Lack of locals while tailgating....

[AUBIGMIKE]

Hoping for some help here....

I have a Directv account and have been using a simple round dish and a D11 for tailgating in Auburn, AL. It is easy to set up and I have no problems picking up programming. I do not get any local channels, however. I have used a regular antenna to pick up locals but it doesnt work very well and I would love to be able to get locals from Directv. I do get locals at my house in Mobile, AL.

Questions:
Am I able to get locals from Directv if I am in a different area than where my account is located?

If so, what equipment will I need? Different dish/receiver? HD is not important.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm tired of setting up bunny ears!

 

[raoul5788]

Hoping for some help here....

I have a Directv account and have been using a simple round dish and a D11 for tailgating in Auburn, AL. It is easy to set up and I have no problems picking up programming. I do not get any local channels, however. I have used a regular antenna to pick up locals but it doesnt work very well and I would love to be able to get locals from Directv. I do get locals at my house in Mobile, AL.

Questions:
Am I able to get locals from Directv if I am in a different area than where my account is located?

If so, what equipment will I need? Different dish/receiver? HD is not important.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm tired of setting up bunny ears!

Are you using a Phase III dish, one with three "pods" on the lnb? If not, you won't get the locals out of Pensacola since they are on the 119 satellite. You will need a different dish in that case.

 

[AUBIGMIKE]

The dish I have been using is a single "pod". What kind of dish should I get?

 

[JosephB]

There's two issues here:
First, it sounds like you're using an 18" dish with one LNB. That will only receive signals from the 101 satellite location. Not sure where the Mobile/Pensacola locals are coming from, but if they come from 119, you won't get them with that dish.

Second is the issue of spotbeams. Locals in 99% of the markets are on spotbeams, meaning that they are only available geographically close to that market. I haven't checked the Mobile spot, but it may not be big enough to reach Auburn (since Auburn is in a different TV market). However some spots overlap and really big spots are used to cover more than one market (I can pick up the Atlanta locals in Birmingham for example)

 

[AUBIGMIKE]

How do I check to see if the Mobile spot will cover Auburn?

 

[Mr Tony]

Mobile is on 119 TP31 so you would need a Phase III dish that sees 101,110,119

only way to really check is if you are there check signal strength near there. From looking at maps you **should** be OK

 

[Jimbo]

How do I check to see if the Mobile spot will cover Auburn?

Do you know anyone in Mobile with D* ?
If so, check and see what Sat (119 SD) and transponder (31) your locals are on and check with the guy in Mobile and see what he has for signal strength on that transponder.

So if your buddy has decent SS on Sat 119 and Tp 31 then you'll know.

For example, I'm in NW Ohio, When I look at Columbus I can clearly see that I could get thier signal, but if I want Pittsburgh, I would NOT be close enough as I have 89 on the Columbus TP and 0 on the Pittsburgh TP

 

[Mr Tony]

Jimbo
The OP is in Mobile and wants to use it in Auburn so he would need to find a buddy near Auburn to check

 

[Jimbo]

Jimbo
The OP is in Mobile and wants to use it in Auburn so he would need to find a buddy near Auburn to check

OK ..... That would make sense

What ever city your trying to be in, check there.

 

[AUBIGMIKE]

Thanks for the advice! Would there be any need to use a different receiver?

 

[Mr Tony]

if you dont mind seeing the locals in SD.....no
just a different dish is needed

 

[HDinCincy]

Mike... try setting up your rig at home and see if you're getting them there (Mobile.) If so, then you know you're outside of the spotbeam when in Auburn you're rooting for your tigers.

 

[Mr Tony]

Mike... try setting up your rig at home and see if you're getting them there (Mobile.) If so, then you know you're outside of the spotbeam when in Auburn you're rooting for your tigers.

huh?

The OP is in Mobile so of course he is getting Mobile locals The issue is his travel dish is only a 101 dish. But to see if it works in Auburn all he needs to do is have someone near Auburn see what signal they get on 119 TP31

 

[HDinCincy]

ICE: he states he is getting his locals while in Mobile (I assume it's on his permanent home setup which may be a slimline.) D* is migrating locals OFF the 119 all the time so it is possible that Mobile's are now on the 101. (I don't know that, but it's possible) His tailgating set up is a dual LNB 18" getting just the 101 but if THAT setup (used at his Mobile home) can get the locals then at least he'll know the reason he is NOT getting them in Auburn. Your method will work also of course.

 

[Jimbo]

ICE: he states he is getting his locals while in Mobile (I assume it's on his permanent home setup which may be a slimline.) D* is migrating locals OFF the 119 all the time so it is possible that Mobile's are now on the 101. (I don't know that, but it's possible) His tailgating set up is a dual LNB 18" getting just the 101 but if THAT setup (used at his Mobile home) can get the locals then at least he'll know the reason he is NOT getting them in Auburn. Your method will work also of course.

I see what your saying, set the mobile rig up and see if the locals are coming in at all with the 18" rig, if they are, they have moved to the 101 and he doesn't have to worry about it. However, they are still on a spotbeam even if they are on the 101, so it's still up to how far the spotbeam reaches.

Till someone chimes in from that area, there no way to tell yet.

 

[Mr Tony]

ICE: he states he is getting his locals while in Mobile (I assume it's on his permanent home setup which may be a slimline.) D* is migrating locals OFF the 119 all the time so it is possible that Mobile's are now on the 101. (I don't know that, but it's possible)

they're on 119 (SD) and 99 (HD)...very rarely have they moved locals from 119 to 101 because of spotbeam capacity.

The info I have is from 7/28/10

 

[AUBIGMIKE]

Thanks again for the help guys. OK, I set my 18" dish up (in Mobile) and the Guide showed my locals. But when I turned to the networks, I got the 721 message.

I assume that means that the locals are indeed on the 119. Correct? I will find a Directv customer in Auburn and have them tell me what the signal strength is on 119 TP31. What does the signal strength need to be in order for this to work?

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks again for the help guys. OK, I set my 18" dish up (in Mobile) and the Guide showed my locals. But when I turned to the networks, I got the 721 message.

I assume that means that the locals are indeed on the 119. Correct? I will find a Directv customer in Auburn and have them tell me what the signal strength is on 119 TP31. What does the signal strength need to be in order for this to work?

Yes

I would say over 60-70 to be reliable.

 

[AUBIGMIKE]

Great!

 

[dishrich]

D* is migrating locals OFF the 119 all the time

Please tell us of one SD market that migrated off 119 since they launched the 119 spot bird - as Ice told you, doesn't happen, because there is NO need for D* to at this time.

Maybe you're confusing this with the 72.5 local migrations to MPEG4...