No Dishwire, now no OTA Guide Data?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Over the past week I have heard from a number of my contacts inside Echostar and have been told that not only will Firewire never be activated but also no it appears the planned upgrade to allow the 921 to display guide data on the Over the Air Digital Channels has also been dropped.

Dish has not commented on this yet, and while I have been told this by more then 1 person I say for now lets consider this a rumor.

If I hear more I will definately post it.

 

[John W]

kinda sounds like they are slowly dropping the 921 as a whole

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I just got a note from Echostar telling me that someone from Engeneering will be contacting me about whats going on with the 921.

Again as soon as I hear something I will post it here.

I thank Echostar for their quick followup!

 

[beast37799]

i got such a headache now

 

[Pb ft.]

i got such a headache now

Take two aspirin, switch to D*, buy a Tivo HD10-250 and you'll be fine in the morning.

 

[A_Noland]

I've been a loyal E* sub for 7 or 8 years. If that feature doesn't pan out I may be heading to D* myself.

 

[DarrellP]

Why don't they take a clue from Voom and do what Zap2It does for the guide? It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

 

[rad]

Why don't they take a clue from Voom and do what Zap2It does for the guide? It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

Why look to only Voom? D* HD STB's have the Advanced Program Guide. The APG provides EPG information for all NTSC and ATSC OTA channels, all you need to do is plug in your zip code into the setup on the box and it pulls the programming info from the satellite stream. D*'s had this for over 3 years and it's also included in their new HD Tivo box. So in over 3 years, E* still can't figure out how to do this on any of their STB's?

 

[mike123abc]

Dish already sends the analog LIL guide data for 90% of the US (pop not DMAs), all they would have to do is match the call signs from the OTA DT stations to the guide... should be pretty simple. Then it would not matter what market your HD came from (for those that can get multiple markets over the air).

Having the analog guide mapped to the digital stations would be great for most situations.

 

[bobl]

Mapping the guide for local stations to their digital counterparts only partially solves the problem. Many digital stations multicast meaning there's one analog channel but there may be up to five digital channels so mapping is only a partial solution at best.

Bob

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just an update.

I got an email from Jim Defranco today telling me someone from engeneering would be contacting me about the 921 issues. The day has come and gone and I have heard nothing.

I will keep pushing buttons until I hear something.

 

[beast37799]

Take two aspirin, switch to D*, buy a Tivo HD10-250 and you'll be fine in the morning.

you know what im seriously considering it by the way does anybody know how good the ota antenna directtv installs for 50 dollars is or what brand and model it is

 

[vicw]

Given their early leadership in HD, I've been hanging on to Dish, waiting to see some positives on the 921 implementation, but if Dish won't provide the OTA Guide info on the 921, that is the final straw that will definitely push me over to DirectTV or Cox.


There simply is no compelling reason left to invest another $1,000 in Dish hardware for a crippled product.

 

[Phil T]

Mapping the guide for local stations to their digital counterparts only partially solves the problem. Many digital stations multicast meaning there's one analog channel but there may be up to five digital channels so mapping is only a partial solution at best.

Bob

Attached is a screen shot from a Samsung TS-360 D* receiver. Notice that DN12 is the analog satellite channel and KBDI 1-2-3 are the multicast channels all with guide data. You can also add the analog OTA channel and get guide data.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Attached is a screen shot from a Samsung TS-360 D* receiver. Notice that DN12 is the analog satellite channel and KBDI 1-2-3 are the multicast channels all with guide data. You can also add the analog OTA channel and get guide data.

Looks good. The question is: What's the data source? OTA from KBDI in the PSIP stream, or some other source fed in via the satellite stream?

E* seems to be having big trouble handling the PSIP data (or lack thereof).

If it's coming from the satellite stream via a programming service (eg. TV Guide), then there should be almost no (technical) problem making it work in the 921.

 

[rad]

Here's a link to the D* web site that has some more infomration on the APG that provides the local channel info:

http://www.directv.com/images/PR/factsheets/13551CRP_APG_R08.pdf

 

[SimpleSimon]

Here's a link to the D* web site that has some more infomration on the APG that provides the local channel info:

http://www.directv.com/images/PR/factsheets/13551CRP_APG_R08.pdf

Thanks! After reading that, my gut feel is that D* is using some kind of programming data service. Why? Because I'm under the impression that there's not "1400" locals that are shipping it out via PSIP.

Plus, I just thought of something IMPORTANT. If the guide is going to depend on being able to tune in the local station to grab the data, it's going to be VERY unreliable - even if the data is being sent via PSIP.

How can the 921 rotate the OTA antenna that many (most?) users need?

I am now convinced that OTA guide MUST come via the satellite feed.

 

[Phil T]

It is from the satellite. You set up your DMA via zip code and it downloads the data. It also allows a secondary DMA. Once you set them up you can add or delete any of the digital or analog channels and guide data.

 

[SimpleSimon]

It is from the satellite. You set up your DMA via zip code and it downloads the data. It also allows a secondary DMA. Once you set them up you can add or delete any of the digital or analog channels and guide data.

Then E* needs to get a clue, for sure.

Oh - can you tell me what "DMA" means here? TIA.

 

[Phil T]

DMA = Designated Market Area

That Nielson thing that screws most of us out of getting distant nets.