It Was 11 Years Ago Today...

[Scott Greczkowski]

Hard to believe, but it was 11 years ago today that I became a DISH Network subscriber!

I remember the day well, I ordered my equipment online and had it all ready for the installer. The installer showed up and I told him it was a 3 room install, and his face drooped and said he would have to reschedule because he didn't have time to do a 3 room install by himself.

He then asked what kind of equipment I had I told him a 3900, a DISHplayer 7200 and a DISH 6000.

When I told him I had a DISH 6000 he didn't believe me as he never saw one... He then said "oh but for me to hook up the DISH 6000 you need to have a HDTV and nobody has one of those yet..."

I said I did.

He got on his phone and called in two helpers... he wanted to see HDTV for himself as he never saw HD before... the install was on.

In a matter of a few hours we were all hooked up and he was impressed with what he saw.

Me and that installer hit it off and now today we are still very close friends.

That was 11 years ago today.. its been a bumpy road to say the least! I have seen a lot of good and bad from DISH Network over the years... but the think I have loved most about DISH is they are always keeping things interesting... from new state of the art hardware to new programming (and who can forget the programming disputes!)

I didn't realize it has been this long with DISH... but over the weekend one of my 622's died so I contacted Matt from the DISH DIRT team for help and he noticed my start date and let me know.

And since we are celebrating things, it was also 10 years ago today that I helped start another satellite discussion forum, today we celebrate the birth of DBSTalk.COM!

A number of us decided to start our own site when the now defunct DBSforums started prohibiting people from discussing issues with the DISH Network DISHplayer.

For the history of DBSTalk please check out History Of DBSTalk for a complete revisit of this history written by DBSTalk founder Chris Blount.

Here is what the DBSTalk homepage looked like back then.. DBSTalk Home Page

I was with DBSTalk for around two years before going out on my own and starting SatelliteGuys. SatelliteGuys turns 8 this year in September! (SatelliteGuys was born on September 6th, 2003 at 12:19PM ET)

I would like to congradulate Chris and the DBSTalk folks for hitting the 10 year milestone! They have dne a great job over the years especially with their DIRECTV forums.

We have not always seen eye to eye over the years, but in hindsight the bickering made both of our sites better for all of our members. So once again hats off to Chris and the gang at DBSTalk!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Here are some screen shots of the new born SatelliteGuys.US!

The homepage...
www.SatelliteGuys.US :: Real American Satellite Talk, For Real Satellite Guys!


The main forum index... (Wouldn't it be nice to have that number of forums again?!)
www.SatelliteGuys.US :: Index

Here are our stats...
www.SatelliteGuys.US :: Statistics

And a look at our memberlist... I am amazed and proud many of the folks on this list are still regular members who visit often!
www.SatelliteGuys.US :: Memberlist

How about our first look at the DISH 921 (Anyone remember them?!)
www.SatelliteGuys.US :: View topic - Exclusive: Scott Reviews the Dish Player 921!

Ahh memories!

 

[garys]

Wow, I cannot believe it was 11 years ago. I had one of the first 6000 receivers my retailer sold (as well as the first 921). I had my 6000 hooked up to sd set for a week before my first HD tv was installed in my house.

 

[riffjim4069]

Just think...you're still at least a year behind my lil' 75-year old mother in-law when it comes to being with Dish Network.

Anyway, I really love the original "Real American Satellite Talk, For Real Satellite Guys!" headline. It's a nice catch phrase and I completely forgot about it.

 

[Laddyboy]

13 years this coming August for me.

 

[JamesJ]

wow...That is crazy, I cant believe how far we have come!

 

[pabeader]

Great job, man!! I think I'm around 15-16 years, but there are some gaps...

 

[Yespage]

I've been sat for about 10.5 years, if I recall correctly or was it 11.5. Had cable for about two months after I started out on my own. Sat ever since.

Had a one year gap in between when I didn't have pay tv. I slowly ramped back up. Been with Dish a less formidable 2.5 years now.

I don't recall being able to get a "free" receiver back then. You bought the receiver, then you signed up. I remember getting all the channels for three or six months as a perk. I had a less impressive setup... I think I had an RCA yellow cable hookup for the TV when I first started out. So no HD for me.

 

[boba]

March 1996 my first 3000 & 4000, but at that time I was an Echostar "C" band dealer that added DISH.

 

['97DISH*user]

14.6 years for me.....down to the Welcome Pack now , but soon I hope to upgrade!! YIPPY!!!

 

[CK SatGuy]

It's been about 6.7 years for me since joining Dish in Oct 2004. We've had some up's and down's, but overall, I'm still happy with Dish.

 

[dwarren2]

When I talked with Matt last month when he arranged a reinstall of my 1k4 after a reroofing job. He said I had been with them for 13 years and 8 months. I ordered my 2000 receiver from an outfit in Maine when Dish dropped their price to try to beat Primestar. Guess they did!. I had to install it myself.

 

[whatchel1]

I started out for ever ago w/ C/Ku band systems (even sold and installed). Many years ago Had D* then I lived where I couldn't have sat, so got out of it. When I moved to this area went w/Voom I was early adopter to HD. It went out of biz and so I went w/ E* when they took over. Had the 942 DVR E* replaced that w/ a 622. When I got a 42" plasma w/ HDMI that connector broke off on the 622 so it was replaced w/ 722k. So have been a long timer HD'er (was only student in BE school I went to have 1), long time sat, and been here a few years. Bring back the "Real American Satellite Talk, For Real Satellite Guys!"

 

[Muck12]

Will be 14 years in August. Purchased a 4000 and 2 3000's back in 1997. To be honest minus a couple of signal problems (that were quickly resolved by tech visits) I have had no inclination to change services. My family get all the sports, family programming, and movies we enjoy (in HD) for our entertainment dollar.

 

[dfergie]

10 years with Dish, 15 with Directv, still have my BUDs (rarely used)

 

[dan188]

Been with dish since oct 2008

 

[papalittle]

Been with Dish since 2000 here

 

[Stargazer]

Been with Dish Network since the end of 1996. They did not even have a million customers yet. Started out with a 3000 receiver and the AT60 package which included the superstations. Had a friend help me install it but could not get the signal in. I tinkered with it and finally got the signal in myself. Became a retailer a few years later and got a Dishplayer 7100. It did not have the DVR features when it first came out and was not advertised as ever going to get that feature at first but they added it as a surprise later on. Had 5 hours of record time. I remember viewing the news and playing the games on it and having to watch the shows pretty quickly so that I would have room for more shows.

 

[Dah-Henny]

I celebrated 12 years of uninterrupted service on 5/7/2011.

 

[long_time_DNC]

11.5 years here since dropping cable and going with Dish and started with the model 5000 receiver... Had it for almost 6 years before going to the 811, then the 922 and then the ViP622 and added a ViP211 in another room... So, in the last 5 years, I've changed/added more receivers than the prior 6 years.