I have had the western arc setup for almost 10 years. I am now paying for my locals, but they are only available in sd on the western arc. The hd version is on eastern arc. Other than gaining the hd locals, would I benefit by changing? I presently have hd.......Would my picture quality improve with eastern arc?
Is it worth the hassle to change to Eastern Arc
- Thread starter bnewt
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 15
- Views 3K
Yes and no.
__________________
As for "is it worth it?" Well, it depends on if HD locals are worth it to you. As for picture quality, it's more or less the same. On paper, the SD channels look better on WA, but most people say it looks about the same. HD would be identical.
__________________
As for "is it worth it?" Well, it depends on if HD locals are worth it to you. As for picture quality, it's more or less the same. On paper, the SD channels look better on WA, but most people say it looks about the same. HD would be identical.
The pros of Eastern arc are that the sd channels look better to me than western arc. Also EVERYTHING is in MPEG 4(sd &hd) so shows recorded take up less hard drive room than western arc. There are two brand new satellites up there at 72.7 and 61.5. The 77 sat is set to be replaced next summer. The only thing really on 77 sat is local channels.
The cons are that you might suffer from more rain fade on eastern arc due to poor satellite dish installs. Signal strength reports from many who have eastern arc are all very different. There is no real consensus like there is on western arc in regards to sat strength. But I get in the 60s on the 72.7 sat , 45-70 on 61.5 sat and 40-50 on 77 sat. I am located in Nederland, Tx about 90 miles from Houston.
The cons are that you might suffer from more rain fade on eastern arc due to poor satellite dish installs. Signal strength reports from many who have eastern arc are all very different. There is no real consensus like there is on western arc in regards to sat strength. But I get in the 60s on the 72.7 sat , 45-70 on 61.5 sat and 40-50 on 77 sat. I am located in Nederland, Tx about 90 miles from Houston.
Eastern Arc requires all MPEG4 receivers (ViP class).
If you want HD locals, you may also be able to get them with a wing dish plugged into the input port on your D1000.2 (if that's what you have).
If you want HD locals, you may also be able to get them with a wing dish plugged into the input port on your D1000.2 (if that's what you have).
I have all VIP receivers. I just think that since I am & have been paying for my locals, that Dish should make the change for no charge. Is that possible?
As Mike said, you'll be able to record MUCH more content.
Ed
Installed 722's on both EA and WA and never seen a difference in hard drive space...
Is this a hidden "hack" that only shows itself when there is more than 55 hours of HD recorded???
The receivers were never programmed to calculate time remaining based on MPEG4, only on MPEG2. The only way you'll tell (other than the time remaining not diminishing as fast as you expect) is if you have an external hard drive, in which case I've heard that the receiver actually tells you the size of the files rather than the estimated time.
Also, all HD channels have been MPEG4 for a while now. The only channels that are still MPEG2 on the Western Arc are the SD channels.
Also, all HD channels have been MPEG4 for a while now. The only channels that are still MPEG2 on the Western Arc are the SD channels.
I had to pay for my eastern arc. I even emailed ceo. I was missing some channels that were not on my system at the time and only on the eastern arc. They said I had to pay either $95 or $15 if I subscribed to maintenance. I went with the $95 for not wanting a higher monthly bill forever. I ended up getting a new receiver out of it sine my olf 622 died during the install and the installer removed my 3 original dishes. I owned two of them and the superdish ended up in my trash and he took the lnbs from that one. The other two were 500's with a single lnb and I have those. Not really as hassle.
