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emuman100

Last reply Jan 19, 2009 · posted in C-BAND Satellite Discussion

Support arms for Fortec Star Dishes

Hello,

On my 2.4m Fortec Star prime focus dish, have you noticed the LNB arms are not adequate for a heavy dual output Chaparral feedhorn and two heavy Norsat 8515 LNBs? When re-aligning, I noticed that the whole scalar ring and feedhorn/LNBs seem to sag, but ever so slightly. I had to bend and twist the scalar ring position to get the focal point on the right spot as well, and find it very difficult to find the right spot when aligning. Once I got the azimuth and elevation spot on, it takes playing with the feedhorn position and LNB skew to get the strongest signal.

Is this normal with these dishes? My 1.8m Fortec Star prime focus dish had the same problem with the arms as well. Is this normal for all prime focus dishes? I'm guessing not. Should I use, say, metal wiring conduit as a good replacement? And use four of them instead of the three it comes with?

Thanks.

Jonathan

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cracklincrotch

Jan 18, 2009

Yes, you can use metal conduit to do that. Just flatten out the ends so they mate with the dish the same way and you should be all fixed up.

Anole

Jan 18, 2009

alternative

I used some metal conduit to make LNB side support arms for a small Ku dish, recently.
So, the same thought came to mind.
They were a lot shorter than you'd have on a BUD, and quite stiff.
However for the span you're talking about, I don't know if the strength to weight ratio would be appropriate.
So, if you determine that a piece long enough, and large enough to be stiff, would be too heavy ...
... there's also aluminum tubing available at the Home Depot type stores.
It's anodized, comes in various diameters, and is a bit more expensive, but for three or four pieces, maybe worth the one-time cost.

Just something to think about.

Regardless of the tubing selected, there's a question of bending it.
If you don't have a proper tubing bender, could you have it done at a muffler shop?
Might be cheaper than a machine shop.
Or, the muffler shop might have other materials and suggestions.
Worth an ask. -

For the tube end where I attached to the dish, I did squeeze it flat, grind it off, drill a hole, and bend it to the appropriate angle.
If your dish has a different attachment technique, it might be best to duplicate it.

On the end where the support strut attaches to the LNB scalar (or scalar support plate), there are many ways in the many BUD pictues on the forum.
Here are two I like.
- commercial dish, in the picture gallery of McGuyver.
- bracket/tab designed by CadData, as seen in this picture by PopCornNmore.
(I've built the tab, and it's easily adjustable)

phlatwound

Jan 18, 2009

I have an old buttonhook-equipped dish that I was considering taking some very small cable (1/8" max), and some little turnubuckles to adjust the feed support with.

You might be able to rig something like that to adjust your existing feed suport, if it doesn't need to move much. Probably would have to reinforce the areas where you attached the cables to the edge of the dish, too much localized pull would tend to distort the parabola, I think.

emuman100

Jan 19, 2009

Thanks for the reply guys. I think the aluminum tubing or steel conduit might be the best solution, though the steel would be harder to bend and crush the ends. With a lightweight BSC621, the arms are perfectly adequate. I guess that's what the dish is made for, the lightweight LNBs.

I will use the steel cable and turnbuckles to hold down the dish to the ground so the wind won't blow it down like it did. The turnbuckles are a great idea to adjust the tension on the fly.

Jonathan

Lone Cloud

Jan 19, 2009

I used the smallest diameter aluminum tubing I could find for this purpose an another dish I have. I did it the exact way described here - flatten ends, make same length, identical bends and holes. Should work.

tparker

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

"Bonus View" Channel List

I was bewildered with all the new DISH TV "Bonus View" channels, so I put together a web page table with all the info I could find. It's at:

https://anythingpeaceful.org/dishtv/DISH_TV_Bonus_View_Channels.html

Here's a partial screenshot of the table, as sorted by Channel Name. (You can click on a column header to sort.)

If you have any corrections or suggestions, please post here.

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tparker

Sep 23, 2026

Two new Bonus View channels Added today:

And two Removed:

My full list is at: DISH TV "Bonus View" Channels

Thanks to Pat for the heads up.

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tparker

Sep 30, 2026

One Bonus View channel added today. And one correction (on my part):

One Removed:

My full list is at: DISH TV "Bonus View" Channels

BTW, not a Bonus View item, but there was a temporary channel 304 Spooktacular added, I imagine just for the Halloween season.

Thanks again to Pat for the many tips.

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tparker

Oct 21, 2026

Three new Bonus View channels today:

My full list is at: DISH TV "Bonus View" Channels

As always, thanks to Pat for the tips.

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tparker

Oct 28, 2026

Four Bonus View channels removed today:

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bnewt

38 minutes ago

Why all the changes?

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osu1991

Pub Member / Supporter

Last reply 41 minutes ago · posted in The Chit Chat Club

USA Healthcare Costs are Ridiculous

Pissed off at the crappy healthcare costs

My health Insurance renewal for 2027 just came in. Going from $827 a month to $1,187 a month. Deductible going up a $1k to $9,350. Max out of pocket also going up $1k to $11,000. Doctor co-pay of $40. Urgent Care co-pay $50. ER 50% coinsurance after deductible. That's all in network. Out of network is double, should it be needed.

Have to think about this. I'm really tempted to just go without now. I only go to the doctor once or twice a year. I pay out of pocket for Tirzepitide and can do without the Rosuvastatin (crestor) now. Really tired of spending over $10k a year and getting nothing out of it.

After years with Blue Cross I switched last year to Ambetter as my Blue Cross premium was going from $1200 to $1800 for a Silver plan and the Bronze plan was still going to be $1300 at BCBS. Ambetter was $827 for the same coverage with a Bronze plan. Didn't think it would jump this much so soon.

I'm guessing a Silver plan is probably over $2,000 a month for 2027.

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osu1991

Sunday at 7:39 PM

Such a scam. Healthcare.gov shows me cheaper individual plans available for 2027 from ambetter that ambetter doesn't show on their website. Looked it up. I've spent $68,000 in premiums the last 5 years and got nothing out of it except a few doctors visits and labs.

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dishstaller

Sunday at 8:15 PM

osu1991 said:
I've spent $68,000 in premiums the last 5 years

That's why I cancelled ours and just started saving the money. We're about to do the same thing with our home insurance.....not cancel it outright but do away with the portion which covers wind damage. We're paying over $5k right now and that is AFTER I dumbed things down...and it keeps going up. Got a couple trees I want to have taken down first before I do that however. After we do that, it will knock about $3k off our annual premium.

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harshness

Monday at 10:51 AM

dishstaller said:
not cancel it outright but do away with the portion which covers wind damage.

Other than fire, what other kinds of damage do you guys get down there?

dishstaller

Monday at 11:26 AM

harshness said:
Other than fire, what other kinds of damage do you guys get down there?

Not much else. Fire is the only thing I really worry about. I honestly didn't know I could remove wind coverage until someone told that they had....dropped their annual rate from $6,500 to $1,800. I'm currently paying $5,160.

Jimbo

Monday at 6:36 PM

dishstaller said:
Not much else. Fire is the only thing I really worry about. I honestly didn't know I could remove wind coverage until someone told that they had....dropped their annual rate from $6,500 to $1,800. I'm currently paying $5,160.

Does the Wind portion cover Hurricanes ?

dishstaller

Monday at 8:58 PM

Jimbo said:
Does the Wind portion cover Hurricanes ?

Yes. I covers ANYTHING wind related. If the wind blows down a tree on my roof...that is wind related.
That is why I want to take out a few trees first before I drop it.

I'm not worried about my roof. House was very solidly built and has hurricane straps. I put the metal roof on myself with the help of a friend and I recently replaced all of the outer screws with #12 2 in screws which I also dipped the tip in silicone before driving them in. Any other damage I'll fix myself like I did after Michael gave us a visit in 2018.

Jimbo

Monday at 10:13 PM

dishstaller said:
Yes. I covers ANYTHING wind related. If the wind blows down a tree on my roof...that is wind related.
That is why I want to take out a few trees first before I drop it.

I'm not worried about my roof. House was very solidly built and has hurricane straps. I put the metal roof on myself with the help of a friend and I recently replaced all of the outer screws with #12 2 in screws which I also dipped the tip in silicone before driving them in. Any other damage I'll fix myself like I did after Michael gave us a visit in 2018.

So, the Roof will stay, hopefully the rest of the house stays as well ... if the Hurricane decides to take the house and move it down the street, well at least the roof will go with it !

dishstaller

Monday at 10:49 PM

Jimbo said:
So, the Roof will stay, hopefully the rest of the house stays as well ... if the Hurricane decides to take the house and move it down the street, well at least the roof will go with it !

Why be such a smartbutt.
We went through a cat 5 hurricane.....the foundation is sound. Trees hitting the house are the only thing I am worried about when it comes to wind related damage.
IF you had actually been through multiple hurricanes like I have, you would know that most of the damage, unless you were stupid enough to build along the coast.....something ALL of our ancestors knew better than to do, is roof related. In a lot of cases the roof gives way and then the house suffers water damage due to the heavy rain.

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navychop

Yesterday at 9:30 AM

I've had CTs etc within MINUTES of entering an ER (A&E).

In Canada, they publish wait times (months) for CTs. And track the number of deaths of such people while waiting.

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AZ.

Yesterday at 10:30 AM

In 1993 they were trying to address healthcare, now the problem is a damn monster!.....We need more drs, and nurses to start. Rural hospitals are closing down left and right. It looks like my closest hospital(26 miles away) doesnt think they will make it through next year. The whole thing is a mess! And by the first of the year it will be on steroids!

hold on tight

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harshness

Yesterday at 10:47 AM

AZ. said:
We need more drs, and nurses to start.

That's a big ask, given the liability situation and the demands from the insurance companies. My podiatrist spends 20% more on liability insurance than I made in a year.

AZ.

Yesterday at 10:56 AM

harshness said:
That's a big ask, given the liability situation and the demands from the insurance companies. My podiatrist spends 20% more on liability insurance than I made in a year.

Well the number of Drs is controlled. So it would make it more like what it was 60 or 70 years ago. Remember when they had their own offices? Easy to get an appointment? Seen asap when sick? Our emergency rooms do that now, and that adds to the price. We dont have many Drs out here lots of Nurse Practitioners, and Phyctian assistants. You hardly get seen by a Dr. But this is very rural area, maybe the big city is different? Left the city 20 years ago.

harshness

Yesterday at 11:20 AM

AZ. said:
We dont have many Drs out here lots of Nurse Practitioners, and Phyctian assistants.

I've gone from an MD in the 1980s -> DO -> FPN -> PA-C.

The FPN went into teaching.

TRG

Yesterday at 12:02 PM

dishstaller said:
Why be such a smartbutt.
We went through a cat 5 hurricane.....the foundation is sound. Trees hitting the house are the only thing I am worried about when it comes to wind related damage.
IF you had actually been through multiple hurricanes like I have, you would know that most of the damage, unless you were stupid enough to build along the coast.....something ALL of our ancestors knew better than to do, is roof related. In a lot of cases the roof gives way and then the house suffers water damage due to the heavy rain.

A good friend of mine is a general contractor. He has quite a large network of builders throughout the U.S. In certain parts of the country roof straps, brackets, clips are a code requirement now. Older homes can be upgraded if they have attic access. These roof reinforcing methods significantly strengthen roof integrity during high wind events.

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meStevo

Yesterday at 1:03 PM

navychop said:
I've had CTs etc within MINUTES of entering an ER (A&E).

In Canada, they publish wait times (months) for CTs. And track the number of deaths of such people while waiting.

Except you're comparing emergency care - which is available just as quickly in Canada - to scheduled outpatient diagnostics.

The last 2 CTs I needed had to be scheduled 3-5 weeks out here as well.

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dishstaller

Yesterday at 1:15 PM

TRG said:
A good friend of mine is a general contractor. He has quite a large network of builders throughout the U.S. In certain parts of the country roof straps, brackets, clips are a code requirement now. Older homes can be upgraded if they have attic access. These roof reinforcing methods significantly strengthen roof integrity during high wind events.

Ours was built in 1986. Hurricane clips weren't required then but the man who built it obviously had my mentality and had them put on anyway. Good thing he did because it would have been very hard to find home insurance without them.
When I was young and I was helping my Dad add onto our haybarn he would go to the lumber yards and get those metal straps they used to use bundling lumber. We would cut them and strap them over the rafters. He had been through a tornado years before and had seen barn roofs lifted right off.

osu1991

41 minutes ago

AI is now deciding who gets healthcare in 6 US states – and it's already harming patients | BBC Science Focus Magazine

An AI pilot programme is attempting to cut down on ‘wasteful’ medical procedures, and patients are paying the price

www.sciencefocus.com

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TFLEV

Today at 7:32 AM · posted in TFLEV

Geely E5 (EX5) First Drive: Meet The Toyota RAV4 of China!

Time for another AWESOME video from TFL Electric Vehicles!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvCXgeUJXS0

Direct YouTube Link - Geely E5 (EX5) First Drive: Meet The Toyota RAV4 of China!

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Gary Toma

Staff member Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 7:24 AM · posted in DIRECTV Technical Resources Forum

DIRECTV Transponder Map ~ Data 10/28/2026

The TPN Map Excel Presents all DIRECTV Channels:

National (50-States or wide/NAT+PR beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)

Additional tabs provide:

OTA the (Over-The-Air) Database
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders

Domestic Satellites
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8

Understanding the TPN Map

Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions

DIRECTV_TPN_Map_261028.xlsx 1,878 KB

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KyL416

Yesterday at 5:48 AM

The Election HQ Mix is now live on channels 71, 200, 202-1, 307-1, 349-1, 356-1 and 360-1, there's also a red button app on CNN, NewsNation, BBC News, NewsMax, CNBC, MS Now, FOX Business and FOX News.

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dtv757

Yesterday at 12:31 PM

Any updates on CW Norfolk for sat

Thanks

doctor J

Today at 7:22 AM

DirecTV Satellite Transponder Updates for Nov 04 2026

Comparison of Transponder Data for Nov 04 2026 vs Oct 28 2026:

No changes in system tables for any transponder tuning parameters.

Changes to the use of defined transponders:

2 Previously unused Transponders with current APG records::
Net 15 TID 12 Beam NAT is a National Transponder on D12@103ca, TPN 13
Net 15 TID 17 Beam NAT + PR is a National Transponder on D15@103ca, TPN 18

Stream (PID) counts:

LIVE Streams	National		Spot Beams
	Count	Change	Count	Change
4K	4
HD	266	2	1449
SD mpeg4	144		194
SD mpeg2	433	-1
RB
Audio	89
Push	26
Slate	19		1

TEST Streams	National		Spot Beams
	Count	Change	Count	Change
4K
HD			1
SD mpeg4
SD mpeg2
RB
Engr Work	56	18

The PID count Excel workbook provides much more count detail.

Newly updated tables of Streams on each transponder are available in the DataDigesters TPN Grids

More details of changes in individual channels will follow in the Weekly Analysis
and Gary Toma's Domestic TPN Map Excel files
Reshuffle setup ?
Weekly Analysis soon
Enjoy
DataDigesters

doctor J

Today at 7:23 AM

Weekly Analysis for 11/04/2026:

Weekly_Analysis_261104.xlsx 16 KB

KyL416

Today at 7:24 AM

Prep for More TPN swaps

NewsMix -> ElectionHQ

MLBEI -> NBALP in the 740s

No sign of the additional CW affiliates that were added to stream a few weeks ago

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 5:29 AM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

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

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

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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sdfntx

Yesterday at 11:45 PM

Come A Little Bit Closer - Jay & The Americans

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long_time_Dish

Yesterday at 11:53 PM

Closer To Heaven - Alan Parsons Project

EatMyVolts

Today at 12:38 AM

Heaven Is In Your Mind -- Traffic

hwkn

Today at 2:35 AM

HEAVEN IS A Place On Earth-Belinda Carlisle

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ClarkGable

Today at 5:29 AM

Earth Angel - The Penguins

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zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 5:20 AM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

110/119 Listings Post 129 Transition (Updated 11/01/2026)

Over the past year I have been tracking the changes on Western Arc. The past 3 months have had a lot of changes that I posted in the other MPEG2 Western Arc shutdown thread. Now that 129 is (basically) out of commission, here is where Western Arc stands. This is just a national channel list, (no local channels) based off what I can see and what others have contributed. Thanks to everyone who has helped me come up with the locations of some of the channels – I would try and list all of you out, but I know I would forget someone! As has been suggested in other parts of the forum, it would be great to collect the spotbeam data for those who could contribute!

A couple of pieces of info:

Out of the 64 transponders between 110/119, there are currently 50 transponders that Dish is licensed to use. 22 are Spotbeams, 28 are ConUS transponders (14 transponders are licensed to DirecTV and Dish doesn't have access to them)
Those 28 ConUS transponders are divided as follows:
- 10 are dedicated to National HD channels (ESPN, CNN, Disney Channel, etc). Dish is maxing out at 16 HD channels per transponder (note – in an earlier post I said there was one transponder with 17 HD channels, that was an error on my part. When I double checked my listings, one channel changed transponders). Before the transition, there was a maximum of 14 HD channels per transponder.
- 1 transponder is dedicated to adult content
- 2 are a mixture HD PPV Movies/4k channels
- 3 are set aside for HD Sports channels that are only on for live games (NBA League Pass, the PAC 12 alternate channels, some PPV events, etc); 3 SD PPV Sports Channels are there as well.
- 7 are for SD and/or music channels. Dish is maxing out at 26 SD channels per transponder thus far on the SD transponders.
- 5 transponders on 110 I have no channels listed but Dish operates. (they are labeled as ConUS on my chart below) There are other things that could be on those transponders, like RV Distant Networks, internal testing channels, etc, that I can't see. They might be able to be used for additional content, but I am not sure exactly what is on those transponders.

There are two transponders that have lower than normal SD channels – 110, TP 21 and 119, TP 19. Previously those transponders contained the programming guides that get downloaded from the satellite when the receivers download EPG. I assume that is where the programming guides are still downloaded from, thus less channels there.

When I talk about number of channels on a transponder, all my numbers are unique channels – for example, channel 101 and 199 are the same channel mapped to two different numbers, but in terms of space, only takes up 1 channel worth of bandwidth on the transponder.

Finally, I have to give Dish a ton of credit. When it was 110/119/129, Dish had 82 transponders they were using – it took a lot to get it down to 50 transponders and figure out where all the pieces were going to go. What are the things they did to get there? Here are the things I saw:

During this migration from 129, Dish converted 7 ConUS transponders on 119 into Spotbeams – that is how they ended up fitting on all the HD locals that used to be on 129. (for those interested, TP 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 are the ones that used to be ConUS on 119 that are now Spotbeam)
Removed almost all SD duplicate channels that are offered in HD
Converted remaining SD channels from MPEG2 to MPEG4
There are also 2 subtle things that changed from the HD channel perspective
- At the beginning of the transition, Dish decreased the number of PPV Movie channels – prior to this transition the PPV channels HD PPV movies were 502-522; now they are 502-517.
- At the beginning of April when MLB, NBA, and NHL regular seasons were all going on at the same time and this transition began, there were a ton of games "joined in progress" for the HD feeds. That wasn't common since the days before the full time HD RSN's. The reason for that was prior to the transition, Dish had 4 transponders set aside for HD Sports – 2 transponders was the bandwidth set aside from the HD RSN's before Dish dropped the RSN's, then 2 transponders were for alternate channels. Now we are down to 3 transponders for HD sports.

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zippyfrog

Sunday at 4:47 PM

With the extra hour I had this morning, I updated the listings. Another month has passed, and nothing has moved off 110 to 119 for the national channels. I really thought those handful of transponders on 119 would have been populated with the national channels from 110, but no change.

Can someone who has a Hopper tell me if the 4k channels are still on 110 and if so, what transponder?

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Bobby

Sunday at 5:07 PM

zippyfrog said:
With the extra hour I had this morning, I updated the listings. Another month has passed, and nothing has moved off 110 to 119 for the national channels. I really thought those handful of transponders on 119 would have been populated with the national channels from 110, but no change.

Can someone who has a Hopper tell me if the 4k channels are still on 110 and if so, what transponder?

They appear to be on 110, transponder 8.

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zippyfrog

Sunday at 5:30 PM

Bobby said:
They appear to be on 110, transponder 8.

Thanks! I do have my listing correct then.

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zippyfrog

Yesterday at 5:11 PM

Dish has officially removed all the locals from 119 and they are all on 110 now. TP 02, 04, 06, 08, 10 were all functioning as Spotbeams as of last week, but now they are ConUS.

This means all 21 transponders that Dish has access to at 119 are now ConUS.

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dishrich

Yesterday at 9:34 PM

zippyfrog said:
Dish has officially removed all the locals from 119 and they are all on 110 now.

Might be a silly question, but does this mean ALL 29 TP's on 110 are positively spot beams now?

Reactions: zippyfrog and charlesrshell

zippyfrog

Today at 5:20 AM

dishrich said:
Might be a silly question, but does this mean ALL 29 TP's on 110 are positively spot beams now?

Nope - TP 1-13 are still ConUS on 110. Which is crazy...there are so many different spotbeams on the new 110 satellite compared to the older 110 or 119. Now, someone can correct me if I am wrong on this - but aren't there two satellites at 110 right now? If so, it looks like TP 1-13 are coming from the old satellite at 110 and 14 onward are spotbeams on the new satellite.