LaCrosse & Traverse City- Important Date Coming Up

[Satelliteracer]

I'm sure most of you in LaCrosse, WI and Traverse City, MI, know this already due to various communications sent out to those of you that live there. December 9th is the day when this market will switch from a 72 degree local orbital slot to a 99 \ 103 orbital slot.

As a result, you will need MPEG4 receivers and a KaKu dish to continue receiving your local channels. So if you received a letter, email or phone call from DIRECTV about this change in LaCrosse, WI and Traverse City, MI and have yet to act...the date is fast approaching. Only a few weeks left.

Don't be caught without locals on that date.

[Satelliteracer]

I'm bumping this one....perhaps we can get it put in the sticky notes

[doctor j]

I'm bumping this one....perhaps we can get it put in the sticky notes

What about Burlington VT, Lincoln NE and Waco TX?
Directv site lists 5 cities as going MPEG4 only on December 9.

Doctor j

[bjlc]

I am wondering if they will put the locals on for "free" to try them out?

I am currently not paying for and thus not receiving the locals...

[Satelliteracer]

What about Burlington VT, Lincoln NE and Waco TX?
Directv site lists 5 cities as going MPEG4 only on December 9.

Doctor j

Waco and Burlington will now be transitioned on December 28th. The website will be updated probably today.

Lincoln is still on the 9th, but that market is slightly different in treatment than Traverse City and LaCrosse. I'll explain a bit later.

[bjlc]

I also have an old, old receiver.. its over 6 years old.. since I bought that unit, will they give me a replacement for free?

[Satelliteracer]

I am wondering if they will put the locals on for "free" to try them out?

I am currently not paying for and thus not receiving the locals...

That is not the plan.

[Satelliteracer]

I also have an old, old receiver.. its over 6 years old.. since I bought that unit, will they give me a replacement for free?

Yes, any non MPEG4 receiver will be replaced for free, no commitment, with a MPEG4 receiver. If you don't have a KaKu dish, it will also be replaced.

Now, in order for it to be replaced, it does have to be active on your account, not just sitting in your garage and not attached to the account if you know what I mean. You also have to subscribe to local channels currently.

If you live in one of these markets, you should have been contacted already repeatedly via email, phone calls, letters. There are also several onscreen slides in the local channel area of the channel guide that also inform customers of the transition.

If you haven't been contacted, please PM me ASAP as I'll need to forward that to the proper folks to understand why that is the case.


PS There are a few exceptions in Lincoln where customers would not be contacted because they are affected differently with their locals....some of the very outlying zip codes.

[bjlc]

Well okay.. if I am not getting the locals.. why would I need to update my receiver..

one, I really like the old "scout " feature.. its the one thing that I really, really like of the unit..

it does turn itself off on occasion.. or it shifts to only "local channels".. and if you aren't getting local channels.. well then you get nothing in my case, until you unplug and replug the unit..

but what would be the benefit for upgrading that unit? and this is not trying to be a jerk but a legitimate question...

[paragon]

Well okay.. if I am not getting the locals.. why would I need to update my receiver..

one, I really like the old "scout " feature.. its the one thing that I really, really like of the unit..

it does turn itself off on occasion.. or it shifts to only "local channels".. and if you aren't getting local channels.. well then you get nothing in my case, until you unplug and replug the unit..

but what would be the benefit for upgrading that unit? and this is not trying to be a jerk but a legitimate question...

Because if you have HD on your account (or when you add HD) they would automatically become HD receivers.

[kevinwmsn]

The newer Mpeg4 recievers have features that the mpeg2 ones don't. The HR2x,R22 have DLB, VOD, and another cool feature that hasn't been released yet.

[CCarncross]

Well okay.. if I am not getting the locals.. why would I need to update my receiver..

one, I really like the old "scout " feature.. its the one thing that I really, really like of the unit..

it does turn itself off on occasion.. or it shifts to only "local channels".. and if you aren't getting local channels.. well then you get nothing in my case, until you unplug and replug the unit..

but what would be the benefit for upgrading that unit? and this is not trying to be a jerk but a legitimate question...

If you don't subscribe to locals via sat, you have no need to upgrade your receivers at this time. But the newer receivers really do have many new features with more on the way that are pretty great.

[KSbugeater]

Yes, any non MPEG4 receiver will be replaced for free, no commitment, with a MPEG4 receiver. If you don't have a KaKu dish, it will also be replaced.

I can vouch for that! I had an R10 and HR10 (DTivos) in addition to a HR20 and HR21, so I didn't need a new dish. I called to ask for one HR22 to replace the HR10. I was actually going to replace the R10 but I wanted another HD DVR in case I upgrade the living room to HD. I asked them to just ship and they said that's fine (3 previous attempts said they had to install, which would have been a pain.)

To my surprise, FedEx brought TWO HRs: an HR22-100 and a HR20-100! At first, I considered sending one back, but I couldn't make up my mind which one, as the HR20 has OTA but the HR22 has a bigger hard disk. So I kept both and only decommissioned the R10. D* benefits by getting $5 more per month from me (until I decommission the HR10... which probably won't happen until the new DTivos come out).

I can't believe something that cost me $850 less than four years ago (an HD DVR) I now have 5 of!!! I feel so gaudy...

PS There are a few exceptions in Lincoln where customers would not be contacted because they are affected differently with their locals....some of the very outlying zip codes.

What the heck does this mean? Are they so far out, they're not in the spotbeam? Do they get HD DNS (like I did before last year)?

[dmurphy]

[OT] Aww...All I saw in the headline was "LaCrosse & Traverse" - I thought this was going to be an article about how awesome some of the new GM vehicles are :-)

[RobertE]

Well okay.. if I am not getting the locals.. why would I need to update my receiver..

one, I really like the old "scout " feature.. its the one thing that I really, really like of the unit..

it does turn itself off on occasion.. or it shifts to only "local channels".. and if you aren't getting local channels.. well then you get nothing in my case, until you unplug and replug the unit..

but what would be the benefit for upgrading that unit? and this is not trying to be a jerk but a legitimate question...

The biggest benefit is that it's currently a free upgrade to current receivers & dish with no commitment.

The free & no commitment won't last forever.

[bjlc]

so the guy is coming tomorrow, with a new box.. BUT.. and its a big BUTT..

my tv only uses coax cable to get signal.. ONLY COAX and the new boxes use all RCA plugs.. HELP HELP HELP..

[RobertE]

so the guy is coming tomorrow, with a new box.. BUT.. and its a big BUTT..

my tv only uses coax cable to get signal.. ONLY COAX and the new boxes use all RCA plugs.. HELP HELP HELP..

He should supply a RF modulator for you.

[bjlc]

Well I got the new box.. and it remains to be seen if I am going to like it for the bed room.. its the box that I program the most at night.

and he brought an RF converter.. so that worked out as well.

I will let you guys know what I think of the setup..

[Newshawk]

What the heck does this mean? Are they so far out, they're not in the spotbeam? Do they get HD DNS (like I did before last year)?

It means Nielsen redrew the market boundaries and those zip codes are no longer in the Lincoln-Hastings market.

[KSbugeater]

It means Nielsen redrew the market boundaries and those zip codes are no longer in the Lincoln-Hastings market.

NOW I know what you are talking about. Six counties are not going to get locals (must be outside the HD LIL spotbeam?)

http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=11610314

However, D* isn't replacing the Nebraska locals with other local markets... they're getting DNS from New York. That sucks for them if they can't pull in OTA. Especially when the Cornhuskers are playing on ABC and WABC shows friggin' Penn State or Rutgers or some other inferior brand of football. ;)

[Newshawk]

NOW I know what you are talking about. Six counties are not going to get locals (must be outside the HD LIL spotbeam?)

http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=11610314

However, D* isn't replacing the Nebraska locals with other local markets... they're getting DNS from New York. That sucks for them if they can't pull in OTA. Especially when the Cornhuskers are playing on ABC and WABC shows friggin' Penn State or Rutgers or some other inferior brand of football. ;)

No, it's not spotbeam related or they would have never been able to get the channels. It's due to the FCC relying on Nielsen to draw the boundaries of the markets. Even though the station manager may claim they're in his market, Nielsen says otherwise.

[KSbugeater]

No, it's not spotbeam related or they would have never been able to get the channels. It's due to the FCC relying on Nielsen to draw the boundaries of the markets. Even though the station manager may claim they're in his market, Nielsen says otherwise.

Then the local news stations have the story all wrong. The enemy should be Nielsen for shrinking their effective market size.

Personally, I'd like to see proof of your theory. If it's Nielsen, why did they choose the SD shutoff date to shut off these counties? Seems like too big of a coincidence.

Also, Dish (who we all know has a questionable history regarding DNS) is still listing the Lincoln market local stations for Keya Paha county. Are they also going to have to drop them?

I'd like to see the whole letter sent to D* customers in those six counties. The NTV news article only shows parts of it.

[Satelliteracer]

Lincoln will now transition on December 28th

[KSbugeater]

Lincoln will now transition on December 28th

Thanks, Satracer. So the 72.5 SD locals will continue to be live in the Lincoln market until the 27th? SD shows take up 10-30% of the HD space, so I'll keep my 72.5 dish up as long as it's useful.

[Satelliteracer]

Thanks, Satracer. So the 72.5 SD locals will continue to be live in the Lincoln market until the 27th? SD shows take up 10-30% of the HD space, so I'll keep my 72.5 dish up as long as it's useful.


Correct

[texasbrit]

No, it's not spotbeam related or they would have never been able to get the channels. It's due to the FCC relying on Nielsen to draw the boundaries of the markets. Even though the station manager may claim they're in his market, Nielsen says otherwise.

The far western counties are in fact outside the coverage of the HD LIL spotbeam. The transponders on 72.5 where the SD locals have been coming from are CONUS, they are not spotbeam. But if you looked at the DirecTV web site for those counties, it showed they could get the SD locals (from 72.5) but not the HD locals. Now there's only one set of locals, people in those counties can't receive any.

[bobnielsen]

I recall from an earlier thread that the Ka spotbeams are typically narrower than those for Ku, so it may indeed be a factor (I haven't seen spot data for 72.5, however).

[Newshawk]

The far western counties are in fact outside the coverage of the HD LIL spotbeam. The transponders on 72.5 where the SD locals have been coming from are CONUS, they are not spotbeam. But if you looked at the DirecTV web site for those counties, it showed they could get the SD locals (from 72.5) but not the HD locals. Now there's only one set of locals, people in those counties can't receive any.
Oops! My mistake. I forgot about that. :eek2::confused::nono2: