DISH is pulling the wool over our eyes!!!

[JoeSp]

I would be happy if Dish would just stop promising the sky and not delivering dirt. As far as I am concerned OTA Digital is a bust!!! Those of you fortunate to be in an area that provides you with a good signal just do not understand. Cable got started not because of so many new channels but because people could not get their locals decently!

The 811 is next to junk -- it can not keep a digital signal even if that signal is in the high 80's. Come on now, there has to be a chip out there that does a better job then what is in the 811. I have asked and been told that the 921 and 942 are no better with an OTA digital signal. The HD from the 942 looks better but the ability to hold the signal is the same?

If the 211 and the 411 do not do a better job of holding a signal that registers in the high 80's (87 to 92) then I for one will be looking at who is offering my HD-LILs and there will be others! The B******T that Charlie has been passing for the last 1 1/2 years about what he is going to do (and oviously what he has not been able to do) is not going to keep me with Dishnetwork. No matter how bad D* HD-LIL LITE is it is way better than no HD LIL at all! Try watching a OTA HD show with a signal registering 88-89 with the sound dropping out and the picture constantly freezing and you tell me that HD-LIL provided by your sat provider is not important? MEDIC!!

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

I would be happy if Dish would just stop promising the sky and not delivering dirt. As far as I am concerned OTA Digital is a bust!!! Those of you fortunate to be in an area that provides you with a good signal just do not understand. Cable got started not because of so many new channels but because people could not get their locals decently!

The 811 is next to junk -- it can not keep a digital signal even if that signal is in the high 80's. Come on now, there has to be a chip out there that does a better job then what is in the 811. I have asked and been told that the 921 and 942 are no better with an OTA digital signal. The HD from the 942 looks better but the ability to hold the signal is the same?

If the 211 and the 411 do not do a better job of holding a signal that registers in the high 80's (87 to 92) then I for one will be looking at who is offering my HD-LILs and there will be others! The B******T that Charlie has been passing for the last 1 1/2 years about what he is going to do (and oviously what he has not been able to do) is not going to keep me with Dishnetwork. No matter how bad D* HD-LIL LITE is it is way better than no HD LIL at all! Try watching a OTA HD show with a signal registering 88-89 with the sound dropping out and the picture constantly freezing and you tell me that HD-LIL provided by your sat provider is not important? MEDIC!!

Now, keep in mind that even if you get high 80's signal, there's a pesky little devil called MULTI-PATH that you have to worry about. Did you verify with a stand-alone ATSC off-air tuner or with your TV's built-in off-air tuner if it has one? If you didn't, I'd do that first because my 921 gets pretty good signal on many but some channels have multi-path issues that can be confirmed to be present even on another terrestrial tuner on my other HDTV.

 

[Grandpa J]

I pass this on for what it's worth. I have 2- 942s and live at the real limit of OTA digital signal range. I only get digital OTA with amp and can not get OTA analog at all.
I sometimes but rarely now I lose a digital signal but if it happens its CBS which appears as 02-01.
The chief engineer at one of the stations told me that loss of digital signal can be effected by Multi-Path problems - and - if the audio carrier in the digital signal over powers the video carrier. I know next to nothing about these things, all I can say is at first I had frequent LOS but after a good installer talk to the engineer and worked it out it rarelly happens now.
Again, just for what it's worth.

 

[John Kotches]

I would be happy if Dish would just stop promising the sky and not delivering dirt. As far as I am concerned OTA Digital is a bust!!! Those of you fortunate to be in an area that provides you with a good signal just do not understand. Cable got started not because of so many new channels but because people could not get their locals decently!

Take that up with the FCC.

Many people can get OTA (analog and digital) with no problems. Many people have problems. That's just the way it goes.

I would prefer to get them from SAT for ease of use even though I have no major issues getting them OTA.

The 811 is next to junk -- it can not keep a digital signal even if that signal is in the high 80's. Come on now, there has to be a chip out there that does a better job then what is in the 811. I have asked and been told that the 921 and 942 are no better with an OTA digital signal. The HD from the 942 looks better but the ability to hold the signal is the same?

My 811 can lock an OTA signal that is in the high 60s. I'd say it is likely you have an issue with multi-path if you aren't locking in the high 80s. With analog you'd get a noisy picture from multipath. With digital you don't lock.

But you can continue to blame the 811 for a problem that has nothing to do with the 811 if it makes you feel better.

 

[Tvlman]

JoeSP - If you think DISH is "pulling the wool" over your eyes check your eyebrows and maybe get a trim. What is wool to you seems to be logic to others after reading their posts. They make sense.

 

[riffjim4069]

Don't you have to be a sheep in order to have the wool pulled over your eyes? Like most of us, I knew what I was getting when I ordered E* post VOOM DBS...they had/have the best HD available.

 

[waltinvt]

My 811 can lock an OTA signal that is in the high 60s. I'd say it is likely you have an issue with multi-path if you aren't locking in the high 80s. With analog you'd get a noisy picture from multipath. With digital you don't lock.

But you can continue to blame the 811 for a problem that has nothing to do with the 811 if it makes you feel better.

I'm not bashing either the 811 or the 942 - I really like my 942 for what it does well which is receive & record HD from Dish. I also have an 811 (that I no longer use). However, neither receiver is that good at OTA compared to others.

It's just a fact. Be it multipath, locking or picking up fringe signals, these 2 units are just not as good at it as they could be. There are hundreds of posts / threads here and on the other 3 forums atesting to this.

Sure, in ideal conditions, they work fine at OTA for many users in many instances but in general, all things being equal (same tv, same location, same antenna, etc), the 811 will not pick up as many signals or loose the lock quicker than most and the 942 is even weaker than the 811 as far as distant signal reception.

The people that notice these shortcomings the most are usually those in the outlying, rural hilly areas where digital signals are more problematic.

 

[DERRICK]

my 2 cents worth

E* has not changed thier business practices since 1987 when I first met them. When I picked up the thought of being screwed then it was only a few years later I notice that they broke it off in me.
I now practice first to hesetate let the product get out their and run, if it shows problems let the customer be aware it. It only fair. Right?
If theirs a product out and works good you do the same.
On a different subjuct some will know what I'm talking about.
"Loop holes were made to jump through" Find them and take advantage while the gettings good!
Opportunities come and go why work for nothing.
Last thought D* will get it right, Look who's pushing them.
I bet my stock on them.

 

[waltinvt]

Huh ?

 

[rthomp03]

The 811 is next to junk -- it can not keep a digital signal even if that signal is in the high 80's. Come on now, there has to be a chip out there that does a better job then what is in the 811. I have asked and been told that the 921 and 942 are no better with an OTA digital signal. The HD from the 942 looks better but the ability to hold the signal is the same?

I have a 811 and have no problems at all picking up all the OTAs here in St. Louis being 25-30 miles from the transmitters. Holds lock and no audio dropouts other than those caused by our local NBCs inability to broadcast 5.1 correctly.

 

[rthomp03]

What in the world are you talking about DERRICK?!?! :

 

[JoeSp]

Simple point here --- there are those of us who HD-LIL is very important for local viewing because that is the only way we are going to get our locals. So those of you who get those HD-LIL OTA are indeed the lucky ones. For the rest of us we are waiting for new settops that can handle the digit OTA digital signal better or HD-LIL from our providers.

 

[Bernie Lomax]

So we're not getting quality HD programming for a long long time. ??

 

[MikeD-C05]

Look at it this way. When Dishnetwork started with the locals up on the satellite back in 99 it was great. I am still waiting for my sd locals from DISH in the Beaumont/ Pt. Arthur Texas -dma 138 area. They haven't even finished the analog locals in the country yet and they started 6 years ago. It will probably take even longer to do all the hd locals .

OF course in 3 years , give or take any legislation changes in congress, anlaog will end. Whether Dish will then uplink the digital picture in true hd or just downconvert it to 480i at the uplink center remains to be seen.

By that time there will be many more options out there. Between Cable and the phone companies that will be doing video out there, there will be other options. You won't have to stay with satellite, if someother company is giving you all you need in hd.

I will look at changing myself if I don't start seeing some changes in the hd field, and I have been with Dish 9 years on 1/18/06.