Considering DISH but have Questions

[JimmyK814]

I've been considering dropping my cable TV for Dish for some time.

I have two questions that some of the pro's here may be able to answer...

First - The new Hopper/Joey setup sounds perfect for me, but I think I would want two Hoppers. The reason is that I frequently DVR shows, and watch other things at the same time. With a three tuner Hopper, especially with PTA enabled, I don't think I would have enough tuners for the other Joey's that I would want to be able to view independent channels.

For example, if I had three other Joeys, for two more bedrooms and a "TV" room in the basement in addition to my Hopper, then recording and watching a show while using PTA would mean all of the Joeys would be locked to just a few channels that are in use. Am I looking at this correctly?

I think if I had a Hopper with two Joeys and another Hopper, my greedy use of tuners wouldn't affect the rest of the family. How hard is it to order this type of setup? It doesn't seem it can be done online without asking for 5 TV's or more.

My second question - I have seen SD locals on DISH in a local store that sells Dish. To me they looked really horrible or over-compressed. HD channels looked pretty good, though maybe not quite as nice as my cable. I have Atlantic Broadband and while they are lacking in channels in my area, the picture quality seems pretty good. My SD channels on cable are a mix of analog and digital of varying quality. Analog SD still has an edge on digital SD on cable.

I've heard the Eastern Arc is all MPEG-4 and the SD quality is better because of it. I've seen Dish at a relatives house in one of these areas, and the PQ seems much more acceptable to me. The problem is my locals are on the Western Arc (both HD and SD.) I read of a few people having a western arc "wing dish" for locals or random missing channels, and having the 1000.4 eastern arc dish as the primary dish. I've also read where Western Arc satellites are sometimes acquired before EA on some receivers, so that type of setup wouldn't work.

Is it possible to have an installer do an EA install with the WA wing dish for locals? Would that even work? Am I just over-complicating things? I can't imagine getting cooperation on this type of setup. My zip code is 16601. My TV's are all HD, including two 42" 720p Plasma's and 32" 1080p LCD's for bedrooms.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help!

 

[CK SatGuy]

to SatelliteGuys!

I think a 2 hopper and 2 joey setup should be easy to ask for. As to whether they'll do a EA setup with a WA wing, I would say that's a 50/50 shot but it doesn't hurt to ask. As to why Dish decided to put Altoona, PA locals on Western Arc, well, I have no clue. Hopefully when Echo 16 launches later this summer, they'll add them to Eastern Arc. The best way to ask for your setup is to send a PM to of the dish agent at the bottom of this page: http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum.php Their name are highlighted in RED. They always seem to do a better job than the customer service reps over the phone.

 

[JM42]

If your locals are WA, the split setup may be overkill just to get mpeg4 SD.

Have you looked at the channel lineups to see what channels you actually use are SD only? HD is all mpeg4 and comparable on both arcs.

 

[TimberWolf]

if there is a line of site issue to 129, they should put up a 2nd dish for HD on the EA if you ask.
it may take a 2nd visit if the tech doesn't regularly do EA installs in that area. He may not have the EA lnb with him

 

[navychop]

You might be ahead to talk with a local retailer directly rather than Dish.

 

[sperry85]

You might be ahead to talk with a local retailer directly rather than Dish.

You are better talking with dish not a retailer. A retailer is likely going to charge you extra (for the wing dish as well as labor). If your locals are on 129 and you have no line of sight for it, then it is the techs responsibility to put up a wing dish to bring them in if there is line of sight for one. If the tech gives any excuse other than he doesn't have the equipment with him, then ask to speak with his FSM or office manager. If he says there's no line of sight, ask what azimuth and elevation the 129 comes in at in your area and ask to look through his inclinometer.