OK who has been a E sub the longest?

[Bob Haller]

I didnt go with Direct tv because I would of HAD to sub to the 2 different companies on direct for the channels I wanted.

Satellite TV seemed like MAGIC when we installed it. little did I know I would go on later to sell and install it

 

[Mr Tony]

Went with Dish in 97 (I think) after D* bought Primestar and we were in a Pegasus area

cancelled in probably 2000 and then restarted in 2002 when I bought my house

Have had Dish at the cabin since 98

 

[oldave]

I bought a 3000 and installed the single dish mid 1997. The reason for choosing Dish over DirecTV? TV Land.

Dish Network had it, DirecTV/USSB didn't. I've been on Dish ever since... and see no real reason to switch.

 

[JayStil]

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

Yep, that's what I remember about mine too. We first looked into DISH for my parents who were moving to a new house they'd built setback from the road a ways. Cable wanted $4000 to install wire to the house. Bought her a DISH receiver that included the first year of programming, in the fall of 1996 I believe. She turned around and bought a system for both my brother and I that Christmas.

 

[Rangers484]

I had their first set up in the glory days of Echostar.

Here is a photo of my set up. The audio was always a little tinny and you needed to keep a lot of slack in the line for the satellite.

 

[waltinvt]

I too started with the 3000 in I believe Spring of 97. Put up with their horseshit until last spring '09 and finally wised up. I was sort of like quitting smoking - once I got them out of my system I felt a whole lot better.

 

[wiiplayer]

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

thanks corrected

I don't known why the work order said 1993

Also another work order said my grandparents started in 1991,strange.

 

[jwolf]

I've been with dish Since May of 1998.

 

[pabeader]

Started out with them when the first 18" came out. Think the receiver was a 1000. I was a BUD user at the time and remained one for a few years even after I had the my first 2600. Still have the BUD and Echo 4000.
Must have been 94 or 95

used to do BUD installs and even worked for a company that repaired satellite receivers and dish arms etc. even repaired a few LNBs back then.

As I think about it, if we are talking Echostar, it might be even longer ago then that. I was working on BUD stuff back in the early 80s. graduated HS in 83 and I can remember messing around with a BUD back then even. Not too much subscripting goin on back then tho.

 

[thowe21]

Signed up in December 1998. Had a buddy that worked at Sam's Club in the electronics dept, told him I wanted to get rid of Time Warner and he told me to come on over and take a look at the new satellite retailer they had called Dish Network. Bought the 4900 for the living room and the 2700 for the bedroom tv. Still have the 4900 and it's still working like a champ in my daughter's bedroom, still have the 2700 as a backup as well, although Dish stopped updating the firmware on the old legacy receivers so it doesn't properly read the new switch that went in with the new Dish when we upgraded to HD so she doesn't get all channels but is happy that she's getting Disney and Nick so I'm not bothering to upgrade at the moment.

Ended up going with a 721 on ebay back in 2003, installed a SW64 switch myself along with the second line to the 721 which was around the time I started checking out Satelliteguys for help on the installation. I thought the 721 was the greatest thing ever at the time but it ended up rebooting once a day back in '07 and would take a good 45 minutes to reboot. Also went with a 501 in '06 on ebay for the bedroom to avoid the DVR fees (so much for that) which is still working great. Upgraded to a flat screen and HD back in '07, so went from a 712 to a 622 till the hard drive started skipping last summer on the 622. They upgraded me to a 722k to replace the 622, bought the OTA module and have a big fat Chuck E Cheese smile on my face currently when I'm recording 4 programs at a time.

Won't see myself ever going back to Time Warner.

 

[DK_Sat]

I started with dish in 1997 my first receiver was the Echostar 4000

 

[MRUSS]

I started with a 2000 receiver in Nov. 1996 when you had to pay for a year of programming in advance plus your receiver. My parents started in August of 1996 and I done all the installs for them and myself and around 100 other people for free. Dish started in the spring of 1996.

 

[TNGTony]

Echostar Historical Dates:
1980: Echostar founded (as a C-Band Retailer) by Charlie, his wife and Jim

Somewhere in here they started to brand their own equipment then have it buit to spec as their house brand.

1987: Echostar applies for DBS license with FCC for "Digital Sky Highway" (DiSH)

1992: FCC Awarded 21 Transponder DBS Licenses at the 119° location to Echostar for DiSH)

1994 (Early): Echostar orders two Lockheed-Martin Satellites (E*1 and E*2)
1994 (November14): Echostar breaks gound on the Cheyenne uplink center.

1995 (December 28): Echostar 1 launched from Xichang , China.

1996 (March 16): Dish Network service launched to the public with a massive 40 or so video channels (America's Top 40) and 30 audio channels (Muzak) for 19.95/mo.

See ya
Tony

 

[BobaBird]

Dec 96, started with the 2000 Deluxe which added UHF remote and Dual LNB. Also still have the shirt that was given out as a bonus for my first annual renewal, and remember being disappointed there was nothing for the second. Almost brought it to CES but don't want to be mistaken for an employee.

Thowe21, not a software issue, sounds like the 4900 may need a DishPro Adapter.

Tony, it's almost as if you're trying to say no one could have had Dish in 94 or 95.

 

[TheForce]

I only started in 1999 but I had the 5000 with HDTV modulator connected to the Panasonic DVHS recording system.

 

[PATECO]

Early 1997 I spent $600 on a 4000 receiver installed it myself and mirrored from family room to master bedroom with UHF remote. My wife and I had to have FOOD Network.

Americas Top 40 package was $19/month compared to the $35/month I was paying to Cable to tell me they might get the FOOD network in 24 months.

 

[Pistol]

Replaced the C-Band in the Spring of 96, probably May of 1996. It was the first small Dish in our rural area of southern Indiana.

 

[dont24]

October 1998 for me.

 

[boba]

March 1996 when they started broadcasting, I was an Echosphere dealer for "C" band and became a DISH dealer. I have not been continuous in the sense of the same account number but I no longer am a dealer but still have a DISH account.

 

[purwater]

First week of February 1998 for me. I had seen a brochure for the new Dish Network inside of a Gateway 2000 computer box that I received. Looked at it and forgot it for a while. A large 3 ft. snow storm knocked out power, phone, and cable on the last week of January. We were without power for a week and then after 2 weeks the cable company said it might be another month till they got our cable restored. I went that day to a local retailer and bought a dish and 4000 receiver for either $300 or $400. Installed myself and loved it. Added a 1000 receiver and later another 1000 receiver. I did my own upgrade to a dish 500 at some point. I'm usually the first of my friends and family to try new technology so I ended up converting numerous homes over to E* and doing many installs myself. Over the years I upgraded to having 1 508 and 2 510s until I cancelled and went to D*. After 3 years there I'm back with E* with 2 722s doing all the work in 4 rooms. Funny thing is that since Christmas we've had a ton of snow on the ground and lost power for 5 days before Christmas. The cable company just showed up today to fix the cable that's been on the ground since December 18th. Took them 3 weeks to arrive. Luckily they are my high speed internet provider not my TV source. Also, I was lucky to dig out the end of the cable and put a new end on the wire and do a temporary fix to get my internet back up and running after about 8 days without. Service like this is what keeps me from ever using a cable company again for my TV. Unfortunately I have no other option for internet.