Will the national HD (MPEG4) signals reach Canada?

[nmstough]

Does anyone know whether my 5Lnb dish located in Canada will have any trouble getting the new national HD channels? I am worried that these MPEG4 satellites will be able to be "tuned" more finely to the US boundary and I will lose my existing MPEG2 HD channels when they are switched. So far I am unable to receive any local HD signals, but that could be because of the "phantom" location of my dish (not near the border).

 

[charper1]

Where in Canada specifically?

 

[Brewer4]

I got confirmed reports that it reaches Montreal and Vancouver.

 

[jcrandall]

I think he is asking about the 103 new HD MPEG4 stuff - we wouldn't know that yet would we?

I would assume it would be similiar to the current stuff, and covering most of southern canada.

 

[Brewer4]

Well select MPEG4 spotbeam stuff off the spaceways does reach select southern parts of Canada so the national stuff will too. The key is how southern are you and how close are you to a major market. The results might be better for the national stuff but correct, we wont know that until Septemberish.

 

[nmstough]

The MPEG4 spotbeam evidence is encouraging. Thats something I cannot check from my location. The dish is located in Calgary which isn't as close to the border as many other southern Canadian cities.

 

[atp1313]

Here is a link from DBS to a SpotBeam map...not sure if this helps since it doesn't include state/provincal borders for Canada, but might give some idea...
http://www.dbsforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=72&d=1093577347

And here's another that does include state/provincal borders for Canada:
DTV Spots Map

 

[atp1313]

That second link is several years old, so the info might not be terribly accurate, but it does give an idea as to how far into The Great White North those listed spots go.