Which Satellite 129 or 61.5 for HD Chattanooga?

[Chris Freeland]

My wife and I are currently planning on building a new home in the next year or so, if I can talk my family in going back to E* (I hate Comcast, wife and daughter like it better then E* ), I hope to go HD with a 42" plasma HD in Great Room by then. If I go back to E* I hope to get a VIP 622 for new TV I hope to have, and a 322 for other TV's in the house and Digital Gold w/locals programing package. Currently only the SD Chattanooga locals are available via satellite so I will need to go ota for the HD locals unless they are added in the next year or so which I doubt. I would prefer to have a Dish 500 pointed at 110/119 and a 2nd dish pointed at 61.5 because just down the road less then 100 miles from us in Atlanta, they are having problems receiving 129, I would rather not have the hassle. Will E* require me to have a Dish 1000 for 110/119/129 for a one dish solution or will I have the option of a 2 dish solution? With a 2 dish solution it would also give me a couple extra PI channels and I could always re-aim the dish to another satellite location if I needed to if Chattanooga HD locals are ever added in the future.

 

[general487]

I think you are probably rolling the dice depending on who you talk to in customer service and what install guy you get.

I told E* that I absolutely wanted a one dish setup (they were going to add a second rather than give me a 1000), and they honored my request. The install guy also had plenty of options with him and he seemed to let me tell him what I wanted.

My first install was not nearly as customer friendly! I think it's probably just luck of the draw.

 

[mwgiii]

If you can, I would go with both. The way Dish changes plans, it is always better to have as many slots as possible.

 

[jahlight]

This taken from DBSTALK forum

Here's the real deal with 129
This posting may be kind of long, But here are a bunch of answers to many of your questions, etc... This is all I know...

I'm a full time independent dish network tech, And certified field service specialist, and have been for several years (Have dishes up from wa/ore coast to idaho, albany to canadian border), HERE IS THE TRUTH

YES, 2 of the 4 gyros holding 129 in place are BROKEN. The satellite wobbles and is pointed at a wrong angle to us so no repositioning of your dish will solve this!

Dish has been, is, and will be denying this all. Everyone is having the same problem. The 2nd dish gives an average of 5%-10% higher signal than the 1000. Don't assume your installer is stupid because he says replacing with the 2nd dish won't improve your signal! For instance, In my normal service area, I check certain transponders on 129 (some lower signal ones, some higher), If I see an average signal of 67 or below, I add the 2nd dish. There ARE times when the dish 1000 is already peaked very well, I've put up the 2nd dish and cannot even hit the same signal! (signal +/- 1 or 2 can be a fraction of a hair of movement), If I see a signal of 68 or above, I advise a 2nd dish will not help.

Also, when talking about this problem as a whole and the fact the satellite WILL NOT stay locked on, a signal raise of 5 will likely not do a whole lot, The problem will still be there. Of course you people who have put up your own larger dish to 129 will receiver higher signal and have less problems (I dont have any personal experience w/ this I only install standard dish equip-- Makes me happy you've found something to help you out), One other bit of advice for pointing the 2nd dish directly to 129: try flipping the skew ALL the way both directions (yes, the dish looks crazy and like its pointed at the nextdoor house not the sky), I've managed to get several points higher signal this way (itll still point well just have the elev/azimuth correct) and btw use a meter theyre cheap on ebay dont hollar into the house to someone watching the bar!


The problem has been going on since the beginning of the new mpeg-4 recvs, NO ONE can get an answer out of dish as to when itll be fixed (OR any other information--even to us techs they tell NOTHING!) The reason I know about the gyros is our company manager (through insane luck or divine intervention, take your pick) ONE TIME got ahold of someone high-up @ dish after getting into a screaming match with various csr's/managers and demanded an answer. That's when we found out about the gyros (most ppl dont know this)

Most of us techs are at the point now (at least my fellow subs) where every new install or upgrade for mpeg-4 recvs, I am BRUTALLY honest with the customer (sure itll get me in trouble eventually), And I manage to talk EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER into cancelling the install/upgrade after giving them the whole story.

Most of those who do have it (trust me the average amount of scheduled trouble calls on 129 systems is at least 5---ive been to the same customer's home 5-6 times and been the 8th tech there who has to tell them sorry nothing I can do), Everyone is ripping their hair out, Most have managed to get credit on their bill by screaming enough to the csc, I even had one customer today tell me he bitched enough that they let him out of contract for the 211 upgrade, Removed the dish 1000 and the 211, Creditted his ENTIRE BILL for 5 months, etc, etc... Very rare.

In conclusion-- The 2nd dish will improve signal slightly, Those who have access to a larger custom dish will benefit, Dish will not even admit or tell the techs WHEN this will be fixed (which tells me it could possibly be a very long time---but theyre losing reputation quick)


BTW: You people going on about dishs good customer service vs. directv, 75%of Dish's calls are to a call center in INDIA! It blew my mind to read what was posted about how much better dishs is than directv! I am 90% sure that its a requirement of employment as a dish csr your IQ must not be over 65, Try calling on a sunday morning sometime when theyre REALLY hung over.