BulkTV with Dish Network

The building I live in just switched from comcast to bulktv which runs through dish network. I am supposed to receive locals in HD which run through the cable in the building as well as the sd channels which I receive now. I was told I need to purchae an 811 HD if I want to receive the HD package that is offered by dish and I also feel like the quality would improve by hooking up the 811 by dvi or hdmi rather than having the cable run into the tv. The problem is I need 3 receivers and bulktv wants $300 each. I know I can get them much cheaper myself. I was told if they are qam compatible than I should be okay but I am still uncertain. Does anyone have any experience with this?