AT&T to Dish

[Riverpilot]

Called that in Tuesday morning for utility markings.

Am I supposed to receive some kind of phone call/text the day before the appointment? The MYDish web site still lists my appointment for tomorrow. Just curious.

 

[ncted]

Called that in Tuesday morning for utility markings.

Am I supposed to receive some kind of phone call/text the day before the appointment? The MYDish web site still lists my appointment for tomorrow. Just curious.

They should just put in a tripod at first, and then come back and do a permanent pole mount once the markings have been made. That is what happened with my last Dish (2012) and DirecTV (2016) installs. Maybe it is different in other areas of the country?

 

[Riverpilot]

I did call Tuesday... here in Iowa you have to call at least 48 hours before digging... so they "should" be doing the markings today or tomorrow morning. If they don't show up by tomorrow morning, I call 811 back and they'll do an immediate locate... which basically means somebody dropped the ball and didn't do their job, so now they make the locate a priority.

I had irrigation installed back in May and they did all the markings. I'm 99.9% sure there isn't any type of line where I'm putting the pole, but... I'm covering all bases.

 

[Bogy]

Had Dish installed on Monday, the installer used the DirecTV pole, but that can differ by installer.
My biggest TV is 60 inch. I can't say I see a whole lot of difference in the PQ. My wife sees absolutely no difference. Watched part of a Star Trek episode in SD, looked about like it would have in first run.
My wife is OK with the change. She can turn the TV on and change channels. That's all she cares about. That, and she can push the button marked "DVR" and find the recorded shows. Hasn't had a chance to actually do that yet, since we haven't had a lot that recorded between Monday and Tuesday.
I can't say that with DirecTV we really had a lot of scheduling conflicts, with an HR44 and an HR24. Just the 2 of us in the house. But the extra capacity is nice.
I partly wanted to upgrade equipment for the 4k TV, looking to the future, but there really is not that much out there at this point, and the difference in PQ is not really that big a deal.

 

[Riverpilot]

Thanks for the info, Bogy. I'd like to use the AT&T pole, but the LOS is different... I'd be blocked by trees in that position.
Good to hear about the PQ as well.

As for 4k. I have the channel on AT&T, and it's nice and all, but... there's just not enough programming yet for me to be concerned about it. I have a feeling AT&T and Dish are both going to have 4k programming by the end of this year, or early next year. Whether that be HBO, Fox Sports, etc... I'm not sure... even so. Dish has more of the channels that I want, along with that glorious Hopper 3!

Checked the one dig site, 811, a few of the utilities have cleared the area already. The utilities that haven't cleared yet, I know for a fact there isn't anything at the spot, but, I still have almost 24 hours for them to clear online. Technology can sometimes be incredible. Utility companies able to clear things on-line and for me to be able to see that it's been cleared.

 

[Riverpilot]

One dig/811 showed up at 07:30 and cleared all utilities. Things were looking up until I looked online and see that Dish' updated arrive time was pushed back between 4:30 and 5:45. Not sure how they knew a tech wasn't going to be available until that late, but...

I'd reschedule for tomorrow morning but I'm having a new bed/mattress delivered and I don't want to have two different companies here at the same time.

Everything is set up for the tech. I ran an exterior conduit with pull tape from where the dish will be to where the cable will be entering the house. I think only 1 interior cable needs to run, which is in the basement where the Hopper 3 will go. It's an easy run of 40' or so from the exterior point.

Everything else should be plug and play.

Guess I'll see if times change throughout the day.

 

[navychop]

In my experience, those ground markings for utilities are highly inaccurate. Sometimes a foot or two off! Be very careful.

 

[Riverpilot]

In my experience, those ground markings for utilities are highly inaccurate. Sometimes a foot or two off! Be very careful.

I know for a fact there's nothing buried at that spot. I just had a lawn irrigation installed in May which I got to see where everything was buried. Plus this is in the middle of a bunch of plants etc... that I've dug in before.

However, with that being stated. I appreciate your concern, and I will definitely keep a close eye out.

 

[Riverpilot]

First thought. While the "tech arrives in" is a great idea in theory, it leaves room for improvement.
At 7:30 this morning the time changed to 4:30-5:45. At 10:30 it changed to 2:30-3:45.
5 minutes before the door bell rang, it changed to 12:15-1:30. In other words, if your appointment is from 12-5, be sure you're home during that time. Though I do appreciate the updates it gave.

2 man crew came from the local big DISH retailer. I was actually going to use them to sign up etc... but decided to do it online instead.
Man 1 grabbed the pole mount, etc.. and while he immediately went to start digging I showed #2 where all the TV's were and where the Hopper 3 would go.

I was with #2 less than 15 minutes, went back outside and #1 already had the hole dug, concrete/pole in, dish mounted and aligned.
New wire from dish to inside, everything else they re-used.
Total time of doorbell to out the door, less than 2 hours. Most of that time seemed to consist of waiting for all the boxes to d/l software, set up etc...

When doing the set up, they set the TV to stretch o vision on channels like TVland. How do I change that?

Few comments. The PQ is a bit softer than AT&T, but nothing huge. I suspect after a week or two, I won't notice it at all.
What might take a bit more adjustment is in the programming guide itself. The text is very soft, almost to the point where I feel like I need a pair of glasses, compared to the AT&T guide. I'm sure I'll get used to this eventually, but I wouldn't mind the text being sharper.

The remote control, 52.0, will take a bit of getting used to as well. Just a different button layout etc..


If there are any tips, tricks, etc.. you may have, feel free to holler.

 

[Bobby]

To get out of stretch-o-vision while on any of those channels: press Options, Display Format, Normal... That will fix it for all of the SD channels.

 

[dare2be]

The only other tip I can think of is if something doesn't appear to be working as it should, give the Hopper 2-3 days to "settle-in" before panicking.

 

[Riverpilot]

The only other tip I can think of is if something doesn't appear to be working as it should, give the Hopper 2-3 days to "settle-in" before panicking.

Yep. I figure it's like AT&T and the genie. Needs a few days for all the d/l, etc... to get all set up.

It's going to take awhile to get used to everything. lol... channel numbers are REALLY going to screw me up.

 

[Bogy]

If you are really having a hard time reading the guide you have the option of making the font bigger. Hit the HOME button twice, which will take you to "Settings". Go to "Guide" and there you have options for the "Classic Guide" or "Modern Guide". (I think I have the labels right, but I'm at work, not in front of a TV.) I like the Modern Guide better, it's darker, and I think it's easier to read. You can also make the font bigger. You can also change whether the listings have the channel numbers going up from the top or from the bottom.

 

[Riverpilot]

If you are really having a hard time reading the guide you have the option of making the font bigger. Hit the HOME button twice, which will take you to "Settings". Go to "Guide" and there you have options for the "Classic Guide" or "Modern Guide". (I think I have the labels right, but I'm at work, not in front of a TV.) I like the Modern Guide better, it's darker, and I think it's easier to read. You can also make the font bigger. You can also change whether the listings have the channel numbers going up from the top or from the bottom.

Yeah.. the channel numbers in the guide really screwed me up. lol.. had the tech change it around for me.
I changed the Font size on two of my smaller TVs which helped a lot. But on my big TV's the font size is fine, it's just... not as sharp as on AT&T. It's like the guide is in SD while AT&T was in HD.

I'll get used to it after awhile. So not a big deal, but it would be nice if Dish could sharpen the text up.


One other question. I know there is a "favorite channel settings"... on AT&T one could hit the up arrow (or was it down.. lol) and it would come up with a pop up showing 9 channels that were your most watched. Does Dish have something like this that's easy to get to. Such as just hitting one button?

Software all updated overnight.

I also bought one of the OTA dongle, the dual tuner one. How nice this is compared to AT&T. Every TV can see/use OTA now, and it's in the guide. A few channels don't have guide data, but not a huge deal. Just being able to use OTA without hitting a bunch of buttons is fantastic.
I may need to change the position of my antenna to get better signals. Might do that this fall when temps are cooler so I can put the antenna up in the attic.

Signal levels for the satellite. I seem to be getting levels in the 40's... mainly low to mid 40's, on the 61 and 72 sat. The tech said it was fine, but are those levels good or are they border line?
Live here in the Quad Cities if that makes a difference. 52722 zip code.

Thanks all!

 

[HipKat]

Yeah.. the channel numbers in the guide really screwed me up. lol.. had the tech change it around for me.
I changed the Font size on two of my smaller TVs which helped a lot. But on my big TV's the font size is fine, it's just... not as sharp as on AT&T. It's like the guide is in SD while AT&T was in HD.

I'll get used to it after awhile. So not a big deal, but it would be nice if Dish could sharpen the text up.


One other question. I know there is a "favorite channel settings"... on AT&T one could hit the up arrow (or was it down.. lol) and it would come up with a pop up showing 9 channels that were your most watched. Does Dish have something like this that's easy to get to. Such as just hitting one button?

Software all updated overnight.

I also bought one of the OTA dongle, the dual tuner one. How nice this is compared to AT&T. Every TV can see/use OTA now, and it's in the guide. A few channels don't have guide data, but not a huge deal. Just being able to use OTA without hitting a bunch of buttons is fantastic.
I may need to change the position of my antenna to get better signals. Might do that this fall when temps are cooler so I can put the antenna up in the attic.

Signal levels for the satellite. I seem to be getting levels in the 40's... mainly low to mid 40's, on the 61 and 72 sat. The tech said it was fine, but are those levels good or are they border line?
Live here in the Quad Cities if that makes a difference. 52722 zip code.

Thanks all!

Your tech must be from the same company I work for because we have our main office in the Quad cities. For eastern arc, here in the Peoria area we want to see signals in the 50s and I would gas for your area probably the same. The only problem I see with the signals being a bit lower than that is the potential to lose signal in stormy weather quicker. Also different LNB's can show different signal strength depending on model number. Seems like the A7 is the best

 

[Riverpilot]

Your tech must be from the same company I work for because we have our main office in the Quad cities. For eastern arc, here in the Peoria area we want to see signals in the 50s and I would gas for your area probably the same. The only problem I see with the signals being a bit lower than that is the potential to lose signal in stormy weather quicker. Also different LNB's can show different signal strength depending on model number. Seems like the A7 is the best

I certainly hope they didn't just tell me that 40s was fine when they knew it wasn't?
I guess if the signal goes out quicker than I think it should, I'll just call Dish up and tell them it needs fixed.

 

[navychop]

I'm in the 40s for 61.5 on my HWSes and it's fine.

 

[ChadT41]

Anything about 32 is a viewable signal. 40's are fine. Those are points, not percentages. The more points, the more the signal has to be blocked out to lose signal. Otherwise, until you drop below 32, the picture will remain exactly the same. I'm on WA and in the 40's on one of my antennas.

 

[Riverpilot]

Really liking the Hopper 3 so far. It is SO nice being able to record anything you want without worrying about running out of tuners. I never realized what a pain that was until now.

Playing recordings, etc.. is a bit different. Kind of neat the way it does things. Start watching on 1 tv and then stop watching on that tv. Went to another room later on and started the recording up again & it asks resume from tv 1 or start from beginning. Went back to TV 1 and now it asks resume from where TV1 left off or where TV2 left off.

Pretty cool if more than 1 person/location.

I'd still like to know if there is a 1 touch/move way to set like 4 of your most watched channels? Like hit the down arrow button, up pops a screen giving 4 channel numbers that you can choose from?

 

[pattykay]

One other question. I know there is a "favorite channel settings"... on AT&T one could hit the up arrow (or was it down.. lol) and it would come up with a pop up showing 9 channels that were your most watched. Does Dish have something like this that's easy to get to. Such as just hitting one button?

Press the Home button. The Hopper 3 automatically tracks what you watch and puts tiles for the current and next shows for your most frequently watched channels on the Home screen. Highlight one of the tiles and press the Play button on the remote to immediately change to that channel. At least that is the way it works on my Wally, which has similar software to the Hopper series.