I would like to know if there are any ways to change my system setup for the better. I recently read many of the posts on this site and have a couple questions that weren't answered. Also I was about to call Dish network to get cinemax for a penny when I thought there might be something I'm missing / don't know about that I should wait for before I call Dish up.
I have 2 dishes, one was used for international channels (international) a long time ago and is now just sitting, it has one lnb? at 119 while another is being used for the national channels (national) and has 2 things one for 110 and one for 119. There is a coax cable from the international dish going to the national. From the national dish there is one coaxial cable going to the house.
My first concern is that of connection: when it is not raining the signal strength is between 10 and 25 (usually 16) and even when its barely raining it goes to 0 and I can't watch anything. This is after a professional guy drove an hour and a half to get here, was very angry (like all the people who come here) and 'fixed' the dishes in 10 min. I've tried to increase the signal before but its just very sensitive and I'm afraid of losing my good weather signal cause at the moment thats all i have. (zip code btw is 12501). Is there a way of using my international dish to help increase the signal? This is really annoying since one of things I like to do when it rains is watch tv.
My second concern is of programming: currently these are the monthly fees I see
Digital Home Advantage with America's Top 100 and local - 37.99
Programming Access Fee - 5.00
besides getting cinemax is there anything I should be aware of? is the dish hd system much more expensive? I'm interested in keeping my price around 40 bucks a month, would like to have access to hd channels, and am not interested in any DVR's as I can just make one out of a computer and not pay any monthly fees
My third concern is of splitting the line:
There are 2 HDTV's and 2 standard tv's in the house that I'd like to make use of. unfortunately I have to watch the same channel on 2 tv's, is there anyway around this by splitting the line and getting a second receiver? and if I do would dish network find out? given the information I gave at the top is it possible for me to even do this? If I get a new system (the HD one) what type of setup should I ask for so that I can split the lines on my own?
I have 2 dishes, one was used for international channels (international) a long time ago and is now just sitting, it has one lnb? at 119 while another is being used for the national channels (national) and has 2 things one for 110 and one for 119. There is a coax cable from the international dish going to the national. From the national dish there is one coaxial cable going to the house.
My first concern is that of connection: when it is not raining the signal strength is between 10 and 25 (usually 16) and even when its barely raining it goes to 0 and I can't watch anything. This is after a professional guy drove an hour and a half to get here, was very angry (like all the people who come here) and 'fixed' the dishes in 10 min. I've tried to increase the signal before but its just very sensitive and I'm afraid of losing my good weather signal cause at the moment thats all i have. (zip code btw is 12501). Is there a way of using my international dish to help increase the signal? This is really annoying since one of things I like to do when it rains is watch tv.
My second concern is of programming: currently these are the monthly fees I see
Digital Home Advantage with America's Top 100 and local - 37.99
Programming Access Fee - 5.00
besides getting cinemax is there anything I should be aware of? is the dish hd system much more expensive? I'm interested in keeping my price around 40 bucks a month, would like to have access to hd channels, and am not interested in any DVR's as I can just make one out of a computer and not pay any monthly fees
My third concern is of splitting the line:
There are 2 HDTV's and 2 standard tv's in the house that I'd like to make use of. unfortunately I have to watch the same channel on 2 tv's, is there anyway around this by splitting the line and getting a second receiver? and if I do would dish network find out? given the information I gave at the top is it possible for me to even do this? If I get a new system (the HD one) what type of setup should I ask for so that I can split the lines on my own?