Request info about Dish Network service in Honolulu

[peterl1365]

My parents live in Honolulu and are fed up with the local cable TV company. Is there anyone here that lives in Hawaii and has Dish? I'm trying to get answers to some questions.

How bad is the rain fade? They live about a mile east of downtown.

Are all the locals available? Is the PQ pretty good?

Any recommended retailers/installers. Right now, I'm inclined to point them to Radio Shack or Sears, because those two don't have auxiliary contracts with big ETF's.

They are probably going to go with AT60 and maybe one of the Chinese language packages. Will a Superdish be sufficient, or will they need a regular 24" dish plus a superdish?

Is the 625 DVR generally stable? I had a 508 a year ago and it was okay, but spontaneously rebooted every few weeks. My parents are technologically disadvantaged, so I'd like something as foolproof as possible, even if they have to give up some features. They currently have analog cable from Oceanic (I think).

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

There was someone that posted from Hilo at one time and said they needed a 1.0 Meter dish for 119 and a 1.5 Meter for 110.

I know the area 1 mile east of downtown pretty well (depending on how you define downtown) but I would think it might be somewhat difficult to get good line of sight to the Birds from that location with all the buildings. And depending on how you define downtown, remember you have Diamond Head to contend with as you are looking at 92 degrees for 110 (elevation 31) and 98 degrees for 119 (elevation 40).

 

[peterl1365]

Well they live about a block mauka of Kapiolani and Piikoi, if you know the area. There's some pockets of older (50-60 years old) homes in that area. I spoke to a salesman at Radio Shack that said "if they could see the sun at 8:00 am", they'd have a good chance. They should have pretty good line of sight, but the elevation was something that I was trying to find out.

There's a new 40 story apartment building being constructed immediately across the street in the makai direction. I was told that the E* dish needs to point more east than south, in terms of line of sight. Is that correct?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Mr Tony]

yes in Hawaii the azimuth is about 100

straight south is 180...straight east is 90...so its a little off of straighteast (this is for 119)

 

[peterl1365]

yes in Hawaii the azimuth is about 100

straight south is 180...straight east is 90...so its a little off of straighteast (this is for 119)

Thanks. Is 92 degrees elevation just above the horizon? If so, I presume 98 degrees is a little higher up in the sky, correct?

 

[Mr Tony]

I had the elevation at 40 for honolulu

per http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/Satellite-Heading-Calculator.htm

elevation 40
azimuth approx 100 (take in magnetic deviation)
skew is not needed for a single dish install

 

[SimpleSimon]

Thanks. Is 92 degrees elevation just above the horizon? If so, I presume 98 degrees is a little higher up in the sky, correct?

You're confusing azimuth and elevation.

And as for the superdish (121 assumed) for i'nat'l channels, does anyone know if it's got a footprint in Hawaii?

 

[Dune]

You will need 2 dishes in order to get both 110 and 119. Basically 1 dish for any sat you want to pick up. I am using a 24" for 119 and a 30" for 110.

Yes you will get lots of rain fade. The picture quality on the locals is just as terrible as it is on cable. It's just poor quality all around.

I get the HD package but I had to jump through hoops in order to get a receiver shipped to me. The local Dish installer didn't even know HD was available.