HD Locals now on in the Paducah market

[ParadisePlacebo]

I just got hooked up with my HD locals in the Paducah, KY market!! Woo-hoo!!

My original setup was installed in March of '09, and consisted of a Dish 1000.2 with a VIP722 DVR hitting the usual 110, 119, and 129 orbitals. Everything worked fine-- except for no local channels in HD.

So, a few days ago, I came across a small article on one of my local affiliate's news sites (an "Oh, by the way..." notice) stating that Dish had FINALLY started broadcasting their station in HD-- so I decided to call Dish and ask if I could get in on the action.

The first guy I spoke with was CLUE-LESS about why I wasn't already getting them-- even after I pointed out to him that my dish probably didn't point at the correct orbital (duh!)-- so I "accidentally" hung up on him and tried again a little later.

On the second call I got a girl who could barely follow the silly script that they're forced to go by-- but she was apparently better at asking her handlers what the heck I was talking about-- and was eventually able to confirm that my HD locals are now being broadcast on the 77 orbital. She said that I would need for a tech to come out and make some changes to be able to receive them, so I asked her how much it would cost-- and, to my huge surprise, she said that I was a "valued customer", and that they would do the "upgrade" for FREE!! And, they could have someone out the next morning!! Double WOO-HOO!! So, the tech came out (nice guy, very professional) and added a Dish 500 pointed to the 77 orbital, tied it into the existing coax going into the house, and reset the receiver. That was it-- problem solved-- and it didn't cost me an extra penny.

So, now I have a Dish 1000.2 hitting the 110, 119, and 129 orbitals; a Dish 500 hitting the 77 orbital for my HD locals (which look great!); and the same 722 DVR with all of my recordings still intact-- and I'm as happy as a clam...

 

[TheKrell]

Congratulations on your free upgrade. But why didn't they take down the 1000.2 and put up a single 1000.4 (Eastern Arc dish) instead?

 

[lparsons21]

That's a good question. I live one town over from the OP and when they made the change for me, they put me on a 1000.4 and went all EA. And they swapped out my 625 for a Vip612, since the 625 won't work on EA. It did cost me $15, but that's close enough to free for me...

 

[ParadisePlacebo]

I'm going to guess that the 1000.4's are going to new/fee paying customers only, and they're going to try to satisfy some existing customers with just adding another dish. Since my 722 can already handle mp4, all I needed was something pointing at the 77, so my upgrade appeared to be quick and painless for the installer-- and I'm sure they have plenty of 500's that aren't serving any purpose. I'm also not concerned with how many dishes I have on the side of my house-- which the tech had to ask about first before he added the new one. The "free with no added contract time" concept was enough to keep me from being picky about it-- which is what Dish is probably banking on.

 

[lparsons21]

Who knows what they are thinking!

For me, moving to EA was really the only way to go as I was starting to have some pesky tree issues with the WA. This was a good time to get it done that way and the cost was minimal.

I did have to commit for 2 years because of the receiver swap, but that was something I wanted to do anyway and this way it happened earlier than I would have been elgible to it normally.

A win for me and a win for them, that's fair.

 

[cditty]

Installers in my area told me that they were doing wings for working Western Arc setups that needed 77 for HD locals. This seems to be common.

 

[ParadisePlacebo]

I'm actually happy with the two dish concept. We have the usual midwest weather issues around here, and there's nothing worse than being caught up in your favorite primetime show just as a huge thunderhead passes across the LOS, knocking out all signal for twenty minutes at time. With my HD locals coming in from the southeast, and my SD locals coming in from the southwest, I'll have a much better shot of being able to at least finish out the show I'm watching without throwing "drop-out tantrum".:rant:

 

[gjcavana]

I am in the same situation in Davenport Iowa. the new local HDs are on 77 which I'm not configured for, I currently am receiving 110, 119 and 129 also. They told me that I could not just add a dish to point to 77. they told me I had to change my whole setup and point to 61.5 also instead of what I already have which would mean moving the dish to the other side of my house which I don't want to do and don't believe to be necessary. They need to put people on the phone who know what they are talking about instead of reading scripts which may not apply.

 

[ParadisePlacebo]

I am in the same situation in Davenport Iowa. the new local HDs are on 77 which I'm not configured for, I currently am receiving 110, 119 and 129 also. They told me that I could not just add a dish to point to 77. they told me I had to change my whole setup and point to 61.5 also instead of what I already have which would mean moving the dish to the other side of my house which I don't want to do and don't believe to be necessary. They need to put people on the phone who know what they are talking about instead of reading scripts which may not apply.

It probably has to do with which receiver/s you have. The Eastern Arc uses mp4 compression with the newer G3 smart card, which most older receivers don't work with. If your set-up isn't already compatible, then Dish will want to do the full upgrade-- new contract, new receivers & smart cards, new 1000.4 dish (which needs a clear LOS to the southeast), ect.

Here's a link to some info on the Eastern Arc:

EKB: Eastern Arc

 

[jansan]

When I called using the online chat, the CSR indicated that I needed a second dish to my 1000.2 dish and I asked if I could be switched over the EA using one dish pointing to 61.5, 72, and 77. I paid the $15 fee and I am extremely satisfied with the service.

Reading this forum was the only way to know to ask the CSR to switch to EA. Thanks!