Dish CSR please comment on mixed arc set-up for Puerto Rico and USVI customers

papita said:
Nobody has given a reasonable explanation of why not put the missing HD of PR packages on 61.5. I do not see a near future footprint upgrade to sats 72.7 or 129 so I think dish is treating us as 3rd world. And we are 3rd in sales statewide!!! And the problem is that if you cant access the Liberty cable service because of location you don't have another real alternative. If we get special spotbeams on 119 and 110 for HD why not leave the missing HD on 61.5 and make it accessible according to your package. PR have always used two dishes (one for 119 and another one for 110). Why can't we use two dishes now? One for 61.5 and one for 119/110. It is just not reasonable. Dish all we are asking for is equity. We pay the same and still have channels not accessible.

also a lot of people state side have been using 110/119 61.5 set up so why shouldn't we be allowed. I think since Dish tried to rip PR for 2 million in taxes, it might be time to file a complaint with FCC. Does PR have the equivalent of an AG?
 
also a lot of people state side have been using 110/119 61.5 set up so why shouldn't we be allowed. I think since Dish tried to rip PR for 2 million in taxes, it might be time to file a complaint with FCC. Does PR have the equivalent of an AG?

DISH wants for PR and The VI and this is the last i am going to say in this Post this will be the last post in this thread Dish wants everybody in PR to have the one dish solution for us and it is what it is. Dish does not give a damn if people are happy or not if you leave more people keep up signing up in the Islands they don't care of the years you vae been a customer or the money you spend each month they don't give a damn about it It's Charlie company and he runs it his matter. We have been talking about this crap since last year and still they keep talking about its like a zombie that does not die! And Dish is already complying with the FCC order for PR one dish solution! Such is Life!
 
neljtorres said:
DISH wants for PR and The VI and this is the last i am going to say in this Post this will be the last post in this thread Dish wants everybody in PR to have the one dish solution for us and it is what it is. Dish does not give a damn if people are happy or not if you leave more people keep up signing up in the Islands they don't care of the years you vae been a customer or the money you spend each month they don't give a damn about it It's Charlie company and he runs it his matter. We have been talking about this crap since last year and still they keep talking about its like a zombie that does not die! And Dish is already complying with the FCC order for PR one dish solution! Such is Life!

Yes a one Dish solution would be great but that is not the case, some people in the states have had wing dishes for years, why shouldn't we. Yes if dish fixed the problem we wouldn't be complaining zombies. They are making thing worse for us, who wants to take a step backwards.
 
Hi everyone

I have been reading quietly all the post in this thread without commenting because of what neljtorres said. This has been commented for over a year now and nothing has changed Charlies plan, "if he has one". I just have grown tiered of calling Dish, posting here on the forum for this reason and who knows what else I have tried. I just gave Dish a little of the medicine that dbs2000 is starting to do and that is reduce my services and make them pay with my wallet. But to be true and honest Dish is still of great value to us here on the islands. Only Liberty Cable has better service than Dish and more HD's and also offer 10mb internet service which in my area is working like a charm. What ever I don't get from Dish now I am getting through Hulu and Netflix streaming service. And yes I said Netflix streaming service, 100% working with full 10mb bandwidth with a VPN but with NO bandwidth reduction, pretty easy in fact. Hell I am even streaming Netflix in HD to two different TV's at the same time with no stops to buffer. Also got VUDU working on my PS3 in HDX, that's 1080p with 5.1 dts over my 10mb connection without buffering stoppage. This is also a good example of how different companies treat PR and USVI like if we were foreigners and not US citizens, come on stop this behavior immediately we are US Citizens by birth no more different than anyone else in the mainland. For Hulu, owned by ABC, NBC and Fox we are as part of the US as the state of Kansas is, that is right in the middle of the nation, everything is working as it should. But for Netflix we are half and half, meaning they provide mail service (great service) through USPS but leave us out when streaming is concerned. Stupid considering we are good enough to go to battle in Iraq, Afganistan and every other war were called to serve, with pride by the way, but then stupid stuff like this happens. Anyhow if anyone is interested in making netflix work just ask, I'll be more than happy to help.

Now back to the Dish issue. The reason I mention Liberty is because that is the only real Dish competitor here on the Island, the only problem is that it does not cover the hole PR territory and much less USVI. Sadly you can put all the other cable and satellite companies and put them in one bag and they would still not compete with Dish. Believe me I work in the telecommunication industry here in PR and I have had the opportunity to visit the facilities of all of these companies and they rely rely suck. Onlelink in the metro area is the worst, I rely do not even know how they manage to keep their network up and running, I have even seen plants growing in between their equipment racks, awful !!! Direct TV is not even worth the attention. At some point in time they made the bad choice of giving service to PR and USVI from their Venezuelan Sats. Now, what in the hell they were thinking it just blows my mind away, just complete lack of knowledge of what the market wants. They thought, at least in PR's case, that because we used Spanish to talk among ourselves that that meant we wanted our TV's to talk to us in Spanish. One more time, and let me make it clear, we got all the Spanish networks we want over the air, what we need is HD in English. No one is paying attention to the Spanish channels except for the news and maybe some soap operas. Sorry Direct TV wrong choice, doom to fail at some point in the future. The other company is Choice Cable which serves the southern and west part of PR, they are a good company with rely good intentions but lacks the resources to grow more rapidly. And this takes me to the last company Claro TV which has the most potential because they are rely investing in IPTV with something called FTTN (Fiber to the Neighborhood). Which will bring us 52mb of data into the home; how this bandwidth is going to be used is still being tested. But most probably will resemble UVerse from AT&T as they are using the same technology (VDSL) and CISCO iptv receivers. But and this is a big but, their is no timetable of when this is going to be available, they say that it it is being tested already on some neighborhoods, and most importantly they do not have the amount of channels that Liberty and Dish have. "Big but". Also it was a complete disaster that the FCC approved the sale of PRTC (now known as Claro) from Verizon to some strange Mexican company that has no business being here. I am ashamed that a federal agency would have let the sale of American assets to some foreign interest. Come on America if we plan on keeping on top we better be buying other people property not the other way around. This sale also put us at a disadvantage as now AT&T does not have their arch nemesis in town Verizon. Now we do not get the Motorola Xoom or any other product from the main competitor for AT&T. We are still also stuck with AT&T being the only Iphone provider. Bad, bad, bad choice PR and the FCC for approving this. Instead of boycotting Dish like dbs2000 proposed I propose boycotting this Mexican company. We want Verizon back soon.

Well politics aside, Scott this is the situation for us here on the Island of PR and as others have posted USVI have it worst than us. I have criticized Dish for the PR's situation in the past and still I am going to keep on doing it until they start respecting their costumers here and one of their 3 best sales markets. And respect does not mean giving us all that we want but it does mean giving us clear information on what is going to be done with clear time tables and no bogus comments, which only infuriate more. And importantly if you are not willing to do something about it in a reasonable amount of time, which by the way it already expired, then start giving some credit for the service not being provided. Do not expect to have happy costumers if you are clearly milking their wallets and this also includes AK and HI. But in PR's and USVI credit we do not suffer from technicalities like AK and HI because we do have access to 119,110 and 61.5 which makes them capable of providing the service, which makes it more insulting and reflect a thief like attitude. And lets not mention the tax issue stunt that Dish pulled. But at the end Dish while not being the best anymore because of Liberty Cable, it is still a great choice for the rest of the people not covered by Liberty. And to be honest Dish gives other added value like: Sling, Google TV, best DVR experience and Dish web streaming page which are the reason I still have Dish TV service over Liberty, but with the reduce service until they start proving again, with actions, that they are the best option in town. Have to protect my wallet somehow, they still would have my money if they stop screwing around with us.

Thanks for your patience once again for the long post.
 
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Nobody has given a reasonable explanation of why not put the missing HD of PR packages on 61.5. I do not see a near future footprint upgrade to sats 72.7 or 129 so I think dish is treating us as 3rd world. And we are 3rd in sales statewide!!! And the problem is that if you cant access the Liberty cable service because of location you don't have another real alternative. If we get special spotbeams on 119 and 110 for HD why not leave the missing HD on 61.5 and make it accessible according to your package. PR have always used two dishes (one for 119 and another one for 110). Why can't we use two dishes now? One for 61.5 and one for 119/110. It is just not reasonable. Dish all we are asking for is equity. We pay the same and still have channels not accessible.


That's why when my payment comes due around three weeks ERGEN THE THIEF won't see no more 193.00 and more with PPV's. In the meantime I am getting all the HD I can in these three weeks and not one penny will flow to Colorado. DISH site states that I have HD for Life not that I have to wait all my life for HD.

That's why when I see a DISH booth at the mall I start talking to potential customers, MANY of them just leave. I leave a doubt in the mind. Hit Ergen where it hurts.

Aside from the subject I want to pay my respect to all the people in Japan that have and will be going thru hell on earth during this very SAD event, again my respect and wish you all well.
 
Dish Givith

6100 - HBO-W [MPEG4 HD] added to EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office (West)) (A) (H)
6101 - HBOZ [MPEG4 HD] added to EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Ooffice Zone) (A) (H)
6109 - HBOLT [MPEG4 HD] added to EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Latino) (A) (H)
6110 - HBOSG [MPEG4 HD] added to EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Signature) (A) (H)

and Dish Takith away
8277 - WRDQ (A) (H) [MPEG4 SD] removed from Echostar12 61.5W TP 15 Spotbeam 9 (Mkt:Orlando, FL-Orlando, FL-N/A)
6103 - STARZ (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 02 ConUS beam (Starz (East) Movie Channel)
6105 - STZC (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Starz Comedy)
6106 - HBO2E (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 20 ConUS beam (Home Box Office 2 (East))
6107 - HBOCY (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 20 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Comedy)
6108 - HBOFM (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Family)
9452 - HBOZ (A) (H) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Ooffice Zone)
9454 - HBOSG (A) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Signature)
9459 - HBOLT (A) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office Latino)
9478 - HBO-W (A) [MPEG4 HD] removed from EchoStar15 61.5W TP 28 ConUS beam (Home Box Office (West))

so to get a 61.5 or not, come on Dish just give us our channels on the 110
 
DISH Network only supports installations of 119/110 in the PR/VI area. Before last year, the installation we would do directly actually required two dishes. Last year, that changed with the adoption of the 500PR. Any other installations, with regard to International Programming, were done by retailers. There were no comments ever made regarding a 61.5 orbital installation in PR/VI for additional HD channels.

The recent migration of core programming from the 61.5 orbital location was not meant to affect PR/VI customers, as the 61.5 orbital location was not meant to provide any HD channels to the area to begin with. I hope that everyone affected by this migration in the PR/VI area understand that the channels that are "going away" were never meant to be received.

Please take everything I previously stated as distribution of information, as I can completely understand that there are some of you arguing the fact that the channels CAN be provided, and therefore SHOULD be provided. While it is not my place to speculate on up and coming channel adds and programming "births" to particular areas, its easy to see that historically channels have been added, intentionally, into your market. The whole concept behind the channel migrations is redundancy and freeing up bandwidth. For those of you affected, I can understand the expression of distaste in losing the channels, and I can honestly say that I am sorry about it.

I truly hope all of you being affected understand that no matter what business a company is in, it would not survive intentionally trying to "hose" (as I have heard the term here in other threads) its patrons. All that being said, I will be sure to escalate this topic up to Programming and see if there is something that can be done to expedite what must already be in the works: more channels to PR/VI.

BTW, to be as complete as possible, here is a list of channels available in HD to the PR/VI area, officially. I have requested a channel line-up card to be created on the DISH Network website, where there are already Hawaii and Alaska cards. This is the most recent I have available. These channels are found on the 119/110 orbitals in your area:

HD120 PR/VI
4901 DISCOVERY HD (DISHD) 182 EDUCATION
4902 HISTORY HD (HIST) 120 HISTORY
4903 CARTOON NETWORK HD (TOON) 176 HD
4904 COMEDY CENTRAL HD (CMDY) 107 GENERAL ENT
4907 NICKELODEON (EAST) HD (NICK) 170 FAMILY
4908 TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION HD (TNT) 138 DRAMA
4909 USA NETWORK HD (USAHD) 105 GENERAL ENT
4910 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT HD (A&E) 118 DRAMA
4911 SYFY HD (SYFYHD) 122 SCI FI
4913 FOOD NETWORK HD (FOOD) 110 FOOD AND NUTRITION
4915 HOME & GARDEN TELEVISION HD (HGTV) 112 HOME AND GARDEN
4916 LIFETIME HD (LIFE) 108 WOMEN'S PROG
4917 SPIKE HD (SPIKE) 168 DRAMA
4918 TURNER BROADCAST SYSTEM HD (TBS) 139 DRAMA
4926 MTV HD (MTV) 160 MUSIC
4927 CNN HD (CNN) 200 NEWS/INFO
4929 THE WEATHER CHANNEL HD (TWC) 214 GENERAL ENT
4930 ESPN HD (ESPN) 140 SPORTS
4931 ESPN2 HD (ESPN2) 144 SPORTS
4932 THE LEARNING CHANNEL HD (TLC)183 EDU/LEARNING
4939 CNBC HD (CNBC) 107 GENERAL ENT
4941 E! ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION HD (E! HD)114 HD
4963 THE TRAVEL CHANNEL HD (TRV) 215 GENERAL ENT

HD200 PR/VI (in addition to HD120)
4900 ANIMAL PLANET HD (ANIML) 184 EDUCATION
4914 FX HD (FX) 136 DRAMA
4934 WGN AMERICA HD (WGN) 239 MOVIES
4937 BBC AMERICA HD (BBCA) 135 DRAMA
4938 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISIONHD(BET) 124 GENERAL ENT
4944 GOLF CHANNEL, THE HD (GOLF) 401 SPORTS
4956 MSNBC HD (MSNBC HD) 209 NEWS/INFO
4957 NBA TV HD (NBATV) N/A SPORTS
4958 NFL NETWORK HD (NFL) N/A SPORTS
4961 SPEED CHANNEL, THE HD (SPEED)150 SPORTS
5519 OWN HD (OWN) 189 GENERAL ENT

HD250 PR/VI (in addition to both HD120/HD200)
4912 BRAVO HD (BRAVO) 129 HEALTH AND BEAUTY
4919 HD THEATER (HDTHR) 364 MOVIES
4920 HDNET (HDNET) 362 DRAMA
4925 HDNET MOVIES (HDNMV) 383 MOVIES
4943 FOX SOCCER CHANNEL HD (FSC) 149 SPORTS
4959 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL HD (NTGEO) 186 EDU/LEARNING
4960 PALLADIA HD (PLDIA) N/A MUSIC
4961 SPEED CHANNEL, THE HD (SPEED) 150 SPORTS
4962 TENNIS CHANNEL HD (TENHD) 400 SPORTS
It lists sat channel, station, mapdown channel, and type of programming. I tried to be as complete as possible.
 
While overall I am satisfied with Dish the one thing that I feel is unfair is that while we are given a $5.00 price reduction because NO network affiliates are included in our packages in the USVI, it costs me $3.49 for each network I purchase from AAD. It was almost worth it when the channels were available in HD, but now they are only available in SD.

Off air I can only receive one channel locally and that is the local PBS affiliate.

Jim
 
Thanks Tony....for clear reply & looking for creating a PR based channel lineup card which was previously there but taken away when Dish site was done new.

Yes...addition of more HD channels are very badly needed. What also missing is that for PPV sports packages like the NBA LP...all the games we get are in SD also...Will be great also if Dish can get some of those games working in HD (well...since this season is almost over...hopefully next season if it happens will have some in HD).

BTW......we can receive some local channels in HD here...eg ABC is coming in HD (although havent checked that OTA for some time now). Do you know if Dish is planning to get that in HD soon (the signal is already 16x9 SD ie widescreen but in SD). I think since Dish is receiveing the signal in HD...& converting it in SD...they can also send the HD signal anyway.
 
DISH Network only supports installations of 119/110 in the PR/VI area. Before last year, the installation we would do directly actually required two dishes. Last year, that changed with the adoption of the 500PR. Any other installations, with regard to International Programming, were done by retailers. There were no comments ever made regarding a 61.5 orbital installation in PR/VI for additional HD channels.

The recent migration of core programming from the 61.5 orbital location was not meant to affect PR/VI customers, as the 61.5 orbital location was not meant to provide any HD channels to the area to begin with. I hope that everyone affected by this migration in the PR/VI area understand that the channels that are "going away" were never meant to be received.

Please take everything I previously stated as distribution of information, as I can completely understand that there are some of you arguing the fact that the channels CAN be provided, and therefore SHOULD be provided. While it is not my place to speculate on up and coming channel adds and programming "births" to particular areas, its easy to see that historically channels have been added, intentionally, into your market. The whole concept behind the channel migrations is redundancy and freeing up bandwidth. For those of you affected, I can understand the expression of distaste in losing the channels, and I can honestly say that I am sorry about it.

I truly hope all of you being affected understand that no matter what business a company is in, it would not survive intentionally trying to "hose" (as I have heard the term here in other threads) its patrons. All that being said, I will be sure to escalate this topic up to Programming and see if there is something that can be done to expedite what must already be in the works: more channels to PR/VI.

BTW, to be as complete as possible, here is a list of channels available in HD to the PR/VI area, officially. I have requested a channel line-up card to be created on the DISH Network website, where there are already Hawaii and Alaska cards. This is the most recent I have available. These channels are found on the 119/110 orbitals in your area:

HD120 PR/VI
4901 DISCOVERY HD (DISHD) 182 EDUCATION
4902 HISTORY HD (HIST) 120 HISTORY
4903 CARTOON NETWORK HD (TOON) 176 HD
4904 COMEDY CENTRAL HD (CMDY) 107 GENERAL ENT
4907 NICKELODEON (EAST) HD (NICK) 170 FAMILY
4908 TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION HD (TNT) 138 DRAMA
4909 USA NETWORK HD (USAHD) 105 GENERAL ENT
4910 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT HD (A&E) 118 DRAMA
4911 SYFY HD (SYFYHD) 122 SCI FI
4913 FOOD NETWORK HD (FOOD) 110 FOOD AND NUTRITION
4915 HOME & GARDEN TELEVISION HD (HGTV) 112 HOME AND GARDEN
4916 LIFETIME HD (LIFE) 108 WOMEN'S PROG
4917 SPIKE HD (SPIKE) 168 DRAMA
4918 TURNER BROADCAST SYSTEM HD (TBS) 139 DRAMA
4926 MTV HD (MTV) 160 MUSIC
4927 CNN HD (CNN) 200 NEWS/INFO
4929 THE WEATHER CHANNEL HD (TWC) 214 GENERAL ENT
4930 ESPN HD (ESPN) 140 SPORTS
4931 ESPN2 HD (ESPN2) 144 SPORTS
4932 THE LEARNING CHANNEL HD (TLC)183 EDU/LEARNING
4939 CNBC HD (CNBC) 107 GENERAL ENT
4941 E! ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION HD (E! HD)114 HD
4963 THE TRAVEL CHANNEL HD (TRV) 215 GENERAL ENT

HD200 PR/VI (in addition to HD120)
4900 ANIMAL PLANET HD (ANIML) 184 EDUCATION
4914 FX HD (FX) 136 DRAMA
4934 WGN AMERICA HD (WGN) 239 MOVIES
4937 BBC AMERICA HD (BBCA) 135 DRAMA
4938 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISIONHD(BET) 124 GENERAL ENT
4944 GOLF CHANNEL, THE HD (GOLF) 401 SPORTS
4956 MSNBC HD (MSNBC HD) 209 NEWS/INFO
4957 NBA TV HD (NBATV) N/A SPORTS
4958 NFL NETWORK HD (NFL) N/A SPORTS
4961 SPEED CHANNEL, THE HD (SPEED)150 SPORTS
5519 OWN HD (OWN) 189 GENERAL ENT

HD250 PR/VI (in addition to both HD120/HD200)
4912 BRAVO HD (BRAVO) 129 HEALTH AND BEAUTY
4919 HD THEATER (HDTHR) 364 MOVIES
4920 HDNET (HDNET) 362 DRAMA
4925 HDNET MOVIES (HDNMV) 383 MOVIES
4943 FOX SOCCER CHANNEL HD (FSC) 149 SPORTS
4959 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL HD (NTGEO) 186 EDU/LEARNING
4960 PALLADIA HD (PLDIA) N/A MUSIC
4961 SPEED CHANNEL, THE HD (SPEED) 150 SPORTS
4962 TENNIS CHANNEL HD (TENHD) 400 SPORTS
It lists sat channel, station, mapdown channel, and type of programming. I tried to be as complete as possible.

Still doesn't answer the question of why we are not provided the full compliment of Channels like the rest of the country. Again we are your third largest market. Stop ignoring us
 
DISH Network only supports installations of 119/110 in the PR/VI area. Before last year, the installation we would do directly actually required two dishes. Last year, that changed with the adoption of the 500PR. Any other installations, with regard to International Programming, were done by retailers. There were no comments ever made regarding a 61.5 orbital installation in PR/VI for additional HD channels.
Thanks for the info Tony but something that you mention doesn't make sense. If Dish Network only supports installations of 119/110 in the PR/VI area. Why we don't receive the following HD channels that are on 110?

327 The Movie Channel HD (East)
340 Encore HD (East)
351 Starz HD (West)
352 Starz Edge HD

We pay the same as anyone else, but the channels on 61 weren't meant to be seen by us, and the ones in 110 we don't see them, I don't know why. Why we receive less and pay the same?

Tony I will be glad if at least you answer me, my first question. I will appreciate if you could past my questions to the Programming Dept. too.
 
While any response is better than no response, I still don't get Dish's thinking. A conus transponder is a conus transponder, whether it's on 61.5 or 72.7, except for the fact that the sats currently at 72.7 don't have a beam pattern including PR/USVI. There is also the matter of invalidating hybrid arc customers such as myself, which I think cost Dish a pretty penny in the aggregate.

So, moving HD to 72.7 and SD to 61.5 causes maximum pain all around: greatest cost to Dish on 1000.4 retrofits and WHUPs, and thoroughly alienating PR/USVI HD customers. What compelling reason does Dish have for inflicting such pain?
 
While any response is better than no response, I still don't get Dish's thinking. A conus transponder is a conus transponder, whether it's on 61.5 or 72.7, except for the fact that the sats currently at 72.7 don't have a beam pattern including PR/USVI. There is also the matter of invalidating hybrid arc customers such as myself, which I think cost Dish a pretty penny in the aggregate.

So, moving HD to 72.7 and SD to 61.5 causes maximum pain all around: greatest cost to Dish on 1000.4 retrofits and WHUPs, and thoroughly alienating PR/USVI HD customers. What compelling reason does Dish have for inflicting such pain?

Honestly, the biggest reason for migrating customers from "hybrid" setups was to make channel migrations less involving with the customers. If a customer is all EA, the channels can be moved freely within the arc and the move would not be perceived by the end user. It also allows us to keep from channel redundancy. We do not have to carry locals from traditionally EA markets on WA satellites, and vice versa. During migrations and missing channels in hybrid setups, assume that a phone call ends up in a credit on an account if a channel goes offline for a customer. Even at a $1 per customer bit, that could be more costly then proactive correction over time.

Thanks for the info Tony but something that you mention doesn't make sense. If Dish Network only supports installations of 119/110 in the PR/VI area. Why we don't receive the following HD channels that are on 110?

So I researched this part of the question, mainly so I could better explain it. Believe me, my explanation may be crazy but its probably more easily understood.

Earth is roughly 24901.55 miles in circumference at the equator, which is where we orbit our satellites 22,300 miles above the surface. We pay to put the satellite in a particular place. We also pay for the frequencies we can transmit on and apply for the right to broadcast to certain areas. Satellite 77 is a case in point on broadcasting rights: It originally was solely used to broadcast signal to Mexico. We applied to allow it for use to broadcast in the U.S. and now it is, making a long story short. I am sure there was a cost and limitation on frequencies used, along with bandwidth allowed. That's a bit off from what I really wanted to explain.

For the rest of this, we'll say Earth is a large basketball (24901.55 miles in circumference, so I guess really REALLY large) and the satellite (doesn't matter which orbital at this point) is a school bus-sized flashlight. At the distance the flashlight is from the earth, it can only shine light on about 1/3 of it. Being that the flashlight is limited on usable power, both by regulation and longevity for the light itself, it can only output a certain amount of power. Focusing the flashlight allows for the same amount of power to "brighten" particular areas. That being said, each flashlight is focused on a particular area and not all areas.

This translates back to satellites as each satellite can only focus on a certain area and provide a signal to those areas. Based on the angle at which the satellite is in relation to its target area, the footprints on the earth can be elongated etc, but in order for the signal to be strong it is focused at a particular portion of the visible area. While PR/VI customers are supported, only a portion of that focused beam (transponders) are intended for the area. Being that each transponder is only allotted a certain amount of bandwidth, they can only provide a certain number of channels per transponder. That being said, CONUS subscribers do benefit from better support, being that there are more transponders focused on the mainland then in your area. Honestly, it is the same issue faced by Alaska and Hawaii subscribers. This however is subject to change as migrations happen, as well as when new satellites are launched. Echostar 14, the MAR 2010 addition to the orbiting fleet, was launched with the intention of bringing more channels to those subscribers in the limited support areas, and that intention has been realized with the addition of channels available in the area. I imagine that this increase in channels will continue to happen as things shift in the future.

On a related note, MPEG4 equipment is now the new installation requirement for PR/VI customers. Logical reasoning behind this, in my opinion, is that better compression technology will free up bandwidth and allow more channels in the future to the area, allowing many more channels on the same beam. While hurrying this along would be nice, there are customers with MPEG2 in the area so the switch cannot be instantaneous. Much like the digital transition, the preparation takes time. I am only speculating on the future for PR/VI customers, but it makes sense to me that changes for the better are coming.
 
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Tony, we get our 119 HD on a spot beam but the channels that holy devil is talking about are on the 110 where we get our channels off Conus, they are not turned on for us, for no apparent reason.
 
Thanks Tony, over the years reading posts from satelliteguys and dbsforums, I have learn a lot about what you explain. but that doesn't answer the question.

Let me explain the situation further, with the 119/110 configuration PR subs receive the following HD premiums HBO E, Cinemax E, Starz E, and Showtime E, nothing more. If Scott from Connecticut brings his receiver from the states to Puerto Rico and connect his receiver in my home with the 119/110 configuration, he will receive the same four channels plus The Movie Channel HD (East),Encore HD (East), Starz HD (West), Starz Edge HD. You said that Puerto Rico should only have channels from 119/110 configuration. Those channels are are on 110 conus, the same sat that we use to receive all the Latino channels.

If I pay the same as Scott why he could received more channels than I do?

These are facts, why Dish block or hide those channels from us. We pay the same.
 
Hi Everyone

I have to admit something, even though we are not beign provided right away with the services that we all desire here on the islands this is the first time that an official directly from Dish Network has taken the time to explain and answer questions. For this I give Satellite Guys and Dish Network Online CSR a big thank you. This is the kind of stuff that shows that a company cares for its costumers. Again this is geat !!!! to have a forum that gives us this oportunity.

Tony you are correct in all that you are saying exept for the point that Holy_Devil is bringing. Those channels are available here if you only change the address of the account to another one on the mainland. I know of a few people that were doing this and in fact they do get them. So what that means is that technicaly there is no reason on why not to provide does channels on 110/119 to PR/USVI. I have to say that the other situation with sat 61.5 it's clear Dish officialy has never stated that that sat was available to PR, still a lot of costumers here have a dish pointed to that location and those are the ones getting mad about the situation. I am included in that, and I can assure you it works better that the sat at 119 orbital location, technically speaking there is no reason for Dish not using that sat to provide better service to PR/USVI. But I think that was because before the launch of Echostar 15 PR/USVI was not covered in the footprint. But now Echostar 15 clearly has even better siganal here than many parts of the Continental USA and if you check the licence and papework submited by Dish Network to the FCC it also clearly stated that the sat was intentioned to bring service to CONUS and PR/USVI. We all here have seen that paperwork because these are public documents. So why not use the Echostar 15 to provide the HD channels missing here until everything else needed to make more space available on sats 110/119 are completed. We realy do not care were the channels come from as long as they get here. And the other thing is Holy_devils point, What is the reasoning behind that?

Well anyhow still, thanks again for thaking the time to answer some questions. Dish has gain alot of points, at least with me. Continue that course of action and gives us something to go by and I assure you Dish will have my money back. And thanks to Scott and all the staff at SatGuys for making this possible.
 
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Thanks, Tony, for taking time to answer to our frustrations.
In this particular issue, i think there was a bit of misunderstanding. So let me add my two cents.
All of those HD channels in 110 that we are talking about, I did receive them perfectly here in PR, at least I used to. So it was, clearly, not an issue of footprint, as holy_devil and rdavidowski have explained. Suddenly overnight and without any explanation at all, they were blocked by Dish. I even have them, still, available in my guide, but when I select them, a message appears that "it is not available in my area" (not too different as blackout sport events).
So it is not an issue of power or footprint, since we did received them for a while, but a management/administration/marketing/etc. decision of some sort. If someone at Dish decided today to return those channels "state" to how it was before we got "blacked-out", we would received them again, no problem.
I will try to post my signal strength for those transponders tonight.
Hope this clears the issue a little bit.
And, as expressed by the others, thanks for your diligence and patience with us.
 
neljtorres: you mentioned storefront channels coming in HD. Does this include FOX, NBC & CBS or is it ABC on only? Any estimate on the date?

The sad part is many people invested hundreds in a 6' or 5.5' dishes for 61.5, bought their own receivers at full price only to get the shaft from Charlie.
 
I believe the reason to block certain HD channels that are on CONUS 110/119 maybe related to cost. If Dish block those channels for us....they dont have to pay the providers....but no relief in our bill. More profit for Dish from one of the top markets for them.

I understand that there are a lot of MPEG2 boxes in the market...that Dish needs to replace...but what is Dish plan for their replacement. the way I see is that Dish is waiting for (what the last date anyway here) the existing subs to get fedup with their SD boxes..call in for HD boxes...pay the dish-n-up prices....& also 2 year further contract. So basically Dish is willing to provide more HD (that is also no quarantee)...provided everybody in PR pay to convert their SD boxes to HD & get locked into 2 year contract.
 
Harrumph! OK before I say anything bad again, I will first say that any effort at a reply by anyone from Dish is better than none at all. Thank you Tony for your effort to get to the bottom of this confusing situation.

And I defend Dish's desire to have me and as many people as possible on one arc or another for the reason stated. I'll even buy the claim that it costs Dish less than compensating customers on hybrid arc setups who suddenly find themselves without some service, at some point in the future, because their channels were moved in an emergency situation such as the SEU on Echo8 last month.

That said Echo15 is a brand new bird with a great footprint, even for PR/USVI. There appears to be no reason whatsoever to move HD channels off 61.5 right now, and filling up those transponders instead with SD already on 110/119. That is just perverse. Dish could instead leave (and add to) the HD on 61.5, while moving folks like me onto EA as they get around to it. I imagine the only hybrid arc customers who really can't go with an EA or WA dish at this time are those in PR/USVI.
 

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