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phibei

Last reply Jul 23, 2008 · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Getting HD from satellite 61.5 vs. 129

Hi Guys,

I live in Philly and currently subscribe to DishNetwork American Top 100. The satellite on my roof points to the south which I have an unobstructed view of. Now I'm planning on getting Dish HD Absolute. Since there are quite some tall trees right behind my house at the southeast direction, I very much doubt that I can get much signal from the satellite 61.5.

I've called Dish and was told that customers could get HD programming either from satellite 61.5 or 129, and if I couldn't get a clear view of 61.5, I could get HD from 129 instead, which is roughly at the same direction as the ones from which I currently get my SD programming.

I ran into a Dish installer the other day and was told a different story. What he said was that 129 is only used in the west, midwest and down south. And he was not aware of anyone trying to get HD from 129 in Philly area. I asked if there were any particular technical reasons, he said he didn't know.

I'm very much confused. If I can get HD from 129 in Philly area, I'll have a chance. On the other hand, if the only way to get HD for me is from 61.5, I'll be out of luck because of all those tall trees right next to my backyard.

Any clarifications will be greatly appreciated.

19 Replies · 6696 views

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garys

Jul 15, 2008

The Northeast has a problem seeing 129. Only person I have seen that was able to get 129 was a person in Pittston who used the extremely large old style dish to get just 129, the ones that are about 10 feet around. You would be better served trying to get 61.5, you only need a narrow view and may have a line of sight over the trees or between them as 61.5 is very high in the sky in PA. Also note that Philly HD locals are only on 61.5 and not on 129.

phibei

Jul 16, 2008

garys said:
The Northeast has a problem seeing 129...

Thanks very much garys for taking time to reply. Now I understand that my best bet is 61.5. But I'm still curious about why the Northeast cannot get HD from 129 while other areas of the country can.

I also have a few more questions:

1. Other than Philly local channels, are the HD programming on 129 the same as the one on 61.5?

2. Do satellite TV providers generally replicate their programming on more than one satellite to help sign up more customers who otherwise may not be able to get on board? Is that the reason why Dish has the same HD programming on both 61.5 and 129?

3. Any future plans in terms of replicated HD programming coverage as far as Dish is concerned?

Thanks.

primetimeguy

Jul 16, 2008

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I have a question about 61.5 vs 129 from MN.

Recent storms messed something up on my Dish such that I no longer see 129. Running a check switch it only sees 110 and 119. So I have a service call fror Friday. With Easter Arc coming along, Minneapolis locals and FSN North were recently added to 61.5 (previously on 129) so my thought was on Friday to have the tech swing me around to 61.5 (129 is already on a separate dish, they idd this a while back to see if I could get better signal than one dish 110/119/129). My thinking was I'd getter a stronger signal and less rain fade this way. Thoughts?

My only worry now is with E2 failing, EA may be put on hold and they no longer will duplicate my locals on 61.5 and then I need another call in the near future to go back to 129.

dlsnyder

Jul 16, 2008

primetimeguy said:
Don't mean to hijack the thread but I have a question about 61.5 vs 129 from MN.

Recent storms messed something up on my Dish such that I no longer see 129. Running a check switch it only sees 110 and 119. So I have a service call fror Friday. With Easter Arc coming along, Minneapolis locals and FSN North were recently added to 61.5 (previously on 129) so my thought was on Friday to have the tech swing me around to 61.5 (129 is already on a separate dish, they idd this a while back to see if I could get better signal than one dish 110/119/129). My thinking was I'd getter a stronger signal and less rain fade this way. Thoughts?

My only worry now is with E2 failing, EA may be put on hold and they no longer will duplicate my locals on 61.5 and then I need another call in the near future to go back to 129.

If you can get your locals OTA and don't care about your RSN in HD (if it is even available!!) then you would DEFINATELY be better off pointing that second dish to 61.5. Here in SoCal we don't have as much of a problem with 129 as those in other areas do. That far north you were probably having issues with 129 before that storm knocked out your dish. When Ciel-2 launches it will be a whole new ballgame, but repointing a single dish is not a big deal. For now, 61.5 is probably your best bet.

primetimeguy

Jul 16, 2008

dlsnyder said:
If you can get your locals OTA and don't care about your RSN in HD (if it is even available!!) then you would DEFINATELY be better off pointing that second dish to 61.5. Here in SoCal we don't have as much of a problem with 129 as those in other areas do. That far north you were probably having issues with 129 before that storm knocked out your dish. When Ciel-2 launches it will be a whole new ballgame, but repointing a single dish is not a big deal. For now, 61.5 is probably your best bet.

My RSN and locals are now available on both 61.5 and 129 so programming wise there is no difference. So you pretty much confirmed my thoughts of going with 61.5 now and in the future if I have to swing back to 129 so be it. I just hope it's not 2 weeks from now.

gjh3260

Jul 16, 2008

primetimeguy said:
My RSN and locals are now available on both 61.5 and 129 so programming wise there is no difference. So you pretty much confirmed my thoughts of going with 61.5 now and in the future if I have to swing back to 129 so be it. I just hope it's not 2 weeks from now.

Let me know how the repoint to 61.5 goes on Friday. Unlike you, I just have the one dish for 110/119/129. Have had some intermittent problems with 129 during storms but it hasnt been too bad for me. I recognize your name from the Twin Cities forum.

primetimeguy

Jul 18, 2008

gjh3260 said:
Let me know how the repoint to 61.5 goes on Friday. Unlike you, I just have the one dish for 110/119/129. Have had some intermittent problems with 129 during storms but it hasnt been too bad for me. I recognize your name from the Twin Cities forum.

My two dishes were too close together such that if I swung the 129 dish for 61.5 it would hit the other one. So I just left it as is rather than adding more holes to the roof.

garys

Jul 18, 2008

primetimeguy said:
My two dishes were too close together such that if I swung the 129 dish for 61.5 it would hit the other one. So I just left it as is rather than adding more holes to the roof.

Can you switch them, ie: use current 129 for 110/119 and move 110/119 for 61.5?

Voyager6

Jul 18, 2008

phibei said:
Hi Guys,

I live in Philly and currently subscribe to DishNetwork American Top 100. The satellite on my roof points to the south which I have an unobstructed view of. Now I'm planning on getting Dish HD Absolute. Since there are quite some tall trees right behind my house at the southeast direction, I very much doubt that I can get much signal from the satellite 61.5.

I've called Dish and was told that customers could get HD programming either from satellite 61.5 or 129, and if I couldn't get a clear view of 61.5, I could get HD from 129 instead, which is roughly at the same direction as the ones from which I currently get my SD programming.

I ran into a Dish installer the other day and was told a different story. What he said was that 129 is only used in the west, midwest and down south. And he was not aware of anyone trying to get HD from 129 in Philly area. I asked if there were any particular technical reasons, he said he didn't know.

I'm very much confused. If I can get HD from 129 in Philly area, I'll have a chance. On the other hand, if the only way to get HD for me is from 61.5, I'll be out of luck because of all those tall trees right next to my backyard.

Any clarifications will be greatly appreciated.

You should be able to get your locals from OTA. Have you used the sat angle calculator to find the actual direction to point the dish for 61.5? Satellite Angle Calculator - SatelliteGuys.US
I live just southwest of Philly and the direction is about 160 and the elevation is almost 42. I believe that yours should be about the same. Unless those trees are right on top of you, you should be able to get signal. The elevation for 129 is about 18 or 19 from this area. Very hard to acquire and hold signal.

primetimeguy

Jul 18, 2008

garys said:
Can you switch them, ie: use current 129 for 110/119 and move 110/119 for 61.5?

I thought about it. 110/119 were on 1000, 129 on 500. I decided to just let it go. When/if eastern acc becomes reality I'll make the necessary changes then.

Yes616

Jul 18, 2008

phibei said:
Thanks very much garys for taking time to reply. Now I understand that my best bet is 61.5. But I'm still curious about why the Northeast cannot get HD from 129 while other areas of the country can.

I also have a few more questions:

1. Other than Philly local channels, are the HD programming on 129 the same as the one on 61.5?

2. Do satellite TV providers generally replicate their programming on more than one satellite to help sign up more customers who otherwise may not be able to get on board? Is that the reason why Dish has the same HD programming on both 61.5 and 129?

3. Any future plans in terms of replicated HD programming coverage as far as Dish is concerned?

Thanks.

I am in upstate NY and I too have large trees just to my south and southeast.

The installer put the dish for 61.5 up a tripod and I am alright. The trees are well over 100 feet tall, about 50 feet away from the Dish and I am in a one story house with the dish on the peak of the roof so it's not too high up at all.

There will be some duplicated programming for the east and west as remember.. Everyone wants to watch TV and the earth is not flat. It's round like a ball.

spudz160

Jul 18, 2008

primetimeguy said:
Don't mean to hijack the thread but I have a question about 61.5 vs 129 from MN.

Recent storms messed something up on my Dish such that I no longer see 129. Running a check switch it only sees 110 and 119. So I have a service call fror Friday. With Easter Arc coming along, Minneapolis locals and FSN North were recently added to 61.5 (previously on 129) so my thought was on Friday to have the tech swing me around to 61.5 (129 is already on a separate dish, they idd this a while back to see if I could get better signal than one dish 110/119/129). My thinking was I'd getter a stronger signal and less rain fade this way. Thoughts?

My only worry now is with E2 failing, EA may be put on hold and they no longer will duplicate my locals on 61.5 and then I need another call in the near future to go back to 129.

I live a few hours north of Minneapolis and I am considering the same thing. Please let us know how it goes.

phibei

Jul 23, 2008

Voyager6 said:
You should be able to get your locals from OTA...

I've tried several different internal antennas but the OTA reception was not good on the 1st floor and was merely okay on the 2nd floor.

Yes616 said:
...The installer put the dish for 61.5 up a tripod and I am alright. The trees are well over 100 feet tall, about 50 feet away from the Dish and I am in a one story house with the dish on the peak of the roof so it's not too high up at all...

My trees are on an elevated ground and they are pretty tall and also fairly close to the house -- 20 to 30 feet away. Three different installers all concluded that there is no way for me to get the reception from 61.5

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MartyDe

Last reply 8 minutes ago · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

ATSC 3 converter boxes

Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.

Pearl TV Issues Progress Report on Low-Cost 3.0 Converters in Advance of NAB Show New York

Group has secured lower pricing from key tech players to make less costly boxes available

www.tvtechnology.com

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navychop

Oct 20, 2026

DEATH TO NEXGEN!

Reactions: Redbullsnation, primestar31, RaVo68 and 2 others

primestar31

Oct 21, 2026

navychop said:
DEATH TO NEXGEN!

It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

Reactions: RaVo68, Redbullsnation, slow_poke_pete and 2 others

Mister B

Oct 22, 2026

What bothers me is the total waste of broadcasting spectrum in this very crowded market. It has been almost three years now since KFOX converted their broadcast tower to ATSC 3.0 and moved all of their channels to other towers causing noticeable degradation of the picture quality.
I have a Sony TV with 3.0 capabilities but still use the 1.0 version of locals due to the fact that one or all of the 3.0 channels are often missing or unwatchable. In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.
The only thing that could motivate me to be interested in 3.0 would be if all of the minor networks (diginets) could be in at least 720P rather than blurry ultra-compressed 480i.
Three years is long enough to waste one of the few available RF frequencies in the area for this trial.
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

navychop

Oct 22, 2026

Mister B said:
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

QFT. Of course, my preference involves a curb and some kicking.

Reactions: FTA4PA

slow_poke_pete

Tuesday at 5:37 PM

primestar31 said:
It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET PART OF IT. NO ONE WANTS A BOX CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET EITHER.

navychop

Tuesday at 9:47 PM

Cough, cough. COVID vaccine implants.

:oldlaugh

Reactions: HIFI

Foxbat

Yesterday at 6:39 PM

navychop said:
Cough, cough. COVID vaccine implants.

That would be handy. Download the latest RNA snippets that can be updated over 5G and no more shots! You're a Genius!

Reactions: navychop

Redbullsnation

8 minutes ago

I want it and I have to have it.

I can neuter the phoning home with adguard home so it won't be doing that in my castle but I prefer without Internet so that my TVs in the house don't turn into e-waste

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mheisen

Last reply 38 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Hopper 3 with Hopper plus internet connection problems

Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?

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Almighty1

38 minutes ago

mheisen said:
Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?

I have a DISH Hopper 3 (Software H713) with Hopper Plus (Software P15403). I have not tried streaming services but I primarily watch TVB Jadeworld international package which is only available by streaming and when I have an issue, I usually have to go to a non-streaming satellite channel first before the streaming channels will work again. What software versions do you have and what is the error message if any are showing on your screen? or is that Dish downloading logo just stuck and never finishes?

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Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

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CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

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Example:

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Another example:

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Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne

Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

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KyL416

Sep 9, 2026

Now live:
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KyL416

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KyL416 said:
Now live:
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It only took them 41 days to announce it

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KyL416

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We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so...

Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
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reubenray

Last reply Today at 10:36 AM · posted in Computers and Gadgets

Laptop Shutting Off When On Battery?

Lately my eight year old Dell laptop has been shutting off even when I have a full battery. I have had to keep it plugged up all the time to keep this from happening. Any idea what is causing this? I replaced the battery about three years ago.

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arlo

Today at 10:09 AM

A recalibration might be needed. Even if it shows full, the individual cells may have become unbalaced. And the BMS chip in the battery reports false information to the pc.
Try this. Start it up in the bios/uefi and leave it there until the battery dies and it shuts off.
It might just keep running longer than in Windows. Or run for a short while and shut off.
If it's the first case. Probably just needs a balancing. If the latter, the pack might just be dead.
Not throwing stones but perhaps just a cheaply constructed battery with substandard cells. Could be.

Patience. Keep restarting it in bios/uefi until it won't fire up anymore.
Then plug the charger in and let it complete a full charge. And see what happens. If it's better.
Do the same thing one more time. Run it until it dies dead-dead. Then just let it charge, pc shut off.
When charged, it might be better. It might not be.

There are bench jigs that read the actual BMS and override it to let a tech manually monitor and charge the separate packs. They can also reset any "time bombs" in it that cause an otherwise good pack to show bad.
Maybe Santa will be good to me some year.

You might just need a new battery. Maybe the PC power management chip is going. A Dell common thing.
Leaving a laptop plugged in with a full battery is known to reduce the life. Asus for one recommends that you don't leave the charger plugged in all of the time even when shut down. And setting Windows to charge the battery to 85% instead of 100% increases life.
That's all I got.

dishstaller

Today at 10:36 AM

arlo said:
That's all I got.

That was quite enough....I definitely learned something from your post. Thanks

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Getting HD from satellite 61.5 vs. 129

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