Dish general questions

sissacot

New Member
Original poster
Feb 16, 2004
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I am brand new to satellite and ask for your patience w/ me!! I am ready to jump on DishNetwork's current deal for the free 811 HD receiver and a 522 DVR. I have 3 questions about satellite set-ups:

1. I want a 2 room set-up, the 811 HD receiver to go on a Hitachi 57G500 in the great room and the 522 DVR on a 13" kitchen TV. Is it possible to record on the DVR in the kitchen and then playback on the Hitachi in the great room? I'm not concerned about recording in HD (yet!). I've spoken to Dish reps on the phone and have been given conflicting answers. One tells me that a DVR only plays back @ the tv it's connected to and another says it's possible because the 522 is a dual receiver. HELP!!!!!!!!!

2. Will my tv's picture in picture work with satellite tv?

3. I've read that Dish sometimes requires 2 dishes for HD reception. I'm in northwestern Connecticut and the calls I've made never mentioned that I'd need 2 dishes. Any idea when and where this is required?

Sorry if this is satellite 101, but I want all the facts before I commit to Dish. Thanks in advance for your input.
 
ok, I'll get it started... (most of your answers are floating around, but probably not in one place).

the 522 is a dual ouput receiver. It includes two remotes so can be accessed from two rooms. You can run a coax from the 13" to the 57 and watch the PVR. BUT, your not going to like the picture.

You'd probably be better off putting both boxes by the 57 and running the coax to the kitchen. Then you could hook up the 811 via dvi or component, and the 522 with S-Video.

Even so, you may be dissapointed with the SD picture on the HD TV.

Picture in Picture - Perhaps, but it depents how you hook it up. You have to think about what you want to use for the two PIP sources. An over-the-air antenna is one possibility (plus that might get you HD locals). You could also split the 2nd TV RF out from the 522 and use it as the 2nd PIP source.

In general, 2 dishes are no longer needed for HD. All that's left on the 2nd dish are CBSHD (which are only eligible to a few), and some low-budget local cannels (like spanish and shopping, again only applies to certain markets).

ps: An installer might charge extra to run the extra coax between the two rooms (unless the 522 install normally includes the connection to the 3rd TV).

Just realized: The 522 is a dual tuner receiver normally used to connect two TVs. So the 811 + 522 should get you 3 connections. What you're thinking should be ok too, and make no difference to the installer.

522 thought: I take it the box supports recording on both tuners and watching different PVR events in both rooms? Hmmm, that's 4 streams. Even the 721 doesn't do that (still way less hard drive bandwidth then the 921).
 
hi and welcome to the world of Satellite TV

First, are you planing on connecting 2 or 3 TVs-

If you are looking to hook up 3 different TV's, then you will not be able to view anything recorded on the 522 if the Hitachi is not one of the TV's hooked up to the 522 (unless there is a way to split the signal and bring a coax feed into the Hitachi, that would mean that you would not be able to control the functions while watching the Hitachi. That is unless you split the signal from the second tuner that has a UHF remote that would be able to transmit commands through the walls)

If you plan on just connecting the Hitachi and the 13", then you can do what is written below.

The 522. is a 2 tuner receiver. If you want the ability to watch TV on both your Hitachi and 13" TV in the Kitchen. I would suggest putting the 522 in the room where the Hitachi is. The Hitachi could use the 1st tuner in the 522. Then the installer should run the second coax to the 13" TV which would use the second tuner in the 522. As for recording something on the 13" to later watch on the Hitachi, Itis my understanding that both of the tuners in the 522 share the hard drive, so you should be able to watch anything you recorded on any TV, but maybe someone else who has a 522 can confirm this

I am assuming you would also be installing your 811 on your Hitachi. Since your 522 and 811 will be on separate inputs, you will be able to use your PIP.

If you were hoping to use PIP with only the 522, you would need to have both of the 522 tuners plugged into your Hitachi

As for a second dish- There are some areas that utilizes a second dish pointing at a satellite in position 61.5(referred to as a wing satellite). Some markets place local channels on this satellite, which would allow you to get this dish free of charge if you wanted it. But as of right now the only HD channel left on that Satellite is CBS-HD. You would have to check with Dish to see if you would qualify for that channel. This is regulated based on the market you are in, whether it is an Owned and Operated Network station or affiliated station. If it is an affiliate, you may need a waiver from them to get CBS-HD

One thing you did not state, do you have an Over the Air Antenna (OTA). You will need one to get your locals in HD with the 811

It may seem a bit overwhelming, but it is much easier done than it appears to be written here by me. Maybe someone can explain it better, if I sound confusing
 
As a 522 owner I would recommend that you do a Free Dish promotion instead of DHA and use a 510 instead of the 522. The 510 is much more stable than the 522. My 522 is still showing many minor bugs that I find annoying, I am afraid as DISH corrects the minor bugs they will introduce more problems than they cure. The 501/508/510 all use the same software that has been prettywell debugged. I don't know of a HDTV set that will do picture in picture in the HDTV mode they will only do standard definition PIP. If you locate both receivers at the HDTV set and back feed the ch.3/4 signal from the 510 to the 13 inch TV you should be all set for watching both TVs. With Free Dish you will own the equipment rather than leasing the equipment from DISH Network.
 
I just installed an HDTV, 811/508 install for PIP. This is what i suggest:

811 to the Hitachi
522 first tuner to your Hitachi, run second tuner to your kitchen.

Output both the 811/522 to your TV's PIP configurations.

The 811 will output from two outputs, so it's possible to use one for HDTV (DVI, if compatable) if it looks better than say, Video 1, and use two different inputs for your PIP.

Good luck
 
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