# Tech Forum Summary - May 8, 2006



## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

*Tech Forum Summary - May 8, 2006*​Tech Forum Hosted by
Mark Jackson, President of EchoStar Technologies
Dan Minnick, Vice President of Engineering

Tonight:
∙ Echo X Update
∙ Record Two Shows While Watching a Third
∙ HD Local Update
∙ DISH-On-Demand Updates
∙ PocketDISH Updates
∙ Interactive Television
∙ Trivia Giveaway
∙ Q & A

*Echostar 10*
Rohan Zaveri -
Almost all transfer of traffic completed.
(Brief history of E-10 including photos!)
Tested at 138.5° W - Now at 110° W
10 Channels - 49 Spots - 13.2 times reuse
Transmit Redundancy: 58 for 42
(JL Note: Every 42 TPs needed have 58 TPs at launch - failure of 16 TPs of the group would have to happen to reduce the capacity of that group of spots.)
Receive Redundancy: 44 for 31
(JL Note: Same thought. Failure of 13 receivers in each group would be needed to reduce the capacity of E-10.)
"Autotrack" 0.05° accuracy of the spot beam pointing.

Short Video ... How to record two shows while watching another (previously recorded).
Leslie Harper, Product Communications Manager
(Record three things at the same time on a 921, 942 or ViP-622 DVR - one must be OTA.)

Local Channels $5 per month --- your choice to subscribe or not.

*HD Local Update*
13 Markets today ... 11 More Markets middle of May
Albuquerque, NM
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Kansas City, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Portland, OR
Raleigh, NC
Sacrament, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Fransisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
St Louis, MO
Washington, DC
(28 shown)
NEED NEW RECEIVER: MPEG4

Kevin Covell, Director of Marketing

Effective April 1st:
Return 921 or 942 for a $200 credit to be applied to the $299 lease price of a ViP-622 DVR.
Professional installation including Dish 1000 included.

Return 811 or 6000 for a leased ViP-211 receiver for $49.

Multiple receiver upgrade:
One or more 811/6000 - Upgrade to ViP-211 for $49 each.
One or more 921/942 - Upgrade to ViP-622 for $99 (after rebate) each.
Can upgrade 811/6000 to ViP-622 DVR for $299.

_ONE VIP PER TRANSACTION UNLESS YOU ARE SWAPPING LIKE FOR LIKE._

How to make sure you are getting HD ...
1) Have a HD receiver (6000/811/921/942/622/211/411)
2) Have a HD television (look for component, DVI or HDMI connections)
3) Set your receiver to the highest resolution your HD set can display.
Receivers default to 480p --- make sure you check the settings!

**TRIVIA**
Giveaway - PocketDISH AV700E
Who developed "Wobulation" and what TV manufacture uses that technology?
(Winner: "Gary" (really Jerry) from Alabama -- Developed by Hewlitt-Packard currently on Samsung DLP TVs.)

*QUESTIONS*
Q: Martin - Program Guide stuck in "All HD"
A: New EPG feature - not a bug

Q: Kelly - Does DishNetwork support VOIP lines?
A: Yes. Go into the phone setup and use prefix '*99'

Q: Christopher - External USB drive storage?
A: Still working on it. It is "in beta". (ViP-622 DVR and 942 first)

Q: TJ Simmons - Content transfer between one DVR and another DVR or other devices?
A: Content providers will not allow this. Out of E*'s hands.

Q: Dave - DVR 625 connection, how far can the TVs be apart? How far away will the remote work?
A: Remote will work within 200ft unobstructed. TV2 'virtually any TV in the house'. (Jan Johnson - GM, Product Communications)

Q: Margaret - Someone else is changing my channels! How do I fix.
A: Change remote address to something else. (Detailed instructions from Leslie Harper)

Q: Rodney (phone): Native resolution pass through. Why not?
A: We are going to implement this in the near future (probably this summer). Apparently overlooked. "I'll get that done."

Q: Don - Dish500 + SW21, can I use this for one receiver?
A: Yes, for one single tuner receivers.

Q: Sam - I have HBO/Max, when can I get Dolby 5.1 on all of the channels?
A: We need a new agreement with the providers so we can pass 5.1 . (Bill Moran, VP DISH Network Engineering)

Q: Chris - 811 replaced with a ViP-622 DVR and lost OTA guide data?
A: Local package is required to get guide information.

Q: Dave (phone) - Can I transfer data TO the DVR from PocketDISH?
A: Yes. 942 and ViP-622 DVR can accept photos via USB to be displayed on TV. (Future: MP3 playback on ViP-622 DVR.)

*Name Based Recording*
Video on Demand FIRST on 510 and 508. Then NBR in 'next major release'. In beta perhaps released in July?

*DISH-On-Demand Updates*
Michelle tells us about preloaded movies on your DVR. (Rent for 24hrs.)
1st catagory now available: Movies on Demand.
508 and 510 at the end of this month (522 and 625 as well). On ViP-622 DVR now.

*PocketDISH Updates*
(Just a refresher of what one is.)
One hour of content transfers in 5 minutes on 622/942.
One hour of content transfers in 40 minutes on 522/625.
AV402E - 2.2" LCD 20GB
AV500E - 4" LCD 30GB
AV700E - 7" LCD 40GB

XDS - Connects pocketdish to non-DVR set top box! Timer records direct to PocketDISH.

*Interactive Television*
Scott Higgins - Director of Sales, Interactive TV
Indianapolis 500 coverage in multicam. Driver info and stats available on screen.
Starts May 24th through May 28th.

Q: Varied signal strength on 129° ?
A: Power levels *are* lower at 129° - peak for reception of 129°. (Rohan Zaveri)

Next Charlie Chat - June 12th

More information on Charlie Chats and Tech Forums available here on the DishNetwork Website.
Rebroadcast Times (on Channel 101):
Thu May 11th, 9pm ET
Sat May 13th, 5am
Sun May 14th, 5am and 7pm
Mon May 15th, 9pm
Thu May 18th, 9pm
Sat May 20th, 5am
Sun May 21th, 5am and 7pm
Mon May 22th, 9pm
Thu May 25th, 9pm
Sat May 27th, 5am
Sun May 28th, 5am and 7pm
Mon May 29th, 9pm


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Excellent recap. Thanks James!


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## pdxsam (Jun 20, 2004)

James Long said:


> Q: Sam - I have HBO/Max, when can I get Dolby 5.1 on all of the channels?
> A: We need a new agreement with the providers so we can pass 5.1 . (Bill Moran, VP DISH Network Engineering)


Huh? Why do they need a new agreement to pass 5.1?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Bill said their current agreement was to only pass 5.1 on HBO and not Max. Made it sound like it would be a contract violation to do so. I found it odd.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

James LongQ: said:


> TJ Simmons - Content transfer between one DVR and another DVR or other devices?
> A: Content providers will not allow this. Out of E*'s hands.


If this is true, why can TiVo do it and Dish cannot?


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## blueeyedman196 (Mar 13, 2006)

when will greenville sc get hd locals?


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## digiblur (Jun 11, 2005)

James Long said:


> Q: Kelly - Does DishNetwork support VOIP lines?
> A: Yes. Go into the phone setup and use prefix '*99'


BUZZZZZ..... That is incorrect. On some VoIP carriers if you put a *99 it will cause a fast busy, which the receiver will NEVER dial out. Way to go Dish!

With VoicePulse I know I just plugged the receiver into the wall.

You don't even need the *99 on users that are using a free VoIP service to get past the $5 dual tuner charge.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Hey, they report - I transcribe. 

IIRC *99 is more of a Vonage specific thing. If your VOIP carrier has a code to force the call to the maximum bandwidth (which is what *99 is supposed to do) that would be the prefix.


Jim5506 said:


> If this is true, why can TiVo do it and Dish cannot?


Best guess: TiVo doesn't have to deal with content providers.


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## GeeWhiz1 (Dec 6, 2005)

Jim5506 said:


> If this is true, why can TiVo do it and Dish cannot?


The simplest answer is that TiVO itself doesn't buy content from content providers. DishNetwork does buy content through it's contracts. Those contracts would dictate what E* can and cannot do with that content.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

James Long said:


> Bill said their current agreement was to only pass 5.1 on HBO and not Max. Made it sound like it would be a contract violation to do so. I found it odd.


It does seem odd... but it could be true. It could also be true that they aren't really getting 5.1 from MAX and would have to negotiate, and possibly pay more, to get that from them.

I dunno.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

James Long said:


> Q: Rodney (phone): Native resolution pass through. Why not?
> A: We are going to implement this in the near future (probably this summer). Apparently overlooked. "I'll get that done."


Thanks for the recap, by the way... I completely missed a couple of minutes in the middle of the Q&A while attempting to send an email question to them from another room.

I hate I missed this particular one... For those who watched, did they answer this with any conviction? If they would do this, and do it for all their HD receivers (old and ViP) I would be particularly pleased. A lot of us have been asking for this for quite some time.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

HDMe said:


> Thanks for the recap, by the way... I completely missed a couple of minutes in the middle of the Q&A while attempting to send an email question to them from another room.
> 
> I hate I missed this particular one... For those who watched, did they answer this with any conviction? If they would do this, and do it for all their HD receivers (old and ViP) I would be particularly pleased. A lot of us have been asking for this for quite some time.


What was odd, they acted as if they weren't aware it was that big of a deal. I slept through the wobulation and woke up when they read that idiot's question about stuck menu. I actually figured it out 30 minutes before the show. HP also uses wobulation on their LED backlit DLP.


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

Thanks for the recap. I wasn't able to attend the chat, but I'm curious about the 129 satellite reception problems. Did they acknowledge there's a problem? Did they indicate what plans if any are in the works to correct the problems.


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## RockStrongo (Jul 29, 2004)

Was the bugs in the 622 addressed at all? So, by your list, will Dallas have HD locals in mid may or is that just the start date for some on the list? I kept hearing July.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Thanks for the fine, concise recap. That's 55 minutes of my life saved!


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Thanks James, I ended up with Kid duty last night and didn't get to watch the chat. The recap got me all caught up without having to wait for a rebroadcast.


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## askop (Mar 13, 2006)

I'm in NYC DMA with ViP622 and HD Silver package and HD locals. Right now I have 2 dishes, one for 110/119 and one for 61.5. Was there anything in this chat (or does anyone know off hand) about when/if I'll ever be able to drop the second dish?

Thanks,
Al


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

mpeltz said:


> Thanks for the recap. I wasn't able to attend the chat, but I'm curious about the 129 satellite reception problems. Did they acknowledge there's a problem? Did they indicate what plans if any are in the works to correct the problems.


If I misstate, someone else can jump in and correct me... but the gyst of what I heard regarding 129 was that they are aware of a lot of people writing/calling... but they were taking the position that you should be able to see it fine, and since it is all "1s and 0s" then signal strength in 60-70 range is acceptable.

Of course that doesn't take into account rain fade or white cloud fade that you'll get more often with the weaker signal.

They did admit it was a lower power satellite than their 110/119 locations.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

askop said:


> I'm in NYC DMA with ViP622 and HD Silver package and HD locals. Right now I have 2 dishes, one for 110/119 and one for 61.5. Was there anything in this chat (or does anyone know off hand) about when/if I'll ever be able to drop the second dish?
> 
> Thanks,
> Al


Not for a while.......

They are more anxious to bring new markets online first......

plus with the Voom channels and several other HD channels parked there, it may not happen for a while....


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

askop said:


> I'm in NYC DMA with ViP622 and HD Silver package and HD locals. Right now I have 2 dishes, one for 110/119 and one for 61.5. Was there anything in this chat (or does anyone know off hand) about when/if I'll ever be able to drop the second dish?


Never? OK, that's harsh - but don't expect to be able to drop the 61.5° dish soon if you want to keep NYC HD locals and Voom/ESPN2/Uni and other new HD.

The one dish rule only applies to local channels. All SD local channels for each market must be on the same dish. All HD local channels for each market must be on the same dish. The SD and HD do not have to be on the same dish as each other nor do they have to be on the same dish as other programming. E* is completely within the rule to have NYC HDs on 61.5° and NYC SDs and core programming on a D500.

It is going to be a few years before they can squeeze the space on 119° and 110° enough to fit many more channels there.


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## rdr (Jan 19, 2006)

What are the 11 cities to get HD middle May, anyone know?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

HDMe said:


> If I misstate, someone else can jump in and correct me... but the gyst of what I heard regarding 129 was that they are aware of a lot of people writing/calling... but they were taking the position that you should be able to see it fine, and since it is all "1s and 0s" then signal strength in 60-70 range is acceptable.
> 
> Of course that doesn't take into account rain fade or white cloud fade that you'll get more often with the weaker signal.
> 
> They did admit it was a lower power satellite than their 110/119 locations.


I was also very intersted in this question and if there was any more information on it. Is there plans to improve this situation. From what I can tell with my D1000 I am getting pretty good numbers, however I do run into signal issues on occassion and was hoping that there would be some relief provided as a side benefit of the E10 work. Will there be or just false hope on my end.

Thanks for the recap James. Being on the west coast and with my new job I can't make the Chats.


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

Jim5506 said:


> If this is true, why can TiVo do it and Dish cannot?


Tivo is not a "content providor" like E* is..HBO,Showtime etc have MUCH more influence over E* than TIVO


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

rdr said:


> What are the 11 cities to get HD middle May, anyone know?


The list above was presented as "we have 13 cities now and will have 11 more by the middle of May, here's the list" and then they showed 28 cities (in small print - would have looked great on HDNews but CC is in SD!).

Last time I checked 13 plus 11 was 24 ... so there are four extra cities. I expect that all 28 will be up by the end of the month. (Barring technical and permission problems.)


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

HDMe said:


> If I misstate, someone else can jump in and correct me... but the gyst of what I heard regarding 129 was that they are aware of a lot of people writing/calling... but they were taking the position that you should be able to see it fine, and since it is all "1s and 0s" then signal strength in 60-70 range is acceptable.
> 
> Of course that doesn't take into account rain fade or white cloud fade that you'll get more often with the weaker signal.
> 
> They did admit it was a lower power satellite than their 110/119 locations.


Sounds like an alcoholic who has yet to admit he has a problem. I was considering upgrading to the vip622 from the 942, but the only reason was to get the Atlanta HD locals. Sounds like there's no point in doing that. If they aren't even admitting they have a problem, then they most certainly aren't going to fix it.

Why in the hell did Dish choose to put the Atlanta HD locals on the 129 bird when everyone in Atlanta was already configured with a two dish setup for 110/119 and 61.5 with strong reception. My contract is up this month, so I'll just sit tight for a while and see what DirecTV (or maybe even cable) has to offer in the near future.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

mpeltz said:


> Sounds like an alcoholic who has yet to admit he has a problem. I was considering upgrading to the vip622 from the 942, but the only reason was to get the Atlanta HD locals. Sounds like there's no point in doing that. If they aren't even admitting they have a problem, then they most certainly aren't going to fix it.
> 
> Why in the hell did Dish choose to put the Atlanta HD locals on the 129 bird when everyone in Atlanta was already configured with a two dish setup for 110/119 and 61.5 with strong reception. My contract is up this month, so I'll just sit tight for a while and see what DirecTV (or maybe even cable) has to offer in the near future.


Atlanta's not on 110??????????????


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## jrb531 (May 29, 2004)

I had two dishes - 110/119 and 61.5 and they disconnected the 61.5 when then installed the 1000 here in Chicago.

I seem to get all the same channels - at least that I can tell 

-JB

P.S. Well the 61.5 is still there.... they just took the arm thingie off.


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## Pepper (Mar 9, 2004)

James Long said:


> **TRIVIA**
> Giveaway - PocketDISH AV700E
> Who developed "Wobulation" and what TV manufacture uses that technology?
> (Winner: Gary from Alabama -- Developed by Hewitt Packard currently on Samsung DLP TVs.)


Actually it's Jerry from Alabama. The CSR who took the call got my name wrong.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Contrats Pepper!! Kudos! :righton:


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## TechnoCat (Sep 4, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> Is there plans to improve this situation. (RE: D129 levels) From what I can tell with my D1000 I am getting pretty good numbers, however I do run into signal issues on occassion and was hoping that there would be some relief provided as a side benefit of the E10 work.


I'm nearly 1000 miles north of you (north of Seattle). The upgrade installers didn't even give me the option of a 1000; they simply added a second 500. The first one handles the same two sats we were receiving before and the new one handles the HD sat. Signal on all is quite good.

I asked why, given the 1000's capabilities. They told me it doesn't work well in our area.

Perhaps breaking back to two 500s would solve your signal issues?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Pepper said:


> Actually it's Jerry from Alabama. The CSR who took the call got my name wrong.


Not just your name , but and that big company name . 'Hewitt' - heh !


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well I am definitely on the edge.. Only run into the issue on occassion. I need 148 for JapanTV and really don't want to have to add a 3rd Dish if possible. 

Was hoping somehow more power could appear on 129.


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## TechnoCat (Sep 4, 2005)

mpeltz said:


> Sounds like an alcoholic who has yet to admit he has a problem. I was considering upgrading to the vip622 from the 942, but the only reason was to get the Atlanta HD locals. Sounds like there's no point in doing that. If they aren't even admitting they have a problem, then they most certainly aren't going to fix it.


Are you certain you wouldn't be able to get them? Keep in mind a lot of us are a long way north of Atlanta. I doubt many of their calls have been from the southern U.S. There are like literally *dozens* of people living north of I-285!


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

olgeezer said:


> Atlanta's not on 110??????????????


I'm assuming you're you're referring to Atlanta *SD* channels. In the past several years, if you wanted to get all the Atlanta SD channels, then you needed a two-dish setup. While it was true that 110 (or maybe 119) hosted the main Atlanta SD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), the 61.5 bird hosted the remaining channels such as WB, PBS, and a few of other channels. I'm not sure if that has changed due to the federal law requiring one-dish setup, but historically speaking many many many Atlantians already had a two-dish setup. One dish for 110/119 and the other dish for 61.5.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Pepper said:


> Actually it's Jerry from Alabama. The CSR who took the call got my name wrong.


Congrats Jerry. Well done.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Pepper said:


> Actually it's Jerry from Alabama. The CSR who took the call got my name wrong.


Modification made. Congrats Pepper.


P Smith said:


> Not just your name , but and that big company name . 'Hewitt' - heh !


Too many HP products, not enough with the name spelled out. That correction also made.


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

TechnoCat said:


> Are you certain you wouldn't be able to get them? Keep in mind a lot of us are a long way north of Atlanta. I doubt many of their calls have been from the southern U.S. There are like literally *dozens* of people living north of I-285!


It's not that I wouldn't be able to get them, but I'm not confident that I could receive them reliably, especially during small weather events. I've searched through this forum and other satellite forums and found many threads about not getting a _reliable _signal strength (e.g. http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=53857&highlight=atlanta+hd+locals+signal+strength) And yes, I'm aware that some people are using a two dish setup, one for 110/119 and the other dedicated to 129.

I was an unofficial beta tester for the Dish 942 receiver while they worked out the problems for months. Right now, I just have too much going on at job/home to become an unofficial beta tester for signal strength problems.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The "official line" expressed during the Tech Forum (and I paraphrase) was:
"You are either going to get 129° or not. Check for obstructions. Other satellites are higher powered."


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

James Long said:


> The "official line" expressed during the Tech Forum (and I paraphrase) was:
> "You are either going to get 129° or not. Check for obstructions. Other satellites are higher powered."


Does that mean some folks will need a BUD to get 129?


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## BoisePaul (Apr 26, 2005)

olgeezer said:


> Does that mean some folks will need a BUD to get 129?


Is that included in the Dish'nItUp upgrade price? :lol:


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## Darkman (Apr 16, 2002)

Congrats Pepper.. - Enjoy YOUR new Toy!


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## Rodney (Aug 22, 2003)

mpeltz

I also live in Atlanta and was advised by a installer that I could not get 129 due to trees. I initially believed him and was content with the idea of not receiving Atlanta HD locals via satellite. After thinking about it I decided to take matters into my own hands and climbed on my roof and found an area where I thought 129 reception was possible. I already had a extra dish 500 in my basement and I own a channel master satellite meter. After about 2 hours of work I was able to record the following signal levels from a 622 receiver. By the way I have yet to experienced a loss of signal due to light or moderate rain and the signal strengths listed below are consistent during fair weather. Don't give up it will work if you have line of sight to 129.

Transponder-Signal Level
1-86
2-80
3-80
4-83
5-86
6-78
7-83
8-79
9-94
10-90
11-78
12-93
13-94
15-84
17-85
18-79
19-78
20-84
21-83
22-76
23-80
24-82
27-79
30-77
31-83


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## JaguarJoJo (Apr 19, 2006)

In that list of some 26 cities being provided with HD locals, there is not a single Ohio city. I'm just guessing that Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are all bigger that Spokane, WA--A sleepy little college town. Why the anti-Ohio bias at DISH? Any ideas James?

JoJo


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## Bagman (Aug 14, 2004)

mpeltz, I also live in the Atlanta area (Tucker). I recently upgraded from the 921 to the 622. I insisted to the installer that I needed to not only add the 129 dish, but I also needed to keep the 61.5 for the extra locals (reading too many forums). He insited that I was incorrect and he was the one who turned out to be correct. Everything that I was getting befor on 61.5 and the new HD channels are either on 129, 119 or 110. He suggested and I now agree, that the simplest and best thing to do was to re-point my 61.5 to 129. That way reception could be peaked for that sat without impacting the others. I have not had any reception problems so far. 

By the way the OTA turner on the 622 is awesome. I picked up two locals (PAX and another ) that the 811 or 921 never knew about.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

JaguarJoJo said:


> In that list of some 26 cities being provided with HD locals, there is not a single Ohio city. I'm just guessing that Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are all bigger that Spokane, WA--A sleepy little college town. Why the anti-Ohio bias at DISH? Any ideas James?


I suppose with E* size doesn't matter. 

Closeness to an uplink center might. You might notice that HD locals seem to be in the largest cities or near uplink centers.

Without looking for spots already used:
29s9 and 31s9 cover most of Ohio ... 27s9 will be useless in Ohio.
4s10 and 23s10 would serve Cincy but doesn't go far enough north for Columbus. 12s10 and 27s10 will be useless in Ohio.

That's assuming they don't go to 129° or some other slot.


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## Scott Spillers (Apr 15, 2006)

TechnoCat said:


> I'm nearly 1000 miles north of you (north of Seattle). The upgrade installers didn't even give me the option of a 1000; they simply added a second 500. The first one handles the same two sats we were receiving before and the new one handles the HD sat. Signal on all is quite good.
> 
> I asked why, given the 1000's capabilities. They told me it doesn't work well in our area.
> 
> Perhaps breaking back to two 500s would solve your signal issues?


They installed a Dish 1000 for me in Federal Way, WA. No problems here.


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## unr1 (Jul 16, 2005)

I really hope that AX is a typo and Phoenix, AZ in the market for local HD!


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## Darkman (Apr 16, 2002)

lol.. ya.. X key is next to Z key (on the keyboard there) 

... just blame it on James 

P.S. I am sure it IS indeed Phoenix, AZ


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

TechnoCat said:


> Are you certain you wouldn't be able to get them? Keep in mind a lot of us are a long way north of Atlanta...There are like literally *dozens* of people living north of I-285!


Tell me about it!  Lived there 30 years -- been there, done that.

The 'burbs of ATL now extend in a NW to NE arc north virtually to the AL, TN, NC and SC state lines.
I would say that there are literally dozens and dozens of people residing north of the Perimeter!


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## derwin0 (Jan 31, 2005)

Nick said:


> The 'burbs of ATL now extend in a NW to NE arc north virtually to the AL, TN, NC and SC state lines.
> I would say that there are literally dozens and dozens of people residing north of the Perimeter!


And south towards Macon as well. My father's house in Butts County is considered Atlanta DMA, so a few folks south of the Perimeter too.
And don't forget them Dawgs east of it in Athens as well


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

Rodney said:


> I already had a extra dish 500 in my basement and I own a channel master satellite meter. After about 2 hours of work I was able to record the following signal levels from a 622 receiver. By the way I have yet to experienced a loss of signal due to light or moderate rain and the signal strengths listed below are consistent during fair weather. Don't give up it will work if you have line of sight to 129.


Glad to hear that at least there's one success story, that gives me some hope. I'm certain I have line of sight, but the problem would be finding an installer in Atlanta who would take the care that you did in getting a good signal. Most installers don't even show up and those that do, don't bother to look at the signal strength and peak the dish to get the best signal possible. That's been my experience in Atlanta.

I'm not comfortable doing it myself and since the $99 deal includes installation, I shouldn't have to install myself. I definitely believe the that having the second dish pointing to 129 is the way to go. I would refuse a single D1000 dish solution.


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## vahighland (Mar 29, 2005)

Bagman said:


> mpeltz, I also live in the Atlanta area (Tucker). I recently upgraded from the 921 to the 622. I insisted to the installer that I needed to not only add the 129 dish, but I also needed to keep the 61.5 for the extra locals (reading too many forums). He insisted that I was incorrect and he was the one who turned out to be correct. Everything that I was getting before on 61.5 and the new HD channels are either on 129, 119 or 110. He suggested and I now agree, that the simplest and best thing to do was to re-point my 61.5 to 129. That way reception could be peaked for that sat without impacting the others. I have not had any reception problems so far.
> 
> By the way the OTA turner on the 622 is awesome. I picked up two locals (PAX and another ) that the 811 or 921 never knew about.


I realize that 129 has the same Atlanta SD locals as 61.5, the Atlanta HD locals, and VOOM. I wasn't thinking about having three dishes pointed to 110/119 and 61.5 and 129. The concern I had was with the low signal strength problems reported with the 129 satellite. And yes, a two-dish setup, one for 110/119 and the other dedicated to 129 is the recommended configuration from what I read.

How long have you had the 622? What's been your experience in terms of drop-outs on the Atlanta HD or VOOM channels?


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Rodney said:


> mpeltz
> 
> I also live in Atlanta and was advised by a installer that I could not get 129 due to trees. I initially believed him and was content with the idea of not receiving Atlanta HD locals via satellite. After thinking about it I decided to take matters into my own hands and climbed on my roof and found an area where I thought 129 reception was possible. I already had a extra dish 500 in my basement and I own a channel master satellite meter. After about 2 hours of work I was able to record the following signal levels from a 622 receiver. By the way I have yet to experienced a loss of signal due to light or moderate rain and the signal strengths listed below are consistent during fair weather. Don't give up it will work if you have line of sight to 129.
> 
> ...


Those signal levels are about the same as I have in southeast Texas. So the 129 sat can be had if you work at it. My solutions was to use the dish 1000 only for 129 sat and I peaked it on the 129 sat. I had it run into a dish 500 peaked for 110/119. The result is I have the 110/119 sats peaked in the 100's and my signal strength on the 129 sat is very simliar to your readings. I don't lose my picture on any of my sat channels any more. ------------------


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Darkman said:


> lol.. ya.. X key is next to Z key (on the keyboard there)
> 
> ... just blame it on James
> 
> P.S. I am sure it IS indeed Phoenix, AZ


It's Phoenix ArimeXico. The Minute Men need to step up their patrols. 

Typo fixed.


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## Bagman (Aug 14, 2004)

mpeltz said:


> I realize that 129 has the same Atlanta SD locals as 61.5, the Atlanta HD locals, and VOOM. I wasn't thinking about having three dishes pointed to 110/119 and 61.5 and 129. The concern I had was with the low signal strength problems reported with the 129 satellite. And yes, a two-dish setup, one for 110/119 and the other dedicated to 129 is the recommended configuration from what I read.
> 
> How long have you had the 622? What's been your experience in terms of drop-outs on the Atlanta HD or VOOM channels?


Actually I have three dishes - 110, 119 and 129. Similar results to Rodney, except the 129 is not quite as strong.

I've had the 622 a couple of weeks. However, only had #3 for a few days. The first one was DOA and replaced. #2 worked great except that it only picked up the VHF locals (channel 11/10). #3 seems to be the charm. I have not had any drop outs on the Atlanta local HD or Voom.


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## JaguarJoJo (Apr 19, 2006)

James Long said:


> I suppose with E* size doesn't matter.
> 
> Closeness to an uplink center might. You might notice that HD locals seem to be in the largest cities or near uplink centers.
> 
> ...


I thought all HDs were on CONUS TPs. I haven't noticed any on spots. I assume they would put Columbus and Dayton on 129, since the SD locals are already there. Cleveland and Cincy locals are on 110. But I haven't seen any plans for either Coilumbus or Dayton HD in any future scenarios.

JoJo


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

HD locals are now beginning to show up on spots.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

mpeltz said:


> I'm assuming you're you're referring to Atlanta *SD* channels. In the past several years, if you wanted to get all the Atlanta SD channels, then you needed a two-dish setup. While it was true that 110 (or maybe 119) hosted the main Atlanta SD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), the 61.5 bird hosted the remaining channels such as WB, PBS, and a few of other channels. I'm not sure if that has changed due to the federal law requiring one-dish setup, but historically speaking many many many Atlantians already had a two-dish setup. One dish for 110/119 and the other dish for 61.5.


I was suprised. Kansas City is on 129 for HD, but they're only the 30-33 market size and all of their SD locals were on a dish 500. It suprised me that a city the size and location of Atlanta would not be at a 110/119 location.


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## RockStrongo (Jul 29, 2004)

James Long said:


> HD locals are now beginning to show up on spots.


Yep, I found the Dallas ones last night. Very cool.


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## dishbacker (Jun 15, 2004)

olgeezer said:


> I was suprised. Kansas City is on 129 for HD, but they're only the 30-33 market size and all of their SD locals were on a dish 500. It suprised me that a city the size and location of Atlanta would not be at a 110/119 location.


One thing to consider is that in order to do HD channels on spot beam, one has to be completely unused and available. In the case of DFW, we have 2 spot beams from Echo X focused on Dallas. One of them has all of the local SD channels and one has the local HD channels. Not all of the markets are setup in this fashion though.


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## BoisePaul (Apr 26, 2005)

dishbacker said:


> One thing to consider is that in order to do HD channels on spot beam, one has to be completely unused and available. In the case of DFW, we have 2 spot beams from Echo X focused on Dallas. One of them has all of the local SD channels and one has the local HD channels. Not all of the markets are setup in this fashion though.


You don't really need two spotbeams, rather 2 spot transponders (assuming that 4 MPEG4 HD LiL channels eat an entire 8PSK transponder and that the SD LiLs reside on a seperate QPSK transponder). Most of the E10 spots carry several transponders (looks like 18, 32, 33, 41, and maybe 27 are the only spotbeams that only have a single transponder). For all of the rest, there are at least two, and as many as five transponders for each beam. Now there may be several markets in each spotbeam, so no single market would be likely to get exclusive use of each spot.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

I posted another version of the summary to the EKB on 5/12. For those of you keeping score, it only took me 4 days! Fixed Pepper's name today (congrats!) and added link to this thread.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

We all see different details --- thanks Boba for sharing your view. BTW:For TVs that can't accept all resolutions (no video after you change the setting), a recent software upgrade will cause the receiver to revert to the previous setting unless you confirm the change.​Every software version I've had on the ViP-211 and Vip-622 DVR has had the revert feature (reminds me of Microsoft Windows confirming the change of video settings - perhaps they will sue Echostar for patent infringement). I wouldn't call it recent - but it is good to note that people NEED to check the resolution setting.


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## danderson101 (Oct 25, 2005)

I'm in Raleigh- have HD locals been added yet? Will they go to 61.5 or 129?
Might come back to dish - got twarner now (SA8300hd).


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

danderson101 said:


> I'm in Raleigh- have HD locals been added yet? Will they go to 61.5 or 129?


Not yet. Keep checking here for updates.


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