That has to be the case because if it isn't then how can this Eastern Arc be used by all that want to use it. I am in San Antonio and need my locals moved to 61.5 like Dallas and Houston or Eastern Arc is not viable for me.
DishNetwork Uplink Activity Report - 3/20/2008 12:20am - 52 changes
- Thread starter DigiSAT Uplink Report
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That has to be the case because if it isn't then how can this Eastern Arc be used by all that want to use it. I am in San Antonio and need my locals moved to 61.5 like Dallas and Houston or Eastern Arc is not viable for me.
Huh?
Of course Dish will need to keep some DMA's HD Locals, like Dallas (and Houston), on two sats for a short time while they implement the Eastern Arc. But longer term, why would Dish waste precious transponders duplicating Dallas (and Houston) HD Locals on 61.5 and 110?
Talon Dancer
Be careful what you wish for. If you get the San Antonio HD locals moved to 61.5 and get yourself a wing dish. That will free up space for the Austin HD locals on 110 so I won't have to do anything
Seriously, I'd be happy if the Austin HD Locals were on 110 like your San Antontio locals are now. But it looks like I'll need a wing dish for 61.5, at least in the short run.
Talon Dancer
Well Dallas HD Locals are on spot beam on 110. They are not taking up any extra space. It looks like they want to have 2 systems set up, if you cannot see 110/119/129 you might be able to see 61.5/72.5/77
From what I've read spot beams reuse the same transmission frequencies by limiting their reception area. But AFAIK transmitting HD Locals from a satellite requires some of that satellites capacity ("space") whether or not the transmission is "on Spot Beam". Are you saying that if Dish removed the Dallas (and/or Houston) HD Locals from 110 there would not be any capacity freed up for other channels (e.g. other HD Locals or HD Nationals) to be added to 110?
FWIW The Dallas and Houston DMAs are between 92-98 degrees longitude with very flat terrain. 110 has easy LOS compared to 61.5 for all but the most LOS challenged (e.g. tall trees, buildings, etc).
Talon Dancer
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Bunch of local HD uplink activity on Rainbow 1 not showing on the updates here on Satelliteguys:
*See post 9
Uplink Activity for the Week of 3-19-8 .... - DBSTalk.Com
Woo hoo! Grand Rapids locals uplinked!
*See post 9
Uplink Activity for the Week of 3-19-8 .... - DBSTalk.Com
Woo hoo! Grand Rapids locals uplinked!
Yeah, I'm sure the folks that monitor these things aren't going to be TOO suspicious with all these moves that happen after they turned ConUS off....
Well, obviously they use power. I assume that the solar arrays supply sufficient power for the transponders. If that is true, I can only think of two reasons why a spot beam would use resources.
1. Another city within the same spotbeam cannot be uplinked because this spot is being used and the other transponders in the beam are full. Probably not the case in east texas.
2. Same situation, but it is blocking transponder usage for a DMA in an overlapping spotbeam. Also probably not the case.
Yes they reuse the same frequencies again and again over different areas of the country. If you turned off the Dallas HD channels on spot beams, you would not be able to add national HD because the frequencies used for Dallas are already being used in other parts of the country for their local channels.
The only possible benefits would be those mentioned above, perhaps another DMA under the Dallas spot (adjacent DMA) could be carried with the freed up space.
Also Dallas is a very large DMA, it would cost a lot to have to send out technitions to all the installations and replace the dishes to point to 61.5. I view the 61.5 solution as something for new customers.
It better be available to all of us. New customers can't be the only ones getting the new MPEG 4 system. They have to upgrade the rest of us. So, they must duplicate everything and make it available to all who want it. If they dont I will go to D* because E* will give me no choice. If I am stuck with the 110/119/129 my Hd possibilities are more limited compared to the MPEG 4 system. I thought Eastern Arc would be for everyone. If it is not then what good is it?
I wouldn't sweat it, ... they've been really good to me when it comes to getting the latest and greatest stuff..... keeps me re-upping that commitment agreement....
It appears the current strategy is to duplicate everything on 129. Of course if you view the all MPEG-4 service from 61.5 as being better, we will have to wait and see what (if any) options they have to switch you to the other service for free (assume with commitment).
I do not see them trying to lose customers because they offer something on 61.5 that they cannot get on the regular satellites and not offering a deal to switch over. Having satellites in 2 directions helps with many line of site issues. Cannot see 110/119/129? Perhaps you can see 61.5/72.5/77. But, I suspect they will only duplicate the larger DMAs, in the middle of the country, smaller markets will be locked into only one solution. Of course the 2 largest DMAs, NY will be locked into 61.5 and LA probably into 129 just because of the elevations.
Dallas may be one of the unique DMAs where they happen to have spots from both sets of satellites, so it in a sense costs them very little to duplicate. I suspect when 129 goes spot they will have more cities able to be served from both sets.
Actually the Austin HD Locals are on the "Starting in April" list and that DMA probably falls within the Dallas and/or Houston spot beams. Interestingly the Austin HD Locals were up-linked to 61.5 last Wednesday at the same time as the Dallas and Houston HD locals. But the Austin HD locals have not been up-linked to 110 (yet).
So based on your info....
Either one and or the other of your two conditions are true in Texas
OR
Dish just hasn't up-linked the Austin HD Locals on 110 and made them available yet.
I guess time will tell
Talon Dancer
Any chance that they will have Buffalo NY HD on a different satelitte so I can pick it up in Toledo?
Actually the Austin HD Locals are on the "Starting in April" list and that DMA probably falls within the Dallas and/or Houston spot beams. Interestingly the Austin HD Locals were up-linked to 61.5 last Wednesday at the same time as the Dallas and Houston HD locals. But the Austin HD locals have not been up-linked to 110 (yet).
So based on your info....
Either one and or the other of your two conditions are true in Texas
OR
Dish just hasn't up-linked the Austin HD Locals on 110 and made them available yet.
I guess time will tell
Talon Dancer
Austin is a much smaller DMA than Dallas. More likely they will not duplicate Austin if they needed to take Dallas off of 110. But, perhaps a spot on 129 could duplicate Austin in the future.
John,
I am curious about you stating that Grand Rapids, MI is in this update. Where are you seeing the GR channels??? I have looked at the current date and all of the uplinks for March 5 and am not seeing any of the locals for Grand Rapids.
Thanks,
Geoff
Checking the current and previous reports, you will find the 5160 and 5170 channel groups are listed as the same on both except for the Tp and spotbeam area. I forget which group of those on the current report is actually Grand Rapids and the other is Green Bay located in area 4.
Would Dallas be part of Eastern Arc or the more nefarious Western Arc that has not been substantiated yet? I ask this because Texas is typically considered a western state even though geographically it kind of sits right on the line...
The time zone may be somewhat the separator. It has always seemed as though Dallas was considered in the Eastern half of the ConUS. One should not consider a "New Service" to exclude current customers. One should expect to pay to switch or add, though. It is way too early to be throwing out barbs about the "Eastern Arc" as it is in no way clear what it will consist of. It is somewhat clear that the new HD locals on 61.5 spots could be part of the existing service and part of "Eastern Arc". They would not take down Dallas on 110 without a failure as it would be very costly.
BTW: E* and D* were given permission this week to downconvert the local digital channels which will be the only locals after early 2009. Cable was not given this blessing. Expect prices for locals to go up anyway as a whole new round of POP equipment will be needed.
