April 2009 tr-40 and tr-50

[deanocig]

How are things going to change for april 2009. If I have a analoge tv.
If I have a dish 3100 receiver & a subscrition and an old analoge tv. How can I get dish network. Can I just get the TR-50 hook it up to my dish 500 and get dish network on my older style tv. I wouldn't have to subscribe to dish? I watched the U-tube vid and it seemed to tune in direct. Do you have to run it through a dish receiver first? Do you have to have a dish HD receiver (211, 622, 722, 942) get the signal off the dish and it converts it to analoge to wach on my tv. Do you buy the tr-40 or tr-50 and it gets dish signals without a monthly subscription?

 

[TheKrell]

I see you have a couple of questions about the Digital TV transition.

If you are happy with your dish network service via your 3100, and you don't tune into any over-the-air channels, then you need do nothing. Your receiver (in fact all Dish receivers, old and new) will still send out an analog signal to your analog TV.

You mentioned a few Dish network high-def receivers... Well, you can pay more for these, and more for high-def service from Dish. But that is of dubious value if used with your standard definition TV.

 

[TheKrell]

If, on the other hand, you do want to continue watching broadcast TV after the transition, then you will need to do one (or more) of 3 things.

1) Buy a converter box such as the TR-40, renamed the DTVpal.
2) Buy a new TV with an ATSC (digital) tuner.
3) Buy or lease a newer Dish receiver that includes it's own ATSC tuner in addition to the satellite tuner(s).

 

[deanocig]

dish 500 and broadcast tv

I have a dish 500 for my 3100, how do you get broadcast tv to use the
tr-40 (DTVPAL) or tr-50?

 

[Anole]

I have a dish 500 for my 3100, how do you get broadcast tv to use the
tr-40 (DTVPAL) or tr-50?

A standard outdoor (maybe indoor, too) TV antenna, plus a DTVpal (new name for the TR40) will get your local digital stations, and convert them to analog for your old TV set.
The DTVpal or a similar product from one of 20+ competing companies are currently being discussed all over this and other forums.
For basic info on these converters, you might want to start on the Government Site.

The TR50 is a future product (which may or may not come to market as previously shown), so discussing it in this thread is premature.

As far as I know, the 3100 model, is a Canadian receiver number, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[deanocig]

Sorry, it is a 301-010 dish receiver. The DTVPAL is really just for local channels. Regular programming on dish will be the same. I thought the DTVPAL was something you hooked up to the satellite tuner then the tv. Or you needed the DTVPAL to keep the dish and d*r*ct boxes to keep working

 

[TheKrell]

The DTVPAL is really just for local channels.

Yes: local digital channels only.

Regular programming on dish will be the same.

Right. If you already receive your local channels through Dish, then you need do nothing. If you receive your local channels OTA, then you will have to buy a converter box (not necessarily the DTVpal) after the digital transition. Another alternative is to buy local service from Dish and skip the converter box.

I thought the DTVPAL was something you hooked up to the satellite tuner then the tv.

You will note three coax jacks on the back of your 301. You would never hook up a DTVpal nor an antenna to the satellite tuner input, or the 301 would not work. The satellite tuner must be connected to the dish LNB (or switch), period.

There is, however, the usual channel 3/4 output jack going to your TV, and an (OTA) antenna input jack. When the 301 is off, your antenna signal is passed through to the output jack going to your TV. This is called "analog passthrough", and the DTVpal is one of the few converter boxes that has that too. In other words, via the RF coax connections, you could serially connect a DTVpal either before or after your 301 in order to view both your satellite channels and your local digital OTA channels after the transition. Want to view satellite? Turn off the DTVpal. Want to view OTA digital? Turn off the 301.

Given the buggy nature of the current DTVpal firmware, and it's seemingly random cycles of coming on and going off, I would not put it after your 301. But the 301 should function as advertised (passthrough works when off), so the DTVpal or any other converter box should work well before the 301.

Or you needed the DTVPAL to keep the dish and d*r*ct boxes to keep working

You do not need the DTVpal or any other converter box to keep the satellite receivers working for satellite programming. Depending upon how you hook them up now, you might want to add a converter box to retain OTA digital programs after the transition. And you can try it right now today assuming you have some digital channels in your area. The reward for your trouble is being able to see a pristine digital signal OTA for free, as well as additional subchannels not available on your local analog channel nor on Dish network.