If a channel is on 2 different satellites..

[r10fret]

I remember if you had both 61.5 & 148 (when Dish had a satellite there) the channels would show twice in the guide and you could pick which satellite it was from
This is back when there was only 6 slots
61.5
105 for locals
110
119
121 for locals
148

Those were the days, old 3000s and 4000s could display both ch 596s for example (and all others) from 148 and 61.5 and during rain fade you could switch from 596 @ 61.5 to 596 @ 148.

Now you have to fight your box just to get priority, but there is a method, the specific satellite and transponder that the receiver loads and completes all steps 1-5 is what allows you to prioritze one location (say 118) over (61.5). Then it sticks until some changes are transmitted like those that happen daily at 6:12 am. The normal Wednesday afternoon uplink changes does not seem to cause the channel priority to move from 118 to 61.5 though. If you have both 61.5 and 118 configured on a receiver whenever a channel is hidden then put into free preview at both 61.5 and 118 during typical Wednesday afternoons and only if you already are prioritized for 118 then you will have the 118 version automatically added instead of the poorly compressed 61.5 version even with a lower TID. This works on a 3900 and 301. 222k is a different story.

You would think that 118 should be prioritized over 61.5 for internationals since someone could end up with a transition slate and no actual programming since in the TID 61.5 is prioritized over 118. If dish wants to prioritize 118 instead over 61.5 they need to raise the TID numbers for 61.5 above 800.00 or lower the TIDs at 118 below 199.99.

You can trick the receiver on boot up to take 118 instead of 61.5 by simply tuning to a 118 transponder in the signal strength menu then backing out and letting steps 1-5 load. It ignores the TIDs at 61.5 order at boot up.

I notice something else happening at around 6:12 am. I have 61.5, 110, 118, 119, and 129 connected. DP34 (119,110,118) > DPP44 (119,110,118,61.5 > DP21 (129)
If I am watching channel 640 @ 118, TVJapan after I have deliberatly tuned the receiver to the feed of channel 640 @ 118
by pulling the power cord then letting it load up by tuning to a transponder on the 118 satellite in the signal
menu then exiting out to load EPG. But everyday at around 6:12 am eastern channel 640 @ 118 gets a "hit" that flips
it over to 640 @ 61.5, after a 1 second freeze and then a repeat of 2 seconds of programming you can see that you are now
on 61.5 because the compression is terrible and the programming is delayed by second generation hop.
The same thing has been happening for years with 9850 @ 61.5 and 118. If you setup for taking the 118 feed after
a day the feed has swapped over to 61.5. I have my receivers locked on a single channel by using either a 301 which
does not do daily reboots or in the case of the 222k setting a timer for 23:59 minutes and another timer for 1 minute to defeat the daily reboot. The same thing happens on all internationals that are on the same channel on both 61.5 and 118.
Priority always goes back to 61.5 after one day.Wish they had kept them on different channel numbers.
For years I have been trying to find out why the channels priority keeps swaping between 118 and 61.5 but have actually been able to witness it live at 6:12am eastern.

 

[Tampa8]

Last night, for some reason HBO HD E was coming from the 110 Sat, all others from 61.5. I was too tired to play around and see if I could change it to 61.5. Strange. Was it out on the 61.5 bird?

Also, when I turned on the receiver, it was in the signal strength mode.

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

Last night, for some reason HBO HD E was coming from the 110 Sat, all others from 61.5. I was too tired to play around and see if I could change it to 61.5. Strange. Was it out on the 61.5 bird?

I thought, based on recent communications, that there were no 'premiums' on the 61.5 bird anymore.

 

[digiblur]

Let's see if I can explain this. I know in the past when I played with this it would float back and forth. It all depends on when the receiver jumps in to start loading the tables.

If it happens to see that channel 5000 is coming from 129 it creates an entry in its internal table. Then if it loads the 61.5 table it sees 5000 so it overwrites the internal entry for 5000 to go to 61.5. Later on if the receiver sees an the tables have a new version it loads them again then this time it will go to 129 for 5000.

I found in the past if you reset the receiver it might flip flop again until a new version of daily tables comes along.

Yes it would be nice if the receiver would chose the channel with the best signal but you have to remember most customers have single arc setups. So for Dish to add this feature would not be worth their while and might cause more problems that it kinda fixes.

 

[Tampa8]

I thought, based on recent communications, that there were no 'premiums' on the 61.5 bird anymore.

Yep, meant 72. Still at this time, only HBO E is coming from 110. Strange! I do get a good signal from 72 transponder 13 (Where HBO E is)

 

[Tampa8]

Had some time to play with this. I can force HD programming from the 110 sat, though not 100%.

First, I go to the point screen and set both inputs to an HD position on the 110 Sat, I used 13 for HBO E. Then I do a check switch. When that is done, and I back out I again set both inputs to the 110 Sat and to 13. I then back out and it goes through it's check, etc... and downloads the guide. I had to force a download after by going ahead in the guide to "info not available" but you may not have to.

I then find almost any channel that is in HD on 110 will be on 110 instead of 61.5 or 72. Food Network, for example is an exception, there are about 3 or so that for whatever reason are still off of 61.5 or 72. But every movie channel I get in HD will be off the 110 Sat. I don't know about SD channels. Tried twice with very similar results each time. Over time most of them will revert back after the nightly reset, except HBO E.

I have not tried forcing programming from 119.

 

[greenguy]

Had some time to play with this. I can force HD programming from the 110 sat, though not 100%.

First, I go to the point screen and set both inputs to an HD position on the 110 Sat, I used 13 for HBO E. Then I do a check switch. When that is done, and I back out I again set both inputs to the 110 Sat and to 13. I then back out and it goes through it's check, etc... and downloads the guide. I had to force a download after by going ahead in the guide to "info not available" but you may not have to.

I then find almost any channel that is in HD on 110 will be on 110 instead of 61.5 or 72. Food Network, for example is an exception, there are about 3 or so that for whatever reason are still off of 61.5 or 72. But every movie channel I get in HD will be off the 110 Sat. I don't know about SD channels. Tried twice with very similar results each time. Over time most of them will revert back after the nightly reset, except HBO E.

I have not tried forcing programming from 119.

i just tried this twice but from 119 and everything remained the same.