A moving mystery

[Greedytree]

I recently "moved" from Central Washington state to Northern California to get my RSN from out of state. Worked like a charm, and I even kept my Washington locals.

My next-door neighbor tried the same thing for Southern California. He got the RSN he was after but now has NO locals at all. His receiver lists the So Cal locals, but he gets an "out of area" type message when he tries to view.

We called DISH customer service and they said something like "if you're 300 miles or more from the location you're claiming, you can't get locals." That's fine, but why do I get our actual locals and he gets nothing? (Again, we're physically in Yakima, WA.)

My receiver is newer, less than 6 months old (a dual 625 unit). He has two 510's, if that makes a difference. Exact same dishes though, so...

Anybody got a clue on this one?

 

[Voyager6]

Spotbeams

I would guess that the spotbeam for the Northern California city that you "moved" to comes in strong enough for you to receive. Your neighbor, however, has "moved" too far. Check TheList for the TP of the city your neighbor is trying to receive and look at the signal strength.

 

[Greedytree]

I would guess that the spotbeam for the Northern California city that you "moved" to comes in strong enough for you to receive. Your neighbor, however, has "moved" too far. Check TheList for the TP of the city your neighbor is trying to receive and look at the signal strength.

Thanks for the reply!

Wouldn't he still at least get his true locals (as I am getting right next door to him)? He's getting zilch.

Thanks for the maps too, though I'm new and not exactly sure how to read 'em. We're in the 98926 zip code trying to move him to Twentynine Palms (92277) to pick up Fox Sports West -- which he is getting just fine. Again, we just need some kind of locals, either here or there, for basic NBC/CBS/ABC viewing.

 

[Voyager6]

Sometimes the CSR's remember to turn off the old locals when you "move". This is what happened in your neighbors case. Fox Sports West looks like it is on 129 TP 25 which is a CONUS beam. The locals that your neighbor is trying to receive are on a spotbeam that he cannot receive. He can "move" to another Northern CA market that has a spotbeam that he can receive. View the cities available on TheList and then check the signal strength of the TP's until you find one that comes in. TP 1 to 16 are the spotbeams on 129.

 

[tjwgrr]

Fox Sports West is on a conus (continental united states) beam, not a spot beam. The locals he's moved to are on a spot beam which covers a limited geographic area, and he's too far geographically from that spot.

Fortunately for you, the spot for the locals you've moved to happens to cover the geographic region you live in.

 

[dennispap]

Thanks for the reply!

Wouldn't he still at least get his true locals (as I am getting right next door to him)? He's getting zilch.

Thanks for the maps too, though I'm new and not exactly sure how to read 'em. We're in the 98926 zip code trying to move him to Twentynine Palms (92277) to pick up Fox Sports West -- which he is getting just fine. Again, we just need some kind of locals, either here or there, for basic NBC/CBS/ABC viewing.

Same answer as poster above. He moved to a city that their spotbeam doesnt reach where he is physically located. His true locals are now the city he says he moved to.

 

[osu1991]

Do you have an HD 622 receiver instead of a SD 625 receiver. In this case you would still get your true locals via antenna even if you "moved" to the other side of the country. The 510's do not have an atsc tuner so your neighbor would not.

 

[Greedytree]

Mine's an SD receiver. That's a good idea, tho. They might be due for an upgrade anyway.

Thanks for the help, everyone! Much appreciated. We'll see what we can work out up here based on the info!

 

[sca]

he did "move" by contacting dish network, right?
rather than just hook up to an existing dish an turn the receiver on?

 

[Greedytree]

he did "move" by contacting dish network, right?

Oh definitely. I helped him do it the way I had a few weeks back. Which is why I thought it odd that it worked out for me but not him since he's right next door. His intended destination (Southern California) didn't seem all that much further than I had just "moved."

I just found out he actually could see one of those So Cal locals, but only one. They were all listed on his programming guide, but the rest were unviewable.

 

[Voyager6]

Perhaps your neighbor can tweak the dish to increase the signal strength for the TP that he is trying to receive.