I can't remember what brand/model my first receiver was. It was one with a continuous tuning knob rather than click/click channel by channel tuning. C band only also. I replaced that when VCII channels started taking over, and got another C band only receiver, which was a Uniden, think something like a 5000 or 6000 or something like that. Both of these were just receivers, not IRDs with built in dish movers, and the Uniden, I had to use with an stand alone VCII cage/module. Finally, the pulse unit went out on my very outdated dish (it had a H-H mount with an optical pulse unit, which had significant electronics out at the dish, and a little wheel with clear and blacked out segments that turned between an LED emmiter/receiver combo. Pretty neat, but I couldn't seem to fix it when it broke, so I ended up buying an entirely new dish (SAMI, C/Ku Corotor feed, and receiver.... the Echostar 7000). That Echostar is still probably the easiest to use receiver I've owned. My main complaint at the time was that it's audio and video bandwidth options didn't have a WIDE mode that would give me good reception on 2 channels, one of which was PBS, that used high deviation audio. But for everything else, it was great. I eventually replaced that with a Drake 1824, which had wide A/V bandwidths, and was fairly user friendly, but not as friendly as the Echostar. I since picked up a Monty 50/55, which was similar in quality to the Drake, but generally harder to use. I continued to use the Drake until if finally started giving me problems about a year or so ago, and am now using the Monty.
But I really liked that Echostar 7000. I bought it back before there were any DBS systems, let alone a Dishnet. I don't know if the Echostar receivers had any connection to Charlie or Dishnet or not. The Echostar line was pretty much exactly the same as the Houston Tracker line, and I never heard any suggestion that that had any connection to DN, but I never checked it out...... don't know if Echostar was a clone of HT or HT was a clone of Echostar. Funny thing though, the Echostar 7000 had a secret keystroke pattern that would allow you to receive several VCII channels that were scrambled in one of those modes where they would come on for a couple seconds of prevue, then go black. Other people would change channels and back to view things, but the Echostar would get you into a mode where it never went black. When my 7000 went bad, I bought a couple parts only HT versions for parts, and ALMOST had the thing working again, until I accidently shorted something out, and the thing died a violent death. Good receiver. However, the most dependable receiver I've ever owned has to be my old Uniden. I bought that thing probably back around 1988 or 1989, and it still works as good as it ever did. Too bad that it doesn't do Ku, and too bad that it doesn't have a dish mover. I still have the stand alone dish mover I used with it though.
