Hopper Upgrades

[Y2J]

1. New poster
2. Multiple posts with incorrect information
3. Rarely responds to corrective posts

simple addition

1. You are an idiot!
2. You are not Sherlock Holmes so stop looking for conspiracies where there isn't any!
3. I ignored your posts and didn't take the time to respond to them because of *see #1*

 

[Y2J]

Something if fishy, here. It's either not true or there is a "reason" we are not being told.

Nothing fishy here patmurphey. Every person I talked to at Dish has given me a different answer as to what upgrades I can get and how much they will cost me. I've been told by the Dish Executive office that there was a freeze on giving anyone 2 Hoppers. I was told by DIRT members that they cannot place an order for 2 Hoppers. When I called the regular customer service number, they told me I could order 2 Hoppers by themselves. It is painfully obvious that Dish Network has no idea what they are doing anymore. The left hand does not communicate at all with the right one. I got fed up dealing with them and made the call today and ordered DirecTV. After 13 straight years with Dish, I'll have DirecTV this Wednesday. Anything else you'd like clarified?

 

[navychop]

:haha

 

[JJ-VA]

I would like someone from the DIRT team to contact me about a 2 hopper/4 joey upgrade. I'm an in-contract customer (exp. 9-12) and have 1 722k & 2 each 222k's. Thanks, Jim

 

[barryaz1]

I've been looking for a basic thread here, and it's been tough to find. I've been a dish customer since 1998 and am trying to figure this out. Have a 722k with OTA (I know not available yet on the Hopper), an EHD, Sling adapter, and an owned 508 now. 722 to an HD, 508 to an SD. My son's moving in with an HD in a different room and eventually the SD will be replaced with an HD. Network's hardwired to the 722 in the complete system cabinet.

What do I need in H/J's and how does the wiring and connections go? Is Dish going to hit me with a big charge, (how about not at all, since I just checked Quicken and I've spent over $14,000 with Dish since then!) and what will the monthly increase be? And I gather that programs on the EHD will be accessible, either on the Hopper, or just left on the EHD, but not current recordings on the 722, which probably has to get returned.

Should I maybe just get my son a standalone HD receiver, with or without a DVR?

And where's the best thread for an experienced Dish owner without a clue right now on Hopper?

THANKS

Barry

Scottsdale

 

[dfergie]

I've been looking for a basic thread here, and it's been tough to find. I've been a dish customer since 1998 and am trying to figure this out. Have a 722k with OTA (I know not available yet on the Hopper), an EHD, Sling adapter, and an owned 508 now. 722 to an HD, 508 to an SD. My son's moving in with an HD in a different room and eventually the SD will be replaced with an HD. Network's hardwired to the 722 in the complete system cabinet.

What do I need in H/J's and how does the wiring and connections go? Is Dish going to hit me with a big charge, (how about not at all, since I just checked Quicken and I've spent over $14,000 with Dish since then!) and what will the monthly increase be? And I gather that programs on the EHD will be accessible, either on the Hopper, or just left on the EHD, but not current recordings on the 722, which probably has to get returned.

Should I maybe just get my son a standalone HD receiver, with or without a DVR?

And where's the best thread for an experienced Dish owner without a clue right now on Hopper?

THANKS

Barry

Scottsdale

I edited your personal info, bots and others could use this info.

 

[mdavej]

Barry,

You need 1 Hopper and 1 Joey if you can live with a total of 3 tuners ($99 installed). Otherwise you need 2 Hoppers (possibly $300 installed, maybe less depending on your status). All your existing wiring can be re-used. Whether to get a stand-alone for your son is up to you, but with the Hopper/Joey system, your choices are more Hoppers or Joeys, nothing else. In my house with a family of 4, I have a single Hopper, but most of our viewing is on the main TV. If you attempt to get 2 Hoppers, go through a local installer, not the Dish website or DIRT (that won't work, as you can see from a few earlier posts).

I'm guessing you pay $10/month for the 508. A Joey is only $7. A Hopper is $4 more than a 722. A second Hopper in leiu of a Joey is also only $7. So your net monthly cost increases $1 in either a 1H/1J or 2H config. However, Hopper uses about $1 less in electricity per month than a 722, so there is really no increase at all. Joey uses even less, so you'll probably actually save money.

Keep your sling adapter and use it with your Hopper. You can transfer all the recordings you want to keep onto your EHD which you can then plug into your Hopper and watch.

There is a first look thread somewhere in the forum that gives you a lot of detailed info about H/J. Coming from a 722 and 211, I can tell you the upgrade is well worth it.

 

[barryaz1]

I did find the First Look thread. I had thought I needed 1H and 2J's to do this. So a Hopper has 3 tuners (pending an OTA addiiton), so it seems if I want to give my son a J, (having the Hopper at the main TV, and a Joey at each of the other 2) then it would mean that all 3 tuners could be tuned at once, but would then not allow a separate (4th) program to be recorded. And I think it means that either a H or a J could "feed" a TV, both are not needed at a TV. Correct?

 

[isaacmorseMI]

I did find the First Look thread. I had thought I needed 1H and 2J's to do this. So a Hopper has 3 tuners (pending an OTA addiiton), so it seems if I want to give my son a J, (having the Hopper at the main TV, and a Joey at each of the other 2) then it would mean that all 3 tuners could be tuned at once, but would then not allow a separate (4th) program to be recorded. And I think it means that either a H or a J could "feed" a TV, both are not needed at a TV. Correct?

Correct, unless you wanted to try and get a 2 Hopper / 1 Joey config which would give the system 6 tuners. The Joey is a thin-client receiver that uses the Hopper's tuners. One or the other, but not both, is needed.

 

[mdavej]

I did find the First Look thread. I had thought I needed 1H and 2J's to do this. So a Hopper has 3 tuners (pending an OTA addiiton), so it seems if I want to give my son a J, (having the Hopper at the main TV, and a Joey at each of the other 2) then it would mean that all 3 tuners could be tuned at once, but would then not allow a separate (4th) program to be recorded. And I think it means that either a H or a J could "feed" a TV, both are not needed at a TV. Correct?

Correct. Your original post made it sound like you only had 2 TVs and were simply looking to replace your son's existing SD with HD. With 3 TVs, 3 tuners will be tight. Another Hopper or Joey will make your monthly cost go up another $7. How often will 3 people be watching 3 different live programs simultaneously? Many of my TVs are never used at the same time, so I just mirror them, avoiding the monthly expensive of additional boxes. If you truly need independent viewing all the time, then 2H/1J is the way to go.

EDIT: Looks like Isaac beat me to it.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

Correct. Your original post made it sound like you only had 2 TVs and were simply looking to replace your son's existing SD with HD. With 3 TVs, 3 tuners will be tight. Another Hopper or Joey will make your monthly cost go up another $7. How often will 3 people be watching 3 different live programs simultaneously? Many of my TVs are never used at the same time, so I just mirror them, avoiding the monthly expensive of additional boxes. If you truly need independent viewing all the time, then 2H/1J is the way to go.

EDIT: Looks like Isaac beat me to it.

The monthly cost won't go up if he gets a 2nd Hopper instead of a 2nd Joey.

 

[KenSoren]

OK - gotta ask how you "mirror" TV's? I have a VIP722 that has been doing fine for four years and use the TV1 & TV2 feature with 3 TVs on the modulated coax output. It's just me and the wife so we do not need to have each TV able to tune different channels so it sounds like "mirroring" would work just fine for two of the three sets - I'm just not sure how you could do that without a Joey at each set??

 

[isaacmorseMI]

OK - gotta ask how you "mirror" TV's? I have a VIP722 that has been doing fine for four years and use the TV1 & TV2 feature with 3 TVs on the modulated coax output. It's just me and the wife so we do not need to have each TV able to tune different channels so it sounds like "mirroring" would work just fine for two of the three sets - I'm just not sure how you could do that without a Joey at each set??

You would put the Joey at the wiring junction box and connect it to an RF Modulator.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[KenSoren]

Thanks for the quick response! I still need some tutoring on how this would work. I have two coax cables coming out of the wall downstairs next to where the hopper will be. So I will have a Joey next to the two cables plus an RF modulator attached to the Joey that would be split and attached to the two cables. The Joey has HDMI and composit outputs so I would guess that this RF moduloator would plug into the composite outputs then have the splitter attached to it, right?
Sounds like this would work but can the Joey's remote reach from upstairs to downstairs? If not then I would have a problem.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

Thanks for the quick response! I still need some tutoring on how this would work. I have two coax cables coming out of the wall downstairs next to where the hopper will be. So I will have a Joey next to the two cables plus an RF modulator attached to the Joey that would be split and attached to the two cables. The Joey has HDMI and composit outputs so I would guess that this RF moduloator would plug into the composite outputs then have the splitter attached to it, right?
Sounds like this would work but can the Joey's remote reach from upstairs to downstairs? If not then I would have a problem.

Correct. Yes the Joey's remote reaches that far.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[sparc]

Thanks for the quick response! I still need some tutoring on how this would work. I have two coax cables coming out of the wall downstairs next to where the hopper will be. So I will have a Joey next to the two cables plus an RF modulator attached to the Joey that would be split and attached to the two cables. The Joey has HDMI and composit outputs so I would guess that this RF moduloator would plug into the composite outputs then have the splitter attached to it, right?
Sounds like this would work but can the Joey's remote reach from upstairs to downstairs? If not then I would have a problem.

if you have two coax to your hopper from your central distribution, you could even put the RF modulator on the Hopper instead and just mirror from that TV. Then you wouldn't even need a joey.

Basically depends on how exactly your wiring is set up.

I'd suggest continuing the RF modulator discussion in the following topic: http://www.satelliteguys.us/hopper-...ator-sd-tv-mirroring.html?highlight=modulator

(as the current topic is mostly used to contact Dish customer service via DIRT about upgrading to the Hopper)

 

[isaacmorseMI]

if you have two coax to your hopper from your central distribution, you could even put the RF modulator on the Hopper instead and just mirror from that TV. Then you wouldn't even need a joey.

But there would be no independent viewing with that setup...

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[sparc]

But there would be no independent viewing with that setup...

correct, as he did say he didn't need each TV to tune to different channels in his original post. It was just him and his wife.

 

[KenSoren]

Thanks again - might do this!

 

[typer922]

Am interested in upgrading my (1) 922 and (1) 211 to a H/J configuration. Is it still best to ask for a PM here or just call Dish?