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shodobe
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Curious, I am going to be buying a wide screen soon and wanted to know if I should buy one with the HDTV tuner built in or just get a HDTV ready monitor? I assume I will need to get a HDTV reciever and thought it would be a waste of money to invest in one that has a tuner built in and go with the HDTV ready monitor. I live in a rural area so cable is out and sat is my only option and plan to live in this area for many years to come. Thanks
20 Replies · 3168 views
J
I have both the Dish 6000 and 811 - neither OTA HD tuners are anything to crow about (although 811's other problems may just interfere with giving it a fair trial). Purchased a new Mits with built in tuner (paid only $200 over the same model without HD tuner) - much better local HD reception (811 satellite HD reception is very good). A few posts have said the 942's OTA HD tuner is much improved, but a lot of money if it has to be replaced for MPEG4.
Tom Bombadil
For all intents and purposes the cost of a built-in HDTV tuner at retail is $0. Two manufacturers had their 2004 CRT RP sets marked up about $400 for the ones with the built-in tuners. In mid-2005 they had to discontinue the non-tuner sets, because they violated the new guidelines of being over 36" without a tuner. So as soon as they cleared those old sets out of inventory, they changed the prices on the sets with tuners to exactly the same list as the old tuner-less models. Therefore, the retail cost is $0.

If you take a look at Circuit City's current pricing, you'll see that they have a Sony 57" CRT RP for $1899. That is last year's model rebadged as this year's. It does not have a tuner, Sony has not yet adjusted prices. However you can buy a new 2006 Hitachi CRT RP for $1805 and it has the built-in tuner. Last year Hitachi's and Sony's prices were the same. Both are equivalent sets, although I like the Hitachi a bit better. Obviously Hitachi is charging nothing for the tuner.

Likewise for DLP and LCD RP setsw/tuners from Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic which all now sell for less than last year's tunerless models.

So from my vantage point, the manufacturing costs are very low, and the retail costs are zero. That feature has simply been absorbed into the base price of new HDTVs.

What was happening in 2004 was that manufacturers were gouging customers buying sets w/tuners, charging them way more than what it cost to include the feature. Now that it is a standard feature, the extra charge has been eliminated.
BasicBlak
jynx said:
I have both the Dish 6000 and 811 - neither OTA HD tuners are anything to crow about (although 811's other problems may just interfere with giving it a fair trial). Purchased a new Mits with built in tuner (paid only $200 over the same model without HD tuner) - much better local HD reception (811 satellite HD reception is very good). A few posts have said the 942's OTA HD tuner is much improved, but a lot of money if it has to be replaced for MPEG4.
Jynx, you totally made my point regarding the Mits HD you purchased...thank you! And I also agree with your assessment of the 811's tuner capability. I've seen the 942 up close and personal, and its OTA tuner surpasses the 811 by leaps and bounds. Based on my observations, I'd say it was comparable to those built in to the Mits & Toshibas, two brands that I've had extensive experience with. As for the price you paid for it, again--simply stated and without all the minutae from Mr Bombadil (said with respect, of course)--regardless of all the behind-the-scenes pricing/manufacturing politics going on, there are still plenty of HD and HD-capable sets presently on retailer's showroom floors (regardless of whether they are from 2004 or 2005 inventory, or bought at CC or BB or Walmart or online) that are priced at least a couple hundred dollars apart, some as much as $500. I was in Circuit City and Best Buy last week doing some unrelated shopping, and I saw this for myself with several brands. And that is a fact. My purpose--as was many others here, I'm sure--was simply to advise shobode to disregard said price differential (considering how the price gap has narrowed today) should he encounter one (and he most certainly will encounter them) and to do what you, me, and others have done: to go for the HD tuner built-in, partly due to the great prices, but mainly because many outboard tuners positively suck in comparison.

I have no doubts about Mr Bombadil's facts and stats, but they are beside the point. You paid $200 more than the comparable Mits HD-ready; I paid $275 more for mine, and I just wanted shodobe to understand that should he do the same, he'd still be getting a helluva bargain compared to the way sets were priced just a year or two ago. Now, of course, if he or anyone else can get their hands on an HD set that's priced the same or even less than a brand's comparable non-HD model, then all the better. That's reason to be stoked! :)
Tom Bombadil
jynx said:
Purchased a new Mits with built in tuner (paid only $200 over the same model without HD tuner)

I feel for all of the people who paid $300-$500 more for sets w/tuners in 2004 and early 2005. Almost every company marked those models up to take advantage of offering that feature (i.e. they were ripping everyone off). But when then government mandated tuners on the larger sets and everyone had to include one in their basic sets, beginning in July of this year, the price for the tuner went to 0. This is exactly what government analysts predicted when companies loudly complained a couple of years ago when the tuner mandate was issued.

The only way that a tunerless model should be lower in price is if they are closing out the last 2005 models and are clearance pricing those. This is true for Mitsubishi too. Their new 2006 52" DLP sets with tuners are lower priced than their 2005 models were this spring without tuners. This is true across the industry.

I recently picked up my HDTV w/o tuner for a great price as CC had them on clearance. They dropped the price $400 less than what they had been selling it for in order to clear them out of their warehouse. Good deal for me! I'm using an 811 as my tuner and it pulls in all of my local digital channels. Hopefully next year Dish will release a new DVR w/mpeg4 and I'll go to that.
BasicBlak
Tom Bombadil said:
I feel for all of the people who paid $300-$500 more for sets w/tuners in 2004 and early 2005. Almost every company marked those models up to take advantage of offering that feature (i.e. they were ripping everyone off). But when then government mandated tuners on the larger sets and everyone had to include one in their basic sets, beginning in July of this year, the price for the tuner went to 0. This is exactly what government analysts predicted when companies loudly complained a couple of years ago when the tuner mandate was issued.

The only way that a tunerless model should be lower in price is if they are closing out the last 2005 models and are clearance pricing those. This is true for Mitsubishi too. Their new 2006 52" DLP sets with tuners are lower priced than their 2005 models were this spring without tuners. This is true across the industry.

I recently picked up my HDTV w/o tuner for a great price as CC had them on clearance. They dropped the price $400 less than what they had been selling it for in order to clear them out of their warehouse. Good deal for me! I'm using an 811 as my tuner and it pulls in all of my local digital channels. Hopefully next year Dish will release a new DVR w/mpeg4 and I'll go to that.
I guess at the end of the day, what really matters is that everyone is satisfied with their purchases regardless of what they paid for it. (I know I am!) People buy certain models for an assortment of reasons, price being only one of many considerations. Could one possibly overpay for a television? Of course, as with anything. But that's the nature of this beast...there are so many things to buy out there to hook up to our widescreen toy that it's always possible to make up the savings somewhere else. :)

On another note, I, too, am looking forward to Dish's MPEG4 DVR next year. The 811 is certainly serviceable in the interim, but it took the purchase of my Tosh for me to realize the 811's OTA shortcomings.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Now first, I'll mention that the area of FL I live in has extremely high humidity and not a lot of wind so things don't dry out very well for extended periods of time.
I'm in the process of tearing down and rebuilding a pergola with a surrounding deck that I built 9 yrs ago. 90% of the deck screws are just sheering off at the head because the screws rusted out. These are the deck screws you buy in the 25 lb box at your lumber yard. Very annoying. So I just ordered some 316L stainless steel screws to use for when I go to rebuild it.
2 Replies · 30 views
AZ.
AZ.
Now first, I'll mention that the area of FL I live in has extremely high humidity and not a lot of wind so things don't dry out very well for extended periods of time.
I'm in the process of tearing down and rebuilding a pergola with a surrounding deck that I built 9 yrs ago. 90% of the deck screws are just sheering off at the head because the screws rusted out. These are the deck screws you buy in the 25 lb box at your lumber yard. Very annoying. So I just ordered some 316L stainless steel screws to use for when I go to rebuild it.
Screws are all crap, soft and useless! Sick of going through 3 to get one not to break, strip or shear! I aint that strong in my old age!
T
Well, isn't removal of screws intrinsically much tougher than drive-in, simply because over time they become more adhered to the wood, whether or not they actively rust? Possibly there could be less of that effect with stainless.
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....
68738 Replies · 2684321 views
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dishstaller
The Heart of Rock & Roll - Huey Lewis and the News
harshness
Closer to the Heart - Rush
sdfntx
Coming from the Heart - The Searchers
Bobby
The Saints Are Coming - U2
dishstaller
Coming Back to Life - Pink Floyd
teachsac
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
30 Replies · 1094 views
Bruce
AMC+ is on sale for $40 for the year, the no commercials plan.

For basically $3.34 a month, thought I would give it a try again.

Today is the last day for the deal.
R
AMC+ is on sale for $40 for the year, the no commercials plan.

For basically $3.34 a month, thought I would give it a try again.

Today is the last day for the deal.
Thanks for spending my $$. I figured I would try it also.
navychop
Hmmmm.
Jimbo
We should be coming into the Streaming Deals time of year :)

I will be looking for Yearly deals, not the 7 day trial or a 1 month deal like we had the last year or so.
Jimbo
I just managed to get 30% on Paramount Plus Commercial Free Yearly ... total was $99.
I haven't gotten the 50% off deal in a few years, so when she said $99, I thought that was a pretty good deal, that includes Showtime, which I rarely watch, but its there .
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 11 views
comfortably_numb
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Not sure saving $24/year is worth it unless you're a hardcore Philo user. I'll stick with monthly.

IMG_0351.webp
5 Replies · 131 views
Jimbo
Not sure saving $24/year is worth it unless you're a hardcore Philo user. I'll stick with monthly.

View attachment 195247
$24 for the Year, would be more useful.
Howard Simmons
$24 for the Year, would be more useful.
But when you cancel you still have to watch until the plan runs out. With monthly you're done at the end of the month.
Jimbo
But when you cancel you still have to watch until the plan runs out. With monthly you're done at the end of the month.
Sorry, my point was the expense.
comfortably_numb
$24 for the Year, would be more useful.

Philo's monthly price is reasonable, IMO, because it's still the cheapest way I'm aware of to get all the linear Discovery networks AND access to the Discovery Go apps.
Jimbo
Philo's monthly price is reasonable, IMO, because it's still the cheapest way I'm aware of to get all the linear Discovery networks AND access to the Discovery Go apps.
I guess if it was something I used on a regular basis, I suppose.
meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
135 Replies · 2772 views
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HipKat
Balls
Bears. Took care of the elite Seahawks defense in a great performance.
NFC North. The entire division is 2 games above .500
Lions. Finally handed an L to that weird Minnesota team. Good vibes for Jack Campbell.
Pitt. Took the lead of the division convincingly.
Bengals vs Titans game. Fireworks game. Not sure it was a well-played game, but it sure was fun. JoeyB with 6 scores... and 4 turnovers.
Denver. They keep winning, man. Payton is a baller of a coach.
Packers. Thorough beatdown of the hard-to-read Panthers.
Jags. Demolished the hapless Colts.
Rams. The Super team finally wins back-to-back games.


Goats
Vikings. Took their first L. I know their D is insane, but their offense is setting back football to the 1950's.
Cowboys. Lost a 2-score lead vs. the Gardner Minshew-led Cards... at home. Embarrassing.
Browns. Playing for the division lead by scoring 6 points.
Bucs vs Falcons game. Setting modern football back to the ice age. Honorable mention to Tua Penix err ... Michael Tagov .... well, you know what I mean.
Bengals fans acting like Burrow just won the MVP after his performance. I get it. 6 scores is awesome. But. He also turned the ball over 4 times and required overtime to beat the 1-win Titans. So spare me the parade.
Chiefs. Not because they lost. It was a close game decided on the last play vs. a divisional rival on the road. That's always rough. But because of their whining over the CLEAR flag they got on the would-be winning play. They are used to getting the calls, and when they don't, they complain. Honorable mention to Mahomes for this quote: "I mean, at the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn't get called like that"... so you admit it was a penalty?? Just shut up, man.
Colts. They began the fire sale earlier in the week, and it showed. This team is cooked; Daniel Jones should go to the bench, and Steichen will be fired pretty soon.
Chargers. Wow. That's all I got.
Miami. For having the Pats sort of on the ropes and letting them go.
Eagles. Another team that should consider selling some assets. They are going nowhere.
M
Watched the Colts wrestle defeat from the jaws of victory one more time. We need a coach. A REAL coach. Until then, thank the Lord for Sunday ticket. Imo, Jones isn't responsible for the losses, it's as group effort and he is the top QB on the roster.
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Howard Simmons
Balls
Bears. Took care of the elite Seahawks defense in a great performance.
NFC North. The entire division is 2 games above .500
Lions. Finally handed an L to that weird Minnesota team. Good vibes for Jack Campbell.
Pitt. Took the lead of the division convincingly.
Bengals vs Titans game. Fireworks game. Not sure it was a well-played game, but it sure was fun. JoeyB with 6 scores... and 4 turnovers.
Denver. They keep winning, man. Payton is a baller of a coach.
Packers. Thorough beatdown of the hard-to-read Panthers.
Jags. Demolished the hapless Colts.
Rams. The Super team finally wins back-to-back games.


Goats
Vikings. Took their first L. I know their D is insane, but their offense is setting back football to the 1950's.
Cowboys. Lost a 2-score lead vs. the Gardner Minshew-led Cards... at home. Embarrassing.
Browns. Playing for the division lead by scoring 6 points.
Bucs vs Falcons game. Setting modern football back to the ice age. Honorable mention to Tua Penix err ... Michael Tagov .... well, you know what I mean.
Bengals fans acting like Burrow just won the MVP after his performance. I get it. 6 scores is awesome. But. He also turned the ball over 4 times and required overtime to beat the 1-win Titans. So spare me the parade.
Chiefs. Not because they lost. It was a close game decided on the last play vs. a divisional rival on the road. That's always rough. But because of their whining over the CLEAR flag they got on the would-be winning play. They are used to getting the calls, and when they don't, they complain. Honorable mention to Mahomes for this quote: "I mean, at the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn't get called like that"... so you admit it was a penalty?? Just shut up, man.
Colts. They began the fire sale earlier in the week, and it showed. This team is cooked; Daniel Jones should go to the bench, and Steichen will be fired pretty soon.
Chargers. Wow. That's all I got.
Miami. For having the Pats sort of on the ropes and letting them go.
Eagles. Another team that should consider selling some assets. They are going nowhere.
Mahomes is the biggest cry baby I have ever seen. He thinks he's privileged or something.🙄
R
Mahomes is the biggest cry baby I have ever seen. He thinks he's privileged or something.🙄
So is Kelce.
meStevo
Just the same vilification as players like Brady experienced, a product of their success and largely overblown (just like them 'getting all the calls').
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Y
Mahomes is the biggest cry baby I have ever seen. He thinks he's privileged or something.🙄
Well you see him more because he is incredibly talented. And yes, typically players try to spin things being in their favor. This isn't cricket where sportsmanship (except in Australia) is expected.
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zippyfrog
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
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.
251 Replies · 66141 views
zippyfrog
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
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.
zippyfrog
They appear to be on 110, transponder 8.
Thanks! I do have my listing correct then.
zippyfrog
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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D
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?
zippyfrog
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.
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D
Now, someone can correct me if I am wrong on this - but aren't there two satellites at 110 right now?
Hopefully nelson61 can chime in on this one, because I'm not sure, either.
I guess the thing I'm really perplexed about, is if there are NO more locals - at least on spotbeams - on 119, then how DID they cram ALL the locals on 110 & NOT have ALL those x-ponders in SB mode by now?
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Linus Tech Tips
· posted in Linus Tech Tips
0 Replies · 16 views
teachsac
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Hondo is back with a new squad 9/25 only on Starz.


View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/b0gPzA8KHEQ
8 Replies · 191 views
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teachsac
Started watching yesterday. Not too bad.
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Scott Greczkowski
Wife likes it.
teachsac
I like Zyra from La Brea (one with the prosthetic).
teachsac
Caught up last night with episodes 4-6. I like it. Better than a lot of the shows on regular broadcast tv.