All unsubscribed, not

[tallfence]

When I choose "All Unsubscribed" or "All Channels" from my H3's guide the HD channels I don't subscribed to aren't displayed, only the SD channels. An example of a missing one is channel 193 SCI. I have recorded from SCI during past free previews.

I thought this would be an easy way to see if there are channels not in my Flex package that would interest me in upgrading.

Sent from my cell phone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[pattykay]

Yes, this is the way that Dish's guide system works. Most of the HD feeds are not native to those channel numbers, but rather are mapped down from four-digit channel numbers so that they appear next to the SD feed in the guide. Those HD channel numbers are hidden, so that they do not display at all (not even on the All Unsubscribed list) unless you actually subscribe to the channel. This is one way to eliminate clutter in the guide, so that you do not have a bunch of duplicate listings to scroll through, especially for channels that you are not actually receiving. The good news is that in most cases, you still have access to the guide information for the SD feed, so that you can see what programming is available on those channels.

For many cases where the SD feed does not appear in the guide on the All Unsubscribed list, the HD feed actually is listed elsewhere in the guide, so you have to look in the 9400's. In my guide, the All Unsubscribed list shows the following HD feeds:

9422 AXS​

9423 HDNMV​

9460 SHO-E​

9481 TMC-E​

9496 SEDGE​

9501 STDIO​

9502 STDIO​

So, all-in-all, it is a bit of a disorganized mess, and you have to scroll through the entire guide to make sure you do not miss any channels, but the guide info is still there.

 

[Mike1951]

I was confronted with this today when I became aware of the H&I (293) channel but couldn't find it in the listings.

I placed two calls: First to option 3 for programming, then to option 4 for tech support. After a combined 45 minutes, both answers were the same: If I want the channel to appear in the guide, I must subscribe to one of the packages containing that channel.

It is ridiculous that channels like this do not appear in either All UNSubscribed or All Channels. My viewing choices are based entirely on what I see in the program guide. To insist that I upgrade just to see that is unfair.

The SD or HD issue wasn't mentioned but they didn't locate alternate channels for H&I. I mentioned that I also don't subscribe to Grit (217) which does appear in the guide.

 

[pattykay]

I was confronted with this today when I became aware of the H&I (293) channel but couldn't find it in the listings.

I placed two calls: First to option 3 for programming, then to option 4 for tech support. After a combined 45 minutes, both answers were the same: If I want the channel to appear in the guide, I must subscribe to one of the packages containing that channel.

It is ridiculous that channels like this do not appear in either All UNSubscribed or All Channels. My viewing choices are based entirely on what I see in the program guide. To insist that I upgrade just to see that is unfair.

The SD or HD issue wasn't mentioned but they didn't locate alternate channels for H&I. I mentioned that I also don't subscribe to Grit (217) which does appear in the guide.

In addition to H&I, Comet is another channel in that range that does not appear in the guide unless you subscribe to it, as was mentioned in another thread recently. I still don't understand why Dish withholds some of these channels from the lowest packages, since they are available for free over-the-air if you happen to be in range of a local affiliate. Not all of us are lucky enough to have local affiliates, though, or to have reliable reception all of the time even if we do have an affiliate.

Alternatively, Dish could at least do a free preview each time they launch one of these channels, to give us a chance to see what is on it (or at least become aware that Dish actually carries it) and decide whether or not we want to upgrade to get it. According to Dish's website, both H&I and Comet require at least AT120, although that information was not immediately available when each of these channels first launched. So, if Dish does not do a good enough job of announcing what packages actually contain these channels, or announcing the dates for the free preview (if Dish bothers to actually do a free preview) then that could cause confusion. Then, when the preview ends, Dish will get complaints from subscribers with the lower packages, complaining that the channel used to be included in our package, and now it has been taken away. That is probably why Dish stopped doing previews of these channels like they used to do when they first started adding these diginets. I know that I used to complain each time one was taken away (preview ended) especially when they did that to Buzzr.

This is an open suggestion to James Long, who does the uplink reports. Is there any way that you can do a list of only the Hidden channels, so we can see at a glance all of the channels that Dish carries that will not show up in our guide on either the All Unsubscribed or All Channels lists? If there is already such a list, does anyone know where to find it? Thanks.