"Moving" for Pittsburgh Locals HD

[probinson]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster here, so please, be gentle...

Earlier this year, I dove into the HD market. Bought myself an LCD flat panel TV and selected Dish network for my HD programming, and I've been very happy.

The problem is, I live in Northwest Pennsylvania, just minutes from the Ohio state line. Even though I live in Pennsylvania, my little podunk town is in the Youngstown, OH DMA which sadly, is not offered in HD on Dish, nor do I expect it to be anytime soon.

My town is also in a valley, which means that antenna reception is pure crap. If I'm lucky and the wind blows the right way, I can get my CBS station OTA, but that's it. Also, it would be nice to be able to see the Steeler's in HD week after week. We see most of the Steeler's games, but if the Browns happen to be playing at the same time, our Ohio DMA gets the Browns games instead!

So anyway, I've read that the Pittsburgh local HD channels are at 118°, and that concerns me somewhat. I currently have a ViP622 with dishes pointed at 61.5°, 110°, and 119°. If I go into the setup on the 622, a signal comes in at decent strength if I select the 118° sat, but it says something like "wrong satellite" at the bottom of the screen.

So my question is, do I have the correct hardware setup to be able to "move" to Pittsburgh? And if so, what do I need to do?

 

[Voyager6]

You would need to convert your D500 dish into the D500+ dish. That is, you need a new LNBF to replace the current one. This will allow you to receive the 118 sat. You can buy the D500+ dish or try and get E* to upgrade you for free. Add some programming that is on 118 and you should get a free upgrade. Cancel about a month afterwards.

 

[probinson]

You would need to convert your D500 dish into the D500+ dish. That is, you need a new LNBF to replace the current one. This will allow you to receive the 118 sat. You can buy the D500+ dish or try and get E* to upgrade you for free. Add some programming that is on 118 and you should get a free upgrade. Cancel about a month afterwards.

Hmm. I think I might already have a D500+ dish.... I'll have to check when I get home.

 

[probinson]

Nope. Alas, it looks like my Dish is just a plain ol' Dish 500. The LNBF has connections labeled 119 and 110, but no 118.

 

[BobaBird]

You can't just swap the LNB, the Dish 500+ is a larger dish, and you will need to add the DPP44 external switch.

 

[probinson]

Gee, you guys are just full of good news....

But seriously, how would this go? I tell them my "service" address has changed, but then I have them come out with a Dish 500+ to my billing address. Wouldn't they think that's kind of fishy?

BTW, thanks for all the info! I'm learning so much...

 

[Voyager6]

Gee, you guys are just full of good news....

But seriously, how would this go? I tell them my "service" address has changed, but then I have them come out with a Dish 500+ to my billing address. Wouldn't they think that's kind of fishy?

BTW, thanks for all the info! I'm learning so much...

The easiest way, as reported on this site, is to subscribe to the internationals on 118. E* will then upgrade your equipment. Then you "move" to Pittsburgh. You will then cancel the internationals at a later date. Or, you can just pay for the upgrade yourself (check with a local installer). Let your conscience decide your course.

 

[probinson]

OK, sounds duplicitous, messy and complicated....

So my next question is, I've read that the 118 sat is also going to be used for more local HD rollouts. Say sometime in the future, E* adds the Youngstown, OH HD locals to the 118 sat. Since that is my correct DMA, would I be entitled to the free 500+ upgrade from E* for that?

 

[Voyager6]

OK, sounds duplicitous, messy and complicated....

So my next question is, I've read that the 118 sat is also going to be used for more local HD rollouts. Say sometime in the future, E* adds the Youngstown, OH HD locals to the 118 sat. Since that is my correct DMA, would I be entitled to the free 500+ upgrade from E* for that?

Yes, if your locals are put on 118 then you would be upgraded for free. You could get the Philly locals off of 61.5 for now. I know that could be sacrilege for a Steelers fan. The Harrisburg/York locals are on 110.

 

[shrefler]

Harrisburg/York Locals

I know you said that Harrisburg/York locals are on 110. I assume that is just the SD locals since I haven't seen anything about HD local of that DMA. Is this correct?

 

[Derwin0]

Yes, if your locals are put on 118 then you would be upgraded for free. You could get the Philly locals off of 61.5 for now. I know that could be sacrilege for a Steelers fan. The Harrisburg/York locals are on 110.

If you're going to bother with Harrisburg locals, might as well "move" to Chambersburg so that you get both Harrisburg & Washington (includes Washington HD's), since Harrisburg HD's aren't up.

 

[Voyager6]

If you're going to bother with Harrisburg locals, might as well "move" to Chambersburg so that you get both Harrisburg & Washington (includes Washington HD's), since Harrisburg HD's aren't up.

Oops, my mistake. I forgot we were talking about HD locals. I got caught up in figuring out how the OP could get the Steelers instead of the Browns.

 

[probinson]

Oops, my mistake. I forgot we were talking about HD locals. I got caught up in figuring out how the OP could get the Steelers instead of the Browns.

LOL. Yes, it's more about HD locals for me than it is for the Steelers, though I have some friends that like to drop by on Sundays when the Steelers are playing on CBS.

Also, we don't have an OTA HD FOX signal. The FOX digital broadcast out of Youngstown is actually a low-power, sub channel of CBS. So I get CBS-HD on 27-1 and the FOX-LP digital broadcast in SD on 27-2. The only way to get our FOX-HD right now is from Time Warner Cable, since they have a direct feed from FOX.

It looks like I'm screwed no matter what. If I "move" to another market, I lose the Steelers games all together, so I guess I'm stuck watching my locals in SD for now.