New Wally Receiver to Launch March 17th

[zippyfrog]

3 Questions about the Wally:

1) If the Wally is a second receiver, it is only a $7 monthly fee, or is this more expensive?
2) Right now I currently have two 211k's and the entire house is RG59 cable through the walls. I know the hopper system doesn't work with RG59, but would the Wally? Could it just replace the 211k's with the Wally or would I need to pull RG6 cable?
3) How large is the Wally compared to the 211k?

 

[pattykay]

Would be nice if the Wally did Prime time anytime and use one tuner to record 4 networks too. I can imagine a lot of people that would want one if it could do that feature. Add your own external hard drive and turn it in to a dvr and you would get a cheaper NO fee dvr, that could record 4 local networks or one satellite channel and one ota channel, if you add the usb tuner and your own antenna. Hell, I would add that receiver in a heart beat.

I would love it if the Wally could do that! I can see one potential problem, though. Currently, with the original Hopper (2TB hard drive) PTAT with all four networks saved for eight days takes up about one-fifth of the total hard drive space. So, if someone adds a very small hard drive (say, 500GB) to a Wally with this proposed feature, PTAT could use up almost all of the hard drive space. This would still be a good feature for someone who mostly watches primetime network programming and likes to watch it within a week after it airs, but that would not be useful for everybody. (I suppose Dish could require a larger hard drive to eliminate any concerns about using up too much hard drive space.)

 

[Rhyph]

3 Questions about the Wally:

1) If the Wally is a second receiver, it is only a $7 monthly fee, or is this more expensive?
2) Right now I currently have two 211k's and the entire house is RG59 cable through the walls. I know the hopper system doesn't work with RG59, but would the Wally? Could it just replace the 211k's with the Wally or would I need to pull RG6 cable?
3) How large is the Wally compared to the 211k?

After spending another day interacting with the Wally in our RV, I can now confirm it works just fine with the Winegard Pathway X1 ODU we have roof mounted on it's primary port. I have not tried it as a slave yet on the second port. I can not get my 211K to work on the secondary port either, but that could be some cabling issue that I need to resolve. I'll be mucking with that more today.

I also can not get the EHD from the 211K working with the Wally. It doesn't see it plugged in, message on the screen when I go to the DVR function says "To enable this feature, please plug in an External Hard Drive". I'm not giving up that easy, it could just be it does not like this particular EHD. I'll try another but it probably won't be until our next trip out in April at this point, and I always have our 211K to fall back on. I also noted when logged into my account, it clearly says this receiver is not enabled for EHD, so I may also have to check in with them later today before I go after another EHD.

To answer your questions zippyfrog:

1) It's no different from any other add-on receiver type, I can't see the exact fee on my statement because I haven't had it a full month and it's not showing on there. I assume this is the correct price because that is what I was told my bill would increase by as a new monthly total amount, compared to the old.

2) I can not advocate for using RG-59 on any installed satellite system. It is improperly gauged, mostly likely not properly frequency swept, and can lead to injector burn out within the receivers. The 211K is built for the rigors of probable portable service, so it is over-built. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be more comfortable 'cheating' it with 211K's than anything else. The 211K is also in a metal chassis for that reason. The Wally is in a 100%, light weight, fancy-smanshy plastic chassis. My hunches tell me it is not quite as rugged, and probably not as stoutly built internally. It has no coax output, so if you do any sort of coax back-feed sorcery, that's a no-go.

3) My best guess, if I were to set the Wally on top of the 211k, total surface space taken is maybe about 60% of the size of the 211k. If I have time later, I'll take some physical measurements of each and post them if they are not available online somewhere (I haven't looked yet - maybe in manuals?).

 

[zippyfrog]

To answer your questions zippyfrog:

1) It's no different from any other add-on receiver type, I can't see the exact fee on my statement because I haven't had it a full month and it's not showing on there. I assume this is the correct price because that is what I was told my bill would increase by as a new monthly total amount, compared to the old.

2) I can not advocate for using RG-59 on any installed satellite system. It is improperly gauged, mostly likely not properly frequency swept, and can lead to injector burn out within the receivers. The 211K is built for the rigors of probable portable service, so it is over-built. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be more comfortable 'cheating' it with 211K's than anything else. The 211K is also in a metal chassis for that reason. The Wally is in a 100%, light weight, fancy-smanshy plastic chassis. My hunches tell me it is not quite as rugged, and probably not as stoutly built internally. It has no coax output, so if you do any sort of coax back-feed sorcery, that's a no-go.

3) My best guess, if I were to set the Wally on top of the 211k, total surface space taken is maybe about 60% of the size of the 211k. If I have time later, I'll take some physical measurements of each and post them if they are not available online somewhere (I haven't looked yet - maybe in manuals?).

Thanks for the feedback on that! That's what I needed to know.

 

[TheKrell]

I inadvertently went through about 25' of RG59 to a VIP612 and it worked perfectly for years until I eventually replaced the cable. What the heck is "injector burnout"? Are you referring to the power injection to power the LNBs and switches? I seriously doubt that any RG59 is manufactured so poorly that it shorts out the receiver.

 

[Rhyph]

I inadvertently went through about 25' of RG59 to a VIP612 and it worked perfectly for years until I eventually replaced the cable. What the heck is "injector burnout"? Are you referring to the power injection to power the LNBs and switches? I seriously doubt that any RG59 is manufactured so poorly that it shorts out the receiver.

Shorting has absolutely nothing to do with the improper cable gauge burning out your injector. If the cable you use rejects the power you are sending through it because it is not of suitable gauge and puts too much electrical resistance in the line, especially for mobile applications where the dish requires that power to actuate and move it's servo motors, you might have a problem at some point. Also in a mobile application you deal with the cable length variable, too long on even the best RG-6 and the same can happen. You may eventually burn out the power injector in the receiver. No power injector means no dish movement, and no LNBF power. Then we still haven't scratched the frequency issue.

People get away with it all the time, that doesn't mean it will not have a problem at some point and I've seen countless times where it has.

 

[Rhyph]

It seems DN has changed their marketing material on the Wally. On the site, it no longer has the check mark for "Compatible with Tailgater", I wonder why that has changed? It frankly makes no sense that they brought this receiver to market and aimed it squarely at the RV industry as a 211 replacement.

I've proven out that it works beautifully with the Tailgater (new and old), and the Winegard Pathway X1. I've clearly had it added to my account of mixed receivers.

What is DN's problem here? We've had one DIRT read this thread, and I've PM'd two of them now, one was LailaS@DISH back on the 24th and never got an answer, and I just poked at ZachS@DISH to see if I can get some answers.

 

[ZachS@DISH]

It is compatible with the Tailgater, however the software currently needs to be downloaded from a normal dish installation. Keep in mind that customer service agents, like the Social Media/DIRT team, can only provide information that we have regarding certain products. I just checked on an account and it does not appear that the Wally is available to purchase through CSR's yet, which is why some CSRs may have been saying it cannot be added. This is supposed to be used as a receiver for tailgating/rv purposes and not as an additional receiver in the home on Hopper accounts, just like the 211.

This is the information we have regarding the Wally.

• It allows customers to enjoy the new UI experience without a DVR

• It provides an HD option for customers who don’t have a Hopper in their home
  • Wally will not work in the same home as a Hopper

• Hopper customers can use it as a DISH Outdoors receiver

 

[pattykay]

Wally will not work in the same home as a Hopper

Well, I'm sure it would work if it was hooked up separately. It simply does not integrate with the Hopper.

 

[Bobby]

Yep, the Wally would have to be on it's own dish and wiring, just like a 211....

 

[Troch77]

Maybe I'll pick up a Wally, If I don't win the Auction on the 211z I'm currently bidding on.

But dish would let me add a Wally, That mean if I buy a Wally elsewhere, I can still get it activated?

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[navychop]

Presumably only if you don't have a Hopper account.

 

[Rhyph]

Presumably only if you don't have a Hopper account.

Incorrect, my Wally is activated on my Hopper account. The issue is you can not lease the Wally on a Hopper account, you have to purchase it and have it added as a owned receiver.

 

[navychop]

But was that a mistake- or policy?

 

[Troch77]

But was that a mistake- or policy?

It's not policy.
Even Dirt said it's not policy.

I'm going to need more than 1 poster before I shell out $100 on what might be a paper weight.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[rvvaquero]

It's not policy.
Even Dirt said it's not policy.

I'm going to need more than 1 poster before I shell out $100 on what might be a paper weight.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

It's not policy. Now you have two posters.

 

[Troch77]

It's not policy. Now you have two posters.

No, I need more than one poster telling me I can.
I have about 20 telling me it's not policy.


Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[rvvaquero]

Darn, just when I thought I was helping out.

 

[Rhyph]

From a direct PM with ZachS, and as I mentioned in the other thread where the CSR I spoke to on the phone yesterday said they absolutely can add the Wally to a Hopper account, it just can not be leased:

You must get past the level 1 script reading CSRs.

FWIW I've been dealing with DN for 20 years internally and externally.

 

[Photai]

Wanted to update. I received Wally (upgrading from 211) and was able to connect EHD right after activation, no additional activation fees or calls. It did require reformatting the drive so you will lose any saved shows but I was expecting that so it was not an issue.