Need help from Hawaii experts and moving experts

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I'm a recent lurker who's decided to become a first time poster here because I could really use any advice, tips, suggestions and warnings anyone here can provide.

I'm moving from Los Angeles, CA to Maui, HI in the very near future and am not sure what to expect from my satellite service if I keep DISH. I know Hawaii has limited HD offerings at this time (has anything changed with the recent flood of HD channels?) and I am not interested in putting a giant satellite dish in my yard.

That being said, I LOVE my 722...it is by far the best DVR I have ever had...and I do not want to give it up.

Will I be able to move with my 722 to Hawaii as I would anywhere else in the U.S. since it appears from the DISH website that DISH does not provide HD receivers in HI?

Is the HD programming I can get with the normal rooftop dish/OTA antenna (if any) comparable to what is offered by other providers with similar set-ups (including cable)? I have seen what is listed on the DISH website, but I'm unclear if that requires the additional antenna or not and whether it is compatible with my 722.

Any general information that I am overlooking would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to decide whether it is worth staying in my contract and waiting to see what happens over the long term with future satellite launches, or if I should find another provider until DISH gets rolling in HI. I would hate to have to give up the 722 though...I love that machine.

Thanks in advance!

JJ

 

[drsports]

I would keep your LA address when you move to Maui. You can use the 722 in Hawaii but you will get limited HD. Dish will not even activate the channels even if you can receive them.

You will need three dishes in Hawaii to get satellites 110,119,129. You should be able to get all HD that you got in LA plus your LA locals in HD.

 

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I was wondering if keeping the Los Angeles address would work. I could then pickup my Hawaii locals OTA.

Would the 3 dishes I have to get be the normal rooftop dishes like the one I use now or would they be some of the giant monstrosities that I have seen some people have to use outside CONUS?

 

[drsports]

Hawaii

30" meter dishes work fine on Oahu to get 120,119,110. Not sure about Maui

 

[CharlesO]

If you are going to keep the LA address for DishHD I would recommend the following:
24" for 119
36" for 110
1.2m for 129

As for OTA, the Maui stations are repeaters for the Honolulu stations and will mostly "Flash Cut" from analog to digital in Feb. '09. None of the stations is currently broadcasting digitally on Maui.

If you wish to stay with Dish but want the Hawaii HD Pack, you can use the 722 but will be limited to 8 channels(ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, HD Theater, HDNet, HDN Movies, Univ. HD and NFL Net HD) HBO and SHO HD are also available. Dish does offer the Honolulu stations in HD (ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS and MyNet) minus NBC. If on the SD side you are only using AT100 or AT200 the dish for 110 can be as small as 30", but if you want AT250 36" is needed.

For Directv you can get all the HD channels that available on the mainland but requires using 2 1.2m dishes. Directv also offers the Honolulu HD stations but only ABC, CBS, FOX and PBS.

On Maui, Oceanic Time Warner Cable is available island-wide and offers a HD package of 25 channels plus offers the HD channels from Honolulu of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS. Oceanic prices can be steep in that they require Digital Cable for a HD box plus have implemented SDV so a TivoHD box will only get the locals(via CableCARD).

Hope this helps you out.

Charles

 

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That is a huge help! Thank you for all the info. It looks like I've got to decide how much I really like my 722.