Does the Dish 811 receiver have any value?

JimMcC

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 4, 2004
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I have one 811 packed away in the basement since they upgraded me to the 211. Does it have any use anymore(being Mpeg2)? Would It work as an OTA tuner? I was wondering if I should try to sell it, and if so for what price? Thanks.
 
The 811 works as an OTA tuner as long as it has a satellite signal. You even get the guide info too as long as 2 things happen
1. your locals are available on Dish
2. you have a sat feed for the sat they are on

So I took an old deactivated one and with a line to 110 sat (since Minneapolis locals are on 110) I got OTA HD programming and the guide info for most stations.

Since mine has a yellow card all the sat channels are gone (black screen with "update smart card" on it)
 
Ice my 811 with a purple card but no sub.also gets black screens. It works great as a HDTV tuner even has dolby out and my series 1 TiVo works great for free recording of local channels.
 
To use as an OTA tuner, the person would have to be a Dish subscriber? What would be a fair price to sell it for? Thanks.
 
no you do not need to be a sub. I am not and used my 811 for a while this way

I'm confused. Above you said the 811 has to have a satellite signal. So what equipment would I need to use it as an OTA tuner, without being a Dish customer? Thanks.
 
The receiver needs to be able to see one of the Dish sats. It wont get past the "acquiring signal" screen without it

Honestly it doesnt matter what signal it is.
61.5
110
119
121....receiver freaked but it worked ;)
129

All you do is run a check switch for what ever sat (s) your hooked up to

I had a LNB set up for 119 for a long time on my free to air system for Nasa and Angel One until Dish scrambled them for the free to air folks. I hooked a line from the LNB to the 811 and was able to make the 811 work. I did need a cable from the OTA antenna but my locals were there in HD.
Since my locals on Dish are on 110 I slapped up a 2nd LNB for 110 so I could get the guide info on my locals. I have not been a dish sub in a couple years now so at the time the only channels I could get on the receiver were 101 & Nasa. Since dish switched to the purple card, on all sat channels it says "you need a new card to view this program" but my OTA locals worked fine
 
I think I've got it. I would need to have a "dish" hooked up to 811. I should have stated this earlier: This would be to use to tune OTA from my antenna(if I cancel my Dish down the road). I do not receive my locals from Dish. It sounds like it would be easier to just get an OTA tuner to hook up to my antenna. Because I'm not going to pay for many more price increases. I'm not even sure if I own the dish I have, because I lease the two 211's I have. I currently have just the HD Absolute package.
 
The dish stays even if you have to return the 211's. You already own the 811 so why would you want to spend a couple hundred dollars to buy a HDTV tuner box. Those digital converter boxes are not HDTV only provide SDTV signals to your TV. If you had 2 211 receivers do you already have ATSC tuners built into those HDTVs or were they just monitors?
 
I wouldn't buy a tuner if the dish stays. One 211 is hooked up to a 1080p front projector(no tuner) and the other is hooked up to a TV with tuner. I'm still a Dish customer with the HD Absolute package. I'm just figuring out my options if I cancel.
 
No personal experience but from what I have read it is true. 942 prices on eBay have stayed high and very few are showing up so people must still be using them.
 
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