Getting local channels away from home?

[Wimp Lo]

OK guys, this is my first post here, I am having a small problem and I hope you guys can help me out a little bit.

I live in Houston, Texas and I have a DirecTV HR22 dvr, Slimline dish, 5lnb, the usual.

Every once in a while I take the family in an RV to South Padre Island, Texas, theres a spot there where we can park near the beach, stay a few days, I have another satellite dish (just like the one I mentioned) that I allways carry in my RV. All I do is unplug my DVR from the tv and plug it in my RV's tv and while my kids are playing in the beach, I am watching my sports and what not.

here's where the situation gets tricky.

channels 2, 3, 4 etc.. basicaly the local channels in Houston texas, arent avialable when I am in south padre, this is because the satellite signal or whatever is restricted to the houston area only (I would asume?) Which is kind of a pain since I like to watch the local news and network tvshows also. What's interesting is that I have met other people parked beside me who do the same thing I do but they are from San Antonio Texas (which is about 2 hours from houston and closer to south padre island) and they get all their local channels from san antonio yet the people I meet from houston have my same problem.

Basicaly, Houston is just a bit too far for this to work, all i get is "Searching for satellite signal) while San Antonio seems to be at the limit of the distance where the dish still gets the signal from the local channels.

Here's my question.. is there any type of Dish, maybe a bigger dish? Or some type of range extending device or a special LNB or something I can do so that I can catch my local channels even when I am further away than the normal range? Like in South Padre Island, Texas?

I have no idea what to do but I have a feeling some one here might have a problem similar to mine. I am thinking a bigger dish would solve the problem but I am not sure.

If a bigger dish does solve the problem, could you point me in the right direction as far as brands compatibility with my current dvr and LNB's etc?

Well, I hope I am not too confusing. Thanks again!

 

[Jimbo]

Welcome to the Site !!!

Unfortunately for you, the SpotBeam from Houston doesn't go far enough south for you, as you know, the one from Houston does.
Seeing your only going for a few days it probably woudnt be worth the hassle, but when I go to Brownsville and SPI, I call D* and change my local, which they are fine with, but I go fo4r 2-3 months.

You should be able to pick up Brownsville locals without much trouble, (OTA) but that won't get you the Houstlon locals.

Sent from my Samsung Epic using SatelliteGuys

 

[jdspencer]

Using a Slingbox might work!

 

[JerseyMatt]

Using a Slingbox might work!

That depends on how/if he has internet access on the road. If the campground has wifi, it might work (in my experience those are pretty slow though, probably wouldn't support a Slingcatcher), but if he uses cellular he's going to hit his cap in a matter of an hour or two.

 

[megan]

Sfss indicates the dish is not aligned to the satellite the locals are coming from. There should be no "out of range" for the signal ever. Local Channels are based upon the physical address DTV has in the system as governed by the FCC. I have customers who call in that live in NY and have vacation homes in CA and I have to change the address for them while in CA or they will still recieve NY locals.

 

[texasbrit]

Megan - You're not understanding this situation. Except for LA and NY, all the DirecTV locals are on "spotbeams" based on your service address. These spotbeams are like flashlight beams coming from the satellite, pointing at certain cities. That means that if your service address is, say, in Houston, once you move outside the spotbeam you will get 771s on the locals, because you are not receiving the signal - this is definitely an "out of range" issue. . The only way to change this is by changing your service address so you get the locals being delivered in the spotbeam for your new location. DirecTV will allow you to change your service address a couple of times a year (so this will work if you live one place in the winter and another in the summer) but not more than that.
NY and LA are special cases, where SOME (only the networks) of the locals are on CONUS (national) beams to provide for people with RV accounts, or who get the LA or NY channels because they live in places where there are no locals at all, even off-air using an antenna. So if you live in NY and move around you can get the four NY networks anywhere in the country, similarly if your service address is in LA. But that does not apply to any other locations.

 

[megan]

I was not referring to distant la/ny networks. When I go on Vacation to CO from IN I take my dvr to the cabin. My dvr has the physical address of IN on my account and my locals are coming from the 99. The dish on my cabin is properly aligned to the 99 and when I connect it I still have my IN locals. The Slimline5 can be difficult to get lined up with all satellites properly when aligning yourself. Sattelite signals are not restricted to certain areas. Locals are restricted by zip code and county listed on your account. Find out which satellite your locals are coming from and when aligning the dish make sure you are checking your signal strength on that particular satellite.

 

[Mr Tony]

sorry but there is no way you are getting Indiana locals in Colorado. The ONLY networks on 99W that are CONUS are the NY & LA ones. All the rest are on spotbeam

 

[Mr Tony]

There should be no "out of range" for the signal ever.

sorry but you're wrong. Its been proven time and time again. Spotbeams limit the distance a set of locals can be received.

and EVER??? hmmm.....I see lots of posts with "I cant get a signal" and they are in Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico. Now technicallyt D* doesnt sell there but according to you they should get signal

Local Channels are based upon the physical address DTV has in the system as governed by the FCC. I have customers who call in that live in NY and have vacation homes in CA and I have to change the address for them while in CA or they will still recieve NY locals.

no they wont. They will receive what locals in the DMA of the address they provide. That is why I had to "move" to get the locals I wanted.

 

[Jimbo]

I was not referring to distant la/ny networks. When I go on Vacation to CO from IN I take my dvr to the cabin. My dvr has the physical address of IN on my account and my locals are coming from the 99. The dish on my cabin is properly aligned to the 99 and when I connect it I still have my IN locals. The Slimline5 can be difficult to get lined up with all satellites properly when aligning yourself. Sattelite signals are not restricted to certain areas. Locals are restricted by zip code and county listed on your account. Find out which satellite your locals are coming from and when aligning the dish make sure you are checking your signal strength on that particular satellite.

Megan,
When you get to Colorado and see a high signal strength on the meter on your 99 Sat, check the correct transponder as well, not just the Sat that you use at home, for example, if at home your locals are on the 99 Sat, transponder 32 and you go to Colorado and you look at the 99 Sat and transponder 32, it MAY have high signal strength, but it's picking up whatever transponder that the Colorado locals are on .... however, unless you change to the Colorado city, you'll get a message when going to thier channels.

 

[BBQTVPA]

I am so confused and hopefully you can shed some light on this. Home is GA and we are currently out west in the RV. We set up everything with dish to register the RV receiver. I thought it would be east to just call and get distance network. to my surprise they are charging us to switch to the new location and we will have to now pay the extra fees and taxes for the area we are in. Is this normal?

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys!

I haven't heard of anyone having to pay extra just to switch locals. I would try calling back and talking to a different csr.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

I am so confused and hopefully you can shed some light on this. Home is GA and we are currently out west in the RV. We set up everything with dish to register the RV receiver. I thought it would be east to just call and get distance network. to my surprise they are charging us to switch to the new location and we will have to now pay the extra fees and taxes for the area we are in. Is this normal?

just as a clarification are we talking about Dish (Network) or DirecTV?

 

[info411man]

I am so confused and hopefully you can shed some light on this. Home is GA and we are currently out west in the RV. We set up everything with dish to register the RV receiver. I thought it would be east to just call and get distance network. to my surprise they are charging us to switch to the new location and we will have to now pay the extra fees and taxes for the area we are in. Is this normal?

There is no fee to change, the fee would $3.50 per network per mo for the Distant Network service you would receive in the rv. I qualify for distant networks and get ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW east and west coast feeds and pay this monthly. If I said I lived in Los Angeles or New York City I could get the same channels for $3 mo for all instead of each.

 

[info411man]

OK guys, this is my first post here, I am having a small problem and I hope you guys can help me out a little bit.

I live in Houston, Texas and I have a DirecTV HR22 dvr, Slimline dish, 5lnb, the usual.

Every once in a while I take the family in an RV to South Padre Island, Texas, theres a spot there where we can park near the beach, stay a few days, I have another satellite dish (just like the one I mentioned) that I allways carry in my RV. All I do is unplug my DVR from the tv and plug it in my RV's tv and while my kids are playing in the beach, I am watching my sports and what not.

Another option would be a AM21 tuner and OTA antenna for your rv. The following channels should be available in South Padre Island:


KVEO-DT 23.1 NBC BROWNSVILLE, TX
KGBT-DT 4.1 CBS HARLINGEN, TX
KLUJ-DT 44.1 REL HARLINGEN, TX
KRGV-DT 5.1 ABC WESLACO, TX
XERV-DT 9.1 SPA MATAMOROS, TX
KMBH-DT 38.1 PBS HARLINGEN, TX
KNVO-DT 48.1 UNI MCALLEN, TX
from antennaweb.org

 

[Jimbo]

Another option would be a AM21 tuner and OTA antenna for your rv. The following channels should be available in South Padre Island:


KVEO-DT 23.1 NBC BROWNSVILLE, TX
KGBT-DT 4.1 CBS HARLINGEN, TX
KLUJ-DT 44.1 REL HARLINGEN, TX
KRGV-DT 5.1 ABC WESLACO, TX
XERV-DT 9.1 SPA MATAMOROS, TX
KMBH-DT 38.1 PBS HARLINGEN, TX
KNVO-DT 48.1 UNI MCALLEN, TX
from antennaweb.org

And XRIO channel 2 FOX McAllen, Tx

 

[jamieh1]

I change my address quiet often. I have even changed it several times in one week. Directv has never questioned it. I just call in and ask to change my service address.

I live in the Greenville NC market(eastern NC) but mainly use a address in the Raliegh NC market which is in the center of NC. We have a home in the Western NC mountains, The Raliegh locals spot reaches both the eastern NC area and all the way to the western NC mountains.