Lots of RV/Boat Customers are going to be UPSET

[JohnL]

I'm on the phone right now with DirecTV Tech Support regarding the impending Switch OFF of SD. I currently have an In-motion Boat KU only Satellite system. I'm being told I have to switch my D12 for a HD receiver, which is completely fine. I asked what is happening with my SD Locals from 119, the answer is 119 is being turned off. Next question, "Since I have a KU only system what is happening with 101" The only answer the tech department has is all of the SD channels are being removed. Followup Question, "Ok, does this mean that 101 will have a subset of Core Programing Channels in HD." Apparently the Tech Department doesn't know. If this is the case thousands of RV and Boat owners across the country are going to be EXTREMELY UPSET on July 9th.

I honestly don't understand how a company that serves thousands of KU only customers like me with absolutely NO ANSWERS in UNCONSCIONABLE

The Tech on the phone told me DirecTV will be working hard to upgrade customers hardware. I told her there is Absolutely NO WAY DirecTV will be able to re-engineer any Third Party hardware like mine from Intellian, KVH, King dome Etc into a KA Banded system without completely replacing it at costs from $4000 to $7000.

How a huge company like AT&T could drop ball on this is astounding.

Ooh how I wish AT&T and their cost saving at all costs and screw the customers, is making a great service like DirecTV a complete JOKE.

Looks more and more like a separate Dish Network package from my Boat is in the cards.

John

 

[mdram]

directv does not have an in motion dish, thats a third party dish
maybe that company will update it.

as directv does not install or service rv/boats they most likely dont view it as their problem.

this is not just an sd change, mpeg2 encoding is going away for mpeg4. so its a bit more complicated.

where did they july 9th date come from? last i heard it was in 2019 sometime

 

[JohnL]

directv does not have an in motion dish, thats a third party dish
maybe that company will update it.

as directv does not install or service rv/boats they most likely dont view it as their problem.

this is not just an sd change, mpeg2 encoding is going away for mpeg4. so its a bit more complicated.

where did they july 9th date come from? last i heard it was in 2019 sometime

There is absolutely NO WAY any Third Party in-motion equipment is going to be able to be upgraded to receive KA Band, for lots of reasons. I just want to the know what is going happen. There is no point for me to upgrade a receiver that is not going to get any channels from 101 or 119 as those are the only satellites I can receive a signal from. I'd just like to know what is going to happen, without that knowledge I'm at a loss as what to do. If a new receiver will function as before but with out Locals OK, but nobody at AT&T DirecTV has the answers or will provide ANY information at ALL.

John

 

[slice1900]

Don't trust what Directv's CSRs tell you. If you call three times you'll get three different answers to the same question. Someone else posted on dbstalk not too long ago saying the CSR said that 101 would remain all SD after the MPEG2 SD shutdown date on April 1, 2019 (not sure where you got this July 9th date from) and while he'd need HD receivers he was told he didn't need to upgrade his dish. The CSRs obviously don't know the story yet given that you got a different answer about this, so as per usual they're just guessing or reporting rumors they heard from other CSRs who also don't know.

The problem is Directv hasn't made any official statements, and it seems they've only been mailing people about replacing receivers and not about replacing dishes. So perhaps 101 will carry MPEG4 SD duplicates of everything next April 2nd, but if that's the case they should probably let their CSRs know and put some sort of official statement up on their web site somewhere they can refer to. It is crazy to me that they are not making any information available about this major change less than a year before it is scheduled to happen.

The only thing we know for sure that will happen on April 2nd 1) The 95 and 119 satellites will be shut down, and 2) all the MPEG2 SD locals on 101/119 will be shut off. While we don't know for sure what will become of 101, we know it will continue to be used and basically there are two possible outcomes:

1) every channel (including those currently on 95 & 119) will be carried in MPEG4 SD from 101 so a 101 dish will receive everything, and while it will still be SD it should be better quality SD than their current SD
2) some limited selection of channels (probably somewhere between 100 and 150) will be carried in HD on 101, but if you want access to the channels that aren't carried there you'll need a Slimline

Either way, if you have a Ku only dish, you won't get ANY locals unless you have DNS or your service address is in the NYC or LA markets.

If Directv ever makes a definitive statement, I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about here and on dbstalk. The uncertainty will end up costing them more customers than whatever changes they make. I imagine Dish dealers are doing great business from worried Directv boat and RV owners who don't know what's going on and figure it is easier to switch to Dish than wait til the last minute for Directv to tell them what they will need going forward.

 

[JohnL]

If Directv ever makes a definitive statement, I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about here and on dbstalk. The uncertainty will end up costing them more customers than whatever changes they make. I imagine Dish dealers are doing great business from worried Directv boat and RV owners who don't know what's going on and figure it is easier to switch to Dish than wait til the last minute for Directv to tell them what they will need going forward.

As the Game show analogy goes,

Sound from Backstage : "Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding"
Game Show Emcee: "Johnny, We have a winner"

John

 

[Jimbo]

I'm on the phone right now with DirecTV Tech Support regarding the impending Switch OFF of SD. I currently have an In-motion Boat KU only Satellite system. I'm being told I have to switch my D12 for a HD receiver, which is completely fine. I asked what is happening with my SD Locals from 119, the answer is 119 is being turned off. Next question, "Since I have a KU only system what is happening with 101" The only answer the tech department has is all of the SD channels are being removed. Followup Question, "Ok, does this mean that 101 will have a subset of Core Programing Channels in HD." Apparently the Tech Department doesn't know. If this is the case thousands of RV and Boat owners across the country are going to be EXTREMELY UPSET on July 9th.

I honestly don't understand how a company that serves thousands of KU only customers like me with absolutely NO ANSWERS in UNCONSCIONABLE

The Tech on the phone told me DirecTV will be working hard to upgrade customers hardware. I told her there is Absolutely NO WAY DirecTV will be able to re-engineer any Third Party hardware like mine from Intellian, KVH, King dome Etc into a KA Banded system without completely replacing it at costs from $4000 to $7000.

How a huge company like AT&T could drop ball on this is astounding.

Ooh how I wish AT&T and their cost saving at all costs and screw the customers, is making a great service like DirecTV a complete JOKE.

Looks more and more like a separate Dish Network package from my Boat is in the cards.

John

Sorry Johnl,
This is not on ATT, this has been in the works for MANY YEARS now ....

They told you July 9th ?
You'd think that we would have heard a date by now if it was that close .... I have heard nothing on a date as of yet.

As for the turning off SD, thats GREAT !
Now, what they do with the 101 is where the interesting things are going to happen.

IF they move the HD channels to the 101 thats great news, they won't all fit, but if they put the Major ones on first, that would be a really good move .... then those of us campers would still be able to use these dishes in the RVs.

 

[Jimbo]

There is absolutely NO WAY any Third Party in-motion equipment is going to be able to be upgraded to receive KA Band, for lots of reasons. I just want to the know what is going happen. There is no point for me to upgrade a receiver that is not going to get any channels from 101 or 119 as those are the only satellites I can receive a signal from. I'd just like to know what is going to happen, without that knowledge I'm at a loss as what to do. If a new receiver will function as before but with out Locals OK, but nobody at AT&T DirecTV has the answers or will provide ANY information at ALL.

John

John,
No one knows yet whats going to happen with the 101 slot, (I'm sure something will be there, but no word has come out yet) ...

If I were you, I would relax and wait to see what does happen with the 101 Sat programming wise.

I am in the same boat as you with the RV, I just don't have the big boy like you do.
Were all in the same boat here.

 

[george99]

Question kind of related:
If I understand correctly, they are stopping SD service.
Right now they are charging me $10 a month for HD service so will that fee end?
Also when it rains hard and signal goes out, I usually switch to SD. I’m guessing I won’t be able to do that anymore either!

 

[Jimbo]

Question kind of related:
If I understand correctly, they are stopping SD service.
Right now they are charging me $10 a month for HD service so will that fee end?
Also when it rains hard and signal goes out, I usually switch to SD. I’m guessing I won’t be able to do that anymore either!

Depending on exactly what happens ....
Will the HD fee go away, probably not .... its currently bundled in the package deal so I'm guessing it doesn't draw peoples questions if its bundled ...
I believe that if they move programming on to the 101, it will be on the KA side and not as susceptible to rain fade.

Jump in guys if I have that backwards, I can never remember which is which.

 

[raoul5788]

Depending on exactly what happens ....
Will the HD fee go away, probably not .... its currently bundled in the package deal so I'm guessing it doesn't draw peoples questions if its bundled ...
I believe that if they move programming on to the 101, it will be on the KA side and not as susceptible to rain fade.

Jump in guys if I have that backwards, I can never remember which is which.

KA is more susceptible to fade than KU is.

 

[Jimbo]

KA is more susceptible to fade than KU is.

So the 99 and 103 are KA while the KU is the 101

 

[raoul5788]

So the 99 and 103 are KA while the KU is the 101

Yup.

 

[Claude Greiner]

101 is NOT going away.

Everyone who has HD can see 99, 101 and 103.

Channels can move between these 3 satellites and nobody is going to tell the difference.

As far as 110/119 people who can see those 2 satellites can see 101 for sure and 99/103 if they have HD.

So let’s say SD goes away tomorrow, here is what we know for a fact...

#1 Your D12 is garbage, and you will need to upgrade to an MPEG4 HD equivalent receiver. Likely an H25 or H24. Likely upgrades by Directv for free.

#2 Everything will be MPEG4

As far as satellite capacity and reliability we know 101 provides the best and most reliable signal.

They will not abandon 101!

Likely what will happen is all the popular HD channels that are currently on 99/103 will be moved to 101 in MPEG4.

The only issue is locals, as there is not enough spot beam capacity to move all HD locals to 101 or from 119. Those will likely stay on 103 or 99

 

[navychop]

I think the reference to doubts about the future of 101 was really meant for 119.

Too bad this opportunity to move to HEVC was missed. Too early, I guess.

 

[Jimbo]

With the MPEG4 technology, could you get all the HD (non locals) on the 101 Sat ?
I'm thinking not, but don't know.

This would improve the rain fade issue for sure.
All those using dishes to get the 101 for RV's and boating and some tailgating would be happy as they would actually Gain vs being without service.

Heres hoping thats what they do.

 

[goaliebob99]

Core channels will most likely move to the 101 KU from 103 & 99 KA. At least that's the plan from my understanding. Locals that were on 119 will be on your local spot at 99 or 103. If you have a boat / rv you can apply for the national DNS channels out of NYC or LA depending on what side of the Mississippi you're on and get network content that way. 119 is going away, as well as internationals on Gal 3C will be moving in the future as well. 119 really isn't needed anymore, and I'm sure Echostar would be chomping at the bit to do a deal for those transponders as that's their core slot as well.

 

[goaliebob99]

With the MPEG4 technology, could you get all the HD (non locals) on the 101 Sat ?
I'm thinking not, but don't know.

This would improve the rain fade issue for sure.
All those using dishes to get the 101 for RV's and boating and some tailgating would be happy as they would actually Gain vs being without service.

Heres hoping thats what they do.

I would think 175 channels would be a good conservative estimate doing 5-6 channels per transponder. That slot has 32 transponders licensed, at 6 channels in HD per TP, if they used all 32 would be 192 channels. I'm assuming they would abandon using spots at that location.

 

[slice1900]

They told you July 9th ?
You'd think that we would have heard a date by now if it was that close .... I have heard nothing on a date as of yet.

A couple people posted on dbstalk that they had received letters, and April 1st 2019 is the date for the MPEG2 SD shutdown. Some local spotbeams might shut down earlier, I'm not sure as apparently they sent letters regarding local channels first.

 

[Jimbo]

A couple people posted on dbstalk that they had received letters, and April 1st 2019 is the date for the MPEG2 SD shutdown. Some local spotbeams might shut down earlier, I'm not sure as apparently they sent letters regarding local channels first.

The sooner the better as long as they let people know ....
Actually, the only people effected would be the recvrs that don't handle mpeg4, for the rest it would be a seamless transition, in a perfect world.

 

[mdram]

Actually, the only people effected would be the recvrs that don't handle mpeg4, for the rest it would be a seamless transition, in a perfect world.

thats quite a few people, they will most likley need a new dish also