Do I have to switch to cable?

[Woodlands]

I have been a satisfied Dish customer for about 10 years. In February of this year, I purchased my first HD television, intending to subscribe to an HD package. However, trees prevented the Dish installer from getting an unobstructed line of sight to the satellites carrying Dish's HD channels. This surprised me as I have always received strong signals from 110 and 119. A subsequent call to DirectTV produced similar results, although I was not impressed by the efforts of their installer, as he did not even get up onto the roof.

My question is this: Should I hold out any longer in the hope that either company will start beaming HD from other satellites making another attempt by the installers worthwhile? If I can't get HD from satellites, the alternative is (play the funeral dirge!) cable. I live in zip code 77380, about 30 miles north of Houston, Texas.

If this forum is not the best place to post this question, please let me know and I will repost in a more appropriate place.

 

[Hall]

The majority of Dish's HD comes from their 129' satellite so even if 110/119 worked well, 129' may not after all. You can always get a 2nd (and 3rd) opinion though. Call Dish and ask them to have this done.

DirecTV's satellites are at 99, 101 (?), 110, 119 and there's one more. You may have no line-of-sight to 99 and 101.

Dish is making rather big changes to their "system" and programming for "eastern" people will come from 61.5 and the 7x.x locations, but being in Texas, you may not be in the "eastern" region and instead will continue to use 110/119/129.

I'd get Dish back out again. If you're willing to pay more $$$, a local retailer's installers typically will try "harder". It may not fall under the "free install" though.

 

[iwc5893]

The 103 is the one you're missing from your list, Hall. And you're right...it could very well be a NLOS for the 99/101/103 sats which carry the majority of Direct's programming in SD and HD.

 

[Pepper]

While it may be true that there's no LOS for 129 where your dish500 is seeing 110/119, it is very likely that there is some location on your property that does.

However, Houston local channels are on 61.5 along with all the same HD content as 129 so that would be the one you want. From Houston elevation to both is around 39 degrees, 129 will be southwest and 61.5 will be southeast.

A chainsaw is your friend.

 

[Woodlands]

Thanks for the information. One complication in getting an LOS is that deed restrictions forbid a dish anywhere that can be seen from the street. That pretty much leaves the back part of my roof, as ground level is very obstructed from the back yard. I have looked up the elevations and aximuths for the 61.5 and 101 satellites and will take a closer look myself to identify the offending trees.
Meanwhile I have been made aware of another option. A couple days ago one of my neighbors signed up for internet and HD TV from ATT. Dish seems to have an agreement with ATT to provide the TV. How does this work? Does ATT receive the content from Dish and then send it out on phone lines? Does anyone have experience with this package? In a few days I will check with the neighbor to see if he is satisfied.

 

[Hall]

The Dish/ATT deal won't help .... You call ATT to sign up, a Dish installer (probably) shows up to do the work, then ATT bills you. It's still Dish Network programming, satellites, equipment, and so on.

 

[jayn_j]

Thanks for the information. One complication in getting an LOS is that deed restrictions forbid a dish anywhere that can be seen from the street. That pretty much leaves the back part of my roof, as ground level is very obstructed from the back yard. I have looked up the elevations and aximuths for the 61.5 and 101 satellites and will take a closer look myself to identify the offending trees.
Meanwhile I have been made aware of another option. A couple days ago one of my neighbors signed up for internet and HD TV from ATT. Dish seems to have an agreement with ATT to provide the TV. How does this work? Does ATT receive the content from Dish and then send it out on phone lines? Does anyone have experience with this package? In a few days I will check with the neighbor to see if he is satisfied.

First, the deed restriction is unenforcable, assuming you own the outside of the house (not a condo) and it's not in a national historic district. There is a lot of discussion on this topic here, and you can also look on the FCC website for the ruling itself. Look here: FCC Fact Sheet on Placement of Antennas

The AT&T thing is basically a marketing alliance, and your neighbor will end up having a dish installed. It is just that ATT collects and bundles the bills. Look at this one carefully as well, as the ATT bundle comes with a number of restrictions. For example, people have found it hard to do equipment upgrades, and ATT customers can't get promotions like the Cinemax for $.01 deal.

 

[Zynergi]

I live in a HOA that tried that same crap, in the back yard not visible etc, plus the Army Corp of Engineers doesn't allow trees being cut after a house is up w/o some hard to get permits. I put my dish about 20' from the road and painted it and the pole black and you can hardly see it now. Haven't had a single complaint from the HOA or neighbors yet (3 months in)

I remember once someone telling me... "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission" once in the middle of selling a Corvette to a married guy

 

[stevenl]

To answer the OPS title question, yes. If you want quality television service.