OK here is what I know...

[FunkyBoss]

...
I was told that the decision to move VOOM from 21 to 15 Channels was mainly because of SatelliteGuys email campaign last week about the VOOM PQ Problems. Dish Network and VOOM decided it was better to offer Less Channels with higher quality then more channels with less quality.

I was told by this contact he believes all VOOM channels will return to 1920x1080i.
...

So I'm still a little confused.... as usual Is this Voom deciding to scale back and combine the content of their 21 channels into 15 of them? Or is this Dish Network stating they will only carry 15 of the (possible) 21 Voom channels to give better PQ on their system?

It would be great if Voom as a content provider just took and combined it all into less channels so there are less repeats all the time. And as a result, possible improved PQ because of less bandwidth!

 

[JH1949]

help Bob Murdock watch Super Bowl in OTA HD

At the time of this post there were 106 people viewing this thread. A whole lot of people are anxious to get any clue as to E*'s plans. I don't want to wait until CES, I want to figure out which way they plan on going beforehand (I know Charlie likes playing poker with us, but this is getting annoying.... Super Bowl is a month and a half away and I was hoping to have it in HD (I'm too far away for decent antenna reception according to antennaweb.org).

I know it's the wrong thread but I thought I might be able to help you with your OTA problem. How far are you from what antennaweb.org has told you? I live 60 miles from Austin, TX and 80 miles from San Antonio, TX. According to antennaweb.org, I shouldn't be able to pick up any digital stations from where I live. With a small 36 element directional antenna and a 28db pre-amp, I pick up stations from both cities with a signal anywhere from 70-95%.

I am about 65 miles from Nashville with a valley and hill blocking line of sight. Tried similar to above but signal kept dropping out below 70.

Bob Murdoch: if you try the above and have that problem, here is what I did. Took my OTA off E* receiver and plugged into a different one I bought from e-Bay. It was more forgiving and would keep signal into high 50's with some pixelation, but no "signal lost" message like on the 811.

Also read in another thread that some people were succeeding with an OTA reciever from Radio Shack subsituted for their E* OTA receiver.

Good Luck on watching Super Bowl in HD !

 

[Kandiru]

Well done you descendant of vodka-drinking bigos-eating fighting Poles !

(BTW wife is Polish).

 

[calikarim]

Not fair

what upsets me is that i bought my 942 receiver for $700 from a dish retailer.. It is mine like my own car. I have programs saved on my hard drive. I don't want someone elses receiver . It is like having a mercedes and the dealer saying they will swap my car for someone elses so i can have a more powerful engine,. WHen you own something you want to keep what you own. My 2 cents.

If i get my new voom channels in Mpeg 2, i will keep my adelphia receiver for hd locals, which also gives me a second dvr for recording the tonite show, and vegas on nbc. The 942 doesn't have enough memory , i keep running out of room, and it keeps deleting my shows.

 

[TBarclay]

calikarim,
Remember, nobody is forcing you to swap. You probably won't be able to get new HD, but it will be several years before you would HAVE to give up your 942 to get the channels you now receive.

 

[jergenf]

So I'm still a little confused.... as usual Is this Voom deciding to scale back and combine the content of their 21 channels into 15 of them? Or is this Dish Network stating they will only carry 15 of the (possible) 21 Voom channels to give better PQ on their system?
And as a result, possible improved PQ because of less bandwidth!

It's believed that Dish is choosing 15 of the possible 21 Voom channels in order to deliver them at full HD resolution (1920x1080i).
Their orginal plan was 21 Voom using HD Lite (1280x1080i).

 

[mdonnelly]

It's believed that Dish is choosing 15 of the possible 21 Voom channels in order to deliver them at full HD resolution (1920x1080i).
Their orginal plan was 21 Voom using HD Lite (1280x1080i).

But Dish would still need the cooperation of VOOM to do that consolidation. As I understand the process, Dish doesn't archive the VOOM product, so Dish can't do the consolidation.

 

[riffjim4069]

what upsets me is that i bought my 942 receiver for $700 from a dish retailer.. It is mine like my own car. I have programs saved on my hard drive. I don't want someone elses receiver . It is like having a mercedes and the dealer saying they will swap my car for someone elses so i can have a more powerful engine,. WHen you own something you want to keep what you own. My 2 cents.

I purchased a new 942 yesterday (we also lease a 942) after talking to someone at EchoStar corporate the past two days. I'm not sure what upgrade plans E* has in store for customers (probably something similar to D*), but I do know what assistance and credits I will be receiving (don't ask, I can't tell). If you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to call or write EchoStar Corporate and let them know how you feel. Obviously, they are not going to give into unreasonable demands, but they appear to be genuinely concerned and will most likely accommodate reasonable requests until Charlie, and others, announce how E* is going to proceed with the MPEG-4 migration.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Also remember Dish is a part owner of VOOM.

Another thing to remember that VOOM is trying to get on other services such as cable. A suite of 15 channels may be far more palatable then 21 channels to cable operators.

 

[techweb]

Another thing to remember that VOOM is trying to get on other services such as cable. A suite of 15 channels may be far more palatable then 21 channels to cable operators.

Unfortunately, I think it will be a tough sell for most cable systems. Many of them may not have the bandwidth until they dump analog and go all digital. Even Cablevision isn't carrying Voom yet.

 

[davideo]

Well, being 15 miles away from NYC and a nice cheap antenna on the roof working fine since 1999, I am happy I'm not out in the sticks like some of you other folks.

The bad part is, well, this is metropolitan New Jersey.

Anyway, I appreciate all the encouraging news and am looking forward to my Voom channels [and some more] returning in all their 1920x1080 glory.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I see this as VOOM has NNN amount of total HD content and now has an outlet to air it via 15 channels on Dish. As their total content could be easily handled by 15 channels, any holding back of content because Dish is not going to allot them 21 channels of bandwidth, is artificial.

They could decide to reserve some of the content from Dish, but seeing as how they do have 15 channels and no other customers, I am hoping that they see it as a way to stay in the HD market by providing 15 rich-content HD channels, and releasing their entire library through those channels.

 

[BrettTRay]

I agree Tom. I think that consolidating the 21 down to 15 will allow them to not have as many repeats as they would. They can take the content that was going to be on the 6 channels that were left out and put it on some of the other voom channels that Dish is carrying. I also think that voom having 15 channels will make it more probable for other service providers to carry their programming. It would be hard to sell 21 HD channels to most CATV companies. Their just isn't enough room on their current systems.

 

[cebbigh]

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else. Has there been any word on what the names/content of the new voom channels will be? Also, if there will be an additional non-voom channels besides espn2 coming in Jan?

 

[BrettTRay]

Look at the uplink report for today. The only other HD channels that dish has mentioned besides ESPN2 HD and the voom channels is the HD locals in a few of the larger cities.

 

[Ilya]

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else. Has there been any word on what the names/content of the new voom channels will be?

Not known yet, but check today's uplink report for some clues.

 

[BobMurdoch]

I know it's the wrong thread but I thought I might be able to help you with your OTA problem. How far are you from what antennaweb.org has told you? I live 60 miles from Austin, TX and 80 miles from San Antonio, TX. According to antennaweb.org, I shouldn't be able to pick up any digital stations from where I live. With a small 36 element directional antenna and a 28db pre-amp, I pick up stations from both cities with a signal anywhere from 70-95%.

I'm 42 miles from NYC and 62-68 miles from the towers in Philly. My wife has been "resistant" to putting a gargantuan antenna on the roof (to go with the two dishes up there already). I might have pressed the issue, but supposedly imminent HD LILs as well as a major renovation planned for the next 12-18 months (which would require moving everything shortlyt after I installed it) made me stall the issue. I also may have minor terrain issues.

 

[cebbigh]

Not known yet, but check today's uplink report for some clues.

Thanks BrettTRay and Ilya. Good thread too. Guess the main thing is the content and not what they call the channels. I re-listened to the Charlie Chat and it does worry me that he says specifically that the new voom will be mpeg4. Such a big letdown if that's the case on the release date. Hope it was just a curve and that the tech chat had it right.

 

[RedSavina]

Nope.If I had to guess at the way upgrades would work would be you would get a new 942+ in the mail and you need to mail your 942 back to Dish for upgrading, that unit would then be sent out to someone else. IF this is true then the folks at Dish are a lot smarter then I gave them credit for in the past.

Assuming Scott is correct (and why wouln't I?) ...

What are the additional features the ViP622 would offer over the 942+?

At a quick glance, I come up with the following:

• Shared MTS Stereo Agile modulated output
• Ethernet Port
• Larger hard drive (presumably for VoD)
  

Realizing that the 942+ and ViP622 are "pre-release" when it comes to specs, this is important info to me. I've been playing feature-roulette on the upgrade to HD (you know, buy now or continue to wait for new features) and just can't pull the trigger on the 942 yet. Pun intended.

With the whole HD-lite debacle, I was considering cable again when I relocate next summer. I'm greatly relieved that we're putting that nonsense behind us and am back to my original dilemma - buy the 942 now and get it upgraded or wait until I am settled in my new location next summer and then pick up the ViP622.

Please! Spare me the lecture on waiting for new technology! Rather, help me understand the technical differences between these two boxes.

Cheers,
Red

 

[navychop]

DISH is returning to full resolution in January, and has packed the 21 Voom channels into 15 in order to support this- but I gather you realize this (posted for other readers).

The 942 "plus" apparently is not a sure thing, and might never see the light of day. It's hard to know what the differences in the 2 boxes will be, since none are on the street. As you noted, it appears the 622 will have a larger HD and also have an ethernet port, as well as the stereo agile bit. The 622 feature to put TV1 out on one rf channel and TV2 out on another, on the same coax, is a GREAT idea.

Personally, if the 622 has the features I want, and I suspect it does, I'll get it. If not, I'll wait for the next MPEG-4 8PSK HD DVR. I'm not getting the 942 since I do not want to go thru the upgrade/replace cycle. I also suspect coming on as a "new" HD DVR customer will be quicker and cheaper than being a "current" HD customer trying to upgrade DVRs, who may be waiting in a line.