HD upgrade, what equipment do I need?

[mcraul]

If this has been answered before please refer me to the thread, but I could not find my situation in the search results.

I currently have 3 standard def 311 receivers but I finally got an HD tv set for my room. So I want to upgrade. First if I do this myself what equipment will I need? Currently I am seeing both the 110, 119 locations on a dish 500 dual lnbf serving out to three receivers. Would I have to get something like a Dish 100.4? or 100.2? From what I have read I need to access a third sat location or can i stick with the current ones I am hitting now? I want to just have one with HD and the other two with standard def since they are still using standard def tvs.

Thanks!

 

[KAB]

When upgrading to HD the equipment (dish / switch and lnbs) is free, as well as installation. So, don't even think about doing it yourself. No sense in it. 1000.4 dish is for eastern arc, 1000.2 is western arc. So it will depend on where you are located.

 

[harshness]

As you can likely get everything done for little or no cost, I cannot recommend a DIY installation.

You'll need the appropriate dish and an HD receiver. If you DIY, you'll pay for everything and be in the same boat as if you have DISH do it all for "free".

Either way you end up with HD service and a 24 month programming commitment.

 

[mcraul]

Well I understand that if I update through Dish I will get free install etc BUT i want to avoid having a commitment. I had already called them to see what they can do for me and I would have to lease an HD receiver and commit to a 2 year contract. Call me weird or crazy but I really don't want to commit to anything. Right now I own my own receivers that I purchased. When I moved Dish did install the equipment for me and ran the cabling etc. But at my previous two houses I had installed everything on my own. I just like the DYI aspect of it and being a bit independent, as of right now I don't have any contract commitment with Dish which I like.
I figured since my rooms are already wired up I could just change the Dish, for example get an eastern arc dish since i'm located in Indiana, and purchase a Dish VIP 211 box and just realign the Dish to the correct locations. I know the setup is not as straight forward as this but thats why I want to learn what equipment I need in order to accomplish this.

Thanks!

 

[TheKrell]

I was very much like you are now, previous houses, Dish Mover, and all. I had a mixed arc setup (61.5/110/119) when I was all-SD, and I too had only "owned" equipment. I bought a 722 for $300, installed it myself, had Dish activate it (incurring new DVR and additional receiver fees), and paid the $10/mo for the HD pack add-on to my Classic Gold package.

What city are you near, and do you want HD or SD locals from Dish? Also what dish and sats are you seeing now, and what SD receivers (if any) do you want to continue to use in the future? You may want a mixed arc setup like mine, particularly if you want to keep your SD receivers.

 

[18 is # 1]

Aligning a dish with three different satellites is not easy to do without very specialized tools.

 

[mcraul]

@TheKrell

Thanks for the responses.
I live like 10 miles from chicago and currently have three 311 receivers. Since I only bought one HD set I need to keep the other two getting standard Def programming. I would like HD locals to watch on my HD tv but its not necessary as I can use my antenna to get them, which i am doing now anyway.

 

[Laddyboy]

@TheKrell

Thanks for the responses.
I live like 10 miles from chicago and currently have three 311 receivers. Since I only bought one HD set I need to keep the other two getting standard Def programming. I would like HD locals to watch on my HD tv but its not necessary as I can use my antenna to get them, which i am doing now anyway.

You won't be able to go strictly eastern arc if you have any SD receivers. The Chicago locals are on both arcs. Use a 1000.2 antenna if you want to stick with one antenna. You also could add another Dish 500 to your existing setup and either point at 61.5 or 129. Just consider that if you wanted to break your commitment to E* after a year, you'd still be dollars ahead compared to buying and installing your own dish and receiver.

 

[dmmedina]

You won't be able to go strictly eastern arc if you have any SD receivers. You also could add another Dish 500 to your existing setup and either point at 61.5 or 129.

This is what I did, I left the dish with 110, 119 alone and I installed another dish to 129, then got a DP34 switch to mix all sats. I am like you and dislike to have a commitment, also I prefer to do installs and know exactly how everything works so if something goes wrong I have some idea. You can get the switch and add dish on dishstore.net or on ebay. Good luck.