


> That's what I should have done.... but I trusted they knew what their system was doing (or going to do) better than I did.
> 
> How do you get to a "re-direct CSR"?


I wasn't sure what to call it, but it was the number on the letter and not the main number. I think it was the number to call to schedule the re-point.

I knew better than to just trust thier system. That's why I called and discussed the issue before scheduling anything.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

plarkinjr said:


> ...
> How do you get to a "re-direct CSR"?


1-888-383-3727


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

SaltiDawg said:


> 1-888-383-3727


Then that's what I got too.... the number on the letter.

The accent of the rep made me unsure it was moving "to" or "from" 129. I knew I had 129 so I guess he said "from".

The tech was apparently uneducated, and I had trouble with his accent, too... He saw I had 110 119 129 and 61.5 on my info screen before he did anything. He disconnected the 61.5 lnbf, went inside and did the checkswitch - it gave warnings about removing a satellite, which seemed to confuse him. He replaced some wires, did an unplug reset and once it was working, left it at that. He explained (from best I could tell) that if I didnt get 61.5 unplugged, I'd lose HD channels sometime soon, maybe tomorrow or maybe a month from now.

The inspector who showed up a couple hours later asked me to rate the tech on a 1 to 10 scale. I gave him a 3. Hopefully they'll send someone else for the reconnect visit I have scheduled tomorrow.

I've received several calls from 'DishNetwork' according to my CallerID info, but they haven't left any voicemail.


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## bnborg (Jun 3, 2005)

plarkinjr said:


> The inspector who showed up a couple hours later asked me to rate the tech on a 1 to 10 scale. I gave him a 3. Hopefully they'll send someone else for the reconnect visit I have scheduled tomorrow.


You were too generous.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

So is anyone outside Texas getting these letters? Or are thet concentrating on one market at a time?


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

bnborg said:


> You were too generous.


He was kind, not rude; clean and conscientious; courteous, not disrespectful. That's 3 points there. :lol: He woulda gotten an extra point if I'd been able to understand more than half of what he said.... The inspector was Latino too, and I had no trouble understanding him... and living all of my 45 years in Texas, I'm actually pretty good at hearing thru Mexican accents.

On one of my calls to Dish customer support I said two things:
"What?" and "I need to speak with someone I understand". In my job, I have to work with technical folks in India all the time, and it is a challenge... often I'll say "email me". I've also worked the call centers before and struggled with understanding a fellow American in Alabama, so I know its a 2-way street - but we got thru it.  My parents were ********, but they drilled into me proper diction and enunciation: "Doesnt matter how smart you are, if you sound like a dumbass on first contact, people will think that's what you are".


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

4HiMarks said:


> So is anyone outside Texas getting these letters? Or are thet concentrating on one market at a time?


Yes,
I am in a Western ARC market and got one because I also have a dish pointed at 61.5


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## slimer123 (Mar 21, 2010)

JR_Baas said:


> Is there a document anywhere that list what markets should be on which arcs?


The short answer is yes, but it's "not to be distributed"


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

slimer123 said:


> The short answer is yes, but it's "not to be distributed"


Oh for Pete's sake! What is so top secret about which markets are on the eastern arc?!


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Nothing but I suspect it changes frequently enough that there's little point in distributing.

The original EA markets were:


Baltimore-MD | Charlotte-NC | Chicago-IL|Cleveland-OH|Columbia-SC
Dallas-TX | Detroit-MI|Green Bay-WI|Greensboro-NC|Greenville-SC
Hartford-CT|Knoxville-TN|Minneapolis-MN|Nashville-TN|New York-NY
Philadelphia-PA|Providence-RI|Raleigh-NC|Richmond-VA|Tampa-FL
Washington-DC| | | |
There have been more added, but I don't know them off the top of my head.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

RasputinAXP said:


> Nothing but I suspect it changes frequently enough that there's little point in distributing.
> 
> The original EA markets were:
> 
> ...


I live in the DC area. A couple of years ago when I got the locals in HD they had to add a wing dish at 61.5 to my existing 110/119.

I gather I now need to get whatever it takes for the EA?


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## Joe Bernardi (May 27, 2003)

SaltiDawg said:


> I live in the DC area. A couple of years ago when I got the locals in HD they had to add a wing dish at 61.5 to my existing 110/119.
> 
> I gather I now need to get whatever it takes for the EA?


I'm also in the DC area, also had the 110/119 plus wing dish for 61.5.

Last week, they were both removed and replaced by a 1000.4 dish.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

Joe Bernardi said:


> I'm also in the DC area, also had the 110/119 plus wing dish for 61.5.
> 
> Last week, they were both removed and replaced by a 1000.4 dish.


Did Dish initiate the contact with you or did you call them? Did it cost you anything?


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## Joe Bernardi (May 27, 2003)

I sent an email to [email protected], told them I have been a subscriber to America's everything Pack and all HD available for over 8 years, and had two mpeg 4 receivers.

A couple of days later, they asked when would be a good time for me, and that there would be no charge. Another two or three days later and the install was finished.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Joe Bernardi said:


> I sent an email to [email protected], told them I have been a subscriber to America's everything Pack and all HD available for over 8 years, and had two mpeg 4 receivers.
> 
> A couple of days later, they asked when would be a good time for me, and that there would be no charge. Another two or three days later and the install was finished.


So, you asked specifically to be configured for EA?


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## Joe Bernardi (May 27, 2003)

I told them I understood there were new HD channels that I should be receiving, but did not receive because of my specific dishes.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

I am in the same situation: DC area, 110/119 + 61.5 on a wing dish. I have a 501 receiver, though. I have been figuring on giving it up, along with one of my 622s, for several months now, after the new pricing structure. I was waiting for the snow to melt first, but now I'm seeing so many rumors about imminent 922 release (finally!) I'm inclined to wait just a bit longer so I can get it all done at once.


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## fhipper (Jun 25, 2007)

I have two 500 dishes, 61.5 is on one and 110/119 on the other one. 622 and 211 receivers. Is there a chart of other information source that will show the channels on 61.5 that are also on 129 for the north central Florida area? I'm trying to get determine what channels I may be losing and/or gaining before trying to move the 61.5 dish to 129.


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## CABill (Mar 20, 2005)

n0qcu said:


> Yes,
> I am in a Western ARC market and got one because I also have a dish pointed at 61.5


My letter dated 22-Mar had 
Reference Code: WA615
but I've had a 1000.2 for several years. Maybe since DISH has never been here to put up any dish, they don't know if I get 129. I know CSRs have asked what kind of switch, but maybe that doesn't get updated on my account. My receiver is connected with both a phone line and Broadband so I'd think it could have reported what Sats are available.


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## RWar24 (Mar 7, 2009)

I got a letter yesterday about a re-direct and I'm in the Indianapolis area.. They're coming tomorrow to do it. I currently get 110, 119 and 129. But after reading the previous messages, I'm a little leery on if they get it right.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

I'd ask them to explain exactly what they are going to do before starting - 

A repoint for Eastern Arc means a new dish pointed towards the SouthEast.


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## RWar24 (Mar 7, 2009)

Dish tech Sam was here bright and early this morning. Turns out the dish didn't need redirected. They had the wrong sat numbers listed on the account. He also said that he thought Dish was sendng letters out to blanket cover areas to make sure customers didn't lose service due to an oversight.


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

RWar24 said:


> Dish tech Sam was here bright and early this morning. Turns out the dish didn't need redirected. They had the wrong sat numbers listed on the account. He also said that he thought Dish was sendng letters out to blanket cover areas to make sure customers didn't lose service due to an oversight.


Sounds like you got a good one. Yeah, erring on the side of rolling a truck to take a peek and not have to actually do anything is in DiSH's best interest..... can you imagine the fall out if thousands of customers suddenly lost all their HD channels?


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## faulkner1953 (Dec 13, 2008)

OK, I'm in the Dallas area. I just called the number in the redirect letter. Went through a maze of press this number, press that number. Finally got a tech support woman who sounded American (Thank You). Supposedy I should be pointed at 110,119,129, which I am. They had me down at 61.5 . So the call concluded with an agreement that I am good, no repoint necessary. Whenever they finally make the ultimate switch is when I'll find out if that is a correct conclusion.


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

I got the same letter last week and today I got a recorded ph call to call about changeing my dish. I called and ask what they were going to do, they did not know but would send a guy out. I told them I had dishes pointed at 61.5,110 118,119 and 129.
She said they had no info on what I had, I told her I put them up and no one from dish has never been to my home and never will be.


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

I'm in Austin, TX got the letter today. I have two 500 dishes, 61.5 is on one and 110/119 on the other one. Haven't called yet, not sure if they want to repoint 61.5 to 129, or install one big one... Will I get Retro if I have them repoint?

4/7/10 Edit: I just ordered the "alignment". They said they were moving 61.5 to 129. Said I'd now get Retro and Indi, that I haven't been getting with Absolute package. I'll be happy as long as nothing goes away. Scheduled for Friday, will let you know how it went.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

If they repoint the 61.5 to 129 - yes.

Also if they take 110./119 and replace with an Eastern Arc dish


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## euro_boy (Jun 20, 2005)

I am reading this thread and must admit that I am a little (ok, a LOT) confused. From what I understand, Dish redirecting is for specific (selected) markets only. Since I did not receive any letters, I only assume that my market (Orlando) does not need to be redirected. right?
Other portions of this thread imply there are some new channels I could receive, which are only available on the new satellites (eastern/western arc). What specific channels are those? If I re-point my 61.5 to 119, would I be getting those new channels? If I do so, would I loose any of my existing channels, I am currently receiving from 61.5 (ie., internationals)?

My setup: Dish 500 - 110/119 + Dish 300 -61.5 connected via DPP44. Central Fl -Orlando locals.


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## Wolfpanther (Apr 29, 2008)

For Central Florida in order to get the new channels, they changed my setup to 72/77/61.5. However, it took 2 service calls to do it. The first installer kept insisting I did not need a new setup that I could get everything with 110/119/61.5. He gave me such a fight I threw him out and called his supervisor. His supervisor also insisted there were not any new channels and I did not need the new set up. The second installer took care of the job.


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

One other question. I'm having them re-aim 61.5 to 129 (I think) on Friday and forgot to ask if Austin HD locals are on 129. I don't see them on this list http://www.dishuser.org/129list.php If I'm going to lose them, I'm calling to cancel!


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

tcatdbs said:


> One other question. I'm having them re-aim 61.5 to 129 (I think) on Friday and forgot to ask if Austin HD locals are on 129. I don't see them on this list http://www.dishuser.org/129list.php If I'm going to lose them, I'm calling to cancel!


What you SHOULD do is have them install a 1000.4 dish - then add a 110 or 119 wing if you need it to get all your locals.

Edit scratch that - the Western Arc should work just fine - 1000.2 119/110/129


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

I'll confirm with the installer before he moves it. I don't see Austin HD on 110, 119, or 129 on the list. I'm in a valley and can't get anything OTA.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

tcatdbs said:


> I'll confirm with the installer before he moves it. I don't see Austin HD on 110, 119, or 129 on the list. I'm in a valley and can't get anything OTA.


Strange - I found Austin Tx on the 129 list no problem. Along with 110/119 (for your SD locals) - you're not going to lose anything.


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

What Scooper said.

KVUE DT 24 (ABC) KVUE 5180 12s48 129° C-II 
KEYE DT 42 (CBS) KEYE 5181 12s48 129° C-II 
KXAN DT 36 (NBC) KXAN 5182 12s48 129° C-II 
KTBC DT 7 (Fox) KTBC 5183 12s48 129° C-II


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

Thanks! I found them... I wasn't looking for the label on the right, I was scanning the left column.... I "got smart" and looked for the HD channel, that narrowed it down! Happy camper.


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

What's a good signal strength for 129 in Austin? Guy just left, did the realign in about 5 minutes, got 6 "good" on the check switch and left... I'm getting what I did PLUS Indie and Retro! 

My HD locals on 61.5 were about a 75 reading; on 129 they're about 35... do I need to call to get them to tweak it, or wait until I have signal loss problems? 35 seems real low! 

edit: Got on my ladder and tweaked... got 129 spot beam 12 (HD locals) "up to" 43, all transponders above that is 50-63, with #21 at 77. From my searching, this seems about as good as Austin gets. Will see what happens when a T'storm hits.


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

I'm in Austin and got the letter.

I have two antennas: One pulling in 110 and 119, the other pointed at 61.5. I thought it was stupid for them to give me two instead of one 1000.2 pointed at 110, 119 and 129.

Do I really need to do this? Are they moving all the HD off of 61.5??

Ps- The extra holes in my roof (taking down one antenna) is not something I'm keen about.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Unless you plan on repairing the roof ASAP, I'd have them leave the foot bolted in for now.

Don't be surprised if you end up with an Eastern Arc config instead of Western Arc, though.


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

The Austin DMA is not Eastern Arc. Expect a repoint of the 61.5 to 129 or a single 1000.2 dish, Bartendress.


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

I actually LIKE having that 2nd dish pointing to 61.5 for one simple reason...

The neighbor to my west has a pecan tree that will cut off my LOS to 129 long before anything to my east cuts of my LOS to 61.5.

I've had really good experiences with the techs who work for Service Star, the DISH contractor for the Austin DMA. I think I'm going to schedule the appointment and then, once the guy is here, have a bit of a conversation.

Do ya'll know if they are planning on doing anything radical with the HD or Austin locals on 61.5?

(I'm really sorry that I'm not up on the latest. Been busy fixin' up the house to make it more 'me'... and less 'middle-aged, single white lady'. LOL)


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

I had the 110,119,61.5... they repointed the 61.5 to 129 (still 2 dishes) last week, I couldn't be happier. Retro and Indie are very good movie channels that you don't get on 61.5. Repointing is a lot cheaper for them than giving you a new antenna, so if you have a 2nd dish at 61.5 I'm sure they'll just repoint. I think they're moving everyone off 61.5 so they can scrap it.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

tcatdbs said:


> I think they're moving everyone off 61.5 so they can scrap it.


No - so they can use it for other markets. Unless it is completely used up / broke beyond useability - you don't "scrap" a satellite that costs $250 million (not counting launching costs).


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## Larry Kenney (Aug 19, 2005)

I'm in San Francisco and received a letter today.

I have a 500 dish pointed at 110 and 119 and another 500 dish pointed at 129. We cannot get 61.5 here... there's a hill in the way. The angle is only like 9 degrees.

I don't want them to mess with anything if they don't have to. It's been working fine just like it is for four years. 

I'll call and see what they have to say.

Larry
SF


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## Larry Kenney (Aug 19, 2005)

I just called the number in the letter. The first CSR had no idea what I was talking about so he transferred me to another CSR. She said that according to their records I had a Dish on 110 and 119, another on 148 and a fourth on 61.5.

I told her that I'd never had one on 61.5 and that the one that was on 148 was moved to 129 a few years ago. She asked me to confirm that I had 129 with "Set Up - Installation - Point Dish". I knew I had it but did the check anyway. All is well. 110, 119 and 129 are the three satellites I should be pointed at.

She said thanks for calling. Please disregard the letter. They just saved some money by not having to schedule a Tech visit to our home.

Larry
SF


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

tcatdbs said:


> I had the 110,119,61.5... they repointed the 61.5 to 129 (still 2 dishes) last week, I couldn't be happier.


Brilliant!

Holy Cow... my time away has made me rusty!

Now let's see what the tech suggests... ... ...

Ps- And I realize this is not relevant to the thread... but I plan to add another HD box for my bedroom (probably single-tuner DVR). Right now all I have is a 722 for the living room. Which switch will work best for this config.? 
(I have no intentions of expanding my system once this is done.)


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

If your 110/119 has a DishProPlus Twin LNB, you're golden for 2 receivers.

If they change that to a 129/119/110 dish, you're still golden for at least 2 receivers.


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

scooper said:


> If your 110/119 has a DishProPlus Twin LNB, you're golden for 2 receivers.


I've not been up on the ladder yet, but the label on the dish itself says "DISH 500" and there are two distinctive LNB's in a single assembly... like a smaller version of the triple LNB assembly I had on the 1000.2.

If I end up with say, a 622 for the bedroom, I'll need two additional diplexers, right? One on the main run into the house, then one each for the 622 and the 722 (which I have), yes?

(I don't like tying up the tread for something off topic) Feel free to PM me to finish this discussion, please.

_Edit: To clarify the number of diplexers._


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

Tech came early. FWIW it's Southern Star (mis-remembered them as Service Star) that covers Austin. The tech was great... as expected. Quick and easy. All he did was re-point the wing dish to 129... just like *tcatdbs* experienced...

But then... ...

This evening I had a very, VERY rare occurrence of rain-fade. Today, I'm chalking it up to coincidence (only happened twice in three years)... ... ...


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## JonBlack (Feb 24, 2005)

I got the letter today. I have two Dish 500's with one pointing to 61.5 and the other to 110/119. I've wondered why I wasn't getting a certain HD channel I was interested in even though it was advertised. At the time it wasn't important enough though for me to look into. Obviously, the channel is on a bird I'm not picking up right now.

Anyway, I talked to at E* through the online chat system. I have the repoint schedueled for tomorrow morning. One thing is I think I might have a LOS issue with 129 hence why I have 61.5 now. The online rep said not to worry and the technician will take care of it as it won't be an issue now. LOL

Are they going to just repoint the 61.5 dish to 129 or will they replace the two Dish 500's with a Dish 1000.2?


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Depending on your market - they may replace both with an Eastern Arc Dish (61.5, 72.7 , 77) .


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## JonBlack (Feb 24, 2005)

I'm a western arc market for Charleston, SC. I don't know why they did that to us since I think every other SC market is on the eastern arc.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

I would think they would add more EA markets after they get E15 at 61.5


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## JonBlack (Feb 24, 2005)

The technician just left and as I suspected there was absolutely no LOS for the 61.5 dish to be repointed to 129. He checked various places and found a spot on the roof where he could put the new 1000.2 dish and clear the patch of trees with room to spare. It appears he did a good job on the physical install but I haven't had a chance to check the signals to see how well he peaked the dish. 

Can anyone tell me what is a good signal range with the new scale on 110/119/129?

P.S. It's nice to have the basic local HD channels on Dish now and Fox Soccer Channel looks pretty nice in HD.


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

JonBlack said:


> The technician just left and as I suspected there was absolutely no LOS for the 61.5 dish to be repointed to 129. He checked various places and found a spot on the roof where he could put the new 1000.2 dish and clear the patch of trees with room to spare. It appears he did a good job on the physical install but I haven't had a chance to check the signals to see how well he peaked the dish.
> 
> Can anyone tell me what is a good signal range with the new scale on 110/119/129?
> 
> P.S. It's nice to have the basic local HD channels on Dish now and Fox Soccer Channel looks pretty nice in HD.


You got to be kidding about no way to repoint the 61.5 dish to 129. If a 1000.2 works so would the the repointed 61.5 and with a better signal; than a 1000.2


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

oljim said:


> You got to be kidding about no way to repoint the 61.5 dish to 129. If a 1000.2 works so would the the repointed 61.5 and with a better signal; than a 1000.2


You didn't read it correctly -

Yes, a 1000.2 worked - in a completely different spot !!!!


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

Yeah, I lost locals last night too. I watched signal go from 42 to 35 to 31 to 24 to gone... back to 40 today. Was only off 5 or 10 minutes, but it was pretty nasty out there. Let's hope the next one isn't for 3 years... anytime this happens the wife says "why did we switch from TWC..." 



bartendress said:


> Tech came early. FWIW it's Southern Star (mis-remembered them as Service Star) that covers Austin. The tech was great... as expected. Quick and easy. All he did was re-point the wing dish to 129... just like *tcatdbs* experienced...
> 
> But then... ...
> 
> This evening I had a very, VERY rare occurrence of rain-fade. Today, I'm chalking it up to coincidence (only happened twice in three years)... ... ...


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

tcatdbs said:


> Yeah, I lost locals last night too. I watched signal go from 42 to 35 to 31 to 24 to gone... back to 40 today. Was only off 5 or 10 minutes, but it was pretty nasty out there. Let's hope the next one isn't for 3 years... anytime this happens the wife says "why did we switch from TWC..."


Remind the wife that Time Horror Austin sucks.

Case-in-point: With the arrival of CLEAR I was finally able to let go of Road Runner... so I canceled service, dropped of my cable modem, was greeted yesterday with a bill for $120. When I called they told me that the bill was probably printed before I dropped off the modem. To that I said, "So you print invoices two weeks in advance?

*insert cricket chirping here*


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## JonBlack (Feb 24, 2005)

oljim said:


> You got to be kidding about no way to repoint the 61.5 dish to 129. If a 1000.2 works so would the the repointed 61.5 and with a better signal; than a 1000.2





scooper said:


> You didn't read it correctly -
> 
> Yes, a 1000.2 worked - in a completely different spot !!!!


Sorry if I wasn't too clear in my post. I had two 500's on a post on one side of my property. There's a nasty, small cluster of pines right where 129 is supposed to be from that spot. The installer checked a few additional ground spots and couldn't get 129 because of those pines. Then he checked the roof and and on one side it cleared the pines by 6 degrees (I think) and 110/119 was no problem. So the new 1000.2 went there.


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## jsfisher (Mar 24, 2003)

It looks like Dish Network may now be working on another part of the country to move to the eastern arc. I got an "Urgent Action Required" postcard yesterday. I'm in the Albany, NY region.

The CSR I spoke to was genuinely pleasant (without that swarmy, canned apologies-for-everything responses that make my skin crawl), reasonably well informed, and intelligent. At any rate, after reviewing the check-switch results, he confirmed my suspicions: they'd like to replace my 110/119 + 61.5 with a single Dish-1000.4 dish for the eastern arc.

In addition to 211k, I have two old receivers, 508 and 4900. The two old receivers would need replacement, too. The CSR was willing to assume he knew what those replacements should be, but when I asked to discuss options he was most accommodating. He did miss that I have DVR service with no DVR fee, but understood immediately when I told him it was a 508.

He wanted to schedule all this for the next week or so, but I pointed out two and a half technicalities. (1) 77W seems to be failing right now, and (2) there's 18" of snow on the ground, here, right now. (The half technicality has to do with the Albany, NY SD locals still on 110W, but I get locals OTA.) He didn't respond to 77W's woes, but he understood the installation challenges 18" of snow might pose.

The CSR indicated the change-over to the eastern arc wasn't all that pressing so delaying until spring was reasonable...and that's what I will do.

All in all, perhaps the most pleasant experience I have had with a Dish Network customer service representative.


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