Stupid Superdish question

[cooper]

Although I've learned a lot lurking around dbs boards I'm not a proffessional and was wondering if someone can sum up what will need to happen for me to upgrade to superdish. Currently I have Dish500 (110&119) and another dish for 61.5. I have a legacy hookup with an sw64 going to a 508, 4900, and (2) 3700's. What will happen when I call Dish and tell them I want to upgrade to Superdish (for HDTV in the future) and how much will it cost me. I don't want HDTV right now but I am willing to commit to a contract extension.

Thanks in advance,
Coop

[Bob Haller]

Early on UNLESS YOU NEED IT they will likely discourage such upgrades. Lack of hardware for one.

Are you a sky angel sub? Next year there will be a new switch to support this.

[cooper]

I'm in no rush. The question was more geared towards learning what's going to end up on my roof (how many dishes, I have locals but am not a Sky Angel subscriber), what kind of wires/switches are needed and will that all be included or will I have to pay out of pocket for that. I realize all this info is probably all out there, as I have seen it, but for someone who is not an installer/expert it's hard to put it all together.

[Mike500]

I would not be one of the first ones to adopt the SuperDish. Early adoptors will surely have problems, and as I see it, DNSC (Dish Network's install network) will be installing the first ones. As a professional installer, and from what I hear of their install quality, I would RUN, not just walk away from the current SuperDish offer.

Some of the best and worst installs I've seen have been done by local dealers. Almost all DNSC installs have been mediocre, bad or really bad.

At least, with a local dealer, you can go to the store, grab his lapels and help him grow in height by 3-4 inches.

[Cyclone]

I'll early adopt. I'll just make sure the my Dish500 remains in place.

[BobMurdoch]

I would not be one of the first ones to adopt the SuperDish. Early adoptors will surely have problems, and as I see it, DNSC (Dish Network's install network) will be installing the first ones. As a professional installer, and from what I hear of their install quality, I would RUN, not just walk away from the current SuperDish offer.

Some of the best and worst installs I've seen have been done by local dealers. Almost all DNSC installs have been mediocre, bad or really bad.

At least, with a local dealer, you can go to the store, grab his lapels and help him grow in height by 3-4 inches.

I've had E*'s people out to my house once to add the second dish and they were fine. Everything worked without incident and they did a neat job with the install. No problems here.

Remember, you only need the Superdish (for now) at least if you want the new HD channels or you will be getting your local channels added by E* on the new satellite location. Otherwise you will get no benefit. Also, you MAY wind up losing access to the wing satellites (61.5 or 148) until the 4:4 switch comes out next year.... For me, that will kill some of the local channels from the NYC DMA which I'm sure will goover like a lead balloon when the NAB figures this out.

[wcswett]

Although I've learned a lot lurking around dbs boards I'm not a proffessional and was wondering if someone can sum up what will need to happen for me to upgrade to superdish. Currently I have Dish500 (110&119) and another dish for 61.5. I have a legacy hookup with an sw64 going to a 508, 4900, and (2) 3700's. What will happen when I call Dish and tell them I want to upgrade to Superdish (for HDTV in the future) and how much will it cost me. I don't want HDTV right now but I am willing to commit to a contract extension.

The answer is a little complicated. If you want to replace your legacy roof ornaments with DishPro then if I were you I would wait for the DP+44 switch to come out in 2004. If you try to upgrade before then you will need a $70 legacy adapter for each of your three older receivers and you won't be able to use your 61.5 dish on the DP34 switch. The catch to waiting is that there's the possibility that the free promotion to get a Superdish may expire before the DP+44 switch is available and may only include a DP34 switch anyway (the free promotion will run from Nov. 1st to Jan. 31st if memory serves). There will probably be no compelling HD programming added to 105 that you can't get from 110 or 61.5 for at least several months.

If you want to leave the legacy stuff on the roof to service your 4900 and 3700's and just add Superdish for your 501 and new HD receiver, then you should be able to do that for free after Nov. 1st by making a 1 year programming commitment.

When and if you do convert to Superdish for all your receivers, if you use a DP+44 switch and want to hook up your 61.5 dish to it you will need a $60 DishPro single LNBF for that dish to replace the legacy LNBF. The DishPro LNBF is required for "bandstacking" compatibility with the DishPro switches.

--- WCS (now my brain hurts)

[cooper]

Thanks WCS, that's exactly the info I was looking for. Have a couple of tylinol on me. :D

[wcswett]

Thanks WCS, that's exactly the info I was looking for. Have a couple of tylinol on me. :D

Thanks! :)

--- WCS