"Dish'n it up" extra charge?

[Phils]

The wife got the phone offer yesterday and said she'd have me call when I got home. And I did. The CSR had mentioned to her that our old "legacy" equipment could be upgraded at no charge and "fees" would be waived. My "legacy" is a 501 that still works great.

I call and get someone in Colorado (whew!!!). We discuss the different units I could get to replace the 501. All I really want would be a single tuner, non-HD with DVR... just like the 501. (It's in our RV and I only use a dual LNB dish for camping, I don't wanna deal with aligning more than that every time we move campgrounds).

So a 512 sounds like just the thing. But a monthly fee we have at $7 would then go to $10 (we also have a 622). Three dollars a month isn't a big thing but I wanted to know why. "wait, please". "it's because it's a DVR". "but the 501 is a DVR" "wait, please". "it's because you only have 45 hours of record time and the new one would have over 100, therefore the extra $3/month".

True or BS? I'm thinking BS, but still couldn't figure out what the extra fee would be for.

Phil

 

[MattG@DISH]

No BS

501 and 508 are $7/month

510 and 512 are $10/month

The 512 also has two satellite tuners, so you can record one show, and watch another. You could always go with a 211 ($7/month) and activate an EHD for a one time $40 fee.

 

[Phils]

No BS

501 and 508 are $7/month

510 and 512 are $10/month

The 512 also has two satellite tuners, so you can record one show, and watch another. You could always go with a 211 ($7/month) and activate an EHD for a one time $40 fee.

Thanks for clarifying Matt. But what he said about the increased recording time still sounds like he was making that up when he didn't know the correct answer.... maybe he was new? I told him I didn't need or want dual tuners, so he said the 512 would be what I wanted. I guess if I was really gonna 'dish it up' I'd get a 722K and move the 622 to our RV. I think I'll just wait since everything is working just fine.

I already paid the $40 for EHD (but I heard there's no charge now?) and that's the only benefit I see to switching receivers -- I'd get to use an EHD on the second receiver and be able to move things between both receivers. THAT would be a benefit as I could have more choices when we are out "roughing it".

Thanks again for the clarification.

Phil

 

[MattG@DISH]

The $40 charge to activate EHD's for the 211 family still applies.

VIP DVRs no longer require a fee to activate EHD.

They are separate, so if you paid for the DVR family, you would still need to pay for the 211 family EHD activation.

 

[rocket69]

dish dont know squat from all the fees. and your correct that they dont sound like they know what they are selling a one time $6 dvr fee for as many dvr's on your account. a sd/hd box is 7 a hd 612 one tv is $10 and dual 522/622/722 is $17 only one time fee dish??

The EHD you payed to add to your dvr storagte and transfer is now free but to have dish push the button to make your 211 a dvr with no extra $3 Non dvr dvr fee its a $40 charge..

Giving the setup you have a tracking system in your rv or a crank up dish go for the 211 and see if you can make them cave on the $40 dvr fee . your legacy system will not do DPP that the 512 (Remand 522) will require to give you signal.

 

[MattG@DISH]

Thanks for clarifying Matt. But what he said about the increased recording time still sounds like he was making that up when he didn't know the correct answer.... maybe he was new? I told him I didn't need or want dual tuners, so he said the 512 would be what I wanted.

I almost forgot, 512's will work with only 1 sat tuner connected.

 

[r10fret]

Since this is a forced upgrade because dish wants everybody with 8PSK capable boxes they should be offering to grandfather the replacement at the same monthly cost as before with the 501. If not I would just keep using the 501 until the day QPSK stops working. Good luck dish with the transition from QPSK to 8PSK! And if you own your equipment I would make sure the replacement will be activated as owned.

 

[csmith5111]

Since this is a forced upgrade because dish wants everybody with 8PSK capable boxes they should be offering to grandfather the replacement at the same monthly cost as before with the 501. If not I would just keep using the 501 until the day QPSK stops working. Good luck dish with the transition from QPSK to 8PSK! And if you own your equipment I would make sure the replacement will be activated as owned.

If the 501 is ra'd it gets a 512 and the pricing is staying the same through manual/computer credits till a permanent solution is found. From my understanding after talking to a buddy that had his 501 replaced.

 

[Phils]

Now that I've gotten your help and looked online at the different receivers, I'll get more specific.

Would I be able to "Dish it UP" and replace the 501 with a VIP 612? I'd incur the extra $3/month? There'd be no extra EHD fee since it's part of the VIP family?

Since I'd be turning in an "owned" 501, would I "own" the new receiver?

I mentioned that it'd be in our RV and I only use a dual LNB dish. Any problems OTHER than I wouldn't be seeing 129 since I aim for 110 and 119? Of course, I've aimed that way and accidentally picked up 119 and 129... so COULD I watch HD in the RV from 129? Would I just need to "check switch" if I'd been looking at 110 and 119 then moved to 119 and 129 or would there be other problems?

I assume that I could bring along my EHD and then be able to watch the HD shows that are recorded. If I didn't get an HD receiver and brought along the EHD would any recorded HD shows just be in SD? Or would HD shows not work at all?

We DO have a HD flatscreen in the RV it's just more than I want to do as far as buying and aiming a 3LNB dish ... the times I've peaked our 622 dish I've learned that things get touchy looking for that third bird and I can imagine that would be worse on a portable tripod?

I'm aware I'd have to 'sign on' for an additional 2 years, no problem there.

Phil

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Hi Phil, $3.00 increase monthly is correct for the VIP612. You would not be required to returned the owned equioment but the new one would be leased. You would really want to check the channels you receive off the 110 and 119 to see what you would lose doing the 119 & 129 set-up. Running the check switch test after you dish is aligned would bring in the correct satellites. The EHD will store your recordings, if it is recorded in HD you can watch in HD TV set-up. Without an HD receiver the EHD attached can only record and playback SD. HD shows will not show at all on SD receivers. I hope this helps!

 

[Phils]

Thanks, Mary!!

Your answer tells me I'd be better off with an HD receiver, if only because of the EHD. Since we've been using the 501 for camping there never was an option to bring the EHD. When camping we prefer to park in the shady spots. Although I've been taking the 501 with us for many years, it's only last year that I bought a dish. In the past we just watched what was on the harddrive rather than try and find a satellite through the trees. Last year we chose sites that had a skyview. Using the EHD would put our original method on steroids and we could skip the dish again!

On the "leased"... if at some future time I replace my [what I think is] owned 622 with a newer leased unit, I'd then want to cancel my DHHP (maybe the letters are wrong... the repair option)? I've seen posts about "owned" equipment actually showing as "leased" with Dish.

How long has DIRT been going? Do you monitor these boards while at work? It's an EXCELLENT service. Is there just one designated CSR that monitors here at any given time, or more? Would I be better off doing something like this via PM? I wish ALL companies monitored forum.... yours is only the second one I've seen. And the other one was a post I made with a problem, received an unexpected PM from a CSR at the company, and in a couple of days I had a replacement piece of equipment at my door at no charge.

Phil

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

I always recommend that any upgrades today should be to HD. It will be more useful in the future, even if you are not looking to use all the features now. The 622 if tagged on the account as owned with the service plan you do get full coverage for replacement receiver or remotes. Sometimes things are changed in the system during activation but we are able to research to verify ownership if need be.
DIRT was started back in December and we do monitor several different sites and generally try to answer questions and help in anyway we can. Please feel free to PM any of the team members and we are always happy to assist. We do work different days and hours but the are listed in most of our signatures. We have been having a great time with our new positions and we love being DIRT!! lol

 

[TheKrell]

Not sure about this myself, but I have heard that you can't watch programming on the EHD unless your receiver can see the satellites and get authorized. This may be changed with the elimination of the EHD fee. But I would get that question out of the way before going camping with a 612.

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Not sure about this myself, but I have heard that you can't watch programming on the EHD unless your receiver can see the satellites and get authorized. This may be changed with the elimination of the EHD fee. But I would get that question out of the way before going camping with a 612.

The receiver will act as a pass through for the EHD as long as the account is active. I have watched the EHD at my home during bad weather and a complete signal loss to all my receivers.

 

[TheKrell]

Last winter I had trouble getting past the darn signal loss screen after a power failure... Are you sure the receiver will still be authorized after the OP unplugs the receiver and drives off with it for an extended period?

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Were you able to access the menus? It should not be a problem. The EHD will be formatted for the reciever and it will work. The only thing that should cause it to not work is a disconnection authorization the the smart card which will render the programming and EHD from working. I have not tested this one myself but I know people who do travel with EHDs and have hooked them up without any satellite signal at a specific location.

 

[TheKrell]

Were you able to access the menus?

Sorry for my ambiguous comment. This winter we suffered an early wet snow and it took out all satellite reception for about 10 hours. Early in that outage, I was able to get to the menus and even select OTA channels. But later after a few power blips of around 1/2 sec, I could not access the menus on the 612s at all. The 722 soldiered on manfully. It was unclear to me whether it's firmware was smarter, or rather it had a stronger power supply to bridge the blips.

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Wow, that does sound strange. I have never had an issue accessing the menu's after a power outage or during signal loss. Maybe the power blips did something strange to the receiver.

 

[Phils]

Thanks go to Mary. I've got a technician coming to "install" a VIP612. Since I'm going from a single tuner to a dual, she couldn't just ship it to me. I was gonna just let the tech put it in my RV but after thinking further maybe I'll even get the tripod dish out and see how it'll work with the 612 (since there's only 2 LNBs). With the tech's meter we should be able to determine whether I'll want to shoot for 110 & 119 or get better choices with 119 & 129.

Phil