1. Are there any SD English channels on 119 (sans locals...mine are on 101) or is it all Spanish?
Very few if any, a few of the music channels. Doubt you would miss any.
2. If everything is on 101 would they allow a "non normal" dish setup? See pic below. I have a Primestar dish at 105W (for free to air) and a DBS LNB next to it. All signals in high 80's low 90's. In fact, my neighbor right now is using one of the ports (we have to run a new cable for one receiver and its 125 feet and we have 2 feet of snow...so we're waiting til spring to replace the bad cable) and the other one right now is for my bedroom HD receiver that I am using for OTA only (Sony D* receiver) or do I let them install the dish then remove it after they leave or can they use that?
That setup will work fine, even if they required an installer to putin a dish, have them do a pole and take it down when they go. Better yet setup everything yourself and just call to activate, I belive that's the kind of guy you are, then no installer on your property to deal with.
3. If I dont get the sports pack (just want my local RSN) on Dish there are Alternate channels that have some college games that are usually not blacked out (I relaize pro sports are....but some college games on there are not). Also some college hockey (like on FSN Wisconsin). Do I get those on D* too? I assume I have to actually find the channel (like FSN WI) as I noticed the alt channels are not grouped together
I don't know if you'd get FSN-WI games or not, hard to say. May be best to ask another MN person with D*, perhaps use the AVS local forum for that one. Choice does include CBS-CH and ESPNU and BTN which has lots of hockey. Sports pack only gives you the extra RSNs and FCS (a few games, like ND and Niagara on occassion). Sports pack would get you more games too, FSNDet, NESN, Altitude, but you probably get them FTA? Of couse you can just carry Sports pack a few months a year too.
4. On the subject of the alt channels, D* has 2 feeds of Fox College Sports (617 & 623). Are those sports pack only or are they considered ALT channels?
Sports pack only, when Michigan hockey was on 617 I couldn't watch it w/o sports pack (although it was a Niagara feed, I don't know if NW NY customers could have watched.
5. The SD DVR...I've heard its great and I've heard its a POS. So how is it? I know its only a single tuner but does it lockup all the time or does it work pretty smooth? If its junk, I'll get the SD receiver and use my DVD recorder/hard drive.
The R22 is good, 500gb hard drive too, so plenty of storage. Comes with a $7 DVR fee too though. Don't recomend the R15/R16. R22's are hard to get, ebay or internet seller only pretty much.
6. How long do I have to be a sub before I could "move"? I can get my locals in HD OTA but the neighboring DMA has a CBS that I want to get. The DMA actually is only a 1 channel DMA (Mankato, MN)....the other big 4 nets are from Minneapolis.
If you do the install yourself and just call to activate, you don't need to wait at all. If not, there is no set answer, it's just changing an address. Just like telling the CSR you already have a dish and signal at the new place, you can tell them that for the new activation too.
Sadly, I think they require the 2 years either way now.