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C
Last reply · posted in Free To Air (FTA) Discussion
Hi,
I am capable of tracking the arc with my motorized setup. However, when I use USALS I'm approximately 2 degrees off. For example, if I want to blind scan a satellite at 87 w I would set USALS on and scan 89W. Is there any setting I can change on my Coolsat 7100 to correct the 2 degree offset I'm experiencing? I don't want to use DiSEqC.

Thanks
28 Replies · 4566 views
nailpounder
I have a similar problem with my sg2100 setup with a 36" dish, Invacom Quad LNB and Captive Works CW700s receiver. I hit every bird in the arc from 61.5W to 125W, but 89W is the only sat I hit dead on with USALS. As I go west, USALS gradually drifts off farther west so by the time I get to 125W it's off by 2-3 degrees west. I tried a couple times to adjust it using my southern sat at 103W but didn't have any success. I decided that maybe my pole isn't perfectly plumb along the north-south axis. I use USALS to get the dish close to the sat position I want, then tweek it using DiSEqC and save the position. It really isn't that hard to do and I still get the entire arc.
L
As I go west, USALS gradually drifts off farther west so by the time I get to 125W it's off by 2-3 degrees west.
I have the same issue, probably caused by a heavy Dish. What I did was add 4 degrees to my Latitude n the USALS setup. If I change the Dish to a much lighter Fortec 80cm, I must use my correct Latitude for it to track properly.
AcWxRadar
I have a similar problem with my sg2100 setup with a 36" dish, Invacom Quad LNB and Captive Works CW700s receiver. I hit every bird in the arc from 61.5W to 125W, but 89W is the only sat I hit dead on with USALS. As I go west, USALS gradually drifts off farther west so by the time I get to 125W it's off by 2-3 degrees west. I tried a couple times to adjust it using my southern sat at 103W but didn't have any success. I decided that maybe my pole isn't perfectly plumb along the north-south axis. I use USALS to get the dish close to the sat position I want, then tweek it using DiSEqC and save the position. It really isn't that hard to do and I still get the entire arc.

I have the same issue, probably caused by a heavy Dish. What I did was add 4 degrees to my Latitude n the USALS setup. If I change the Dish to a much lighter Fortec 80cm, I must use my correct Latitude for it to track properly.

Nailpounder,

Is the Invacom LNBF that you have a QPH-031? That is quite a heavy device. Also, if your dish's LNBF arm does not have supporting struts connecting the end of the LNBF arm to the perimeter of the dish, the weight of an Invacom QPH-031 can cause the arm to sag in the direction that the dish is driven.

These factors can throw your alignent off just the same as what Lak describes with just a heavy dish.

One of my dishes is a Winegard DS-2076. This dish has no supporting struts for the LNBF arm. When I drive the dish to the far east or west, I can see that the arm sags a little. Or, when the wind is quite gusty, I can see the end of the arm and the LNBF "bounce" and dance around somewhat.

Since the Winegard DS-2076 LNBF arm is fairly sturdy all by itself, this error was never very large (no where near 2 degrees), but it was enough for me to detect a reduction in signal quality.

I fabricated some supporting struts (based on the design of my Winegard DS-3100 dish which did have these struts from the factory) to prevent this. These struts made the entire dish assembly much more rigid all around.

RADAR
Anole
I have the same issue, probably caused by a heavy Dish. What I did was add 4 degrees to my Latitude n the USALS setup. If I change the Dish to a much lighter Fortec 80cm, I must use my correct Latitude for it to track properly.
Pretty clever trick. You think pole was flexing? Wonder how long it is?
Imagine my concern about this guy mounting a 4' dish 'n motor atop 6' of 2" fence post:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...7-my-installation-pictures-2.html#post2101237



B.J.
Pretty clever trick. You think pole was flexing? Wonder how long it is?...
...

There used to be a fellow over on the Satforums group, who's ID name was 26foot or something like that. He claimed that he had a 26' dish (I was never quite sure what percentage of his claims I actually believed, but he seemed relatively believable on the big dish part). Anyway, he got into a discussion about aligning techniques, and he said that with a 26' dish, that the resolution was so fine, that it was virtually impossible to align a dish that big using the regular polar mount techniques, and it was because of the errors introduced by the pole flexing. Ie, you can compensate for pole flex when facing south via the elevation adjustment, but when the dish moves to the east or west, then the pole starts flexing in that direction, making alignment impossible. He said that he had to use an Az/El system to find sats.

But if you talk about flex, the first dish I ever helped install, was a friend, who mistakenly installed a HEAVY 10.5' H-H, on PVC pipe. That was like trying to cast a bowling ball with a fly rod.
L
Pretty clever trick. You think pole was flexing? Wonder how long it is?
I think most of my error is the extra weight on the motor, the motor has to have a little "give".
Babadem
I have the same issue, probably caused by a heavy Dish. What I did was add 4 degrees to my Latitude n the USALS setup. If I change the Dish to a much lighter Fortec 80cm, I must use my correct Latitude for it to track properly.

@ the red Highlighted:
Were the adjustments on the motor mount or on the receiver?
nailpounder
Nailpounder,

Is the Invacom LNBF that you have a QPH-031? That is quite a heavy device. Also, if your dish's LNBF arm does not have supporting struts connecting the end of the LNBF arm to the perimeter of the dish, the weight of an Invacom QPH-031 can cause the arm to sag in the direction that the dish is driven.

These factors can throw your alignent off just the same as what Lak describes with just a heavy dish.

One of my dishes is a Winegard DS-2076. This dish has no supporting struts for the LNBF arm. When I drive the dish to the far east or west, I can see that the arm sags a little. Or, when the wind is quite gusty, I can see the end of the arm and the LNBF "bounce" and dance around somewhat.

Since the Winegard DS-2076 LNBF arm is fairly sturdy all by itself, this error was never very large (no where near 2 degrees), but it was enough for me to detect a reduction in signal quality.

I fabricated some supporting struts (based on the design of my Winegard DS-3100 dish which did have these struts from the factory) to prevent this. These struts made the entire dish assembly much more rigid all around.

RADAR

Yes, this pretty much describes my situation. I use the QPH-031, which is a heavy lnb. Also what Lak7 said about a heavy dish. I use a Fortec Star 90P dish and the lnb arm doesn't have supporting struts. The lnb arm is fairly rigid, but I used the original roof-mount post that came with the dish and I think the combined weight of the motor, dish and lnb are causing it to tilt slightly southward. At the same time, it has withstood 65 mph winds. Since I'm able to compensate for it and get an average Q of 75-80 across the arc, it really hasn't caused a problem for me.
AcWxRadar
Yes, this pretty much describes my situation. I use the QPH-031, which is a heavy lnb. Also what Lak7 said about a heavy dish. I use a Fortec Star 90P dish and the lnb arm doesn't have supporting struts. The lnb arm is fairly rigid, but I used the original roof-mount post that came with the dish and I think the combined weight of the motor, dish and lnb are causing it to tilt slightly southward. At the same time, it has withstood 65 mph winds. Since I'm able to compensate for it and get an average Q of 75-80 across the arc, it really hasn't caused a problem for me.

Nailpounder,

If you don't mind making a few adjustments to your coordinates in the menus or to each of your satellite orbital (degree) positions in the box to keep you tracking the arc well then the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind as a thought. ;)

My dish antennas have seen some rough weather here as well. Once there was a storm where the winds were so strong that, and I am not joking one bit, pontoon boats were ripped from their moorings and tossed out of the lake, up onto the beach and thrown several houses down the shore. It wasn't a tornado, but it was a very strong wind storm and I think I recall that the NWS estimated the wind speeds to be in excess of 85 mph with gusts even higher that that, possibly 120 mph based upon their assesment of the damages.

Fortunately, I did not receive these winds. My place was 10-15 miles further north and it wasn't THAT bad here.

Anyway, a little "wobble" in the dish or the LNBF arm isn't going to bother anything for the most part. Especially providing that it always goes back to the original setup position. When the wind starts wrapping your dish around a tree, then you have problems, but I don't think that anyone sells a dish that they gaurantee against that type of force. If the storm gets that bad, you've got more to worry about than your dish alignment! Like maybe how to realign your house to the foundation, if you still have your house! :eek:

That wind storm that we had here was so bad that it killed all the rabbits. Yes, it choked them all to death. The wind was so strong that it blew their butts up over their necks and choked them all! Ha ha! Ok, you can boo and hiss now. Lame joke time there. :)

RADAR
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
· posted in The Chit Chat Club
Now that I'm retired, obviously I have different health care insurance. I take 2 prescriptions. With my old insurance I didn't have to pay for either of them, now I do. It's not a huge amount but it led me to dig a little into the cost of prescription medications. I have been using Walgreens for the longest time. But what I found was that Walgreens price is 4.8 times more for one of my prescriptions and the other is 2.3 percent more compared to the lowest price pharmacy. If you pay for prescription medications you might want to have a look at trumprx and see if you can get a lower price.


Screenshot from 2026-10-22 15-43-53.webp
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Former member 209992
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
550 Replies · 19047 views
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Scott Greczkowski
Just a heads up... I just patched our PHP to close the major PHP exploit announced this morning.

Now on PHP 8.4.27 (cli) (built: Oct 20 2026 00:00:00)
harshness
More specifically, these:



A more scholarly story is here:

navychop
"WARNING Will Robinson!"
Don in CT
Just a heads up... I just patched our PHP to close the major PHP exploit announced this morning.

Now on PHP 8.4.27 (cli) (built: Oct 20 2026 00:00:00)
When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it. :D
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Scott Greczkowski
When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it. :D
12 minutes after the patch was release I had it patched. :)
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
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....
68572 Replies · 2675877 views
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dishstaller
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Simply Red
Bobby
You'll Always Be Loved By Me - Brooks & Dunn
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sdfntx
You'll Always Be the One - Dinah Shore
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gms49ers
Still the One - Orleans
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long_time_Dish
One Toke Over The Line - Brewer and Shipley
Bruce
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
I was reading this article


That said this-
Last summer, for the first time, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime claimed the largest share of the television viewing audience, surpassing both cable and broadcast TV. Streaming captured 34.8 percent of July viewers, according to Nielsen data, compared to 34.4 percent for cable and 21.6 percent for broadcast.

And then, sometime in the second half of 2022, cord-cutters became the majority. The share of cable and satellite television subscribers dipped to 48 percent, according to a report from Samba TV, a television technology company.


Now I do not consider those with YTTV and the likes, Cord Cutters, but they still do not have Traditional Cable/Satellite delivered Live TV, so I decided to do the math.

There are, now, 129 Million Households in the United States.

In 2015, there were 100 Million Cable/Sat Subscribers , no streaming Live TV Service.

Today, there are 66 Million Live TV subscribers, including Cable, Satellite and Streaming.

Roughly, Streaming Live TV has 14 Million subs including all of them.

So that means, Cable/Satellite now has, roughly, 51 Million Households

So in just 8 years, lost 49% of their subscribers and by the end of this year, expected sub count to be, roughly, 45 million households.

That means a total loss of 55% since 2015 at the end of 2023.

But out of 129 Million households, 45 million will mean only 35% will get Cable/Satellite Delivered Live TV by the end of 2023.

Imagine what 2024 will be like.
878 Replies · 71352 views
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Bruce
Sony is discontinuing it's last 4K disc player, Panasonic has been rumored to be doing the same, the end of physical media is unfortunately, about to happen.

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navychop
Got a Sony 700 at WM dot commie.

I think.

Ordered, anyway. Amazon let me go thru entire process but then said no inventory.

Hopefully,, WM will come thru.
dishstaller
Sony is discontinuing it's last 4K disc player, Panasonic has been rumored to be doing the same, the end of physical media is unfortunately, about to happen.
Hate to hear that. If you don't physically have something in your hand, you don't really own it.
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Bruce
Hate to hear that. If you don't physically have something in your hand, you don't really own it.
Even a physical disc purchase is considered a license, just extremely harder to pull access vs digital.

But once new players are no longer sold and older players quit working, that takes care of the access to your library.

See LaserDiscs for one example of that happening.
ncted
Sony is discontinuing it's last 4K disc player, Panasonic has been rumored to be doing the same, the end of physical media is unfortunately, about to happen.

I am so done with Sony on so many levels. This is just one small piece of it.
M
Last reply · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info
Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.
9 Replies · 291 views
navychop
DEATH TO NEXGEN!
primestar31
DEATH TO NEXGEN!
star trek GIF


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.
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navychop
I truly hope you are right.
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Mister B
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
In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.

They might notice the hand going into their pocket for their wallet.
navychop
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.
Van
Van
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
Who says dinner or lunch has to be the only good meals of the day?

Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
6631 Replies · 379739 views
TRG
TRG
Wound up at the Waffle House this morning. Got the two egg breakfast with coffee.

1622.webp
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dfergie
Speaking of waffles, I'm going to put my mini waffle iron on stove so I'll remember to make waffles in the morning... Had some last week, been awhile.
dfergie
Dos cackleberrys over easy on top of 2 corned beef hash patties fried in skillet... Chocolate milk.
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TRG
TRG
Cold morning today, only 32 degrees. Fired up the oven and made cinnamon rolls (from a tube) and a pot of coffee.
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TRG
TRG
2 egg burrito with bacon and a side of hashbrowns. Coffee.

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SuperDish_Fan23
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!
26 Replies · 665 views
S
That's not really unusual. Cable companies like to the provide the box too. The phone company provided the phones in until the government forced them to allow third-party phones.
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Almighty1
That's not really unusual. Cable companies like to the provide the box too. The phone company provided the phones in until the government forced them to allow third-party phones.
Yes, the Western Electric phones that says "Bell System Property, NOT FOR SALE, Western Electric".
Bobby
Yes, the Western Electric phones that says "Bell System Property, NOT FOR SALE, Western Electric".
In my very early work life I installed and repaired those phones.
AZ.
AZ.
Yes, the Western Electric phones that says "Bell System Property, NOT FOR SALE, Western Electric".
someone is showing their age
Almighty1
someone is showing their age
LOL. It depends if the person saw it during the years when they were actually still available which is 1968 to 1983 meaning the person could be 43-58 years old or they can even be a few years old if they learned to read and write at a young age and actually saw a telephone with that label somewhere recently just like even here in San Francisco, payphone still exist physically in public places but whether they can be used or not is a different issue. It still looks like this even today:
1792633296785.webp
dishstaller
I opened my Radio Shack in Sept 1984 and right about that time they did the whole deregulation thing with the phone companies. I bought TONS of those phones that had been refurbished with a new outer shell. You could throw one of those out of a 3 story high window and it would still work.
That was an interesting time in history. I would have older customers come in and ask about phones.....they were terrified that they were going to get into trouble hooking up a second phone without the phone company knowing about it. One of the funniest episodes of WKRP was the one where Johnny thought the cops were showing up because they had an unregistered phone. I guess younger folks can't conceive of a time when you were limited to the number of phones you could have in your house....and limited to the length of the cord 🤣
llokey
In my very early work life I installed and repaired those phones.
And I kept them working through the ESS offices.
Bobby
And I kept them working through the ESS offices.
The two central offices in the area I worked were actually step by step offices. :)
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Almighty1
I opened my Radio Shack in Sept 1984 and right about that time they did the whole deregulation thing with the phone companies. I bought TONS of those phones that had been refurbished with a new outer shell. You could throw one of those out of a 3 story high window and it would still work.
That was an interesting time in history. I would have older customers come in and ask about phones.....they were terrified that they were going to get into trouble hooking up a second phone without the phone company knowing about it. One of the funniest episodes of WKRP was the one where Johnny thought the cops were showing up because they had an unregistered phone. I guess younger folks can't conceive of a time when you were limited to the number of phones you could have in your house....and limited to the length of the cord 🤣
Speaking about cords, I actually did drop a Trimline phone from probably 3 feet high on the floor when I was about 10 or so and it caused a small crack, this was the one with the modular jacks and it was hooked up with I think a 50 ft or longer RJ11C cable from Radio Shack. I still use the phone today connected to a Obi VoIP adapter and the cord is my custom made 6 position RJ11C, not sure of the official name for it without looking it up and Belden MediaTwist Crescent shaped Cat6+ cable.

1792686536450.webp
S
LOL. It depends if the person saw it during the years when they were actually still available which is 1968 to 1983 meaning the person could be 43-58 years old or they can even be a few years old if they learned to read and write at a young age and actually saw a telephone with that label somewhere recently just like even here in San Francisco, payphone still exist physically in public places but whether they can be used or not is a different issue. It still looks like this even today:
View attachment 194957
so that persons in hiding lol:biggrin
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S
remembers when ATT had stores and leased home phones
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dishstaller
My Wife was recently in an antique store and saw a rotary desk phone and it had one of those sticker overlays that had a business listed with phone number under each number on the dial. She looked closer and it had my old Radio Shack listed under the 8...she bought it. Pretty cool keepsake. Back then I rented vhs movies as well so I had it listed as Radio Shack / Movie Gallery and then the phone number.
Gary Toma
Staff member Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in DIRECTV Technical Resources Forum
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
2156 Replies · 936220 views
jamieh1
Now in the Hornets and Hurricanes markets we just get the TV promise screen. But Directv still charges sports fee I am assuming.
Luckily my DTV stream package doesn't have a rsn fee. Figure DTV that always says is the leader in sports would have come to an agreement by now.
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K
Now in the Hornets and Hurricanes markets we just get the TV promise screen. But Directv still charges sports fee I am assuming.
Greenville-New Bern is $11.99 for MASN (Orioles) and Nationals
Raleigh is $11.99 for MASN and Nationals
Charlotte is $12.99 for BravesVision, MASN, Nationals and Reds

The fee in NC also includes the higher in state rate they have to pay for ACCN. Down in SC the fee is $15.99 as they are also a SEC state.
I'm not sure if they're doing it with those teams, but in some markets they also use the fee to cover the additional cost they have to pay for independents and MyNet stations that picked up full season NHL and NBA rights.

If you go to the TVPromise site, you'll likely be able to get a credit for not getting the Hurricanes and additional Hornets games that air on WITN-D2

Figure DTV that always says is the leader in sports would have come to an agreement by now.
Part of the hold out might be the packaging and price for outer areas like how the Thunder needs sports pack for other states. Hopefully they are also pushing for a guarantee from the teams that they would require whoever wins their local broadcasting rights in 2028 to negotiate with MVPDs. Commercial distribution rights are probably a factor too.

I'm guessing they got a deep discount for the Clippers based on how long it took them to officially announce ClipperVision and their KTLA simulcasts after they were basically handed a multi-year draft death penalty.

The Predators and Pistons channels are using feeds supplied by Scripps Sports

The Heat likely depends on whoever they sign for the Fort Myers DMA, as there's no point in paying a high price for the Heat just for that DMA when WPLG is streaming it for free on their app and website for viewers in the Miami DMA, and they already carry the West Palm Beach station.
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cp2k
If you go to the TVPromise site, you'll likely be able to get a credit for not getting the Hurricanes and additional Hornets games that air on WITN-D2

I tried this with both the Hurricanes and Hornets since I'm in upstate SC, and wasn't offered any kind of credit by the site. It's not a huge deal to me as I can pick up WSOC/WAXN over the air at my location even though I'm outside the Charlotte market.
TheRatPatrol
I thought the NBA TV contracts were short term as the NBA is trying to get all of the teams into in an all in one streaming app?
K
649 GRZLLIES and 671 PACERS are now available.

The rest are still pointing to the TV Promise slate
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