Not getting local channels

[Big Dawgg]

Great forum here. Curious if anyone would know why I would not receive local channels. I have the dish 500 w/ 501 & 3800 receivers. I should be getting 5 local stations in the North Platte, NE area. I am getting 1 channel out of Grand Island/Lincoln but none of the ones out of North Platte. From what I have found online the channels I am not getting are off of 119 transponder 5. I get no signal at all from this transponder. I am getting a signal of 78 on the 501 receiver and 118 on the 3800 receiver on 110 TR11 and 119 TR11. I have talked to Dish 5 times with no luck. Yesterday a tech was supposed to come out but never showed. At 9:00 PM he calls me and says he got hung up elsewhere. I have about had it with Dish but get no cable service and Directv has no locals in this area. Any ideas if this is a problem on Dish's end or mine. I am thinking it is on there end as I don't get the channels on either receiver. My neighbors do get local channels so I don't think it could be a spot problem. Thanks for any help.
I am enjoying the site just browsing through it I have learned a lot.

 

[TheKrell]

Interesting. North Platte locals are indeed (according to TheList!) on 119 TP 5, but they are 8PSK. Neither your 501 nor earlier receivers can demodulate an 8PSK signal, so you are looking at a receiver upgrade to fix this problem. As far as SD DVRs are concerned, you will need to upgrade to a 512/522/625 series. The cheapest 8PSK receiver without DVR is the 311. Edited to add: No I am wrong on the 311. That will also work, but the cheapest would be a 111. If you want to buy receivers yourself, I think the http://www.DishStore.net has refurb'd 111's for $50 or therabouts.

You may be able to get Dish to give you a free upgrade. I would give them a call and see what they can do for you.

 

[marcschibig]

Call dish to see about free receiver upgrade. Your monthly statement will increase $5 for locals and $6 for DVR. I believe the 501 you have currently has no monthly service fee.

 

[Big Dawgg]

Thanks for the info guys. I called Dish up and gave them this info and after the tech fumbled around a bit he says "your right you need different receivers". Anyways getting a free upgrade to a VIP722 receiver and a free service call.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Mr Tony]

I know its after the fact since the OP is getting a 722 but the 311 while it can do 8PSK for locals has some hiccups on those in some markets where the SD locals are 8PSK

 

[TheKrell]

Thanks for the info guys. I called Dish up and gave them this info and after the tech fumbled around a bit he says "your right you need different receivers". Anyways getting a free upgrade to a VIP722 receiver and a free service call.

You are most welcome, but... The 722 is an HD receiver. Will Dish also upgrade your dish antenna? If not, there is an awful lot of HD channels you won't be seeing.

 

[Big Dawgg]

You are most welcome, but... The 722 is an HD receiver. Will Dish also upgrade your dish antenna? If not, there is an awful lot of HD channels you won't be seeing.

I guess I did not know the dish needed changed out also. What dish do I need to get all of the HD channels? I was told by Dish that I would have the same package (top 250) only in HD.

 

[Mr Tony]

you would need a Dish 1000.2
That sees 110/119/129

 

[Big Dawgg]

you would need a Dish 1000.2
That sees 110/119/129

Thanks Iceberg, I will call to make sure they upgrade the dish also. I have a feeling they are going to try to get by with what they can on this deal. I have been a Dish customer for around 15 years and have never had to deal with their customer service. I did the install originally and then 9 years ago when I moved to my current location so never dealt with their techs either. Happy that I had no problems for so long, but not happy the way I have been treated once I had a problem. Really want to watch that I don't get screwed over this.

 

[Mr Tony]

Unless you sign up for HD they may not supply the dish. Since right now you dont have HD (with old equipment) they can upgrade you to the 722 without HD

Also in the original post you mention getting Grand Island station...that is QPSK modulation so any reciever can get it (as Grand Island/Hastings/Lincoln SD is available on all receivers)

 

[Big Dawgg]

Unless you sign up for HD they may not supply the dish. Since right now you dont have HD (with old equipment) they can upgrade you to the 722 without HD

Also in the original post you mention getting Grand Island station...that is QPSK modulation so any reciever can get it (as Grand Island/Hastings/Lincoln SD is available on all receivers)

I did sign up for the HD for life upgrade they have. I was told I would have the HD in one room and SD in another which is fine since only one of my TV's is HDTV.
I do get the Grand Island/Hastings/Lincoln station on the receivers I have now. That is what led me to find this site, trying to find out why I could get one of the channels but not the other. I don't understand why Dish didn't know this until I told them what was said in this post.

 

[Big Dawgg]

Will the dish/switches etc. all need changed out or do they just add an LNB to the current dish?

 

[Mr Tony]

I did sign up for the HD for life upgrade they have. I was told I would have the HD in one room and SD in another which is fine since only one of my TV's is HDTV.

ok then the tech will install a D1000.2

I do get the Grand Island/Hastings/Lincoln station on the receivers I have now. That is what led me to find this site, trying to find out why I could get one of the channels but not the other. I don't understand why Dish didn't know this until I told them what was said in this post.

the only GI station available in North Platte is KOLN (CBS)..they just remap it for both markets
The rest are for NP only
SatelliteGuys.US_TheList - Dish Network North Platte, NE

 

[TheKrell]

I did sign up for the HD for life upgrade they have. I was told I would have the HD in one room and SD in another which is fine since only one of my TV's is HDTV.

Oh good; I think this will turn out well.

I don't understand why Dish didn't know this until I told them what was said in this post.

Typical bureaucratic bungling from a big corporation w/hundreds of CSR's spread out over the globe. The reason I said "Interesting" above is because this is the first problem I've seen regarding locals on 8PSK. (But I'm not here as much as Iceberg.) Those of us on this forum know about Dish's move to 8PSK. But many CSRs don't. At some date in the not-too-distant future, all of WA is going to be 8PSK. (All HD is already 8PSK IIRC.)

 

[Mr Tony]

OK I figured out why your locals are 8PSK....they are on the same transponder as Rochester, MN HD locals. Transponders have to be either QPSK (as SD programming is) or 8PSK...but its one or the other....since HD is 8PSK the locals in your area have to be too

SO I wonder how many other folks in North Platte want locals but have old equipment preventing them from getting it? DIsh should upgrade all those customers FREE (in my opinion)....I know when Directv moved locals from 72.5 to 99/103 (the HD sats) folks got letters with info on the free upgrades.

 

[Big Dawgg]

SO I wonder how many other folks in North Platte want locals but have old equipment preventing them from getting it? DIsh should upgrade all those customers FREE (in my opinion)....I know when Directv moved locals from 72.5 to 99/103 (the HD sats) folks got letters with info on the free upgrades.

I have heard from quite a few that have had problems getting the locals. My neighbors next door and across the road fought with Dish for a couple weeks before they got the channels. I'm not sure what was done for them to get the channels. I also work with several people that have complained about not getting the locals. So it must be a common issue. I talked with Dish 5 times and the only time an upgrade was brought up was the first call I made. That call I was told it would cost hundreds of dollars to upgrade. The next calls I made I was told my receivers would work fine. Only after I told the CSR what I learned in this post did he agreed that I needed to upgrade my receiver.

 

[Mr Tony]

If a customer is SD only and doesnt want HD or DVR Dish should give them a 311

looking at an old chart the only receivers that wont work with the locals are the 301, 111, 501/508/510 and the old Legacy equipment (4 digit models)

 

[TheKrell]

looking at an old chart the only receivers that wont work with the locals are the 301, 111, 501/508/510 and the old Legacy equipment (4 digit models)

Actually the 111 was upgraded to include 8PSK about a year ago. I was flapping my jaws about this back then, pulled out my unsub'd 111, observed that it couldn't handle 8PSK transponders, let it update, and voila. Now it will. See near the bottom of this chart.

 

[Mr Tony]

OK thats the same chart I used but didnt believe the crappy 111 (with no a/v outputs) would get 8PSK