Local Channels
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), to view our local channels? Something is definitely wrong with this picture! 
I don't need an antenna. Are you in a location that is not currently served by Dish for Local access?
Or are you refering to HDTV OTA signals that the 811 and 921 are also able to support?
Or are you refering to HDTV OTA signals that the 811 and 921 are also able to support?
I'm in an area that hasn't caught up to allowing us to have our local channels. I've been trying to get them since I had Dish. I have to go through other Networks to see if they have picked up my area (so far they haven't), until then, I use an antenna.
Perhaps in 2010 we will be asking "do we have to use a satellite dish to watch tv" or "do we have to use this big of a dish to receive HD channels or HD locals?" By that time we will have heard of and many be using other alternatives to sending tv and internet wirelessly (telephone companies, power lines, hot air balloons for relaying signals for tv, cell phones, and broadband internet, etc).
Absolutely! This is why I feel the OTA transport layer is already obsolete - or at least it will be by the time it's fully deployed.Stargazer said:
SimpleSimon said:
Boggles the mind, don't it? Ever wonder what the world would look like if we could actually see all the signals we are sending out? TV, Radio, Satellite TV, Satellite Radio, Cell Phones, WiFi, WISPs, Cordless Phones, TV Remotes, Baby Monitors, FRS, GPS, etc, etc, etc.
It's a wonder the stuff ever works at all.
In fact, here in Colorado, there's lots of repeaters in the mountains now. They weren't there during the BUD days, BTW. The problem with a lot of them is it appears they were placed just to screw with satellite customers.bcshields said:
They put some repeater up with, say a 1mW
transmitter and then draw 100 mile service radius around it.No actually, even a decent low-power repeater is near worthless due to the terrain. You could be 5 miles from a blowtorch transmitter and not be able to pick it up because one of those 5 miles is straight up.
Locals and HDTV
Dish Network says that with the superdish you can get locals and when the locals are broadcastiing in HD, the 811 will pick it up in HD. My local dealer says no way. When the signal comes back to the Superdish it is in analog. I want the locals on the dish, but I want it in HD. Who is correct? If you have delt with this before, pardon me, but this is my first post.
Dish Network says that with the superdish you can get locals and when the locals are broadcastiing in HD, the 811 will pick it up in HD. My local dealer says no way. When the signal comes back to the Superdish it is in analog. I want the locals on the dish, but I want it in HD. Who is correct? If you have delt with this before, pardon me, but this is my first post.
Oy. Confusion reigns.
I don't know who at Dish told you that locals received FROM SATELLITE via SuperDish would be HD. They are wrong.
If your dealer told you that SuperDish is analog HE is wrong. The local signal that is uplinked is analog.
If you want your locals as digital (which might be HD), you have to get them OTA.
I don't know who at Dish told you that locals received FROM SATELLITE via SuperDish would be HD. They are wrong.
If your dealer told you that SuperDish is analog HE is wrong. The local signal that is uplinked is analog.
If you want your locals as digital (which might be HD), you have to get them OTA.
I think maybe the confusion might be the dish vs. the receiver. Dish CSRs are notoriously uninformed, but this is way out there.
The 811 will pick up local HD OTA. There's no LiL that's HD - except for the 2 CBS-HD feeds which are 'distant networks' - unless you happen to be in L.A. or NYC.
The 811 will pick up local HD OTA. There's no LiL that's HD - except for the 2 CBS-HD feeds which are 'distant networks' - unless you happen to be in L.A. or NYC.
Where the confusion sets in is that ALL Dish network channels are Digital. Most people equate digital with High Def. They are not the same. All high def channels in the US are Digital. Not all Digital channels are high def.
If the CSR said the local channels from the satellite are digital....(s)he was correct.
If the CSR said the local channels from the satellite are high definition...(s)he was dead wrong and completely misinformed.
See ya
Tony
If the CSR said the local channels from the satellite are digital....(s)he was correct.
If the CSR said the local channels from the satellite are high definition...(s)he was dead wrong and completely misinformed.
See ya
Tony
OK guys...please fill me in. You say that OTA is obsolete and yet it seems that that is the only way to get HD from the locals. Do I want to go that way now, or just do without HD from the locals until something else comes a long? And when will that be? I get good reception of local from basic cable which I hold on to just to keep the locals coming.....but it is not HD. OTA sure is cheaper and free for the programing. Help?
My stating that it's obsolete doesn't mean don't use it. Right now (and for some years to come) it's your only option. If you can make it work for you, that's great!
I'm just saying that we may never see a full rollout of it. That is, due to the expense of transmitters, there's not going to be enough of them - just like the old days before cable. People would spend big $$$ to put huge antennas up that would barely grab a picture, and they'd have to futz with them all the time - tuning and amplifying, and rotating, and --- you get the idea.
The modern consumer just wants to watch TV - and if OTA HDTV is going to stay painful, it will fail - as well it should. Cable and satellite are much better transport mechanisms for anyone that isn't within "rabbit ears" length of an entire cities towers.
Someone made the point about the airwaves being owned by us Citizens, and they're right, but the Consumer will make the final decision.
Right now (and for some years to come) it's your only option. If you can make it work for you, that's great!I'm just saying that we may never see a full rollout of it. That is, due to the expense of transmitters, there's not going to be enough of them - just like the old days before cable. People would spend big $$$ to put huge antennas up that would barely grab a picture, and they'd have to futz with them all the time - tuning and amplifying, and rotating, and --- you get the idea.
The modern consumer just wants to watch TV - and if OTA HDTV is going to stay painful, it will fail - as well it should. Cable and satellite are much better transport mechanisms for anyone that isn't within "rabbit ears" length of an entire cities towers.
Someone made the point about the airwaves being owned by us Citizens, and they're right, but the Consumer will make the final decision.
All right, Simple Simon....You gave me what I was asking. At least you sound like you know what is going on and believe me, Dish Network does not. I guess my only solution is OTA and I will give that a shot. It may not work at my location, but it is worth a try. Then, I suppose that I could try Voom as they say they use the OTA, but I have already invested in the purchase of an 811 receiver.I think I would not have done that if I had known that local HD was not going to be available on the dish. They kept telling me that it was.....just get a Superdish!! Ha! At least now I know that my local dealer here knew what he was talking about. He told me no way, right from the start.
Ya mo1bear - you're going to find the only consistently correct information you're going to get is here and dbstalk.com (for 921 stuff). There's something called "CSR roulette" that is used whenever you actually need something from Dish. When ordering, if you don't like the answer you get, just hang up and call back until you get a CSR that will give you the deal you know you're supposed to have.
If consumers could get their HD locals OTA then I am sure most would have no problem with putting up an OTA antenna to do so, but a lot of people cannot pick them up, especially considering that they are low power.
