Dish TV Pay as you go / DishNow DishYA.
Thank You!
I want to thank the contributors to this board for their help with DishNow or DishYA or Pay as you go. I have a second home in Northern Wisc., and I used to have DirectTV. For a couple of years, DirecTV would let me turn it on and off whenever I wanted, even though it was against their express policy. But then they just stopped. So I canceled the account.
We can see some local analog TV now from about 60 miles out, but we cannot see the digital UHF signals. So . . no TV as of February.
Dish Network's pay as you go works very well for this situation. It does everything I need - but there are NO local channels, and NO digital. The typical cost is $1.50 a day, depending on the programming selected!
You can find everything you need to set it up in posts to this board, but I thought I would share my experience - as I did not quite get it right the first time!
Equipment
==========
You buy the equipment up front and you install it. I got mine at Radio Shack for $100. It comes with a refurbished receiver (DP 301), an antenna and mast (Dish 500), a remote control, and some cables to connect to your TV / VCR. It does NOT have external cables to the antenna, and it does NOT have instructions for the antenna. Radio Shack sells an installation kit for another $20. I figured I did not need it as I had the DirectTV antenna on the roof.
But the instructions from that kit would have been VERY helpful! But you can find them on the Internet. DishNetwork.com has lots of instruction books on its web site. The equipment book that comes with the kit is a little dated. The menus and set up have changed. And the book for the remote is not useful. You will need a current one. Just look around a little.
The antenna is a Dish 500. It is NOT a DishPro.
It has 2 feeds from it. You only actually use only one for this service. The 2 heads are for 2 different satellites - one at 119, and another at 110. Even though you use only one of the cables, the satellite receiver can see both satellites through some switching in the antenna itself. You hook it up to the left (119) to tune it, but it can see both.
It also comes with a fancy remote, but the book that comes with it is not for that remote. The remote looks just like the one for the newer Dish 311. Get the book for that one!
Dish Aiming
===========
The key thing here is to get the mast perfectly plumb - straight up and down. My mast was off just a tad, and I could not find the signal. The receiver can take a minute or so to respond to the signal, and it does not even see really weak signals. The book says: "Azimuth adjustments should be made a 1/4 inch at a time, waiting 5 seconds between each movement." That seems like an eternity on a cold roof!
I finally paid a Dish TV guy to come out and use his signal strength meter. He had to adjust the vertical just to find the signal. If you have lots of problems, Radio Shack sells a meter! It's called a "Satellite Finder", and costs $40. The potential problem is that there are LOTS of satellites up there. I have no clue which ones use what frequencies, and which one is Dish versus DirectTV or something else.
The aiming is VERY, VERY touchy. To do it properly, you really need the satellite signal strength meter while you are up there on the roof. Alternatively, do what I did - look in the yellow pages for Dish or Satellite installation. Erik's Satellite Service saved me!
Receiver Set up
============
When you first start up the receiver, it is supposed to go directly to dish aiming. If it does not, select System Setup, then Installation, then Point Dish/Signal.
The receiver is a Dish DP301. But it looks just like the DISH 311 - including the fancy remote. It initially comes up looking for Satellite 119 on some transponder or other. Don't mess with that. Once it is correctly pointed, it will figure out the other satellite and transponders.
AFTER you have a signal locked, you must then select the "Switch Test". It does some 28 tests and sets up the whole business to be able to see multiple satellites and transponders. You aim it at 119, and it figures out where the others are, assuming the dish antenna is set up correctly.
GreenDot Money Pak
================
This is how you pay for the service. Do NOT buy the DishNow prepaid card. That entitles you to a certain number of days of Dish service, but all in one shot. What you want it service by the day!
Instead, go to Walgreens or Walmart or CVS and buy a GreenDot Money Pak. Do NOT buy a GreenDot Credit Card. The money pak costs $5 ($4.99 actually), the card costs $10, and is of no use whasoever! You pay for it with cash, and then load it with some more cash. $20 is the minimum. After 90 days, if there is any balance, they take $5 a month off the card. I think that only starts AFTER you first use it. So, it's a trade off. It costs $5 to load the card, or buy a new one, and after 90 days, it costs $5 a month. It makes the most sense to just buy 3 month's worth each time if you can.
You only use it when you call Dish TV to start any programming. You give them (key in) the verification number. That's the only account number you have.
Activation
=======
I got most of this from this forum - thank you very much SteelersRule! I grew up in Pgh.
1. Make sure the receiver is plugged in and attached to the antenna, and the antenna is aimed correctly. I usually have it on so I can watch things happen.
2. Write down on a piece of paper, the following numbers:
3. Call before 8:00 pm or so. There is some problem doing it late at night. If you call during the afternoon, it will actually give you 2 days, this day and the following day. Call on Friday for 2 days, and you will likely make it through Sunday.
4. Call the number on the screen, or 1-888-347-4132. It's all automated. Generally, it is difficult to talk to a human in this system. Enter the receiver number and activation number when asked. It will repeat them back for verification.
5. Order programming. You can select English or Spanish to narrow down the field. Then Basic, Movies or Adult.
Basic gives: Family, AT100, AT200, AT250. See comments below on these.
Movies gives: HBO, Stars, Cinemax, or Showtime.
I dunno what Adult has for choices (just in case my wife reads this!)
6. How much. It will ask if you want to use the entire amount of the card. It will tell you how many days you can purchase. Say NO! You want to do a few days. Order as many days as you want for that service.
It will then send a signal to the receiver.
7. Anything else? Say NO, and it will disconnect.
Say YES, and you can order another set of programming - say Movies along with the BASIC.
8. Download. On the first activation, it will ask if you want to update the system. YES, tell it to do that. And it will take some time. WAIT. Don't mess with it until it is done. Even after it looks like it is done, WAIT. It seems to take several minutes to actually get all of the channel information into the receiver. If you start selecting channels right away, it may tell you that you have not subscribed to them, or they will show up as RED in the list. Wait a bit. It eventually figures it all out.
Daily Cost
=======
It is a simple algorithm to figure the daily cost. But here is the current rate:
Service Cost / Day
Dish Family $0.67
Top 100 $1.11
Top 200 $1.54
Top 250 $1.90
HBO $0.50
Cinemax $0.43
Showtime $0.43
Starz $0.43
10 Adult clips $0.83
Programming
==========
I did a comparison of the various packages, and it hardly makes sense to buy the Dish Family or Dish 100. The Dish 200 covers mostly everything. Dish 250 adds a few things: CNBC World, NICK TOONS, All ENCORE movies, FOX Movie, West Movie Channel, TMC Extra West, Outdoor Channel, Tennis Channel, Discovery Kids, History International, Bloomberg, Military Channel, National Geographic, Planet Green, The Science Channel.
There's a table at Wikipedia that is helpful. And each of the entries can be selected to display more information. It can be found at:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dish_Network_channels"]List of Dish Network channels in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Ambox_outdated_serious.svg" class="image"><img alt="Ambox outdated serious.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Ambox_outdated_serious.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_serious.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/8/8f/Ambox_outdated_serious.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_serious.svg.png[/ame]
Manuals
======
Dishnetwork.com has manuals for everything if you poke around a bit.
Problems
======
I haven't tried these yet, but folks on this forum offer some options.
System Reset
If things are not showing up correctly, try resetting the whole system.
You may have to do this more than once.
Press and hold down the POWER button on the front of the DP301 for about 5-7 seconds. This will cause the receiver to go through a HARD RESET, and everything will need to be re-downloaded to the receiver (including channel lineup info). While it is doing this, do not touch anything. I have found that this usually solves the problem. Also, I have learned to NEVER turn off the receiver once the CORRECT channel lineup finally appears.
I just leave the Tuner ON all the time, and shut off the TV. Usually keeps everything correct
Resend Activation Signal
The activation signal is only sent once.
If you pay for the service and it does not activate because you did not have a signal, you can call and say "customer service rep" and it will ask you if you want to talk to a representative. Say yes, then tell them you want the activation signal sent again. They will ask for the receiver number. When I did this, it started the activation in less than a minute. After a couple more minutes of programming downloads, I was up and running.
Good luck with this. It took me a couple of tries, but it works slick.
Thank You!
I want to thank the contributors to this board for their help with DishNow or DishYA or Pay as you go. I have a second home in Northern Wisc., and I used to have DirectTV. For a couple of years, DirecTV would let me turn it on and off whenever I wanted, even though it was against their express policy. But then they just stopped. So I canceled the account.
We can see some local analog TV now from about 60 miles out, but we cannot see the digital UHF signals. So . . no TV as of February.
Dish Network's pay as you go works very well for this situation. It does everything I need - but there are NO local channels, and NO digital. The typical cost is $1.50 a day, depending on the programming selected!
You can find everything you need to set it up in posts to this board, but I thought I would share my experience - as I did not quite get it right the first time!
Equipment
==========
You buy the equipment up front and you install it. I got mine at Radio Shack for $100. It comes with a refurbished receiver (DP 301), an antenna and mast (Dish 500), a remote control, and some cables to connect to your TV / VCR. It does NOT have external cables to the antenna, and it does NOT have instructions for the antenna. Radio Shack sells an installation kit for another $20. I figured I did not need it as I had the DirectTV antenna on the roof.
But the instructions from that kit would have been VERY helpful! But you can find them on the Internet. DishNetwork.com has lots of instruction books on its web site. The equipment book that comes with the kit is a little dated. The menus and set up have changed. And the book for the remote is not useful. You will need a current one. Just look around a little.
The antenna is a Dish 500. It is NOT a DishPro.
It has 2 feeds from it. You only actually use only one for this service. The 2 heads are for 2 different satellites - one at 119, and another at 110. Even though you use only one of the cables, the satellite receiver can see both satellites through some switching in the antenna itself. You hook it up to the left (119) to tune it, but it can see both.
It also comes with a fancy remote, but the book that comes with it is not for that remote. The remote looks just like the one for the newer Dish 311. Get the book for that one!
Dish Aiming
===========
The key thing here is to get the mast perfectly plumb - straight up and down. My mast was off just a tad, and I could not find the signal. The receiver can take a minute or so to respond to the signal, and it does not even see really weak signals. The book says: "Azimuth adjustments should be made a 1/4 inch at a time, waiting 5 seconds between each movement." That seems like an eternity on a cold roof!
I finally paid a Dish TV guy to come out and use his signal strength meter. He had to adjust the vertical just to find the signal. If you have lots of problems, Radio Shack sells a meter! It's called a "Satellite Finder", and costs $40. The potential problem is that there are LOTS of satellites up there. I have no clue which ones use what frequencies, and which one is Dish versus DirectTV or something else.
The aiming is VERY, VERY touchy. To do it properly, you really need the satellite signal strength meter while you are up there on the roof. Alternatively, do what I did - look in the yellow pages for Dish or Satellite installation. Erik's Satellite Service saved me!
Receiver Set up
============
When you first start up the receiver, it is supposed to go directly to dish aiming. If it does not, select System Setup, then Installation, then Point Dish/Signal.
The receiver is a Dish DP301. But it looks just like the DISH 311 - including the fancy remote. It initially comes up looking for Satellite 119 on some transponder or other. Don't mess with that. Once it is correctly pointed, it will figure out the other satellite and transponders.
AFTER you have a signal locked, you must then select the "Switch Test". It does some 28 tests and sets up the whole business to be able to see multiple satellites and transponders. You aim it at 119, and it figures out where the others are, assuming the dish antenna is set up correctly.
GreenDot Money Pak
================
This is how you pay for the service. Do NOT buy the DishNow prepaid card. That entitles you to a certain number of days of Dish service, but all in one shot. What you want it service by the day!
Instead, go to Walgreens or Walmart or CVS and buy a GreenDot Money Pak. Do NOT buy a GreenDot Credit Card. The money pak costs $5 ($4.99 actually), the card costs $10, and is of no use whasoever! You pay for it with cash, and then load it with some more cash. $20 is the minimum. After 90 days, if there is any balance, they take $5 a month off the card. I think that only starts AFTER you first use it. So, it's a trade off. It costs $5 to load the card, or buy a new one, and after 90 days, it costs $5 a month. It makes the most sense to just buy 3 month's worth each time if you can.
You only use it when you call Dish TV to start any programming. You give them (key in) the verification number. That's the only account number you have.
Activation
=======
I got most of this from this forum - thank you very much SteelersRule! I grew up in Pgh.
1. Make sure the receiver is plugged in and attached to the antenna, and the antenna is aimed correctly. I usually have it on so I can watch things happen.
2. Write down on a piece of paper, the following numbers:
- The Receiver number as shown in your device. It starts with R.
It is also in the packing materials, but you need the whole number, including the last 2 digits! - The GreenDot MoneyPak activation number. It is either on the packaging, or on the receipt.
- You might also note the date you activated the MoneyPak to determine when the 90 days are up.
- Your zip code. I don't know why, but you need it.
3. Call before 8:00 pm or so. There is some problem doing it late at night. If you call during the afternoon, it will actually give you 2 days, this day and the following day. Call on Friday for 2 days, and you will likely make it through Sunday.
4. Call the number on the screen, or 1-888-347-4132. It's all automated. Generally, it is difficult to talk to a human in this system. Enter the receiver number and activation number when asked. It will repeat them back for verification.
5. Order programming. You can select English or Spanish to narrow down the field. Then Basic, Movies or Adult.
Basic gives: Family, AT100, AT200, AT250. See comments below on these.
Movies gives: HBO, Stars, Cinemax, or Showtime.
I dunno what Adult has for choices (just in case my wife reads this!)
6. How much. It will ask if you want to use the entire amount of the card. It will tell you how many days you can purchase. Say NO! You want to do a few days. Order as many days as you want for that service.
It will then send a signal to the receiver.
7. Anything else? Say NO, and it will disconnect.
Say YES, and you can order another set of programming - say Movies along with the BASIC.
8. Download. On the first activation, it will ask if you want to update the system. YES, tell it to do that. And it will take some time. WAIT. Don't mess with it until it is done. Even after it looks like it is done, WAIT. It seems to take several minutes to actually get all of the channel information into the receiver. If you start selecting channels right away, it may tell you that you have not subscribed to them, or they will show up as RED in the list. Wait a bit. It eventually figures it all out.
Daily Cost
=======
It is a simple algorithm to figure the daily cost. But here is the current rate:
Service Cost / Day
Dish Family $0.67
Top 100 $1.11
Top 200 $1.54
Top 250 $1.90
HBO $0.50
Cinemax $0.43
Showtime $0.43
Starz $0.43
10 Adult clips $0.83
Programming
==========
I did a comparison of the various packages, and it hardly makes sense to buy the Dish Family or Dish 100. The Dish 200 covers mostly everything. Dish 250 adds a few things: CNBC World, NICK TOONS, All ENCORE movies, FOX Movie, West Movie Channel, TMC Extra West, Outdoor Channel, Tennis Channel, Discovery Kids, History International, Bloomberg, Military Channel, National Geographic, Planet Green, The Science Channel.
There's a table at Wikipedia that is helpful. And each of the entries can be selected to display more information. It can be found at:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dish_Network_channels"]List of Dish Network channels in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Ambox_outdated_serious.svg" class="image"><img alt="Ambox outdated serious.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Ambox_outdated_serious.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_serious.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/8/8f/Ambox_outdated_serious.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_serious.svg.png[/ame]
Manuals
======
Dishnetwork.com has manuals for everything if you poke around a bit.
Problems
======
I haven't tried these yet, but folks on this forum offer some options.
System Reset
If things are not showing up correctly, try resetting the whole system.
You may have to do this more than once.
Press and hold down the POWER button on the front of the DP301 for about 5-7 seconds. This will cause the receiver to go through a HARD RESET, and everything will need to be re-downloaded to the receiver (including channel lineup info). While it is doing this, do not touch anything. I have found that this usually solves the problem. Also, I have learned to NEVER turn off the receiver once the CORRECT channel lineup finally appears.
I just leave the Tuner ON all the time, and shut off the TV. Usually keeps everything correct
Resend Activation Signal
The activation signal is only sent once.
If you pay for the service and it does not activate because you did not have a signal, you can call and say "customer service rep" and it will ask you if you want to talk to a representative. Say yes, then tell them you want the activation signal sent again. They will ask for the receiver number. When I did this, it started the activation in less than a minute. After a couple more minutes of programming downloads, I was up and running.
Good luck with this. It took me a couple of tries, but it works slick.
