OK who has been a E sub the longest?

[Widescreen]

Signed up on Groundhog Day 1997. Bought a 4000 receiver with dual LNB dish from Great Lakes Audio Video and it only cost $85 after rebate. I self-installed and it was absolutely fantastic. Soon we got tired of watching the same channel on 2 TV's so I bought a model 3000 for the bedroom.

 

[TNGTony]

12/23/93

.

E*, (Dish Network) became a subscriber service in 1996. They sold satellite equipment before-hand but never a self sustained subsciption service.

 

[TNGTony]

A question to all long time subscribers.
Did DishSD always look like crap or did it gradually get worse as time went by? I'm trying to get an idea on what to expect the HD channels to look like in a few yrs.

It was never "super-duper" but it did deteriorate then get better then get bad again. Some of the PQ degredation though is not strictly E*'s fault. The broadcasters switched over to their own digital delivery system for their SD channels and the source video quality varies widely from crystal to crap!

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Since way back in mid 2007

 

[stardust3]

Don't remember the year, but had to buy equipment which also included the 1st yrs programming fees.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Will have 13 years with DISH on 1/18/97. LOVE all the new technology that has come down the pike. Have 3 accounts with DISH: mine, parents, aunt's and they are all in my name and they pay me their bills. I had a regular type receiver ,then upgraded to 7100 & 7200 webtv dishplayers, replaced several of those till the 501 came out , then got a 508 and 510 dvr. Then moved to the 721 , had three, then moved to a 921. That was a constant baby sitter nightmare at first and paid $1000.00 for that one. Then the 942-great receviers had two. Then the 622/722/722k. I would like to have a 922 but don't know right now if I will upgrade. The 10.00 dvr fee has me saying NO. God knows what new fees will be enacted if you have this receiver. The Sling fee? Frankly, I don't have the money I did 13 years ago to piss away on new technology, so the sling products will most likely never see my house hold. They look very cool, but I just can't justify the cost anymore with a growing kid in my house.

 

[CFGuy]

I first got Dish sometime in early 1998 when we moved to Lawrence, KS. I had a Big Dish before that.

Started with a 5000. When the Dishplayer (7100) came out got one and got hooked on rewinding and pausing live tv. Soon had 3 of them. Then came the 721. I got two of them. One for me. One for my wife. I got 508s for the kids rooms. Had 3 of those. Eventually replaced two of the 508s with 721s.
I never had the problems that a lot of people reported having.
The 721s were my favorite of all the receivers I have had.

I eventually traded in one of the 721s for a 722. We had finally gotten a new TV that had HDTV built in. My son moved to his own apartment so I retired the last 508.

Then came the letter from Dish saying that I had to get rid of the 721s. Dish replaced them with 522s.
With the fee increases I am looking at getting rid of the 522s. I will either move to 612s or I will switch to our cable companies multi-room DVR system and be done with Dish. Would be the first time I have had cable for TV since 1991.

 

[WTguy]

Got started in Dec 1996 (Tony is correct about Dish starting as a sub service in 1996).
I was in Denver on business, bought the deal where you got the system and one year's service for $4xx (forgot the exact price). Did a self install and was amazed at getting it to work, now 13 years later, I have been in fta since 2002 (my alma mater started putting their basketball games on backhaul) and its sort of like putting up rabbit ears now.
Due to being gone so much (put my account on vacation each time) and my wife is now back in school and it is a distraction for her, plus we have free cable (about what it is worth), I finally canceled my account earlier in 2009.

As for the pq question, the sd pq on a hdtv looks terrible irregardless of the source. My sd backhauls look better on my Sony analog than on my hdtv. Of course the hdtv is great for the hd feeds I watch.

 

[Laddyboy]

August 1998 with a self-install kit in a box.

 

[lern4483]

1997-had both then and now

Ive had dish and direc since 1996...

I dont remember but at that time one system had locals the other did not.
I also remember that the dish interface was ''exactly'' the same as it is today..
on the basic SD recievers..

Direc, I was using a Sony reciever..I remeber a green program guide. Funny,
direcs recievers were painfully slow back then! Not much has changed..lol

However when Direc brought in Tivo units (I had the Philips) I thought they were very cool. Loved that It would pick shows you might like..Again very slow.

Im still paying both services..Dish and direc..Shelling out more for direc with NFL and NHL packages but using dish more.

 

[ccash]

Self Install Halloween Day ’96 – (starting to rue the day though)

1000 Receiver and Americas Top-40
Got an embroidered denim shirt w/Dish logo when I pre-paid a year’s service.
I could still wear it if I didn’t put on 30 lbs!

 

[Bob Haller]

Time flies!

 

[TV Junkie 12]

Got Dish in 98 after Prime Star folded and I didn't want D*. Per channel E* was cheaper at the time (and still is now I believe). They also continue to have more movie channels.

 

[dishcomm]

So who has been a E sub for the longest continious time?

I go back end of january 13 years. Having ditched TCI at that time and its constant were getting tv land in 2 years, for 5 years or some such. TCI cold sensitive noisey amp pushed me over the edge. they refused to send out a tech at nite, and denied my VCR recordings were their cable. they finally replaced the noisey amp a month later, after i cancelled I had them remove my cable service drop

I still remember the magic of sat tv, somehow I didnt believe it would work. and its top 36 or whatever package. the thrill of the original dishplayer, upgrading its hard drive, my wife was certain I would ruin it. the bugs of the dishplayer were unreal, but not as bad as the 721. nice box that never worked reliably. finally upgraded to 522s, not only was its hard drive larger but it just worked and was stable. then finally deciding to get 722K, and liking it so much I got a second and planning on dropping all phone lines decided to get a 3rd and final 722k, dedicating it to friends so they could use my slingbox. putting all on ethernet

then sadly the fee issue, but its been a fun ride.

was a dealer for awhile, attended the E6 launch as a VIP and met jim and charlie signed the launch banner. The day mike dugan called my home was thrilling. Mike Lehto a insider friend who cared for dbsforums issues. Harassing dan collins and winning that bet over the 500 dish upgrade for everyone. My friend and source 007 who was a great source and friend, and won that bet for me, he prepared the sl;ates for the chats

my leaking of mike dugans retirement a few days early Caused the E PR office much grief, and Bill R accusing me of insider stock price manipulation

My slamming E for piss poor software cost me most of my sources, but E DESERVED IT!

Its been a lot of fun!

Did you know uncle mike D grew up in indiana PA near pttsburgh?

March of 1998

 

[RandallA]

I started with Dish Network in 94 or 95. I tried Directv and Comcast in separate occasions for around 6 months each but went back to Dish Network on both occasions.

 

[Kb Cool]

As for the pq question, the sd pq on a hdtv looks terrible irregardless of the source. My sd backhauls look better on my Sony analog than on my hdtv. Of course the hdtv is great for the hd feeds I watch.

That's funny! My SDDVD's look pretty good on my 50 inch.

 

[TNGTony]

I started with Dish Network in 94 or 95.

Again, dish network was not available to anyone until 1996

 

[RandallA]

Again, dish network was not available to anyone until 1996

I purchased the equipment for some dealer in NY and then subscribe with Dish Network. I installed the equipment myself but honestly, I don't remember the year. Could be 96 like you said.

 

[bhelms]

Signed-up in early Dec. '98 after nearly 20 years of receiving only a couple of OTA channels, most very poorly. My friends joked about the fact that I had $1,000s invested in audio/video equipment (first on my block with a 40" RPTV, first with VCRs, and first to integrate the TV sound into my stereo for a primative HT) but could only get such limited reception. I had invested a lot into the HiFi VHS experience when they first came out, so those were my mainstay for A/V enjoyment. We watched little TV programming otherwise, mostly just the news and whatever CBS or PBS was offering (2 channels that we got fairly well). CATV came to within about a mile of my rural property, but no further. Still has not been extended much even tho' we're rapidly becoming a bedroom community as most of the nearby farmland is being replaced by developments.

I considered setting-up a C-band system but the additional $2-3K investment at the time seemed a bit more than I was willing to add to my cost. I was waiting for the prices to drop when DBS hit the scene. I researched both E* and D*. It seemed like E* had the better programming for us at the time so I went with them. It was quite warm that Dec. so I bought the equipment from a retailer for about $300 and self-installed it. I remember being on my roof in shirtsleeves. Was even warm enough to paint the 2x8 "post" I used to raise the dish mount above my house's facia off the back of the garage. I started with a D300 for 119 only and ran the cable for a second TV at the same time. The system came with a 1000 receiver. I later purchased another (3500, IIRC?) for the second room. I used "Leapfrogs" to send those 2 signals all over the house to other TV locations, and RF repeaters to control the receivers remotely. Good system for its time! It was several years before our locals became available which required an upgrade to the D500. In the interim I still had the OTA antenna connected.

Converted to HD in Dec. '05 and watched the costs skyrocket. But worth every penny to me! I was considering some more upgrading but I think I'll hold-off for a bit to see how 3D develops.

IIRC our total monthly bill was under $30 in the beginning.....>> sigh! <<....

 

[dendavis]

Signed up within the first year of their existence, think it was 1994??. Our daughter was going to school in the Chicago area, and we live in southern CA. Wanted to get access to WGN, our local cable service did not offer that, and, when we traveled back there, needed access to The Weather Channel. Local cable only broadcast that from 10:00 P.M. to 5:00 A.M. Didn't really know the difference betwixt DISH and DirecTV, sort of a coin toss, although I think DISH did offer one of the aforementioned channel and DirecTV did not.

We won't discuss what the pricing was then.........