OTA has bit the Dust

[John2021]

Do the even still sell the OTA?? maybe I sould talk dish into give us 2 for free then dump the locals on dish and save 12$

Dish is out of stock on the dongle.. I wonder if the dish outdoor side would have em. Going The outdoor route they won't be free.. they can be had on Amazon

 

[Bobby]

Dish is out of stock on the dongle.. I wonder if the dish outdoor side would have em. Going The outdoor route they won't be free.. they can be had on Amazon

They were never free in any circumstance.

 

[John2021]

They were never free in any circumstance.

TRUE and i AGREE!!! i doubt if dish had em they would not give em away!!!!

 

[Bobby]

Yes it is a simple USB plug in device. You plug it in, the Hopper recognizes it, you do a channel scan, and off you go.

And one more thing, it requires at least a DPP LNB.

 

[MikeD-C05]

shippings close to 22.00 outrageous

Wow, I never paid that shipping cost before. Must of changed something on their side.

 

[John2021]

Wow, I never paid that shipping cost before. Must of changed something on their side.

I paid that for my hopper and joey

 

[jackson85]

Yes! This is what I do! The Dish OTA tuner for some of the channels have such a low signal for me, but then my Zapperbox or the TV tuner plays them with no problem. Also, I live in a woody area, and the signal strength varies when leaves are on the trees vs when they aren't, and it seems like my TV or Zapperbox is more reliable than the Dish OTA tuner.

I finally did get my OTA on the Hopper 3 working and scanned the Local Channels and Sub Channels both came back up. But I am really curious about the Zapperbox and what and how it works.

 

[John2021]

I finally did get my OTA on the Hopper 3 working and scanned the Local Channels and Sub Channels both came back up. But I am really curious about the Zapperbox and what and how it works.

i believe the guide is like $2.50 a month wich isn't bad.. call 1-866-932-1956.. they will tell what you need to know

 

[jackson85]

i believe the guide is like $2.50 a month wich isn't bad.. call 1-866-932-1956.. they will tell what you need to know

The Zapperbox is 2.50 per month.

 

[John2021]

It would have been nice if they kept the antenna a standard coax connection without the need for a stupid usb dongle like it was on the older boxes...

 

[Bobby]

It would have been nice if they kept the antenna a standard coax connection without the need for a stupid usb dongle like it was on the older boxes...

What you are suggesting would require an internal OTA tuner. That would mean every Hopper would have an OTA tuner. The majority of subscribers do not have OTA antennas so that internal tuner is a waste of equipment for most. That translates to expense for little need.

 

[MikeD-C05]

What you are suggesting would require an internal OTA tuner. That would mean every Hopper would have an OTA tuner. The majority of subscribers do not have OTA antennas so that internal tuner is a waste of equipment for most. That translates to expense for little need.

I do remember the 722k had an external ota tuner that you could add to it to give you ota recording. It slid in the back of the receiver and you screwed it in. I guess they figured it was cheaper to do the USB tuner instead. Although I have to say I have had quite a lot of those tuners go bad and needed replacement at my cost. Remember one group over heated and went bad.

 

[Bobby]

I do remember the 722k had an external ota tuner that you could add to it to give you ota recording. It slid in the back of the receiver and you screwed it in. I guess they figured it was cheaper to do the USB tuner instead. Although I have to say I have had quite a lot of those tuners go bad and needed replacement at my cost. Remember one group over heated and went bad.

Yes, the 722K had the plug in module for OTA. The 722 had a built in OTA tuner. I had a 722 before my first Hopper and it had an OTA coax input. By the time the 722K came out the business decision was to make the OTA tuner a customer elected decision. If you wanted OTA you had to purchase the module. It is probably important to remember that Dish has local channels available for the entire nation and they are not in the OTA business. Back when the 722s were the best you could get locals were still part of the levels of subscription. Now, of course, you have to pay for locals. I believe that is due to the costs to Dish to provide those locals as mandated by the locals themselves.

 

[John2021]

What you are suggesting would require an internal OTA tuner. That would mean every Hopper would have an OTA tuner. The majority of subscribers do not have OTA antennas so that internal tuner is a waste of equipment for most. That translates to expense for little need.

i can agree with that. though we decided to just use it for black outs

 

[John2021]

I do remember the 722k had an external ota tuner that you could add to it to give you ota recording. It slid in the back of the receiver and you screwed it in. I guess they figured it was cheaper to do the USB tuner instead. Although I have to say I have had quite a lot of those tuners go bad and needed replacement at my cost. Remember one group over heated and went bad.

one would think making a dongle is cheaper than adding a tuner. but then again they buy this stuff in bulk they buy it for pennies on the dollar to the point the don't even get a warranty on stuff that's how cheap they buy it.. do you think they pay the cost of the 2TB HDD'S they get them a hell of alot cheaper than we do. since it's a failing insudtry who knows what there paying now if they don't have alot of over head!!! i had a friend that worked for WD and they would even mark the drives on who bought them when someone like dell came in and bought drives the serial number would state it was an OEM drive and NO warranty. i don't think they even paid a buck for a drive!!!