Dropping local channels - Leave old timers?

[Tony S]

I am finally to the point where I can get all of my locals OTA. If I drop the local channels from Dish, can I leave my local channel timers on my HWS? I am thinking that if I ever want to get my locals from Dish in the future, that all of my timers will still be in place. Will this work, or will the HWS generate errors and not work correctly?

BTW, I am using 2 Clearstream 4MAX antennas, and the Amazon Recast with 4 tuners to receive my OTA channels. Although not perfect, I am very happy with this setup. In order to get all the major networks, I am using 2 antennas pointed in different directions. The antennas are connected to an AC7 channel inserter box that I purchased from TIn Lee enterprises in Canada. The box is custom made. One antenna input only passes digital RF channels 24 and 25, while the 2nd antenna input passes all other channels and blocks channels 24 and 25. This allows me to put the 2 antennas on the same pole without having to worry about the antennas interfering with each other. It works perfectly. One antenna is pointed at 74 degrees, while the 2nd antenna is pointed at 272 degrees. One antenna only receives ABC and NBC from Providence RI, while the other antenna receives all of the other major networks (and a second NBC station) from the Hartford CT area.

 

[907TECH]

I am finally to the point where I can get all of my locals OTA. If I drop the local channels from Dish, can I leave my local channel timers on my HWS? I am thinking that if I ever want to get my locals from Dish in the future, that all of my timers will still be in place. Will this work, or will the HWS generate errors and not work correctly?

BTW, I am using 2 Clearstream 4MAX antennas, and the Amazon Recast with 4 tuners to receive my OTA channels. Although not perfect, I am very happy with this setup. In order to get all the major networks, I am using 2 antennas pointed in different directions. The antennas are connected to an AC7 channel inserter box that I purchased from TIn Lee enterprises in Canada. The box is custom made. One antenna input only passes digital RF channels 24 and 25, while the 2nd antenna input passes all other channels and blocks channels 24 and 25. This allows me to put the 2 antennas on the same pole without having to worry about the antennas interfering with each other. It works perfectly. One antenna is pointed at 74 degrees, while the 2nd antenna is pointed at 272 degrees. One antenna only receives ABC and NBC from Providence RI, while the other antenna receives all of the other major networks (and a second NBC station) from the Hartford CT area.

Why would you use two bidirectional antennas? The 4Max has a figure 8 pattern receives equally from the back and front unless you have the reflector screen the catalog shows this model with no screen is that correct? For the cost of 2 Clearstreams, you could put up quite a system. I would point a UHF Yagi at each market and combine them, at 1/4 the cost.

 

[Tony S]

Why would you use two bidirectional antennas?

My Clearstream antennas do have the reflectors (so that cuts the signal from the rear, and helps eliminate reflections).

The reason that I have these antennas is that initially, I thought that I could get by with one bidirectional antenna. For a while, I was using one antenna, and I was able to pick up all my networks (from both directions). I found that if I pointed the antenna towards Providence RI, I could pick up my Hartford stations from the rear of the Clearstream antenna. This worked pretty well, but in order to get all the channels, the antenna was not pointed optimally in either direction. Depending on the weather, reception would fail for certain channels.

I was able to get a second Clearstream 4Max antenna for free. I knew that I could get a good signal from all of the stations that I was interested in using the 4MAX because I had experimented with it with the first antenna. Since it was free, I ended up using it.

I get 100% signal level on most of the 48 channels that I receive. The lowest channels have a 85% signal level/quality.

 

[907TECH]

My Clearstream antennas do have the reflectors (so that cuts the signal from the rear, and helps eliminate reflections).

The reason that I have these antennas is that initially, I thought that I could get by with one bidirectional antenna. For a while, I was using one antenna, and I was able to pick up all my networks (from both directions). I found that if I pointed the antenna towards Providence RI, I could pick up my Hartford stations from the rear of the Clearstream antenna. This worked pretty well, but in order to get all the channels, the antenna was not pointed optimally in either direction. Depending on the weather, reception would fail for certain channels.

I was able to get a second Clearstream 4Max antenna for free. I knew that I could get a good signal from all of the stations that I was interested in using the 4MAX because I had experimented with it with the first antenna. Since it was free, I ended up using it.

I get 100% signal level on most of the 48 channels that I receive. The lowest channels have a 85% signal level/quality.

Ah so confusing literature on the antenna design online, makes sense now. It shows that model without the screen...

 

[JeffN9]

I am finally to the point where I can get all of my locals OTA. If I drop the local channels from Dish, can I leave my local channel timers on my HWS? I am thinking that if I ever want to get my locals from Dish in the future, that all of my timers will still be in place. Will this work, or will the HWS generate errors and not work correctly?

If you drop the Dish locals the timers will not default to the OTA channels. You will have to re-due all of the local channel timers to the new channel. I imagine that you could leave the old timers in place but having the same program setup to record on two different channels might cause problems.

 

[Tony S]

Thanks for answering, but I won't be using Dish at all for OTA.

I am using an Amazon Recast (which has 4 tuners) for OTA channels (locals). I am going to drop Dish locals, and I was wondering if I could just leave my local timers in place (I won't be subscribing to any local channels, so the Dish timers will not be able to record anything). As I said, I was thinking that if I ever want to get my locals from Dish in the future, that my timers wouldl still be in place

I thought someone might have tried this already, but if not, I'll just try it myself and see what happens.

 

[TheKrell]

I am going to drop Dish locals, and I was wondering if I could just leave my local timers in place (I won't be subscribing to any local channels, so the Dish timers will not be able to record anything). As I said, I was thinking that if I ever want to get my locals from Dish in the future, that my timers wouldl still be in place

I've left moribund timers for years on my old VIP receivers, and nothing bad happened (other than no recordings).

 

[Tony S]

I've left moribund timers for years on my old VIP receivers, and nothing bad happened (other than no recordings).

Thanks!