Will I get Eastern Arc?

[viggen61]

I've had Dish for 3 1/2 years, with a 622, and 61.5/110/119 on two dishes (the usual pre-EA setup, I gather).

I want to call them to get the "upgrade" so I can have BBCA HD, but I'm concerned they'll want to install a third dish, which simply isn't happening...

I'm only a few miles from New York City, and I believe that the angle to the EA satellites is considerably better than it would be to try and get the 129 satellite.

Can I insist on the EA setup, or am I at the mercy of Dish?

And if I can request the EA, should I do that with the rep when I make the request?

Thanks!

 

[garys]

129 is not at a good angle in NYC. Also, your local channels are on 61.5. EA should be what you get upgraded to.

 

[viggen61]

That's what makes the most sense to me, though I've been reading posts about folks having installers adding or trying to add a third dish, or, even more strangely, keeping the 110/119, adding the EA dish, but only receiving two of the three satellites on it...

 

[MikeD-C05]

Refer to the front of this site . There is announcement for those who want to upgrade to eastern arc with a phone number to call. All you really need is either western arc or eastern arc dish ,depending on what arc your locals are on.

DISH is willing to do the upgrades because they will be migrating all hd on eastern arc to the 72.7 sat in the future. So all the other combination of dishes people are doing right now will not be needed . Unless they have older mpeg 2 receivers. Then they will need both 110/119 for the mpeg 2 receivers and the eastern arc dish for 77/72.7/61.5 for the mpeg 4 receivers. The easiest thing would be to upgrade the receivers at the same time making the need for 110/119 go away.

But if you have distants from AAD for either sd distants or hd distants you will need 119 or 110 side sat for reception of them in addition to your eastern arc dish.

 

[JSheridan]

Refer to the front of this site . There is announcement for those who want to upgrade to eastern arc with a phone number to call. All you really need is either western arc or eastern arc dish ,depending on what arc your locals are on.

DISH is willing to do the upgrades because they will be migrating all hd on eastern arc to the 72.7 sat in the future. So all the other combination of dishes people are doing right now will not be needed . Unless they have older mpeg 2 receivers. Then they will need both 110/119 for the mpeg 2 receivers and the eastern arc dish for 77/72.7/61.5 for the mpeg 4 receivers. The easiest thing would be to upgrade the receivers at the same time making the need for 110/119 go away.

But if you have distants from AAD for either sd distants or hd distants you will need 119 or 110 side sat for reception of them in addition to your eastern arc dish.

Another reason for having to keep 110 for our particular DMA is that our SD locals come from 110 but the four locals available in HD come from 61.5, so to get everything we need either a 1000.4/110 or 61.5/72.7/110/119, which gives better signals than 77 and allows for older MPEG2 receivers too.

 

[Rlanham]

I talked to Dish (I have 119/110/61.5) setup via chat and was told I am on western ARC and since I have no line of sight for 129 that I have NO options currently?

 

[englandman44601]

That's when you go out and see if you have a line of sight for yourself. I bet you can get a signal on the 129.

 

[englandman44601]

That's how I got my eastern arc. Re-pointed 61.5 dish to 129 had a horrible signal. Called it in they came out and put me on eastern arc for 15$ plus the 6$ service plan.

 

[englandman44601]

Beware as they will try to just point you back to 61.5. Just insist that you had programming on the 129 that you aren't getting on the 61.5.

 

[englandman44601]

do i get some status for this one? lol

 

[englandman44601]

Best instructions I have ever seen. thanks to digiblur!



Ok... let me break this down for all of you.

First of all you have a Dish 500 pointed at 110/119. We will not be touching this dish.

1. Go to DishPointer.com, change it to satellite view, search for your address and move the marker to your house. Zoom in as close as you can. Change the satellite to 129 in the drop down. This will give you an idea of where to point the dish in relation to other things in your yard. You can also get the elevation of the dish from this page.

2. Now time to do the fun part. Grab a 7/16's wrench and permanent marker. Go to your 61.5 dish and draw a vertical line on the pole where the dish meets the pole. Start your line on the dish mount and end on the pole. This will help you put the dish back if you can't find 129. Also mark the elevation bolt.

3. Go to your satellite receiver, press Menu 6 1 1 for the Point Dish screen. Change it to 61.5 and Transponder 27 (transponder 27 is also active with HD on 129 at this time). Make sure you have a locked signal (you should as you were watching HD fine before right?).

4. Now you'll either need someone to watch the signal screen or drag a TV out to the dish. Which ever way you choose or come up with is fine, as long as you have access to the signal numbers at the dish.

5. Now loosen the bolts on the dish to move it side to side. Set the elevation at the angle Dishpointer.com told you.

6. Move the dish into the area where Dishpointer showed you.

7. Now slowly move the dish side to side as you watch the signal...slow slight adjustments is key! If you don't find the signal move the elevation a bit and swing it back and forth again. Keep trying each elevation until you find the 129 signal.

8. Now tweak the signal to the highest as possible. The signal will show Wrong Satellite of 129, that is perfectly fine. We will fix that. Just make sure it says 129 and not 110 or 119.

9. Now hit check switch. After the checks, you should now have 110/119/129 on your receiver.

10. Don't forget to tighten all the bolts down.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Another reason for having to keep 110 for our particular DMA is that our SD locals come from 110 but the four locals available in HD come from 61.5, so to get everything we need either a 1000.4/110 or 61.5/72.7/110/119, which gives better signals than 77 and allows for older MPEG2 receivers too.

What locals do you have?

 

[JSheridan]

What locals do you have?

Albany, NY.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Yes, I see they didn't finish putting your sd channels on the eastern arc . Maybe once DISH moves all the HD national channels to 72.7, this might open up the 61.5 sat for more locals and finish the split hd/sd markets like yours, JSheridan.

 

[johnch]

1000.4 for $00

I was able to get 1000.4 for $0 if I signed up for monthly maintenance program which I thought I had but was somehow removed. Great deal and signal strength on 61.5 around 45 72 around 48 and 77 around 40. Picture quality with mp4 on sd channels seems better by now I have nothing to compare it with.

JC

 

[viggen61]

Called today...

It was relatively painless, but I'm guessing that the people answering the "special" line still aren't completely aware of this.

Got a CSR for whom English seemed to be their first language, always a plus these days. Only spent a couple minutes on hold.

First said that they would "re-point" my dish. Then I explained that I've got 61.5 & 110/119, and I'm not getting 129, nor can I install a 3rd dish, so I think I convinced him that it has to be the EA dish.

He even offered to have a tech out tomorrow... But I had to decline, on the basis of the impending nasty weather. So, hopefully, on Friday, March 12, I'll finally be able to see BBCA HD!

(the March 12 date is due to my availability, or lack thereof...)

Oh, and he even told me twice that it will be free of charge to me! :up

Thanks for all the help here!