[bamafamily]

Hey All,
First time poster!! Man..What a great site for info on satellites!! Hope to be a contributing member in the future once I learn a bit more...Here goes:

Current Situation:

• New JVC HDTV 56FH97 + 1 standard TV in Guest room (rarely watched)
• No PVR capability (but really want some)
• Knology Extended Basic Cable (Analog) for $41/month (no box)
• Silver Sensor grabbing about 10 OTA HD's (upgrading to Channelmaster 4221 in attic)

Future Situation:

• DISH HD Bronze Setup: $29.99/month for 10 ($49.99 after that)
• VIP 622?? ($200 lease fee + $50 activation fee?)
• Extra $6 fee if phone line not available at VIP622
• Installation fee of $49.99 (refunded if 18 month contract

Questions:

• So, I am looking at $299.99 out of pocket to have this installed?? What about this Gift Card thing?? (I have a friend that has DISH...or maybe I can make a new friend?? :sure: )
• With RG6 run throughout the house/attic, the installer should be able to just hook to existing wiring?? (after the hole for the source feed..)
• I may have trouble with trees...Where is there an up to date site that explains the AZ and EL I need for my area?? I guess that DISH does not do "pre looks" before signing up, so I need a compass to verify my own aiming?
• Is there a place to order thats better than another or is the main site good enough?
• Is there a place that compares the signal compression of DTV, DISH, and average cable company??
  
  I think that's about it..Feel free to insert answers to questions I forgot to ask...
  thanks
  Mark in Huntsville, AL

 

[scooper]

slot - azimuth - elevation
119......229............37
148......254............15
61.5.....142.............42
110......218.............43
Dish is alss using 105 and 121, but I was not able to get you a setting for them.
Off of my DVR510's point dish menu. These are the "Dish300" settings. When you start combining them (Dish500 / superDish), it gets a bit more complicated.
I know I have seen websites that will let you find this out for all, but I haven't used it in a while and don't know where it is off the top.

 

[CABill]

:welcome_s to DBSTalk
The offer you get at the DISH website would be the same as what you can get from a local retailer/installer. There is a link at the DISH site to find local retailers and you can phone them to come do a site survey. You can self survey with Scooper's magnetic Az values and use http://www.dbsforums.com/azel.html for True North values. It shows

Latitude: 34.7269°N
Longitude: 86.5673°W
Satellite: 109.9°W
Azimuth: 217.1°
Elevation: 42.6°

So you have a very small difference between true and magnetic there (add one to true to get compass). That site can give you the Az and El values for 129 too
Satellite: 129.0°W
Azimuth: 238.1°
Elevation: 29.8°

You need 110, 119 and for HD, EITHER 61.5 or 129. You need to be able to site to those Az/El values, eventhough the dish that combines multiple satellites may be pointed to the average of their settings.

A self survey can be pretty accurate with a compass, carpenter's level, protractor, and a straw. Tape the straw to the protractor at the Elevation angle, set it on the level that is pointed at the right compass heading and look through the straw. If no trees, you can see that sat.

You need at least one coax cable from the dish to the 622 that doesn't use the splitters and coax that may now be going to all the other rooms. You would want to connect the 622's Home Distribution coax output to that wiring to get it to the rest of the house. It just isn't a good idea to send the dish LNB signal througout the whole house.

You have too many $50 items on the install. There is just the Activation fee of $50 and the install is included. Your friend can sign on to "My Account" at DISH's website, click on ClubDISH, then Create Certificate and tell you the # (VCD xxxx) that eliminates the Activation fee. If you use the ClubDISH, you MUST commit to 18 months, but that gives you $50 back so you are out the $200 for the 622 up front but get $50 back on the 1st bill. You have to pay full price for
$49.99 HD Bronze
$5.00 Locals (You ARE getting them I assume)
$5.98 DVR fee
They will charge you for up to two months up front and delay the next bill. The $20/month for 10 months is a rebate form you fill out after the initial bill so there is a little lag before it kicks in. The first "double bill" adds to the total initial cost.

The phone line fee is only $5, but all you have to do is connect the 622 to a line to avoid it.

Bottom line is you should get by with $200 initial cost plus monthly fees for up to two months, minus $50 if you go with ClubDISH. Add $50 activation if no ClubDISH.

 

[bamafamily]

.........
$49.99 HD Bronze
$5.00 Locals (You ARE getting them I assume)
$5.98 DVR fee

I assume with an OTA, I dont get charged the Locals and with a phone line I dont get charged the DVR Fee??

Thanks for the AZEL site....I am only 1* off.. I will set up the protractor and straw bit and see what I can see..(or cant see)

thx for the help
Bama

 

[mikec73]

The best deal is to use the club dish card from your friend. To clarify one part of the club dish deal, You do not have to commit to a 18 month contract. The deal is basically club dish = no activation fee, contract = $50 rebate on first bill. No contract- no rebate but still get the free activation for clubdish. None of this affects your mail-in $200/10 month deal. I signed up earlier this year under this and got clubdish without the contract.

To get your signal you may need to elevate the proposed dish location to help see over some trees. So looking from the ground may be harder than from your roof somewhere.

I personally prefer going straight to the source on most things when signing up. So I would recommend going to dish themselves to sign up, not a middleman. (but if the deal is a lot better somewhere, follow the dollar signs!)

Enjoy your dish,
Mike

 

[bamafamily]

ok...I am a little confused...
Is there, or is there not both an installation fee AND an activation fee??
What do I get back if I sign an 18 month contract??
What do I get off if I use Club Dish..(this is the referral, right??)

I think I am looking at $200 lease for the 622 plus up to 2 months of HD Bronze (another $100)
$6 if I dont have a phone line for the 622 and $5 if I cant/wont get locals via OTA?? Am I missing anything??

Mark

ps..what are the taxes like with DISH??..I mean how much is a $49.99 bill?? $53, $55??

 

[CABill]

There is no charge to watch or record the OTA channels, BUT (huge but here), unless you pay the $5 for locals, you don't get Program Guide info for the OTA channels. This can be pretty important. If you have some network show you want to record, you can browse through the guide of the channels until you find ... lets say CSI on Tuesday nights on channel 13.1. You click on than EPG entry and choose All episodes, or maybe just Net episodes. Then the receiver does the rest. If you DON'T subscribe to locals, you need your local newspaper, Zap2It.com, ... to even know what night and time the show is on and then you set a manual timer (just as you would set a VCR timer) for that night, 8-9PM on channel 13.1. The only info you would see in the Program Guide is "Digital Service" which lasts about 9 days!

An added benefit to subscribing to locals is you can record the satellite SD version. This uses a significantly smaller amount of disk space. I record the SD version of shows that I know we might not get around to watching that week. Sometimes, they drop off the bottom unwatched.

You can try not subscribing to locals, but it eliminates the benefits of Name Based Recording of ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox, and there is no info on the shows at all for the OTA channels. How good a job DISH does with info for OTA channels varies for each location (DMA). Someone there in Huntsville would have to tell you which channels do and don't have Guide info when you subscribe to locals. If you want to try NOT doing locals, you should start w/o them. DISH has a $5 downgrade fee to drop programming but it will cost nothing to add when you get frustrated (and you WILL) with no program info.

mikec73 is probably right about the ClubDISH not requiring the 18 month commit if he didn't have to do it. I probably confused ClubDISH subscribers with "returning former DISH subscribers" that do have to do the 18 month commit. The small print on the ClubDISH card is even hard to read with reading glasses.

 

[bamafamily]

ok...point taken..I will have to think on that one..After looking at DISH, locals are available, but not in HD.... So it looks like I can have a program guide with SD or not with HD...hmmmm

Another question...If I don't have a phone line to get the latest guide info (I assume thats why it is there) then how would I get it w/o a phone?? Network somehow??

thx
Bama

 

[CABill]

There isn't an installation fee at all. There is a $50 activation fee. That goes away with ClubDISH (and the only difference between the referral activation and a "normal" one). You get no $50 credit on your 1st bill if you don't commit to 18 months - only if you check the radio button for 18 month commit (or pick that verbally during a phone call).

I dislike the DishBuilder application on the website, but you can click away on things to let it estimate the price (setup and monthly). https://www.dishtv.com/order.jsp will let you pick things and display the price for a given setup. You won't see Installation with a $ figure at all. Activation will show, but you can enter a ClubDISH number there (but it doesn't remove the Activation fee dynamically on the screen). There is a popup to chat with someone if you have questions as well.

$6 if I dont have a phone line for the 622 and $5 if I cant/wont get locals via OTA?? Am I missing anything??

The phone line fee is $5, but the phone line isn't ever used for guide info, firmware downloads, ... - those are all via the satellite connection. The phone line isn't ever required for operation of the receiver but does get used to phone in PPV purchases, view your bill on the TV, ... and other interactive stuff. It is much more to make sure you COULD make impulse choices with just your remote.

$5 is optional for locals if you want them. Getting locals gives you them via Sat (SD and HD when/if available) and also gets you Program Guide info for the OTA digitals. It is a business decision by DISH to tie OTA Guide info to a local subscription, not something that needs to make sense to us. Since you do get OTA digital locals, you COULD watch/record them without a local subscription. You just don't have info on what is on the channels. It is a real PITA that makes it worth the $5 to subscribe to SD locals via sat even if you may not watch them much.

 

[bamafamily]

ok..I am in...
HD Bronze Promotion, 622, No locals, No $5 phone line fee, 18 month contract, 30 day guarantee, Starz for 3 months.

They wanted to schedule tomorrow morning for the install, but I have work I cant get out of...Wednesday morning is the day...Hopefully it goes very smooth.....

Now to get down to the store and get that Channelmaster 4221....

Thanks for all the help...
bama

 

[gjrhine]

[*] Is there a place that compares the signal compression of DTV, DISH, and average cable company??
Mark in Huntsville, AL

Better check this out if you are going to a bigger screen. It's often not a pretty picture.

 

[bamafamily]

They wanted to schedule tomorrow morning for the install, but I have work I cant get out of...Wednesday morning is the day...Hopefully it goes very smooth.....

Well...the installer showed up at 8:10AM yesterday..(after calling at 7:55 and apologizing for running late...I am liking this so far)

Turns out he was a senior tech installer and knew what he was doing...I told him the requirements...110,119 and 129 had to come from 1 satellite and no roof installation. He took the guidelines and started walking around the yard with his cool compass...He ended up suggesting a place in the front yard that is hidden by a tall hedge and fence from the front road. I told him that would have to do..He dug the hole, and while the pole was setting up in the cement, ran the wire. He entered the attic at one end of the house, ran it all the way to the other end to connect it to the electrical box and then back to my existing RG6.(I helped out here to speed up the job) He backfed TV2 to my guest room. He then went and made the connections to the pole so he could get a signal. He then installed the Dish 1000 and aligned it. He then came in, ran through the transponders. He showed me the 622 highlights. Really mice guy that answered every question I had...Even left a couple of 3Ghz barrels for me to swap out on my wall plate for the input..

I fed him lunch and a Pepsi and was happy to do so. Total install time took about 3.5hrs..(he probably could have done it in 3 if I was not jabbering in his ear...

Pretty happy so far with the setup...Need to find some Right ANgle 3ghz connectors for the back of the 622 as I have a shallow stand and right now, the Diplexer and Separator are pretty crowded in there...

thats it....
bama