Tri Cities TN/VA HD locals on 61.5
- Thread starter bentjm
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They probably aren't going to be on eastern arc any time soon, if ever, as there is no transponder space available. That market is a designated western arc market, not an eastern arc market. You will need to swing your 61.5 dish to 129 for your locals.
My guess is some engineer says that since the Tri-Cities is on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. That there is no way most people would have a clear LOS to the east or southeast sky for EA. 
D* is using all mpeg4 in our dma. Elevations are 40+ for these birds. The only hd local they don't have is wkpt 19. I can personally help you out with this, pm me if interested.
My guess is some engineer says that since the Tri-Cities is on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. That there is no way most people would have a clear LOS to the east or southeast sky for EA.
There are a lot of markets and satellites are expensive. Ciel 2 at 129W was designed to cover nearly all of the U.S. with spot beams for providing locals. The satellites at 72.7 and 77 only have ConUS beams which means their transponders can be used only once. The 61.5 position has spot beams but due to power problems it cannot utilize all of them. Eastern arc was conceived to be able to serve markets in the east that could not be served from the west. Also keep in mind that by law both DBS companies have to carry all available locals, not just the Big 4, in a few years further consuming transponder space. I would expect to see only the larger markets in the interior midwest and east on both arcs.
Dish says they have no information available - so they can't say.
So, I have gone from a 105 Superdish, to the 105 Superdish with 105 disconnected, to adding a 61.5 wing dish because the old 129 satellite was horrible for this area, to now ripping it all out and installing a 1000.2 dish which will have to be on the other side of my house because of LOS issues with 129. (Try diagramming that sentence.)
Or, I can live with SD locals.
I believe I will live with it until Dish decides what they are going to do.
So, I have gone from a 105 Superdish, to the 105 Superdish with 105 disconnected, to adding a 61.5 wing dish because the old 129 satellite was horrible for this area, to now ripping it all out and installing a 1000.2 dish which will have to be on the other side of my house because of LOS issues with 129. (Try diagramming that sentence.)
Or, I can live with SD locals.
I believe I will live with it until Dish decides what they are going to do.
They've already declared Tri Cities a western arc market. What more do you need to know? Plug your zip code into their tool:
Eastern Arc DMA Lookup Tool
You can always "move" to an eastern arc market on 61.5 if you can find a beam that covers you or put up an eastern arc dish and "move" to one of the 77W markets that are ConUS. The easiest thing would be to call E* and have them move the dish or put up a new one. It usually costs $60 without any commitment or free with an extended commitment.
Have you looked at receiving them ota??? Being high up you may be able to get a great signal ota.
I wonder if that would include sub channels or the multi cast channels carried by the local networks also?
I really have no idea. I would think it would be just the main channels and not all the subchannels unless they were also one of the major nets. There are markets where one station is broadcasting more than one network on shared bandwidth. It's likely also subject to change before it actually happens, politicians being politicians and all that.
I have seen a few customers who have been around 4000' above sea level and not get anything on ota here because the mountain behind or in front of them is blocking the ota stations. My guess is the op being where he's at is more than likely in the same boat. This area especially around the state line is very mountainous. Here is just one example in East Tn, "Roan Mountain" (elevation 6,285 feet above sea level).
I have noticed that the signal strength for spotbeam transponder 11 where Tri Cities HD locals come from is very low only 40 percent. I am seeing these results with a Dish 1000 Plus with a Superdish pan. All my other signal strengths are mid 70s to mid 80s. It just barely misted rain a few nights ago and they kept losing signal. Good thing I had Pittsburgh HD from 118 as a backup.
I don't need to know anything more. I know what I have to do to get 129. I suppose that Dish has never changed their stance on anything, so I should take their stance on Western arc as pure forever gospel. Just like I took their stance that a 61.5 wing dish was my best option for HD and that they would mirror everything from 129.
Well that last part is certainly true. With the old 129, 61.5 was certainly the way to go for best reception. The new 129 is another story. It would be nice if everyone had a choice as to the direction to point, but those of us living in smaller DMAs likely will never have that choice.
Have you talked to E* to see about the $60 install with no commitment? I like doing things myself but when someone else will do it for me for about the same cost, I usually let them.
Has anyone noticed any signal loss on the Tri Cities HD channels? I Tuned to WJHL and it said signal lost, so I checked my signal strengths from 110. 118.7, 119, and the rest of the 129 transponders and they were from mid 70's to mid 80's. I think they have a problem with there spotbeam for this area.
