"Locals only" possible, where no OTA reception?

[jerryez]

I logged into my account at Dish.com and when I click on programming, I get Welcome Pack $40.99 and locals listed separately $12.99. I then clicked on see details of local pack and am giving the option of removing it from my Welcome Pack. But when I add up the 40.99 and the H3 @$15 plus my local taxes, I come up with the same cost that I am currently paying. So, removing the Locals does not save me a penny. What kind of Bullsh!t marketing is Dish trying to pull. I guess that if I remove them, Dish will charge me an additional $12.99 to add them back.

 

[odbrv]

The welcome Pack is $44.99 and that includes locals. See: MyDISH. Here is an old list of what was on the Welcome Pack when I had it: Dish Welcome Pack: How & Where To Get It (Channels, Pricing & Tips) . In addition, Every month all the preview channels were added to the guide.

 

[fmj77]

Thanks for that thought, but we've tried several high-gain antennae over the years, all with zero picture. Cearly the RabbitEars report doesn't capture the specific terrain here.

You may be surprised what a modern high gain antenna can do. My neighbor was in the same situation as you. He is 90 miles from the broadcast towers and his home is surrounded by hills and woods. He installed a Televes DatBoss antenna last week on his chimney and was shocked to find it picked up nearly 50 channels. He ended up cancelling Dish and going strictly OTA.

 

[Miner]

You may be surprised what a modern high gain antenna can do. My neighbor was in the same situation as you. He is 90 miles from the broadcast towers and his home is surrounded by hills and woods. He installed a Televes DatBoss antenna last week on his chimney and was shocked to find it picked up nearly 50 channels. He ended up cancelling Dish and going strictly OTA.

I wonder if it would work for me. I live in a bowl, and while I haven’t seriously tried, I’ve never been able to pick up more than 1 channel. I do have some high gain antennae, as well as a nice channel master pre-amp. My situation is complicated by 2 of my main stations are in the VHF band, so the nice yagi doesn’t cut it for them.
No antenna can make up for a lack of signal, but a good antenna can take a marginal signal and make it usable.
YMMV!

 

[fmj77]

In this case, I was the one who bought the Televes a year or so ago and I never bothered to put it up. My neighbor asked if he could try it at his house and we were both shocked how well it worked. He paid me for it and I'm actually thinking about buying myself another one.

 

[mwdxer1]

I had not heard that there was a receiver fee for the first receiver, I was under the impression that the receiver fee for the first reciever is part of the subscription to your service.

Dish did add a DVR fee sometime back so I suppose that can be considered a fee in your first receiver, but only if it is a DVR.

My impression is that 211 and Wally do not have a fee if they are the first receiver but since I have only an H3 and a Joey 3.0 I have no direct experience in that matter.

I have the 211k and there are no receiver fees. I did pay $40 years ago to have the HDD function activated, but that was it. If I change HDDs, there are no additional fees. I only pay for programming. In fact I changed to a different 211k and again no fees. It is a great deal for a single guy in his 70s. Also the 211k has the OTA tuner. We we do have translators fortunately.

 

[MikeD-C05]

You may be surprised what a modern high gain antenna can do. My neighbor was in the same situation as you. He is 90 miles from the broadcast towers and his home is surrounded by hills and woods. He installed a Televes DatBoss antenna last week on his chimney and was shocked to find it picked up nearly 50 channels. He ended up cancelling Dish and going strictly OTA.

IF more people would install antennas for ota reception and add Sling tv for the rest ,they would find their bills drop in half. I installed my own Televes Dat Boss antenna( $99.00) and it got all my locals and sub channels. Added the Air tv Anywhere 4 tuner ota dvr ($199.00) that integrates into the Sling tv guide and you can record 4 ota channels at the same time with complete guide data for all locals and sub channels. My Bill with Sling tv was like $56.00 before tax. I had blue pack ($35.00)+ total tv deal($21.00) which includes the extended dvr for up to 200 hrs of recordings. You can add Starz or Showtime or Epix and there are several other add ons you can add. No fees for receivers , no hidden fees. My bill was like $60.50 with tax included. It was an easy switch to make and it saves so much money each month. You would still be paying DISH since they own Sling tv as well as the satellite portion of the company. You don't like it you can cancel at any time online.

 

[Yespage]

The welcome Pack is $44.99 and that includes locals. See: MyDISH. Here is an old list of what was on the Welcome Pack when I had it: Dish Welcome Pack: How & Where To Get It (Channels, Pricing & Tips) . In addition, Every month all the preview channels were added to the guide.

Welcome Pack's value has all but evaporated.

 

[HipKat]

Welcome Pack's value has all but evaporated.

I think that was part of the reasoning for the flex pack

 

[Yespage]

I think that was part of the reasoning for the flex pack

I think Flex Pack was the answer to online streaming. Welcome Pack is effectively the DVR-able locals with a news channel and a few other very select channels / and if you have an EHD, probably a lot of programming on there. I was lucky and also had TCM for whatever reason that I wasn't going to bring up and ruin, which enhanced our own experience. Welcome Pack used to be a good thing

Flex provides a Sling-esque experience with equipment. The ability to tell the Locals to *bleep* is super beneficial to those who can get them OTA. $12 a month for a lot of Paid Programming when that gets you Disney+ and Peacock just seems ridiculously over-priced.

Welcome Pack was good and allowed some to hang on if it was supplemented... but with the price too high, Flex sans Locals is the new best thing in paid Cable/Sat offerings. I have no idea how Dish/Ergen managed to pull it off.

 

[TheKrell]

Flex sans Locals is the new best thing in paid Cable/Sat offerings.

The deal I thought I got last week didn't "take", and I had to call Loyalty again to get it fixed. I am now back pretty close to where I was with my bill going up $5. AT250. Apparently the nice Chicago lady last week failed to get a new 2yr commitment going. This commitment does include a minimum package which is apparently Flex. So I could experiment.

The lady today says I can't get Smithsonian with the Flex Pack. I think I can add another pack and get it. Does anybody know? Apparently of the AT packages, AT250 is the only one that has it.

 

[mwdxer1]

IF more people would install antennas for ota reception and add Sling tv for the rest ,they would find their bills drop in half. I installed my own Televes Dat Boss antenna( $99.00) and it got all my locals and sub channels. Added the Air tv Anywhere 4 tuner ota dvr ($199.00) that integrates into the Sling tv guide and you can record 4 ota channels at the same time with complete guide data for all locals and sub channels. My Bill with Sling tv was like $56.00 before tax. I had blue pack ($35.00)+ total tv deal($21.00) which includes the extended dvr for up to 200 hrs of recordings. You can add Starz or Showtime or Epix and there are several other add ons you can add. No fees for receivers , no hidden fees. My bill was like $60.50 with tax included. It was an easy switch to make and it saves so much money each month. You would still be paying DISH since they own Sling tv as well as the satellite portion of the company. You don't like it you can cancel at any time online.

The Antennas Direct 91XG is similar in gain and works well here for our translators. We are surrounded by mountains, so we need the translators. But that gives us 33 channels OTA, including all of the nets except ION.

 

[jerryez]

I can add the add on packages to my Welcome pack and drop locals, if I wanted. And Welcome pack is cheaper than Flex. I do not have the Bold print on. I do not know why it is Bold.​

 

[Yespage]

The deal I thought I got last week didn't "take", and I had to call Loyalty again to get it fixed. I am now back pretty close to where I was with my bill going up $5. AT250. Apparently the nice Chicago lady last week failed to get a new 2yr commitment going. This commitment does include a minimum package which is apparently Flex. So I could experiment.

The lady today says I can't get Smithsonian with the Flex Pack. I think I can add another pack and get it. Does anybody know? Apparently of the AT packages, AT250 is the only one that has it.

Says the Stars and Stripes pack has Smithsonian for $10 a month. That is a better deal than the News Pack which is also $10 a month, but all you get are channels that are terribly abusive to the term "BREAKING NEWS".

 

[Miner]

The Antennas Direct 91XG is similar in gain and works well here for our translators. We are surrounded by mountains, so we need the translators. But that gives us 33 channels OTA, including all of the nets except ION.

Can you expand on translators, please?

 

[jerryez]

I believe translators are community provided retransmission towers that rebroadcast OTA signals into the communities valley. There were real popular before cable. Correct me, if I am incorrect.

 

[navychop]

You may be surprised what a modern high gain antenna can do. My neighbor was in the same situation as you. He is 90 miles from the broadcast towers and his home is surrounded by hills and woods. He installed a Televes DatBoss antenna last week on his chimney and was shocked to find it picked up nearly 50 channels. He ended up cancelling Dish and going strictly OTA.

Which model?

 

[navychop]

Also, "high" as in "altitude." A tall mast or such.

 

[Bruce]

Which model?

probably this one, it is their top of the line antenna-

Televes DATBOSS LR Mix UHF VHF Long Range (75 miles) Antenna with LTE Filter (149883)​

 

[Seamonsters]

IF more people would install antennas for ota reception and add Sling tv for the rest ,they would find their bills drop in half. I installed my own Televes Dat Boss antenna( $99.00) and it got all my locals and sub channels. Added the Air tv Anywhere 4 tuner ota dvr ($199.00) that integrates into the Sling tv guide and you can record 4 ota channels at the same time with complete guide data for all locals and sub channels. My Bill with Sling tv was like $56.00 before tax. I had blue pack ($35.00)+ total tv deal($21.00) which includes the extended dvr for up to 200 hrs of recordings. You can add Starz or Showtime or Epix and there are several other add ons you can add. No fees for receivers , no hidden fees. My bill was like $60.50 with tax included. It was an easy switch to make and it saves so much money each month. You would still be paying DISH since they own Sling tv as well as the satellite portion of the company. You don't like it you can cancel at any time online.

That sounds like an encouraging route.

So then do you (or does anyone) think that the antenna might work in my situation? My RabbitEars report (I'm the OP) shows that reception for all locals is "poor." In the past, I did try several high-gain antennae and still had no reception. But that was analog, before the ~2014 switch to digital broadcasts – is it conceivable that the change in broadcast technology could make such a huge difference?