Tech Chat Recap May 14th

[dfergie]

SatelliteGuys.US : Technical Chat Recap
May 14th,
Hosts, Mark Jackson and Dan Minnick
Tonight on Tech Forum:
.HD Programming Update
.ITV Update with Scott Higgins
. HD Mapdown
. RaySat Guest: Kevin Bruestle
. Wild Blue Update with Steve Shute
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Call or E-Mail
1-888-621-2078
techforum@dishnetwork.com
Only technical questions, please!
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CinemaxHD
Now Available
Channel: 310
Customer Must have:
Dish pointed at 129 / 61.5 orbital location
Have a ViP series / MPEG4 HD equipment
Subscribe to DishHD
OR
Pay the enabling fee of $6.00/mo. for HD locals and subscribe to Cinemax Premium Movie Package
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HD Regional Sports Currently Up
9 Regional Sports Channels Up:
SUN Sports in Florida
Sports South
FSN Midwest
FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN SouthWest
Prime FSN Ticket
FSN West
FSN Florida
FSN South

9RSNs On Dish Network, What It Takes To Get
.Reside in qualifying areas
. Subscribe to America's Top 100 Plus or Higher
.Subscribe to DishHD
. Have a ViP series (Mpeg4 and HD ViP 211 or 622 reciever)
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Scott Higgins
Interactive Services: ITV
Customer Support Program,
You can pay your bill, set up autopay, add programming via ITV you can sub to Dish Entertainment Magazine and learn many things about Dishnetwork Progamming. Go to channel 100

DishOnline
Games, Movies,Music and Games are available.
Papa Johns & DishOnline is available.
You can program your reciever from DishOnline
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Questions:
Sid: Do any of the Siruis channels offer any multi-channel content?
A: No not at this time, we do not plan to offer multi-channel.

Bob:What Channels are offered in Surround Sound?
A:.All of our HD channels are offered in Dolby Digital, a mix of 2.0 and 5.1, premiums and ppv's are usually offered.

John: I have a ViP622 is it possible to have folders?
A: We are working on having collapsable folders

Tom: Do you need a phone line for SatelliteTV, what about local channels?
A: No you do not have to have a phoneline but it is highly advisable as it provides benifits such as impulse ppv, Interactive services,customer service. It will also save you money on dual tuner receivers, the second receiver fee is waived.

David: What channel does my Vcr need to be on to tape shows from the TV 2 cable? (Dual Tuner Receiver)
A: You have to tune your Vcr to channel 60, if it does not show up scan for channels with your Vcr and make sure TV 2 is turned on. You might want to consider a Dvr.

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Giveaway: ViP 622 installed
First Caller wins
What does spdif stand for?
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HD Mapdown Feature
If you have HD the HD channels are mapped down to the SD channels number, for instance HBO will show up in your guide as HBOHD channel 300 as well as the HBO SD channel 300
You can toggle with the guide button to All HD to see all the available HD channels
You can go to Channel Display Preferences and pick whether you want your local Sat channels in HD, SD HD and Sd or disable. Also you can enable or disable the DishHD channels. Menu 6>9>Channel display.
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RaySat Overview with Kevin Bruestle
>SpeedRay 1000- RaySat's premier antenna
>Delivers satellite TV programming to moving vehicles
>Specifically designed to operate with Dish Network programming
>Low profile design
>Fully automated
>Quick & easy installation

SR1000 Components
> The SpeedRay 1000 comprises four main components
>Antenna- houses panels and elctronics under weatherproof radome
> Indoor Unit (IDU) - supplies power and communications to antenna
> DISH 311 Receiver- decodes satellite signals from the antenna
>Remote Control - uses RF transmitter to control receiver from any location in the vehicle
New IDU
> Available soon with SpeedRay 1000
-9.25" (L) x 7.25" 9W) x 2.75" (H)
-2.5 lb
-single coax proves DC & control
- Supports Ethernet base configuration and control
SpeedRay 1000 coverage basically the lower 48 states

MSRP: >$2,400
Installation >$300-$500
Total: >$2,700 - $2,900

SpeedRay 1000 Service Offering
> SR1000 service available in lower 48 United States
> Receivers Mobile Dish 100/200 channel lineups
> Local channels may become available at later date
> Consumers can locate installers and dealers at www.raysat.com or call customer service at 1-800-561-9280

Next Generation Antenna
Coming Soon...
>T5-latest innovation in mobile satellite antennas
>Smaller size and weight
>Includes new & improved Indoor Unit (IDU)
>Quick and easy to Install
>3rd quarter delivery

Current T5 Coverage


T5 U.S. Service Offering
>T5 to be offered in eastern half of US
>Coverage will be expanded in the near future
>Receives Mobile DISH 100/200 channel lineups
> Local channels may become available at a later date
> Consumer can locate installers and dealers at www.raysat.comor call customer service at 1-800-561-9280

Eligible Programming
. Mobile DISH 100 @ $29.99 /mo.
. Mobile DISH 200 @ $42.99 /mo.
. Starz Movie Pak @ $12.99 /mo.
. Encore Movie Pak @ $4.99 / mo.
Eligible Equipment:
Only the 311 will be eligible to be activated on a MobileDISH account.

Important Things to Remember
. A MobileDISH account is seperate from a DISH Network video account; customers receive sperate billing statements.
. Local network programming and Regional Sports Networks are not included in the MobileDISH progrmming packages.
. All Mobile Dish customers are required to enroll in Credit Card AutoPay.
. For technical questions, contact installing Retailer or the manufacturer.

Trivia Question from Kevin:How many satellites can the RaySat antenna see / track at one time?
win 6 model RaySat Cars.

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Questions:
Caller Rob: When will the ViP 222 be available in S.E. Oklahoma?
A: On the 222 it will be available in the June-July time frame, It's like our 322 receiver except TV1 tuner is HD and TV2 tuner is SD .

Caller Randy: I have the 211 receiver, I have heard that eventually you will be able to hook up an external HDD and turn it into a HD Dvr. Is this true?
A: Yes it is true, you will be able to hook up an external HDD to it and will be available towards the end of the year, Any off the shelf HDD with USB 2.0 will work.

Caller Adolph: I have noticed that since I upgrade one of my sets to HD that the PQ has gone down color wise, it looks like you are using a 16 bit color level instead of a 24 bit level. its on almost every channel including the HD ones.
A: We have not seen this, send us an e-mail and the model of your tv so we can get this fixed.

E-mails
Q (unknown): I personally want to see the ablity to hook my reciever to my computer and pull the recorded shows off of it, is this planned for the future?
A: No this is not planned for the future, copy protection issues and content protection stops this.
2ndQ: Also I would like to see a software update that will allow me to choose which tuner I record to, my dvr is constantly recording to the wrong tuner.
A: It depends on if you are single mode or dual mode and which tuner you are watching. On single mode it always uses the tuner that is not being used to drive the display. We are not sure if we answered your question, send us another e-mail on that.

Caller Gene: I was wondering when you were going to enable the Ethernet port on the 622 and will it have the same functionality of the ATT Homezone recievers?
A: Yes we are going to enable the Ethernet port (dishonline)You will need a highspeed IP connection we are going to talk about this in a later show. Also we are going to enable you to receiver tons of content through your broadband connection. Within the next 2 months we are going to enable setting timers on the ViP622 the rest coming later this year. It will be different than the Homezone.

Caller Leo: The RaySat when will you move beyond the 311 receiver to HD , I would like this for my RV.
A.: We are working on this for the 211 box, (sometime next year) it is in our plans.

E-Mail
Bob: Do you have a HD receiver that will send HD to more than one TV in the works?
A; We started working on that 4 years ago, but it is hard on the HDD, we are working on putting two 622's together in the home to get the second HD set served.
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WildBlue
Steve Shute guest:
We have launched a second satellite and we have partnered with DISHnetwork on this:

Package Comparison
Silver Package: download speeds: Up to 512 Kbps, Upload Up to 128 Kbps, 5 E-mail addresses ( 25 MB capability per address)Antivirus software 18 Months Free.
Gold Package: Up to 1.0Mbps, Upload Up to 200 Kbps, 5 E-Mail addresses(25MB capacity per address), 18 Months free Antivirus software.
Platinum Package: Up to 1.5 Mbps, Upload Up to 256 Kbps, 10 E-Mail addresses (25 MB capacity per address) 18 months free Antivirus software.
(pc and mac compatable)
We can provide this service on your DishNetwork Bill

Customer Offer
. Lease
. $199 Upfront Fee
. Warranty like Video
. Free Professional Installation ( $175.95 Value)

Video / Internet "Double Play"
. Bundled Billing
. One point of contact for video and high-speed Internet
. High-Speed Internete
$100 rebate with both services

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Trivia Question-Answer for ViP622 giveaway A: It stands for Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format
digital audio output on the back of your receiver. Winner: Sean O' Donald from Fargo, North Dakota.
RaySat contest A: One,: Jeff Schaefer ,Mike Scott, Mark Blanchard and Jimmy Battonfield.
Rebroadcasts through out the month on 101

Next:
Charlie Chat
June 11th 9PM Est

 

[MikeD-C05]

YAWN.... NOt a thing about the new mpeg 4 satellites they are going to launch by December or the transition to them. This was one of the more boring tech chats they have and I personally can not STAND Scott Higgens. He is the loudest blow hard they have on the show and he never really has anything to say of interest.

 

[kstuart]

I'm going to commit an Internet Faux Pas and say "I agree entirely with what you just said".

PS The "mobile dish" (TV in moving car) is an engineering feat still looking for a reason to exist. A DVD player fulfills 100% of the requirements of entertaining kids, and a regular RV Dish fulfills 100% of the requirements for TV after you have reached a stationary location.

 

[Kru83]

whats the installation process with mobile dish.

just hook up spinning satellite to 311. ???

 

[Pepper]

if i'm gonna pay THAT much for an antenna, that would mean I have an expensive RV to attach it to (I don't!), and I want to use my expensive HD DVR too. What's with the "311 only" restriction?

 

[lunkie]

I'm going to commit an Internet Faux Pas and say "I agree entirely with what you just said".

PS The "mobile dish" (TV in moving car) is an engineering feat still looking for a reason to exist. A DVD player fulfills 100% of the requirements of entertaining kids, and a regular RV Dish fulfills 100% of the requirements for TV after you have reached a stationary location.

Several "D" mobile systems have been installed in aircraft for a few years now. Think they are showing up in boats now too. If someone can afford to buy it and a company can make money installing it is reason to exist. Maybe this will be mobile for the masses. If there's a market for it.

 

[dfergie]

Uploading more screencaps and they will be online soon... don't think I will put up any audio bytes unless someone specifically requests them...

 

[Kaydigi]

No one asked about the 622 USB HDD support?

 

[dfergie]

No just a 211 question on it...

 

[Kaydigi]

No just a 211 question on it...

That blows, I guess there is no chance that it's coming out in June then.

 

[dfergie]

Put up some audio...

 

[KE4EST]

Good job on the re-cap Don.

 

[Dish-Direc]

More ground breaking features incorporating the 311....yet we are moving to MPEG-4....................Yeh.......rite.

 

[Slamminc11]

More ground breaking features incorporating the 311....yet we are moving to MPEG-4....................Yeh.......rite.

Umm, hello! They are just kicking the thing off. They didn't say that that was the only receiver that was ever going to be able to be used with the thing now did they?
Just like with DishNow! they started with the 311 and then moved into other receivers and other programming packages.

 

[Stacy A]

So, if I want Wildblue, everything is in place and I just call Dish to schedule the install?

 

[BobaBird]

Bob: Do you have a HD receiver that will send HD to more than one TV in the works?
A; We started working on that 4 years ago, but it is hard on the HDD,

As evidenced by the rash of reported HDD failures on 942 and 622 receivers as they handle 5 HD streams at once.

The EKB May 2007 Tech Forum Summary will be up soon.

 

[David_Levin]

Thanks for the recap. I decided to watch Sopranos instead (I'm still catching my breath). Perhaps I'll watch the tech chat while doing the dishes.

E-Mail
Bob: Do you have a HD receiver that will send HD to more than one TV in the works?
A; We started working on that 4 years ago, but it is hard on the HDD, we are working on putting two 622's together in the home to get the second HD set served.

I'm not sure why this is any harder on the HDD then watching HD source on TV1+TV2 with the current system. I'd think they don't currently have a scaler that can deal with 2 HD TVs.

Getting HD signal to TV2 is also a problem. They might get away with Component, but it's really not ment to traverse that much distance. They could use modulated RF, but then content protection is lost.

Ultimately, maybe we'll get this with a 622 + 211 and an Ethernet link.

 

[tsduke]

It would raise the cost of the receiver, but they could use more than one HDD if that what is preventing both outputs from being in HD.

 

[db2]

Thanks for the recap Don.

Folders for different shows on your DVR sounds cool. I wish someone would have asked about the possibility of Voom going mpeg4 or mpeg4 at 1920 lines of resolution. Does anyone have any experience with emailing a tech question after the show is over? Will I get a real answer?

 

[gjh3260]

CinemaxHD
Now Available
Channel: 310
Customer Must have:
Dish pointed at 129 / 61.5 orbital location
Have a ViP series / MPEG4 HD equipment
Subscribe to DishHD

OR

Pay the enabling fee of $6.00/mo. for HD locals and subscribe to Cinemax Premium Movie Package

__________



I guess I never checked channel 310 since I thought I had to subscribe to Cinemax to get it in HD but based on what was stated on the tech chat, I do have a dish pointed at 129 orbital location have a ViP 211 / MPEG4 HD equipment and subscribe to DishHD.

Should i be getting Cinemax HD or am i missing something here ???