Hopper 3 and the OTA dongle

[renegade734]

Curious from others that have added OTA If they see much of a PQ difference? I'm adding my OTA back with a higher antenna as the previous location was pretty dicey and one of the main reasons to do so was in hopes of improved PQ. A side benefit is that I'll have redundancy too in case of Dish fade which seems to be happening more (so I need to get that checked).
But now I'm starting to question whether it's worth the expense and hassle if the PQ is only marginally better. I know it's really dependent on how much Dish is compressing MY locals, but I guess unjust assumed that it would be noticeable. I'm running it on an LG OLE65C7P and for the most part the locals all look pretty darn good...but there's always room for improvement!

Also wanted to clarify that the guide data should continue even if I decide to drop locals? I'm assuming the guide data for the Dish channels that I pay for would then also be replicated on the OTA section as well? Also read that guide data for sub channels probably won't even be produced since Dish doesn't currently offer them to me in my localsnpackage. Is there a way to set a time based recording for chNnels with no guide data?

The picture quality is much better than locals delivered via satellite. Guide data can be hit or miss. I don't know for certain that guide data would continue after dropping locals, but others have reported that it does

 

[MikeD-C05]

I would believe based on what I know is that we can see DISH embracing OTA much more in the future.

I sure hope that means they will use the TiVo metadata to give us FULL ota guide information for ALL ota channels and sub channels. That would show that DISH does respect the ota customers and their wishes.

 

[comfortably_numb]

The picture quality is much better than locals delivered via satellite. Guide data can be hit or miss. I don't know for certain that guide data would continue after dropping locals, but others have reported that it does

That's been my experience too. The OTA adapter is receiving the raw transmission from your local station's tower. Dish has to compress then decompress that signal. Even if it receives the originating feed direct from the station via fiber (or however else they get it), it still has to be compressed.

 

[bobc469]

The picture quality is much better than locals delivered via satellite. Guide data can be hit or miss. I don't know for certain that guide data would continue after dropping locals, but others have reported that it does

My experience has been that the OTA picture is better than via satellite. It is only noticeable when switching from satellite to OTA and back you can see an improvement. If you walked in from another room and looked at the screen it would be hard to discern which version of the signal you were watching. If I were to grade the quaility from 1 - 10, satellite would be around a 5 or 6 and OTA would be 8 or 9. Both are completely watchable.

 

[KeithKenobi]

2026 now, and Dish does NOT support OTA. The Guide does NOT contain info for stations that they do not deliver via Satellite!
In fact, they hate The CW Network, and I complained when the guide was missing and one of the guys really tried to help (Brian) but they finally said: "NO! We will not add it to the guide."
I complained to the FCC and now my OTA dongle has died... Coincidence???

 

[navychop]

Yes.

 

[Mister B]

In fact, they hate The CW Network, and I complained when the guide was missing and one of the guys really tried to help (Brian) but they finally said: "NO! We will not add it to the guide."
I complained to the FCC and now my OTA dongle has died... Coincidence???

I would agree that the CW is not being treated equally as they move to becoming a major network.
When I had DISH installed I choose not to pay for the locals as I can get them with an antenna directly on the TV although I have not invested in any recording device. After a few weeks I decided to add satellite locals and I was very disappointed to see that my local CW affiliate was in blurry letterboxed SD. I understand the reason for this is that El Paso's CW is and aways has been a -02 channel and both satellite carriers refuse to broadcast sub-channels in HD.
This may have been justifiable ten years ago but these virtual OTA channel designations have become meaningless with all of the frequency repacks and local carriage agreements where one tower carries multiple local channels.
When space is cleared off of one tower to allow for ATSC 3.0 all of the local affilates are allowed to keep their -01 designation. In other cases, very minor players in remote locations get to be HD on satellite just because they are an -01 station.
Now that Nexstar owns the CW they should use their negotiating clout to demand that all of the CW affiliates are treated as a major network.
After a few days, I turned off the satellite locals as I felt it just was not worth the expense.

 

[brice52]

It seems to me that DISH will put the kabosh on any OTA USB adapter future production, with the offering of the small packages, pick your own. They now have a full incentive to keep you from watching OTA local channels through the Hopper...

Do any of the other satellite folks offer OTA DVR? Or is there a non-DISH DVR that would record OTA local stations?

I use a Hdhomerun network tuner and channels Dvr. It records on my NAS

 

[slow_poke_pete]

i use a quad tuner zapper box. no way would i invest in the dongle... my locals are in 4k uhd

 

[Jim5506]

I use a TiVo Roamio OTA unit. It has 4 ATSC tuners and I can download recorded programming directly to my Computer hard disk and edit it with VideoReDo, even make it and MP4 or burn it to a DVD.
I also have the dual OTA tuner dongle from AirTV - same insides as the Dish dual tuner dongle but with white plastic casing. It works very well.
I find the Roamio OTA quad tuner box the best one TiVo has ever made, it is more stable and sensitive than the TiVo Bolt or the TiVo Edge boxes.
Testimony to the quality of these boxes can be found on eBay where it is not uncommon for a Roamio OTA with Lifetime service (AIP) to sell for $250-300 and they are 10 years old. Refurb AIP units on Weaknees sell for $500.

 

[Jim5506]

2026 now, and Dish does NOT support OTA. The Guide does NOT contain info for stations that they do not deliver via Satellite!
In fact, they hate The CW Network, and I complained when the guide was missing and one of the guys really tried to help (Brian) but they finally said: "NO! We will not add it to the guide."
I complained to the FCC and now my OTA dongle has died... Coincidence???

IIRC stations must meet certain requirements to be included in Dish Networks program data listing, primary is that the station must be on the first sub channel of that RF frequency. There are other considerations, is your CW on channel XX-01 in your DMA? The reason for that is that carrying multiple sub channels on the same RF frequency is labor intensive to keep straight as I understand it. Dish really needs to re do their automation for association data to channels. It was formulated back when there were virtually no sub channels other than the XX-01s and now there are stations in my DMA that have 8 sub channels and of course none of those are given any programming data simply because Dish Networks software cannot cope with it. Fortunately several stations around here actually have 2-4 RF channels they can and do use so CW gets 22-01 and has full programming data available from Dish. This is part og my reaqsoning for keeping my TiVo Roamio OTA up and running and recording certain OTA channels.
One other thing, I'm not sure how much pull the FCC has over cable and satellite channel selection. IIRC most of that comes under the NAB agreements concerning DMA's and is contractual rather than legislative.

 

[KeithKenobi]

I have a Tivo Romio with lifetime for CW and everything Dish does not have (and a spare with lifetime from Thriftshop for $20).
My CW station is on RF 11 with some other locals, here is the RabbitEars report;
Channel Physical
Channel Video Audio Call Sign Network/Programming Nickname Notes Print
23-1 11.7 1080i DD2.0 SAP Audio I KMUV-DT "Telemundo 23" (KION-TV 23-1)
35-1 11.3 1080i DD2.0 SAP Audio Icon KCBA-HD CW+ "Central Coast CW"
35-2 11.4 480i (w) DD2.0 CourtTV Court TV
35-3 11.5 480i (w) DD2.0 IONPlus ION Plus
35-6 11.8 480i (w) DD2.0 Confess Confess

 

[slow_poke_pete]

2026 now, and Dish does NOT support OTA. The Guide does NOT contain info for stations that they do not deliver via Satellite!
In fact, they hate The CW Network, and I complained when the guide was missing and one of the guys really tried to help (Brian) but they finally said: "NO! We will not add it to the guide."
I complained to the FCC and now my OTA dongle has died... Coincidence???

love my zapperbox full fledged 4k locals. never any issues!!! it even does multi view like the hopper

 

[KeithKenobi]

How is the zapper guide on stations with lots of subs?
And what about sending them updates when things change or are wrong?
I have had somewhat of success with Tivo, but sometimes it is frustrating as the stations do not give their guide info to anyone,,, so it is a lot of work.
How is the zapper when you have no internet?
Does it have a decent pause, slow-mo, skip fwd-rvrs etc? Commercial skip?
Can I check out their guide without a subscription?

 

[J_Smooth]

I split the feed from OTA to the Dish Dongle and Zapper Box. To the Dish for my wife, and Zapper Box for me. The picture quality (and audio quality) difference is real, especially for sports with the Zapper. Paid something like $48 for 18 months of guide service, may pay lifetime if I think I'll be on it for the long haul. ZB does a good job with frequent updates and the DVR works flawlessly. My issue is with trees and distance from the towers. I'm only able to go antenna only in the winter months until the 3.0 channels increase their signal strength in a few years.

 

[Bruce]

love my zapperbox full fledged 4k locals. never any issues!!! it even does multi view like the hopper

They are not in real 4K, just up converted and a lot less compression ( for now).

The only way to receive real 4K content from the Broadcast Networks, is the streaming services, like CBS on Paramount+.

 

[Mister B]

How is the zapper guide on stations with lots of subs?
And what about sending them updates when things change or are wrong?
I have had somewhat of success with Tivo, but sometimes it is frustrating as the stations do not give their guide info to anyone,,, so it is a lot of work.

This has been my problem with trying to record OTA. I like the old shows on the minor digital channels but getting correct guide information is difficult. Some of these channels have both east and west coast feeds and the guide providers and even the PSIP guide from the stations themselves often have the schedule off by three hours due to using the wrong feed info.
Added to that is the guide knowing which time zone I am in. All of Texas except El Paso and one sparsely populated county to the east is in the Central Time Zone so many services assume I am in Central Time when in fact I am in the Mountain Time Zone.
I tried Tivo and had some success in getting the guide corrected just to have it revert to the wrong schedule in a few weeks. I was even told by some clueless CSR that my problem was that I needed a better antenna.
Tablo insisted that there was no ABC affiliate in my area. We have had ABC in El Paso since the late 1950's.
All of the real channel (RF frequency) reassignments due to ATSC 3.0 have only made matters worse.

 

[dennispap]

2026 now, and Dish does NOT support OTA. The Guide does NOT contain info for stations that they do not deliver via Satellite!
In fact, they hate The CW Network, and I complained when the guide was missing and one of the guys really tried to help (Brian) but they finally said: "NO! We will not add it to the guide."
I complained to the FCC and now my OTA dongle has died... Coincidence???

Here in the New Orleans market we have OTA stations that they DO deliver via satellite and we don't get guide info.

 

[bnewt]

i use a quad tuner zapper box. no way would i invest in the dongle... my locals are in 4k uhd

Wish mine were

 

[KAB]

i use a quad tuner zapper box. no way would i invest in the dongle... my locals are in 4k uhd

Where do you live?