A Third Satellite Company?

[Scott Greczkowski]

We all have heard of Dish Network and DirecTV but have you heard of Skyvision? For many long time satellite hobbyists many may remember Skyvision for incredible catalog of interesting satellite products and the old “Skyvision Show” which use to air 24... (more)

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[icstephen]

Its about time, Scott do you know if this set up has an on screen guide?

 

[Mr Tony]

stephen

check out the C-band area...there is a lot of info there on it

 

[Stargazer]

I remember when Charter in my area had the Charter Anywhere service. The dish had a skew and two eyes on it. Lots of people around here were taking the service as it was one of the best deals at the time. This came out after Primestar was shut off. The dish was exactly the same shape as a Primestar dish. This did not last long though.

If all of these channels that HITS offers is from one orbital location then what was the other eye on the dish for? Some content in addition to what HITS offered at the time? This must have been 5 or so years ago since I seen the Charter Anywhere service.

After looking at the list of channels and the price, it does not seem that competitive against Dish Network as Dish Network has a Family package for $20 that has probably around the same number of channels. The $30 package also looks like it has around the same number of channels (maybe fewer channels even), perhaps some additional ones that you would normally have to pay extra for on Dish Network. It would depend on what channels you like and if they are in the cheaper package that this system has to offer.

Their equipment pricing is slightly more than Dish Network's if they were new but it says the following:

(previously owned and quality tested)

This means that they are used and cost a bit more for the hardware than what you could get a used Dish Network system for.

 

[icstephen]

I think the main benefit is that of the movie channel packages...I think I might get one just or the starz & HBO packages...I hate that D* & E* make you buy all the other junk to get the movie channels (D* used to allow you to get movies only but that was in the USSB days)

 

[Stargazer]

You can order just the movie channels on Dish Network without ordering the basic package but they will charge you a $5.99 access fee to do so. Not only can you order movie channels but you can also order just the locals, just superstations, etc. If you lease the hardware then they will not allow you to do this and I imagine most people do lease their hardware.

 

[KyL416]

If all of these channels that HITS offers is from one orbital location then what was the other eye on the dish for? Some content in addition to what HITS offered at the time? This must have been 5 or so years ago since I seen the Charter Anywhere service.

They have another ku-band slot that isn't part of this package that has more of the more common channels like A&E, USA, ESPN, etc. It's on AMC4 which is likely what the other "eye" is for. They also use C-Band transponders on other satellites to offer HD and hispanic programming to cable affiliates:
HITS Lineup

As for why you don't see it offered anymore widely, that's because HITS was created as a service that cable companies could sell to their customers if they didn't upgrade their facilities to handle digital cable. As more cable companies upgraded their facilities, they stoped using HITS for their customers. There are some rural and smaller cable systems that still use it.

 

[digiblur]

I thought there used to be some TP's for HITS on AMC4 but it looks like they aren't there anymore according to Lyngsat.

 

[KyL416]

I thought there used to be some TP's for HITS on AMC4 but it looks like they aren't there anymore according to Lyngsat.

They're there, Lyngsat just has them listed as Comcast instead of HITS for some reason.

 

[digiblur]

They're there, Lyngsat just has them listed as Comcast instead of HITS for some reason.

Ahh... I was looking at Ku and not C band.