Off air antenna with dish dvr 622

catonite

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Oct 12, 2005
15
0
I have Dish network with a 622 dvr and I have lost my distance network channels and I am not in an area to get local channels through Dish. When I go to All American Direct or to DirectTv to see if I qualify to get distant networks from them they say that I can get the signal using an antenna so I wouldn't qualify. So I feel the antenna is my only choice. (I do not have cable offered in my area) I am not familiar with antennas and I wondered if anyone had suggestions what to look for or what are the best. I am not sure if an inside or outside is better. My other question is it looks like I hook the antenna up to the 622 dvr receiver. Can I use the dvr to record the off antenna channels that I pick up? I wondered if anyone has gone with this option. I am not sure if I trust Dish to hook up the free antenna that they are offering. Thanks for your feedback and help.
 
Yep - OTA via antenna is good stuff! I'm 45-50 miles from Wash DC's network transmitters (find out via antennaweb.org, as mentioned above). Normally get good reception using a CM-4228 antenna pointed towards the transmitting towers (in my case, all pretty much in the same direction).

And yes, we record OTA networks off this antenna on the 622 all the time.
 
Nothing sucks worse than being in an area where every station is in a different direction. Makes you feel like it's 1960 all over again screwing with the antenna every time you change the channel.
 
Nothing sucks worse than being in an area where every station is in a different direction. Makes you feel like it's 1960 all over again screwing with the antenna every time you change the channel.

Amen! I still have a (non-functional) rotor on my antenna from my old (circa 1980's) C-band satellite days - was easier to leave it there since it gives me an easy way to take down my antennas without taking the mounting brackets off the side of the house. I remember the pain of rotating it to pick up various VHF channels back then.

Of course the "good" side was being able to get Richmond VA local channels. I guess I'd be able to to the same thing with HD networks if I replaced the rotor, but with using a DVR, someone in the family would probably leave the antenna in the wrong position for an upcoming recording....
 
In just about all cases an outdoor antenna will perform better than an indoor one, but if you're close enough to your stations with minimal obstructions then you can't beat the convenience and low cost of an indoor antenna, or alternately an outdoor one mounted in your attic. Every situation is different.

I live in a fringe area. Altho' I can get my 5 local networks from E* in SD, it will be a long time before they get to my DMA with the HDs (we're in the 90's somewhere on the list, IIRC). So I made a substantial investment to install a completely new outdoor system, to the tune of almost $500. With that I can presently get 2 more HD channels, quite a few SD digitals, and a few analogs for as long as they'll be there. (The 622 can't receive the analogs.) There are more local HDs on the way and when they go live, I'm ready!

Also - in most cases you can't beat the OTA picture quality, assuming you have a stable signal that won't drop-out on you! The resolution is usually higher than what the sats. are transmitting, depending on how the OTA broadcaster is managing/allocating his available bandwidth. That reason alone makes it worthwhile to at least experiment a little with your OTA capabilities.

Spend some time in the HD OTA forum here to get some ideas of others' trials and tribulations...
 
Hi Catonite,

Actually, recording over the air digital channels on your 622 could turn out to be a great option. As others have mentioned, 1st pay a visit to www.antennaweb.org. If you like, post your results here, or visit some of the other sites (AVS for example) for additional advise.

Basically, if you can get good reception of UHF (and, depending on your local TV stations, you may need to pull in VHF too), you should be able to enjoy over the air digital through your 622. The 622 can tune in these digital stations, but not the analog ones. But, you should have full recording on these channels.

As far as what antenna to choose, that would depend a LOT on what antennaweb.org has to say. The antennas offered by Dish look pretty good, so that may be an excellent option.

Good Luck!
 
update on antenna offered by DISH and what antenna to buy?

Thank you for all your replies. You are very helpful. I am trying to figure out what antenna is best. I live in Corning, NY 14830. Below is what AntennaWeb told me. I alos called Dish to see what their free antenna is. This makes no sense and I am mad! I was told that I did not qualify for an antenna. If it was put up I would get no local channels. I am not sure why and they didn't know. I need a waiver for All AMerican Direct. So Dish has left me really stuck! Has anyone had any luck with the Square Shooter or the EzDish which has a built in combining diplexer that allows for just 1 cable into the house for local and satellite signals? This sounds like the easiest for us. I am not sure if I should get a preamplifier. It looks like I need a medium to large directional. Thanks for all your help.

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
red - uhf WETM 18 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 18
* blue - vhf WETM-DT 18.1 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 2
blue - uhf WENY 36 ABC ELMIRA NY 74° 8.5 36
blue - uhf W20BL 20 FOX BATH NY 341° 20.8 20
blue - uhf WYDC 48 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 48
* violet - uhf WYDC-DT 48.1 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 50
violet - uhf WJKP-LP 39 MNT CORNING NY 346° 7.1 39
* violet - uhf WENY-DT 55 ABC ELMIRA NY FCC Ext 74° 8.5 55
violet - vhf WBNG 12 CBS BINGHAMTON NY 100° 54.7 12
 
No Program info or guide for OTA HD

Be aware that you will not be able to get the guide or the program info for the OTA local HD on the 622. My 211 does not have that problem.
But the Picture quality is usualy far superior to SAT HD. Football on Sunday (FOX, CBS and NBC for free) is amazing compared to NFL network and ESPN games.
Good Luck
 
Thank you for all your replies. You are very helpful. I am trying to figure out what antenna is best. I live in Corning, NY 14830. Below is what AntennaWeb told me. I alos called Dish to see what their free antenna is. This makes no sense and I am mad! I was told that I did not qualify for an antenna. If it was put up I would get no local channels. I am not sure why and they didn't know. I need a waiver for All AMerican Direct. So Dish has left me really stuck! Has anyone had any luck with the Square Shooter or the EzDish which has a built in combining diplexer that allows for just 1 cable into the house for local and satellite signals? This sounds like the easiest for us. I am not sure if I should get a preamplifier. It looks like I need a medium to large directional. Thanks for all your help.

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
red - uhf WETM 18 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 18
* blue - vhf WETM-DT 18.1 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 2
blue - uhf WENY 36 ABC ELMIRA NY 74° 8.5 36
blue - uhf W20BL 20 FOX BATH NY 341° 20.8 20
blue - uhf WYDC 48 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 48
* violet - uhf WYDC-DT 48.1 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 50
violet - uhf WJKP-LP 39 MNT CORNING NY 346° 7.1 39
* violet - uhf WENY-DT 55 ABC ELMIRA NY FCC Ext 74° 8.5 55
violet - vhf WBNG 12 CBS BINGHAMTON NY 100° 54.7 12

Are you in a valley or is there a large hill between you and the towers? If so perhaps DISH has learned from experience that nobody in your area can pull in HDTV signals, I dunno.
 
Yeah, all but two of your locals are within 10 miles so I'm not sure with the problem with E* is unless it's the specific location. You might try an indoor antenna first just to see if that gets anything. Get a good one like a Zenith Silver Sensor (UHF only), but make sure you can return it if it doesn't work.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/silver.html

As far as the Square Shooter goes, like most antennas it's directional. Your available channels come from several directions, notably 4 deg., 73/74 deg. and 341/346 deg. so you would need something that you can move around...
 
I live north of Jackson TN and I have lost my distants. I'm taking advantage of the free antenna from DISH. I have a 625. Will I be able to plug the antenna into the 625 as you can with the 622?
 
I called DISH and asked them if I would be able to plug the antenna into the receiver and watch OTA through the receiver, and they said I would not be able to. They said that I would have to plug the antenna directly into the TV and switch the channels on the TV itself to see the channels. I hope that's not the case though. We'll see.
 
:welcome to our favorite game- CSR roulette!

I assure you, it will work. It will feed your TV the OTA signal. Take a look at the bottom of page 2 here. And just for fun, you can ask any CSR that says it doesn't work what that coax input labeled "TV antenna/cable IN" is for. :D

On edit: To clarify, it will feed the analog signal to your TV just like the TV had the antenna directly connected. This saves having to have 2 inputs on your TV, one for OTA and one for satellite. But you will NOT be able to record the analog OTA signals on the DVR, since the signal is analog, not digital- it only records satellite digital signals. You would use your TV to change the OTA channels. For example, ONE way to hook it up (there are others) would be to use coax all the way, set channel 3 to satellite and the other OTA channels would be selected by your TV remote. When your TV is set to channel 3, your Dish remote would change the satellite provided channels.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for all your replies. You are very helpful. I am trying to figure out what antenna is best. I live in Corning, NY 14830. Below is what AntennaWeb told me. I alos called Dish to see what their free antenna is. This makes no sense and I am mad! I was told that I did not qualify for an antenna. If it was put up I would get no local channels. I am not sure why and they didn't know. I need a waiver for All AMerican Direct. So Dish has left me really stuck! Has anyone had any luck with the Square Shooter or the EzDish which has a built in combining diplexer that allows for just 1 cable into the house for local and satellite signals? This sounds like the easiest for us. I am not sure if I should get a preamplifier. It looks like I need a medium to large directional. Thanks for all your help.

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
red - uhf WETM 18 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 18
* blue - vhf WETM-DT 18.1 NBC ELMIRA NY 73° 8.6 2
blue - uhf WENY 36 ABC ELMIRA NY 74° 8.5 36
blue - uhf W20BL 20 FOX BATH NY 341° 20.8 20
blue - uhf WYDC 48 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 48
* violet - uhf WYDC-DT 48.1 FOX CORNING NY 4° 7.9 50
violet - uhf WJKP-LP 39 MNT CORNING NY 346° 7.1 39
* violet - uhf WENY-DT 55 ABC ELMIRA NY FCC Ext 74° 8.5 55
violet - vhf WBNG 12 CBS BINGHAMTON NY 100° 54.7 12

When you pick out your antenna, remember that your NBC is in the low vhf range. You will need a uhf/vhf antenna to receive all of your channels. Also with only being 8 miles from the towers you may experience the dreaded multipath issues. This is why it tells you that you need a directional antenna.
 
Tried going through satellite with OTA with no luck

We went out and bought an indoor antenna just to see what would happen. We were able to pick up 2 good stations and 2 with fuzz. We may need a better indoor antenna but this was just a try out! We tried to put it in the antenna of the satellite and didn't pick up anything. When we put it through the tv we received the channels. I am not sure what we are doing wrong. I read the one post that said it could be done. We will have to do some fiddling I guess.
 
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