Realigning 61.5 to 118

shin_hibiki

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2009
27
1
Montana
I've read this site occasionally, but this is my first actual post. I'm not a sat expert as you will see, but I do understand a few important things. Here's my situation: I have a Dish setup (standard, not HD) with one dish (twin LNB) to get 110 and 119 (I'm in the northern Rockies--think rural). I have a second dish (dual LNB hardware but it only has one actual LNB on it) to get 61.5 (for TV Japan). Both dishes are the round models.

I got a letter from Dish saying that they needed to "upgrade my satellite antenna" to keep getting TV Japan. A call to Dish revealed that they want me to receive from 118 instead of 61.5. The installer has cancelled twice so far (I also had mucho trouble with them when I first signed up in '05) and the person answering their phone didn't know exactly how they were planning to handle it (big surprise there :rolleyes:). However, I get the sense that they want to re-point the second dish. That seems silly, since I've already got another dish pointing in that general direction.

My questions: Can I receive 110, 118, and 119 from one dish? (I've always hoped to be able to ditch the second dish anyway.) Can I do it with my current round dish, or do I need to get a 500+ or 1000+? (I'm thinking I would need a different dish.) Is there somebody at Dish I should call to discuss it? It's *another* two weeks before the installer is allegedly going to come, so I have an opportunity to work this to my advantage. I'd probably be willing to pay for the installation instead of getting it for free if I could get a more favorable setup, although I would hope to avoid getting locked into a multi-year contract regardless of how it's handled. Alternately, I think I might be able to do the setup myself (with some help--I think my dad installed his own dish a while back) if I had a safe way (don't know if eBay counts!) of ensuring I could get the right hardware.

Other important considerations: 1. Locals finally became available very recently, and I wouldn't want to lose them. 2. I imagine I'll upgrade to HD service at some point in the future. 3. Whether I do the installation myself or have someone else do it, I've read horror stories about people getting charged forever for alleged failure to return equipment to Dish (assuming I could get down to a single dish) because Dish doesn't keep track of anything. :( I wouldn't want to hand it over to a third-party installer, especially knowing how flaky this one is.

Also, does anyone know when the Japanese programming will officially be axed from 61.5?

P.S. I have a single 322 receiver and will probably eventually want a second receiver.
 
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No the 61.5 dish is too small for 118 and the 61.5 lnb wont work for 118 either because it is the wrong frequency.

Call the installer as soon as possible and make sure they are scheduled to bring out a Dish500+ thats a (dish five hundred plus) for 110,118,119 , this will replace all your dishes, Later on a dish500+ can be easily upgraded to a dish1000+ with the simple addition of a bracket and lnb for 129 HD. You should also keep the dish you currently have on 61.5 for HD or reaim it at 129 for HD.

You should not have to pay or extend your contract for this since internationals are leaving 61.5 within the next 40 days.

To do a self install in this economy is a waste because a dish500+ is expensive, the cheapest I have seen them are $100 + $40 shipping.

If your installer has canceled twice I would call dish and complain perhaps they will compensate you with free programming.
 
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Not surprisingly, the installer called to cancel tomorrow's appointment (the third time for those keeping score at home). When I said I didn't believe the "scheduling conflicts" excuse anymore (they've had a month!), they said the real issue is that they're having trouble getting the 500+ hardware I will need. Is that possible? Is there really a shortage? I see them on eBay... I think I'll call Dish tomorrow, maybe even ask for the Executive Office, to see if I can get a real answer.
 
Not surprisingly, the installer called to cancel tomorrow's appointment (the third time for those keeping score at home). When I said I didn't believe the "scheduling conflicts" excuse anymore (they've had a month!), they said the real issue is that they're having trouble getting the 500+ hardware I will need. Is that possible? Is there really a shortage? I see them on eBay... I think I'll call Dish tomorrow, maybe even ask for the Executive Office, to see if I can get a real answer.
If you currently have a D500 for 110/119 then all you need is a LNB upgrade. The 500+ LNB adds 118. You do not need a new dish just the LNB. This should be a simple install and repeak.
 
You might want to check where your HD locals are coming from. I'm betting 61.5? Tune to a local channel, then go to the point dish screen to see what satellite and transponder your HD locals are coming from.
 
If you currently have a D500 for 110/119 then all you need is a LNB upgrade. The 500+ LNB adds 118. You do not need a new dish just the LNB. This should be a simple install and repeak.

Wrong, he will need a new larger plus dish and corresponding 118/119 + 110 lnbfs.
 
Does that mean I cannot use my 148 Dish that I used to use for International for 118?

We were thinking about doing that soon ourselves to get the Russian channels again.
 
I have a dish pointed at 148, that I would like to realign to point at 129. is there any issues with that?
 
I am grateful for everyone's input on this topic. Here's an update. After sending a polite but firm note to ceo@ yesterday, I got a call from Anthony in Executive Resolutions first thing this morning. He said it's his understanding that there is in fact a hardware shortage, at least in this region, but still thought it was obnoxious that I'd had so many installer cancellations. (He also said it doesn't sound like international programming is going to be axed from 61.5 immediately, which raises the question of why Dish sent me the upgrade notice in the first place, but I digress.) His suggestion was to see if the installer had 1000+ hardware available instead, which seemed good to me, since I will probably upgrade to HD sometime this year anyway. They did, so they're supposed to come take care of me (still for free) this week. We'll see.

I'm curious as to why they would have 1000+ but not 500+, though. Isn't the dish itself the same, and basically there's an additional LNB for 129? Or is the switch also different?
 
Excellent construction, P. Smith. :up Based on that, the DPP34 would seem to be the specific item that is actually experiencing shortages.
 
Yup, can't find a DPP34 anywhere. (Rare typo from Smith, DPP34 doesn't exist, should be DP34.)

The Dish 500+ and 1000+ are the same platter, with the 1000+ getting the add-on LNB and bracket for 129, and the DPP44 in place of the DP34 switch to handle 4 satellites instead of 3.