DirecTV Adds Jacksonville Locals

[Steve Mehs]

Beginning today, DirecTV is offering local channels via satellite to its customers in Jacksonville, Fla.

With the addition of Jacksonville, DirecTV has local channel offerings in 51 markets, representing more than 67 percent of U.S. television households. Jacksonville viewers will receive local channels from a DirecTV satellite at the 119-degree orbital slot. That requires the use of a multi-satellite capable DirecTV system, which includes a single 18-by-24-inch or 18-by-20-inch dish and receiver.

The local broadcast channel package is available to customers in combination with any Total Choice programming package. The Total Choice Plus with local channels is available for $39.99 and offers more than 130 channels.


From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/nov2002/110602.shtm#three) (Used with Permission)

[Karl Foster]

Steve,

I think you posted the wrong story. :)

[troyw2000]

Hi to everyone - I'm obviously new to the forums.

I recently became a DirecTV customer (1 week, it feels good to be done with At&T!) and have been very happy so far.  Turns out I needed a multisat dish for the soon-to-be-coming locals so I bought an oval and installed it yesterday.  I was a little impressed that I could do it on my own - good thing I paid attention when the installer set up the initial equipment last week.  He actually took the time to teach me quite a bit about the finer points of installation, and I appreciated it very much!

But back on topic - I'm in Jacksonville and I called DTV about 8:30 this morning to add the locals to my package... and they are apparently having some tech problems.  The CSR explained that "not all went well" with the "turning on" of the local feeds.  She expected that it *should* be resolved in 24 hours, but that remains to be seen.

[AFH]

Troy I was having the same problem this morning when I called in but around 10:30am I called in and they were able to turn on the locals. They are coming in just fine. Glad to see you finally came home. Any one in J'ville whom still believes AT&T is such a great cable provider for Jax is smoking something.

[troyw2000]

Good to hear they're up.

And I agree - AT&T is probably the most unscrupulous, unethical, and disorganized corporation I've ever done business with.

I ditched my cable modem and "digital" cable in the same week - those were some satisfying (and fun) phone calls.

I actually had the CSR laughing hysterically - I told her those new commercials touting AT&T involvement *almost* kept me as a customer :)

[BearsFan]

I'll be interested to see how well Jax locals sell for DBS.

For me, I get all the local channels just fine with an OTA antenna.
I don't need to buy an new bigger dish (and possibly a new receiver) just to get locals I get OTA just fine.

Guess it depends where you live in Jax. Perhaps the stations are harder to receive near the beach...

--BearsFan

[troyw2000]

I live on Kernan Blvd, and for the most part the OTA signals are very good - with the exception of ABC25 of course.

If my wife could handle switching between D* and OTA I might have skipped the local feeds :)

On a side note - Locals are on at my house, the D* CSR apparently followed through on her promise to get them activated "later today."  I'm very happy with my interactions with D* versus AT&T's customer "support."

[Steve Mehs]

:o Right you are Karl

I'm usually half awake that early in he morning, I guess today I wasn't awake at all. ;)

[AFH]

Guys I don't know about you but before lil became available I tried a outdoor antenna so that I could recieve my locals but they did not come in clearly. I then began using indoor antennas and they work okay but I hate having to get up and go over to the tv to adjust the antenna.

I also record programs from the local stations and the pq varied depending on the station and how well my antenna was adjusted. I had lil in when I lived in South Florida and shows from the locals on the sat is much more improved than recording and watching shows from OTA signals. What makes it so much better this time around is that I have one of the Directivo recievers. With this reciever the image quality is improved more because I am able to record at the s-video resolution instead of rca cable resolution.

If you want to know how well DTV or Dish will sell now that lil is available ask the companies who sell DTV or Dish. When DTV announced they were going to do lil in Jax channel 47 spoke with one of the companies that sells DTV. The owner said that over the past year he has recieved calls from some 50,000 people whom wanted to switch over but hesitated or didn't because lil wasn't available. With the on-going problems that AT&T continues to have I wouldn't be surprised if the 50,000 number doesn't hold true.

[BearsFan]

I agree, ABC 25 is the big "problem" as far as PQ goes with my indoor OTA antenna.

Thing is, once I get the right adjustment for ABC 25, then usually Fox 30 suffers as a result. Weird.

I've been thinking about getting the locals, but I have the small dish, and I believe I'd need to buy a new dish and buy a new receiver, too.

I'm not willing to spend all that money just to not have to switch settings on my OTA antenna once in awhile.

Besides, I'm not sure the larger dish would "fit" inside my screened-in balcony. The dish I have up now already "leans" against the screen.

--BearsFan

[troyw2000]

After a day of viewing the locals over DTV, I'm very happy.  I need to tweak the tuning on the 119 (101 and 110 are very good signal strength) but the PQ and audio is very good.

I got my 3LNB Dish (New RCA 8900, includes SATC) at the Best Buy on Atlantic Blvd for $99.  I figured that was a good investment, as it will allow me to tune HD later on w/o having to mess with the dish.  BTW - this new RCA is 18x20" so it's not much larger than the 18" round.

[BearsFan]

Because I'm lazy, I'll ask here:

What would the process be for me to get locals? And, most importantly, what would it cost?

I'm not big into the "latest in DBS technology," just enough to get the job done. If I'd need to buy a whole new D* system, fergit it.

Anyone have a summary of cost if they wanted locals, and had to "upgrade" their system?

--BearsFan

[Karl Foster]

The cost for locals is like this:

Total Choice, $31.99
Total Choice w/locals, $37.99

Total Choice Plus, $35.99
Total Choice Plus w/locals, $39.99

Total Choice Premier, $81.99
Total Choice Premier w/locals, $85.99

You need a 18X24 inch dish to receiver locals there, so if you only have an 18" round dish, you'd need to get another one. If you don't have a multi-sat compatible receiver, you'd need to get one of those as well. Look for the words Directv Plus on your receiver, then you for sure have a multi-sat compatible receiver.

Call Directv and have them tell you if your equipment is compatible. They may have some special offers for you if you are persistent.

[Earl_T]

Where is the DTV list of locals to be added in the future?
kinda like the Echostar knowledgebase list of E* locals.