508 fee increased???

[Stargazer]

I am sure they remember saying that and figured they would have to give credits on the accounts to make up for that. They probably want their system to charge for any DVR detected on an account. They may have made a system change. Hard to tell. They do not plan on having the 501/508/510 around in two years it seems to me like. It could actually be a benefit to some getting this credits if they continue them when they get swapped to something better.

 

[CFGuy]

I got a letter from Dish in yesterdays mail about the 508 that I have.
Basically it says.
**********************************************
Due to the receivers becoming obsolete they will be replaced by Dish in the next two years.
It will be replaced with a DVR with more storage and the ability to record two programs at the same time.

The 508 has been unique in not carrying a monthly DVR fee. In order to transistion everyone two things are being done.
1. 501 and 508 will be charged the same fee structure as other DVR receivers. $10 receiver fee and a monthly $6 DVR fee
2. A monthly credit for the next 24 months to offset the impact of the new higher fees. The total monthly amount should not change.
You will continue to receive the credit for 24 months regardless of when your receiver upgrade takes place.
********************************************************************

On my account I have 4 total DVRs (722,612,612,508) but not have not been charged the $6 fee thanks to the 508. Looks like I get 2 more years of that.

 

[mdram]

wait is dish dvr fee per receiver or per account like direct?

 

[isaacmorseMI]

wait is dish dvr fee per receiver or per account like direct?

Per account.

Sent from my iPad 2 using the SatelliteGuys App

 

[CFGuy]

wait is dish dvr fee per receiver or per account like direct?

Yes, it is per account. I was just not getting charged the fee because of the 508.

 

[mdram]

its a good thing dish froze their prices then

imagine price increases and fee increase

 

[Teehar]

wait is dish dvr fee per receiver or per account like direct?

Its a bit more complicated than that.
If you have any dvr on your account you get charged $6 (excludes the 501/508) if those are the only dvrs you have.

Where they get you is the receiver fees
any non dvr receiver past first one is $7
Any single tuner or single tv dvr is $10
Any dual tv/tuner meaning the receiver can run separate programs on 2 tvs is $17

Example account
1.722
2nd.622/722 add $17
3rd.612 add $10
plus the $6 dvr fee

As Iceberg says double dipping and I agree

 

[Mr Tony]

yep
$6 per account
$3 per DVR after the 1st (its rolled into the extra receiver fee....so a dual tuner is 14 but a dual tuner DVR is 17)

do what I did....get a 211 and add an external hard drive...$40 one time fee and thats it. NO Extra DVR fees. Since its the only receiver on the acct its just my programming rate + taxes

 

[Bob Hughes]

Thanks, Iceberg. I don't mean to be thick, but could you please elaborate a little about your move to a 211 and the external drive? Does the external basically serve as your DVR now? How do you program it?

I have had a 508 for years and love it, and am an annual subscriber to the 200 plus package for over a decade and am seriously considering just dropping Dish and moving to Netflix and my Roku because of this change.

 

[Mr Tony]

Yes the 211 and external drive is my DVR
The 211 (or 211k...same unit different color) has the option to add a hard drive up to 1TB. You pay a one time fee of $40 to "turn on" the option and thats it. No DVR fees. Cool thing is you can swap drives and not lose anything. So if I have a full hard drive of movies, I can unplug that drive, hook up a new one and continue on. After the $40 fee thats all you pay to use the DVR. No DVR fees.
I can record one satellite program and one program from over the air at the same time. The 211 has a digital (ASTC) tuner in it. Plug in an antenna, scan for channels and you're set up.
To record when I'm in the guide I press "record" and it gives me the option to record all shows, new shows, once, weekly, M-F, etc.

 

[Bob Hughes]

Thank you!

Love it. I appreciate your taking the time to explain how you work the 211. I'm on it!!

 

[Mr Tony]

You can upgrade through Dish but then there would be a contract
You can buy it outright for $120 shipped (or less). I see the dishstore is having a sale (sponsor here). Then there would be no contract. If you go this route I would suggest PM'ing someone from the Dish team (Matt, Zach, Ray, Mary...check the main forum page. Scroll to bottom of page and it shows who is online. They are in red) to get it set up. They can set up the receiver and set up the EHD (hard drive) for ya. Works pretty slick

 

[rufwork]

Yes the 211 and external drive is my DVR
The 211 (or 211k...same unit different color) has the option to add a hard drive up to 1TB. You pay a one time fee of $40 to "turn on" the option and thats it. No DVR fees. Cool thing is you can swap drives and not lose anything. So if I have a full hard drive of movies, I can unplug that drive, hook up a new one and continue on. After the $40 fee thats all you pay to use the DVR. No DVR fees.
I can record one satellite program and one program from over the air at the same time. The 211 has a digital (ASTC) tuner in it. Plug in an antenna, scan for channels and you're set up.
To record when I'm in the guide I press "record" and it gives me the option to record all shows, new shows, once, weekly, M-F, etc.

/slaps self

I thought mine didn't do it, since there wasn't a place to put the drive, but, um, duh. You plug in an external drive via USB.

Do the ATSC locals pop up with a different number than the locals you get via Dish, or does that replace locals? Both sound worth a try...

 

[TheKrell]

Different channel number, yes. For example, my NBC is 4-0 on satellite, 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 on the ATSC tuner.

 

[rufwork]

Different channel number, yes. For example, my NBC is 4-0 on satellite, 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 on the ATSC tuner.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I gave it a try.

Do the ATSC locals pop up with a different number than the locals you get via Dish, or does that replace locals? Both sound worth a try...

I realize this is a slight thread hijack, and I can start a new one if anyone wants.

When I tried to scan ATSC locals, things worked and they were all found, but I got this message when I hit "Done":

The Off Air Channels that you have selected will not appear in the guide until your receiver's High Definition functionality has been activated. Please call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).

Okay, fair enough, but right now I've got hardware and no subscription, so I'd rather not call and let them know I'm getting preview channels for free. ;^) By why do they bogart the OTA?

More importantly, does this mean if I don't do HD, I can't access my own locals? Iceberg -- I thought you had the Welcome Pack and no HD fee? How do you see the OTA locals?

I'm going to guess that's just the wrong error message, and that if I don't have, say, Channel 4-0 (as TheKrell mentioned), I can't have 4-1 (my antenna's copy of 4-0) and 4-2. Can't figure out how to type the dash to see if I can force those OTA locals, but even in All Channels with no sub, I'm getting nothing below 71. Will be nice to be able to DVR multicasts once I turn Flex back on in a month, though!

 

[Mr Tony]

/slaps self

I thought mine didn't do it, since there wasn't a place to put the drive, but, um, duh. You plug in an external drive via USB.

Do the ATSC locals pop up with a different number than the locals you get via Dish, or does that replace locals? Both sound worth a try...

Different channel number, yes. For example, my NBC is 4-0 on satellite, 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 on the ATSC tuner.

correct. Sat signals show as X-0 and OTA is X-1, X-2 etc
Mine shows as such
2-1 OTA
2-2 OTA
3-0 Satellite (I have "moved" locals)
4-1 OTA
5-1 OTA
6-0 sat
etc

 

[Mr Tony]

When I tried to scan ATSC locals, things worked and they were all found, but I got this message when I hit "Done":

The Off Air Channels that you have selected will not appear in the guide until your receiver's High Definition functionality has been activated. Please call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).
Okay, fair enough, but right now I've got hardware and no subscription, so I'd rather not call and let them know I'm getting preview channels for free. ;^) By why do they bogart the OTA?

More importantly, does this mean if I don't do HD, I can't access my own locals? Iceberg -- I thought you had the Welcome Pack and no HD fee? How do you see the OTA locals?

I'm going to guess that's just the wrong error message, and that if I don't have, say, Channel 4-0 (as TheKrell mentioned), I can't have 4-1 (my antenna's copy of 4-0) and 4-2. Can't figure out how to type the dash to see if I can force those OTA locals, but even in All Channels with no sub, I'm getting nothing below 71. Will be nice to be able to DVR multicasts once I turn Flex back on in a month, though!

If the receiver is not activated they will not show in the guide. I had the same thing happen. After I did all the hookup of the receiver and downloaded the software, I had the "Call to activate" screen but I could hit 101 and get that channel. Thats how I scanned in the OTA channels. Once its activated then the channels will show in the guide. I assume when you cancel the OTA stations disappear

The welcome pack doesnt give you any HD channels except your locals (if available)....(unless you get an alacarte option) but the OTA will show as HD. I have the Welcome Pack and the "outdoor sports" pack (for $3 extra) and the only HD channels I get are my "moved" locals via satellite, Sportsman Channel, MavTV (those 2 are in the outdoor pack) and my locals I get OTA

 

[rufwork]

If the receiver is not activated they will not show in the guide. I had the same thing happen. After I did all the hookup of the receiver and downloaded the software, I had the "Call to activate" screen but I could hit 101 and get that channel. Thats how I scanned in the OTA channels. Once its activated then the channels will show in the guide. I assume when you cancel the OTA stations disappear

The welcome pack doesnt give you any HD channels except your locals (if available)....(unless you get an alacarte option) but the OTA will show as HD. I have the Welcome Pack and the "outdoor sports" pack (for $3 extra) and the only HD channels I get are my "moved" locals via satellite, Sportsman Channel, MavTV (those 2 are in the outdoor pack) and my locals I get OTA

Good deal. Yeah, when I had 120+ without HD, I had previews and locals in HD -- as well as NFL Network, Red Zone, NBA games, and other channels from the Sports Pack, which made it a heck of a deal.

Good to know I should have the extended locals when I sign back up. Last year, not knowing better, we went to the TV tuner's to watch multicasts.

The 211 seems to be really well designed for folks going from an analog home theater into the DTV switch. VCR controller, ATSC tuner with good system integration, and the ability to add DVR for $40... Lots better than a converter box!

 

[Bob Haller]

wonder if they will fee the 211 next?

 

[Mr Tony]

how can they?

The 211 can be used with or without a DVR. So lets say Dish decides to bill a DVR fee. I unhook my hard drive from the 211 and call Dish and say "I dont have it hooked up anymore". How can Dish police that? They can't.