Why is dish replacing my antenna for free

4309 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by rasheed, Sep 19, 2008

rsaforjm

Discussion Starter · Sep 18, 2008

I got a call from dish(or someone claiming to be dish)(1866-668-8047, Out of Area) and said if I can see channel 9903. I can only see 9902 and so he said I have to upgrade to a new antenna. He said that I wont be able to get some international channel that I currently get from 61.5. Dish will do a free upgrade. I have 2 dish, one pointing at 61.5 and another pointing at 110/119. Is this a legitimate dish upgrade. Are they moving internationals from 61.5? I checked the charts and this channel is only on 61.5 and 148 which is for the west coast.

PS: I called dish and looks like it is legitimate since my appointment shows up there. I wonder what they are going to do. Hopefully not something that is going to degrade the signal. I am in NJ and subscribe to AT200 plus HD and Locals.

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Jason Nipp

· #2 · Sep 18, 2008

The story is, all HD content on Dish is going to MPEG4. So your MPEG2 DP811 will no longer be able to decode HD content delivered via Dish. There is several upgrade promos right now.

The antenna thing, not sure for where you live, they made be preparing to put you on the eastern arc.

Also, nothing is free... just amoritized.... You take the promo.... and it usually will come with a term of service commitment.

If you wish to check if the number that called you is a scammer.... then call Dish directly at 1-888-333-dish.

But since all 811 owners got the same type of call, including myself, I would say it is dish. But they did not say anything about my antenna. I am current on my antenna, but the CSR's wouldn't know that. :scratch:

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puckwithahalo

· #3 · Sep 18, 2008

Also, nothing is free... just amoritized.... You take the promo.... and it usually will come with a term of service commitment.

That's not true for the discontinued receiver upgrades. They are free of charge and free of contract or commitment.

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rsaforjm

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 18, 2008

I am already done with 811 to 622 upgrade. The rep specifically said no contracts to sign for the antenna upgrade.

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Jason Nipp

· #5 · Sep 18, 2008

puckwithahalo said:
That's not true for the discontinued receiver upgrades. They are free of charge and free of contract or commitment.

OK... Thanks Puck.

What about the antenna upgrade? does that apply for both?

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puckwithahalo

· #6 · Sep 18, 2008

I am already done with 811 to 622 upgrade. The rep specifically said no contracts to sign for the antenna upgrade.

You may want to check on that the no contract upgrade for the 811 was to a 211. Unless they did something special for you specifically, an 811 to a 622 would be DIU with a 24 month contract.

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BobaBird

· #7 · Sep 18, 2008

9903 is the "You have a Dish at 118°" channel. The new antenna is the Dish 500+ and you should also be getting a DPP44 switch so you can continue to get 61.5° for most of your HD channels.

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puckwithahalo

· #8 · Sep 18, 2008

OK... Thanks Puck.

What about the antenna upgrade? does that apply for both?

For mandatory dish upgrades its usually free. If they are optional (such as to pick up hd locals) its usually free with 24 month commitment.

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Michael P

· #9 · Sep 18, 2008

It looks like they may be moving the internationals off 61.5 to make more room for the HD feeds. This makes sense - the majority of subscribers do not get internationals. 118 is mostly international (plus smaller market DMA locals).

Eventually they may move all the internationals to 118 and/or 121 leaving 61.5 & 148 for HD & locals.

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rsaforjm

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 18, 2008

BobaBird said:
9903 is the "You have a Dish at 118°" channel. The new antenna is the Dish 500+ and you should also be getting a DPP44 switch so you can continue to get 61.5° for most of your HD channels.

That makes sense. I checked the chart properly and my international channel is on 118 and 61.5. 118 is all international so they are probably going to remove it from 61.5.

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harsh

· #11 · Sep 18, 2008

Michael P said:
It looks like they may be moving the internationals off 61.5 to make more room for the HD feeds.

But for those who do, it sure gums up the works. The Eastern Arc becomes one dish pointing this way and another pointing way over there... just like old times except the 118W dish is much larger.

I agree that it is likely that this is what is going to happen, but it will likely be a rough transition.

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rasheed

· #12 · Sep 19, 2008

Wow, are they really going to go with only 118 for the internationals and drop 61.5? This would be pretty major. I do find it interesting though that there are still many big packages on 148, and Dish was supposed to get all of those customers off. Maybe they are going to wait for the new smartcard before forcing those remaining international users.

I also thought the new arc satellite for the east coast was a great one-dish solution for international + national + locals + hd.

Rasheed

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