can someone please answer a question for me!

[diat150]

I am current directv, I want to switch to dish for the large amount of HD available. I will be getting the best package with hd. first question..

I read about all of the different satellites like 129 and 61.5.... is there more than one dish that I will need to catch all of the channels? can someone post a pic of the setup so that I can see how it compares to what I have now and if I will be able to mount it in the same place.

why does dish insist on having a single receiver that goes to two tvs? that is just plain stupid. who wants wires running inbetween rooms? much less hooking up a tv with coax? everyone uses composite or s video because it is better quality than coax, and for a long run it is impossible to use either of those because of the connectors.

thanks for the help. i really want the dish programming but it seems as though they want to make it as difficult as possible for the customer.

 

[Pepper]

DishHD is done either with a Dish 1000 which gets 110, 119, 129, or with two dishes, one for 110, 119 and another for 61.5.

Regarding the dual-room units: most houses these days are already wired for cable. It is a pretty simple matter to send the RF output from the receiver into the cable that was previously used to feed the TV in one room, then you can tune it on any of the TVs in the house. The ViP622 has a high power stereo RF modulated output that is really good quality and can send both outputs on separate channels.

What you might consider "stupid" is saving me $5 a month by having only one receiver for multiple TVs.

 

[diat150]

ive heard of problems with the 129 satellite? is this true or is it just limited to some users that may have installation issues?

 

[rickaren]

You may see some issues with rain fade but overall you will be very pleased you switched to E* and enjoy all your new HD programing. Good Luck!

 

[jdr01930]

" What you might consider "stupid" is saving me $5 a month by having only one receiver for multiple TVs."

I totally agree with Pepper. Also, since your DVR recordings are on one box shared by the two TV's, you have much more flexible recording/viewing options.
There are so many advantages to these dual tuner boxes I don't think I could ever go back to a "one box per TV" setup.

Incidently, Diat's statement that you can't run SVideo over long distances isn't entirely true. I bought a 90' S-Video "Breakout" cable a while back that goes from my PC to my TV. The cable has S-Video connectors on each end, but the signal is actually run over two full size coax cables. Works great. They're recommended for runs OVER 50', but I'm not sure what the upper limit is. The price was very reasonable too.
What was that place called.... here it is:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/svideo/index.htm

I'm just using standard coax for the 2nd TV's on my Sat. boxes though - that works fine for my purposes.

 

[jdr01930]

Diat,
Whether you need a Dish 1000 for 110/119/129, or two separate dishes to pick up 110/119 and 61.5 is largely dependant on your physical location.
It you post your zip code or city I'm sure one of the experts could confirm whether you need 129 or 61.5

 

[DVDDAD]

why does dish insist on having a single receiver that goes to two tvs? that is just plain stupid. who wants wires running inbetween rooms? much less hooking up a tv with coax? everyone uses composite or s video because it is better quality than coax, and for a long run it is impossible to use either of those because of the connectors.

You don't have to use this feature. Assuming you are talking about the ViP622, you can use this receiver in single mode (and still be able to record up to three things at once while watching something that was pre-recorded and you'd now get get Picture in Picture) and get another SD receiver for the other TV, you'll just have to pay $5 more a month and get another receiver.

 

[diat150]

70570

I guess I am just used to using composite cabling... I can see where it would be desireable to use the dual tv tuners... my main thing is that i didnt want to run wires between rooms, and my main main thing is that i dont want the installer to touch anything in my house. Ive seen what kind of destruction they can do.

 

[mwoodard81]

D* Guy

You don't have to use this feature. Assuming you are talking about the ViP622, you can use this receiver in single mode (and still be able to record up to three things at once while watching something that was pre-recorded and you'd now get get Picture in Picture) and get another SD receiver for the other TV, you'll just have to pay $5 more a month and get another receiver.

I have Directv right now and want to switch to DISH. My current setup with DTV is that I have two DVRS on two different televisions. I have one HDTV and one SDTV.

My question is regarding the ViP 622. If I set it up with my current HDTV and SDTV, will I be able to watch something while recording another no matter where I'm at? By that I mean does it downconvert and upconvert according to what TV you are on? For example, if I record something off ESPNHD can I watch it on my SDTV as well?

The DISH rep I talked to was clueless.

 

[bhelms]

Yes - no problem. Both sat. tuners in the 622 and also the OTA tuner are HD and SD capable. So whichever tuner you set to do the recording (or all 3 at the same time for that matter) will record whatever definition/resolution/bitrate the program content is in. The HD programs are available to TV1 only (along with any SD content); TV2 will output SD and down-converted HD only...

Welcome, BTW...

PS - Better to pose "technical" questions like this one to E*'s Tech Support personnel vs. a CSR...

 

[navychop]

Actually, Dish does not insist on one DVR feeding two rooms. Some receivers are CAPABLE of feeding two rooms, but you aren't REQUIRED to do it that way.

I, for one, have a ViP622 in "single" mode, feeding my HDTV. I also have a 721 (dual tuner SD DVR, non MPEG-4, non-8PSK) feeding a 27" analog TV, and a 508 SD DVR feeding a 36" analog TV. When the 508 & 721 get phased out, I might shift the ViP622 to "dual" mode and connect my wireless video to it to feed another TV, and maybe re-rig or rewire to feed the third TV, all from the ViP622. Then I could watch any 2 video streams on the 3 TVs.

Some parts of the country have problems with 129. I think the bird is expected to be replaced in late 2007 or 2008. I suggest going with 61.5 if at all possible. Besides, 61.5 has the HD demo channel and 129 doesn't. Sometimes this channel has an aquarium feed on it, which some folks like.

 

[grb]

The HD programs are available to TV1 only (along with any SD content); TV2 will output SD and down-converted HD only...

"The HD programs are available to TV1 only (along with any SD content)"

I thought that HD programs were available as downconverted to SD for both live and recorded broadcasts for TV2. Is this what you are saying in the second part of the statement above?

 

[SRust]

TV2 does SD & HD as a modulated RF output on a channel of your choice. Because it uses NTSC format, everything from TV2's output on RF is 480i. But if you record an HD broadcast on TV2's tuner, you can watch it on TV1 in true HD. Everything recorded from either TV1, TV2 & off-air tuner is recorded in it's original form. So the answer to your question is "yes", HD programs are available as downconverted to SD for both live and recorded broadcasts for TV2.