Eastern Arc with 110 wing?

[probinson]

So I'm not sure exactly what my question is, but maybe you all could help me...

I've been with Dish Network for a little over 2 years. I have a 622 and some other single tuner receiver in my son's room (I don't know the model number). I have a dish pointed at 110, 119 and 61.5. I am not currently in contract.

Recently, we've been experiencing a lot of pixelation and signal drops on some channels. I checked the installation screen and my 119 signal strength was registering around 10-15. So, I called Dish, and they sent a tech to my house this morning, who determined that tree growth was impeding my LOS to 119. The problem is, the trees are not mine, they're my neighbor's, and we've already trimmed them once before. There also is no place on the property to move the dish.

So he suggested getting us on the new Eastern Arc. He said typically they're only allowed to do this for new customers, but he called and got permission to set us up, since its our only alternative apart from asking the neighbors if we can trim their tree every year. He said this would require a new receiver in my son's room.

His only concern was our locals (Youngstown, OH) which are only available on 110 (HD on 129, but that's not an option for me either). However, he said that he could set up my existing 61.5 wing to point to 110 as a temporary solution so that we don't lose locals.

They're willing to do the EA upgrade with all necessary equipment upgrades for free, except it will lock me in to another 24-month contract.

So what do yout think is my best option?

 

[llzel]

take it or lose 110.

 

[HDRoberts]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

How is your 61.5 TP 1 signal? If it is good, you may be able to "move" and get Cleveland LiL, which are available (in HD for the big 4, SD the rest) on 61.5.

 

[probinson]

Well, after almost 90 minutes on the phone with Dish, they finally figured it all out.

So on Friday, they're going to bring me a 1000.4, take back my dish pointed at 119 and 110, swing my current 61.5 wing dish over to 110, move my existing 622 from my living room to my son's bedroom. take his 301 back, and give me a 722K with the OTA module.

The whole thing cost $129 ($100 for the 722K and $29.99 for the OTA module) and a new 24-month commitment.

It will be nothing short of a miracle if they actually show up with the right work order and equipment.

We shall see Friday afternoon.

 

[digiblur]

Sounds like a good deal.. I was just about to say you'll need MPEG4 equipment... and of course the updated cards (some receivers have the new ones built in)

 

[probinson]

Sounds like a good deal.. I was just about to say you'll need MPEG4 equipment... and of course the updated cards (some receivers have the new ones built in)

Would that be the new purple card I got late last year?

 

[digiblur]

Would that be the new purple card I got late last year?

Yep!

 

[bross]

I hope it works. I can't get 119 set up as a wing on my 1000.4. I connected it into the 1000.4 input but it doesn't work. My 722 recognizes it in check switch, I have good signal levels on point dish screen, and it even loads the channels in the guide, but when I tune to one of the channels I get the searching for satellite signal screen.

Let me know how you make out.

 

[probinson]

I hope it works. I can't get 119 set up as a wing on my 1000.4. I connected it into the 1000.4 input but it doesn't work. My 722 recognizes it in check switch, I have good signal levels on point dish screen, and it even loads the channels in the guide, but when I tune to one of the channels I get the searching for satellite signal screen.

Let me know how you make out.

Will do. I'll post back Friday after the install to let you know how it went.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I was able to do a dish 1000.4 + a side sat for 110 with no problems a while back. I was able to get some of my hd channels off of 110 some times , like Sci-Fi and of course the hd Houston locals since they are on both 110 & 61.5 now.

 

[probinson]

Well, I'm just an hour or so away from my installation/upgrade and I thought of a question...

Since my 622 will now be upstairs in my son's room and there are still some things we'd like to watch on the TV in our living room which will now have the 722K, can I use an external hard drive to copy shows from one receiver to the other?

So actually, I guess I have 2 questions. I know there is a fee to activate the EHD feature ($39.99?), but is that per receiver, or per account? And the second question is, can recordings be moved between a 622 and a 722K with the EHD?

 

[probinson]

It will be nothing short of a miracle if they actually show up with the right work order and equipment.

Well, no miracles for me today.

The Dish guy showed up, and had NO IDEA he was supposed to install the EA dish since they didn't put it on his work order. He did, however, have the right eqipment with him, so I guess they got part of it right, although he couldn't swap it anyway until they install the EA.

But since he didn't have the EA change on his work order, he had no EA dish on his truck. So, they have to come back, again, on Sunday.

However, the tech did give me his office's direct phone number so I can call them Saturday evevning to verify that they have a complete work order on Sunday.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Well, I'm just an hour or so away from my installation/upgrade and I thought of a question...

Since my 622 will now be upstairs in my son's room and there are still some things we'd like to watch on the TV in our living room which will now have the 722K, can I use an external hard drive to copy shows from one receiver to the other?

So actually, I guess I have 2 questions. I know there is a fee to activate the EHD feature ($39.99?), but is that per receiver, or per account? And the second question is, can recordings be moved between a 622 and a 722K with the EHD?

The ehd feature is 39.99 per account and yes the recordings should have no problem moving between a 622 and 722k , as long as both are on the same account.

 

[probinson]

The ehd feature is 39.99 per account and yes the recordings should have no problem moving between a 622 and 722k , as long as both are on the same account.

Yes, they'll be on the same account. Thanks.

So, now I guess I have to decide is it worth it to me to spend money on an EHD and the activation fee, since I just spent $130 for the receiver...

I'll probably wait a while. I don't need to be able to transfer recordings that badly.

 

[probinson]

OMG.... What a nightmare!

The installer did a great job. I now have a 1000.4 with a 110 wing. It works wonderfully.

Trying to get Dish Network to understand what was going on, was near impossible...

I just spent over an hour on the phone trying to explain to some lady that I had a dish pointed at 72.7, 77, 61.5 AND 110. My locals (from 110) were coming in on my 622 with no problem, but they would not come in on the new 722K. The installer told me to wait, and if they didn't appear in my guide within 2 hours, to call them.

So naturally, they didn't appear, and I had to call them. I explained right from the get go that this was a very rare installation. I tried to explain which sats I was pointed at, and that I needed locals. So she did some checking, and she said that when they changed my account to an Eastern Arc setup, that my locals were automatically removed from the account, and she couldn't add them back, because it said I had no LoS to 110. I explained to her that I was looking at the Point Dish screen, and that I had a 72% signal on 110, AND that I had locals on my old 622 which is now in my son's room.

So, we went back and forth for over an hour. She kept telling me that just because I had a signal on 110 didn't mean that I had LoS to 110, and that LoS and signal strength were two completely different and unrelated things. In response to this comment, I asked to be transferred to someone else.

In the meantime, I logged on to my Dish account online, and discovered that the option to add my locals was there, so I went ahead and added them. About 10 minutes later, they showed up in my guide.

So FINALLY, after 2-1/2 hours on the phone with Dish and 3 separate visits from the Dish people, I THINK everything is set up properly.

 

[MikeD-C05]

OMG.... What a nightmare!


So FINALLY, after 2-1/2 hours on the phone with Dish and 3 separate visits from the Dish people, I THINK everything is set up properly.

Except for DISH customer Service, they are still the same Screwed up group as always.