"Moving" mess

[HailScroob]

Let me start by saying we get all 5 networks in HD via OTA, and they look great.

My kid heard about Chicago’s WGN broadcasting the Cubs in HD, and took it upon himself to “move” us last night so that we could get the Chicago HD locals via Dish (never mind that Dish doesn’t carry WGN in HD). He was pretty clever about it, I must say: we live on US Hwy 6, which runs from our house right on through the Chicago DMA, so the kid changes just one digit in our house number and that put us about 30 miles west and in the next county, still in Indiana, which is in the Chicago DMA. He even went to the Melissa Data free lookup website and made sure the new address wasn’t in use but in a valid USPS range, and then got the ZIP+4 to provide to Dish (wish he’d apply this much ingenuity to his science homework!). He made the change using Dish Chat, so no questions about his voice. Perfect, right?

Wrong! LaPorte County (where we “moved”) is in a different time zone (it’s an Indiana thing) so the first problem is that the guide is now an hour off. Maybe you could get used to that, I dunno. The second problem is that the OTA HD channels (from our “old” South Bend DMA) now all say “Digital Service” in the guide. Makes sense: as far as the box is concerned, they aren’t our locals anymore, so you get no guide data. All those timers are now invalid. Guess I could move them to the Chicago HD stations, but why lose my pristine OTA picture? Plus, Dish doesn’t carry the Chicago CW station in HD, so I’d be forced to record a bunch of shows OTA using manual timers; meaning no title for the recording, no program info, no repeat skipping and no auto adjustment for schedule changes. Nope: can’t live with that.

Called Tech Support and they were able to put us back to where we belong and after a check switch and reboot the guide was corrected and the timers recalculated. All is well. There is also now a password on the account, so Jr. can’t make any more unilateral decisions.

So, this is just a cautionary tale for those considering a “move” to a different DMA: you’ll lose OTA guide data and, possibly, have to deal with the guide in a different time zone. Maybe not show stoppers for you but, ethical issues aside, something to consider.

 

[fhsucade07]

Let me start by saying we get all 5 networks in HD via OTA, and they look great.

My kid heard about Chicago’s WGN broadcasting the Cubs in HD, and took it upon himself to “move” us last night so that we could get the Chicago HD locals via Dish (never mind that Dish doesn’t carry WGN in HD). He was pretty clever about it, I must say: we live on US Hwy 6, which runs from our house right on through the Chicago DMA, so the kid changes just one digit in our house number and that put us about 30 miles west and in the next county, still in Indiana, which is in the Chicago DMA. He even went to the Melissa Data free lookup website and made sure the new address wasn’t in use but in a valid USPS range, and then got the ZIP+4 to provide to Dish (wish he’d apply this much ingenuity to his science homework!). He made the change using Dish Chat, so no questions about his voice. Perfect, right?

Wrong! LaPorte County (where we “moved”) is in a different time zone (it’s an Indiana thing) so the first problem is that the guide is now an hour off. Maybe you could get used to that, I dunno. The second problem is that the OTA HD channels (from our “old” South Bend DMA) now all say “Digital Service” in the guide. Makes sense: as far as the box is concerned, they aren’t our locals anymore, so you get no guide data. All those timers are now invalid. Guess I could move them to the Chicago HD stations, but why lose my pristine OTA picture? Plus, Dish doesn’t carry the Chicago CW station in HD, so I’d be forced to record a bunch of shows OTA using manual timers; meaning no title for the recording, no program info, no repeat skipping and no auto adjustment for schedule changes. Nope: can’t live with that.

Called Tech Support and they were able to put us back to where we belong and after a check switch and reboot the guide was corrected and the timers recalculated. All is well. There is also now a password on the account, so Jr. can’t make any more unilateral decisions.

So, this is just a cautionary tale for those considering a “move” to a different DMA: you’ll lose OTA guide data and, possibly, have to deal with the guide in a different time zone. Maybe not show stoppers for you but, ethical issues aside, something to consider.

Not bad for a kid! It's probably a lot smarter of a move than most of us made (including myself). I just used a Hampton Inn and added a street number to the address... If the kid applied that much thought to his science home work, he'd have the best average in the class no doubt about it.

Cade

 

[digiblur]

First I heard of not getting your OTA guide data. Seems like everytime I hear everyone gets both.

I hate to say it but your story is funny... almost as funny as the last one I heard about someone moving to a town to get HD locals when Dish didn't even carry that market yet.

 

[langlin]

I"moved" from Arkansas to Chicago last year and continued to get the local Springfield MO OTA guide. The satellite version of "locals" of course changed to Chicago but I continued to get to get OTA from Missouri complete with guide.

 

[HailScroob]

Interesting. Maybe if I had waited it would have worked itself out? How about the time zone; is your guide off? The guy at Dish did say it could take 24 hours for the 722 to fully process a change like this...

Oh well, in the end I don't want a fake service address; not making a values judgement on anyone, I just don't have a need for it (despite what young Jake might otherwise think...).

 

[mikew]

Why would "junior" have your username and password? I see no reason why my kids should have access to my online accounts...

 

[garys]

First I heard of not getting your OTA guide data. Seems like everytime I hear everyone gets both.

I hate to say it but your story is funny... almost as funny as the last one I heard about someone moving to a town to get HD locals when Dish didn't even carry that market yet.

I'm just wondering if the time shift would mess up the listings and were dropped or maybe with Dish changing the locals, you would have to wait for the info to show back up. When I first activated my 622 it took almost 24 hours for the info to show?

 

[HailScroob]

Why would "junior" have your username and password? I see no reason why my kids should have access to my online accounts...

He doesn't. Dish Chat only requires your phone number and the guys in India will do just about anything you ask.

Now there is a password on the account (not the web portal, but the actual account) so any such changes in the future, by chat or by phone or by whatever, will require it.

 

[mattopia]

Why would "junior" have your username and password? I see no reason why my kids should have access to my online accounts...

Don't need them for a dish chat.

 

[jself1982]

I move all the time from East to West coast and from North to South and I never lose my OTA guide data.

 

[HailScroob]

I move all the time from East to West coast and from North to South and I never lose my OTA guide data.

And how does the guide's time match up to your local time?

 

[langlin]

The guide follows the time zone of the service address so if you move to a different time zone the guide follows.

 

[mthawki]

Do the 622 and 722's have clock displays that would be messed up as well with the timezone shift?

 

[Fiveft20in]

Do the 622 and 722's have clock displays that would be messed up as well with the timezone shift?

No.

 

[drummerguy]

The second problem is that the OTA HD channels (from our “old” South Bend DMA) now all say “Digital Service” in the guide. Makes sense: as far as the box is concerned, they aren’t our locals anymore, so you get no guide data. All those timers are now invalid. Guess I could move them to the Chicago HD stations, but why lose my pristine OTA picture?

I think all you really needed to do was change what Dish locals you get (to Chicago, in your case). Then you would get your guide data, not only for Chicago locals, but also for your OTA locals. And you would not lose your OTA locals. Your OTA timers would have worked just fine after that.

I "moved" to Denver some time ago, which is two time zones away, and told Dish to change my locals to Denver, but I still get my Indianapolis locals OTA with correct guide data.

The only pain is the time zone difference, but I got used to it.

 

[mthawki]

Thanks Five!

 

[destrada]

I "moved" from Austin to San Antonio and still have all my OTA guide data. When we finally get Austin HD locals thru Dish (promised 1st part of 2nd qtr), I'll "move" back. I still get Austin and San Antonio OTA though.

 

[mikew]

He doesn't. Dish Chat only requires your phone number and the guys in India will do just about anything you ask.

Now there is a password on the account (not the web portal, but the actual account) so any such changes in the future, by chat or by phone or by whatever, will require it.

Learn something new here everyday. Seems like it would be rather easy to mess around with anybody's account given the proper info. Feuding neighbors could have a blast!

 

[getherdunnow]

just moved myself and the csr was confused about what i was doing , but i got it done and now very happy .tried doing it on the computer but thay said i had to call to change my address .THANK TO EVERYONE FOR HELP ON HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!