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M
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in DIRECTV General Forum
Well this just aint going well. :(

Thought about the free HD promotion so I called D* about a week ago. They tell me I can get it BUT I need to be on auto pay with D*....I have my D* bill through Qwest. So I call Qwest and submit an order to move it back to D*

Called Tuesday and they said it still hadnt been done yet...hmmm....order said the 15th. Oh well. I call today and talk with the guy. He tells me $99 for the HD receiver (doesnt give me an option for a DVR even though I asked) and $49 to install the dish. He also mentions to me I didnt need to move the account back to D* since D* considers a acct that a Telco bills for as on auto pay anyways. SO I'd qualify for the $5 off discount for bundling and the $10 HD waived.

So I try CSR roulette...the lady tonight tells me about the $10 HD access fee. I mentioned about it getting credited and she mentions that they could. Then she tells me
$199 for the DVR or $99 for a HD receiver
$49 for the install AND
$50 since I'm too "new" of a customer and to check back in 3-4 months to see if I qualify for a better promotion.

uh....why the hell didnt someone tell me this the other 2 times I called about the extra $50?

screw it...I guess the next call is moving it back to Qwest to get my $5 discount and I guess I'll deal with SD still. Dont get me wrong, I want to move to HD but I'm not paying $200 or $300 to upgrade. I know I'd maybe do just the HD receiver as the R22 can do HD but damn...

yeah I know....I should have ordered HD at the getgo....yah I get that :rolleyes:
32 Replies · 4141 views
M
I need the slimline...all I have is a Phase III right now

yeah I was told "I was too new of a customer" (4 months) but seriously....$50 "just because"????

Hell I might grab a HD receiver and tell my neighbor I'm using his dish. He has a slimline (old style) that he doesnt use. He canceled D* about a year ago. Its about 10-12 feet from my "dish farm" anyways :p
B
I need the slimline...all I have is a Phase III right now

yeah I was told "I was too new of a customer" (4 months) but seriously....$50 "just because"????

Hell I might grab a HD receiver and tell my neighbor I'm using his dish. He has a slimline (old style) that he doesnt use. He canceled D* about a year ago. Its about 10-12 feet from my "dish farm" anyways :p

I'd love to see a pic of that dish farm
stardust3
I'd love to see a pic of that dish farm

A little off topic, but I had some of the best times in my life just to your west in Hanover. Early in the a.m. the stench from the paper mill would overwhelm the senses. So we nicknamed "Spring Grove" to "Stinky Grove". Is it still the same? I have not lived in that area since the early 90's.
M
I'd love to see a pic of that dish farm

ask and you shall receive ;)

These are from about a month ago

3 dishes on the roof
30" Winegard motorized dish (in the 7th year of operation)
36" GeosatPro motorized dish
Directv Phase III

6 foot dish aimed at 99W
Primestar aimed at 105W Ku
WSI 4 footer aimed at 121 C-Band with 2nd LNB for 125W

Dual antennas on the roof
top one is a VHF Hi aimed to pick up a distant CBS/Fox (KEYC 72 miles away)
bottom one is aimed at Minneapolis

In pic 1 you can actually see part of the slimline the neighbor has (if you blow up the pic)
S
The HD way right now would net him a free HD-DVR, A free HD and 4 free SD reciever. What is weird is that our market just went MPEG4 Locals, but it will still let you order SD recievers.

It still sounds like a good price (well normal price) if it was not for the "$50 just because fee"
You could drop it some by adding the Protection plan.
stonecold
The HD way right now would net him a free HD-DVR, A free HD and 4 free SD reciever. What is weird is that our market just went MPEG4 Locals, but it will still let you order SD recievers.

It still sounds like a good price (well normal price) if it was not for the "$50 just because fee"
You could drop it some by adding the Protection plan.

sundrop ,

What happens in our order system is this you order sd recivers it sees that your in a mpeg4 market and then issues HD receivers when work order is issued. There are billing reasons why we do it that way.
S
sundrop ,

What happens in our order system is this you order sd recivers it sees that your in a mpeg4 market and then issues HD receivers when work order is issued. There are billing reasons why we do it that way.

That is Awesome. Your saying If I was a new customer today. I could get one free HD-DVR and 1 HD. Add the 4 SD recievers. They would be converted to HD (free, just like the SD one's are?)

:rant:Im only a 33 day old customer
stonecold
correct. in Mpeg4 markets HD equpment is sold at SD prices

So HD boxes are 69 and HDDVRs are 99 but you dont order hd / hddvrs what you do is go online and you order SD boxes / dvr at the regular prices of 69/99 and then the order system changes it HD equipment it will not show on the work order that you see but will come is hd equipment due to the mpeg4 market. Key though is order SD equipment.
B
A little off topic, but I had some of the best times in my life just to your west in Hanover. Early in the a.m. the stench from the paper mill would overwhelm the senses. So we nicknamed "Spring Grove" to "Stinky Grove". Is it still the same? I have not lived in that area since the early 90's.

Sorry just saw this message now....yep still stinky. I actually grew up in Hanover as well and went to South Western. I live north of the papermill so I actually smell the paper less than when I lived in Hanover:)
B
ask and you shall receive ;)

These are from about a month ago

3 dishes on the roof
30" Winegard motorized dish (in the 7th year of operation)
36" GeosatPro motorized dish
Directv Phase III

6 foot dish aimed at 99W
Primestar aimed at 105W Ku
WSI 4 footer aimed at 121 C-Band with 2nd LNB for 125W

Dual antennas on the roof
top one is a VHF Hi aimed to pick up a distant CBS/Fox (KEYC 72 miles away)
bottom one is aimed at Minneapolis

In pic 1 you can actually see part of the slimline the neighbor has (if you blow up the pic)


Damn! Is there any channel you can't get with this set-up? LOL. My wife would kill me. LOL
wildbill129
Iceberg...have you considered buying an HR24 from Amazon (I know Overstock is out of them) like many of us did? It won't save you a ton, but it will save you some money. You would still have to pay the $50.00 for the slimline install unless you went with the PP.
Neutron
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
Does anyone here use Apple Home/HomeKit with HomePods or Apple TV to automate smart devices in their house? We have had Amazon's Alexa set up in our house for the last 10+ years and I have been waiting to switch them out to Apple for a few reasons; We are already in the Apple ecosystem with our phones, tablets, and computers. I have never liked Amazon's stance on privacy and I really like that Apple has pushed for privacy for a long time.

I bought 4 of the new HomePod Mini 2 speakers to go in various rooms in our house and we have one of the new Apple TVs on preorder that will be the start of me replacing our Rokus. I have the HomePod Mini 2s set up and have an RPi that is running HomeBridge for our legacy smart devices that worked natively with Alexa but don't work with Apple Home natively. I had trouble with the older smart bulbs not keeping the brightness or light color consistent with what our routines were with Alexa despite trying every setting in HomeBridge with the bulbs just not shining very bright. I ended up replacing them with updated versions that are Matter compatible so they work in Apple Home natively. That in and of itself has been interesting to set up because I have my home network segretated with the IoT devices on their own vlan and wifi and pretty locked down. Matter requires IPv6 and due to how my home network is designed I had to do some digging with AI to figure out how to make it all work correctly.

Apple Home definitely has some shortcomings that Alexa does much better with but I am hoping Apple will continue to improve their Home products and introduce features that will bring it closer to the functionality of Alexa.
3 Replies · 18 views
b4pjoe
I tried HomeKit to be able to see my Ring cameras on my Apple TV as they are not supported natively on Apple devices. The best I could get was to be able to view the cameras live but I could not view any recordings. After the last major update version of HomeKit I could not even view the live cameras anymore. I gave up on it after that. If I were going to do it again I would only buy devices that can work on Apple devices natively as HomeKit didn't work well at all for me.
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Neutron
I tried HomeKit to be able to see my Ring cameras on my Apple TV as they are not supported natively on Apple devices. The best I could get was to be able to view the cameras live but I could not view any recordings. After the last major update version of HomeKit I could not even view the live cameras anymore. I gave up on it after that. If I were going to do it again I would only buy devices that can work on Apple devices natively as HomeKit didn't work well at all for me.
That's what I started doing after seeing legacy devices work hit or miss using the HomeBridge. At least Apple is following a standard now with Matter which is unusual for Apple. Looks like HomeBridge does allow you to see the live views but I haven't seen how to view past recordings. I'd really like to ditch Ring altogether due to their stance on privacy and if I had my choice I'd go with UniFi since that's what I use for my network and I like the idea of my camera recordings being all local and not in the cloud. UniFi doorbells and cameras are quite pricey though.

I'll try to access the Ring doorbells in Apple Home for now but I'll see if it's useful any.
Foxbat
I found that the IoT devices need to see the Apple TV to be able to use it as the HomeKit Hub. Unfortunately, that means being in the same IPv4 subnet.

I was thinking of getting a HomePod Mini for my Mother-in-Law to play music and set up HomeKit scenes, as well as make FaceTime Audio calls. When Apple announced their price rises due to RAMageddon, I kicked myself as they went up 50% in cost. I'll be curious to see the HomeView in person as this might not be a bad way to get her started on automation.

She asked about it because her friends have Alexa and they use it to control lights. But like you, I feel better putting in a HomePod or HomeView that's listening for commands instead of Amazon or Google.
K
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
'Rockford Files' Reboot Gets NBC Pilot Order

I grow tired of all the reboots. Most I don't bother with but will depend on the actor chosen.
23 Replies · 852 views
long_time_Dish

I wonder how they're/if they're going to do something like the answering machine message opening? It was always funny...
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Howard Simmons
I wonder how they're/if they're going to do something like the answering machine message opening? It was always funny...
I hope they can find enough Pontiac Firebirds to keep the show going.🤔
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dishstaller
I wonder how they're/if they're going to do something like the answering machine message opening? It was always funny...
I had forgotten all about that part of the show. Used to really like it.
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long_time_Dish
The one where Beth is telling him about her cat is one of my favorites. "...he's not very discriminating". 🤣
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....
68764 Replies · 2686046 views
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dishstaller
Knights In White Satin - The Moody Blues
Bobby
The Topical Song - The Barron Knights
dishstaller
The Logical Song - Supertramp
sdfntx
From a Logical Point of View - Robert Mitchum
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long_time_Dish
Point Of Know Return - Kansas
b4pjoe
Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
6 Replies · 174 views
harshness
Given that Tubi is one of the hottest FAST services out there, I don't expect it to go anywhere. Building up intolerance for ads takes a while, and as long as the advertisers are willing to foot the bill, why not?
osu1991

Surprise! Fox Corp. said Friday it has closed the acquisition of streaming platform Roku, a deal valued at $22 billion, well ahead of the expected 2027 date.
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Neutron
Another reason I'm glad we are swapping or Rokus out for Apple TVs. I was already planning on ditching the Rokus earlier this year and had been waiting on Apple to announce the new one last month. Our Rokus have had issues the last year or so with freezing video and reboots, and one with an HDCP issue randomly.
dishstaller
Building up intolerance for ads takes a while, and as long as the advertisers are willing to foot the bill, why not?
That is what I have to explain to customers all the time. They want it free with no ads :facepalm
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Thought some might find this encouraging. It turned out good but I still feel a little bad about it.
Had to drop by Walmart on my way to the store this morning, I had enough time but no time to spare either. As I was walking across the parking lot I noticed an older gent pushing his buggy with a confused look on his face. I said hello as I passed but he didn't respond...something was bothering him. I kept walking and then stopped and chided myself for being in too much of a rush. I turned around and asked him if he needed some help. Turned out he had NO idea where he had parked his truck. He told what color and model and looked around...nothing. I asked him if he had tried his key fob, he wasn't sure what I was talking about and got it out and handed it to me. Hit the lock and listened for a horn like my F150 does. Nothing. Finally I hit the panic button and we heard his truck...it was on the complete other side of the parking lot. He thanked me and I went on about my business.

I felt bad however because I almost didn't stop. I was so focused on what I had to pick up that I almost just kept walking without seeing if I could help. Years ago I wouldn't have hesitated. It seems that as we age it is easy to focus more on ourselves and ignore others which is why you'll see footage of these muggings in big cities and people just walk by the wounded victim who is laying on the sidewalk.

Moral to the story: Don't let your humanity die just because so many others have allowed theirs to.
3 Replies · 51 views
T
Years ago you wouldn't have hesitated...What was your hesitation? In breaking stride to assess another's situation, which you wouldn't have done when younger? Usually it's younger people who are less observant or likely to break routine to help an old lady cross the street, etc.
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TRG
TRG
Kinda reminds me of a verse from an old John Prine song.

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare as if you didn't care
Say, "Hello in there, hello"


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Jimbo
Thought some might find this encouraging. It turned out good but I still feel a little bad about it.
Had to drop by Walmart on my way to the store this morning, I had enough time but no time to spare either. As I was walking across the parking lot I noticed an older gent pushing his buggy with a confused look on his face. I said hello as I passed but he didn't respond...something was bothering him. I kept walking and then stopped and chided myself for being in too much of a rush. I turned around and asked him if he needed some help. Turned out he had NO idea where he had parked his truck. He told what color and model and looked around...nothing. I asked him if he had tried his key fob, he wasn't sure what I was talking about and got it out and handed it to me. Hit the lock and listened for a horn like my F150 does. Nothing. Finally I hit the panic button and we heard his truck...it was on the complete other side of the parking lot. He thanked me and I went on about my business.

I felt bad however because I almost didn't stop. I was so focused on what I had to pick up that I almost just kept walking without seeing if I could help. Years ago I wouldn't have hesitated. It seems that as we age it is easy to focus more on ourselves and ignore others which is why you'll see footage of these muggings in big cities and people just walk by the wounded victim who is laying on the sidewalk.

Moral to the story: Don't let your humanity die just because so many others have allowed theirs to.
Actually, I think it's a bit different ... as we age, we do what we need to ... I being retired, don't leave home as early as I would other wise have, some day I have a ton of stops to make, others just a few ...

I think the problem is the generations behind us are all about themselves and generally could care less about others ...

Thats not everyone behind us, but I would guess a majority ...

There comes a time in life that you decide your going to do whats Right, or not ...
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 13 views
TFLEV
· posted in TFLEV
0 Replies · 19 views
Bruce
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Comcast is the first to report, with a massive 274,000 loss in video subscribers.

In the 3Q of 2016, Comcast had 21.42 million video subscribers and was the #1 provider, now at 10.39 million and is the #3 Provider, YTTV is #2 ( who also surpassed DirecTV-8 Million and Dish-under 5 Million), Charter/Spectrum is #1.

19 Replies · 757 views
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dishstaller
Got to admit I never thought I'd see the day that cable lost internet subs.
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Ronnie-
Got to admit I never thought I'd see the day that cable lost internet subs.
I think the cable companies didnt either, back when they had no real competition in their footprint.

But today, for many, maybe even most, cable isnt the only choice, or even the best.
NYDutch
I think the cable companies didnt either, back when they had no real competition in their footprint.

But today, for many, maybe even most, cable isnt the only choice, or even the best.
In my new apartment, my only choice is Spectrum due to the cost, just $30/mo for 100 Mbps service. And just the other day, I received a notice that I can have Amazon Prime at no cost through Spectrum. I already had Prime, but when I activated the Spectrum deal, I received a $75 refund on my annual subscription. I don't know how widespread the offer is being made, but it sure looks like they're trying to hang on to Internet subscribers.
ncted
All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.
NYDutch
All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.
I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.
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ncted
I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.
Yeah, I was just saying Spectrum suddenly wants to keep what customers they can.
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Tom Speer
Optimum, which bought up our previous cable company, Suddenlink (originally COX), replac ed all of their coax disdripution with Fiber several years ago. They ran new fiber links to the house, but installed RFOG (RF over glass) devices on the outside of the house, which makes the house coax system look like a cable system. They used DOCSIS modems and of course we had the same assymetric bandwidth of cable internet. When I called them a couple years ago, and said I had installed a connection to the local Fiber provideer, MetroNet, They panicked and offered me the 300 MBit "Fiber powered" cable service for $20 per month. They were bleeding customers. I cancelled my Metronet and went with the $20 deal for a year, even though I didn't like the old cable technology.

Then T-moble Fiber struck a deal with Metronet Fiber where T-mobile would take over the marketing, billing and customer relations for residential Customers. They offered a "Founders Deal" for 2 Gigabit service, symmetric speeds, for $70 per month for new customers. That included all taxes and fees and was guaranteed for 10 years. I couldn't resist. That deal is no longer offered, but I am set for 9 more years.

Now the successaor to the old local telephone company, Brightspeed has also installed a modern Fiber system in the neighborhood, but won't be getting my business. But their Fiber technology is also superior to Optimums cable based system.

With Fiber competition, the cable companies are eventually doomed.