Does anyone know for a fact (not speculation) if the spotbeams coverage is the same as the other D* Ku Spotbeams or are they wider/narrower in terms of area covered or changed in any way?
Spotbeams changes on the new 99/103 Ka Birds??
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HDTVFanAtic said:
The KA spotbeams on the new satellites can be configured and changed to any size, market and coverage on the fly. So unlike the KU spotbeams that are pretty set in size and stay that way these new satellites can provide a bigger spotbeam for a much more rural area that has much more rain fade for example while a market that is smaller in size and has less problems with rain fade can get a smaller spotbeam. This ability is very big when DirecTV starts offering nearby markets HD LIL channels from other markets.
all4jo said:
NY, LA locals and all national HD channels will stay in MPEG2 on conus for the time being. For customers in the announced markets who get a new dish and boxes they will get all national HD channels, NY and LA locals in MPEG4 on the new satellites. As always if your in say Boston just because the LA and NY markets are available in MPEG4 it doesn't mean you can get them.
Neutron said:
Once you get HD locals you will "not" get your distant networks anymore. Now if any of your local stations is O&O you will still get the national NY or LA feed. If D* starts offering you nearby HD local markets you will have to choice to take them instead of your distant networks but you won't get both. Again no matter which of these two options occurs and no matter which choice you make if your local station is O&O you will always get either the NY or LA national feed of that network. If you decide to get those nearby stations you won't get them once your local market gets HD locals.
At some point in 2008 when D* covers all the DMAs you won't have national feeds period. If your in one of the bottom local markets that say has only three local stations which might be ABC, CBS and Fox with one of them doing HD you can get a nearby markets HD locals until your local stations go HD. You can also get a nearby local markets HD feeds and SD feeds from UPN and WB if your DMA doesn't even offer them.
The plan is that every customer in every DMA will get all available local SD and HD feeds in some form or another without getting a national feed. This would allow customers the best chance to get local sports that might be shown in a nearby DMA but not on the NY or LA feeds. I know many won't like this but this is where things are going but rest assured you will get all those feeds in HD and SD even if you don't get them today.
Edit... just to make this clear getting an O&O station is very different than getting distant network channels. Even when HD locals are in your area you can still get the NY or LA feed from a network that is O&O in your market. Distant networks in my book are networks that aren't O&O that are Grade C or worse. Once DirecTV offers your HD local channels you are considered a Grade A from that point on which means no more distant networks anymore. So in the case of the Tampa Bay area of Florida once we get our HD local stations via satellite we will still get the NY Fox feed because our local Fox station is O&O so that won't change. You will only lose something if you get distant networks but D* doesn't consider you losing anything because you have HD local channels from every network even if they are from a nearby network.
There is a big question on most forums that you will keep the Network NY feed for example in Tampa when WTVT goes live in HD come November. How confident are you in that information - as people with HD-TIVOs are hesitant to get a MPEG4 H20 for fear of the NY feeds being turned off once the local HD LIL starts.
HDTVFanAtic said:
I'm very sure on this. Now as with anything they as in DirecTV could change their mind and say otherwise but as of now they have no plans to take this away. Right now I'd say you have less than a 2% chance of not having these O&O feeds once you get MPEG4 HD locals. Just know that you will find out before you make your switch.
hancox said:So - simulcasting MPEG2 and 4 conus channels is a go? If it is, I'm getting one NOW
That is what it seems unless in the very rare chance they change their mind.
LonghornXP said:
This came from DirecTV's website. While it's not exactly proof otherwise, DirecTV has stated once before that the reason they were able to offer O&O markets the NY and LA feed was the promise that once that market was up (though it will probably be AFTER everyone in that market is upgraded), DirecTV would stop offering the NY or LA feed. That being the case, I'd suspect that there is less than a 2% chance of still receiving those feeds once you can receive HD-LIL.
~Alan
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