Are Ya Happy with your Satellite TV Service?

We got our installation for free.

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cjhsa wrote:

I did my installation myself until I switched to the triple LNB "Aspen" dish for HD reception. Even the "pro" had trouble getting all three of them lined up right.

I dunno - the triple-LNB dish is a bit more persnickety to set up (3-axis alignment vs 2), but its no real problem; I've done a bunch of 'em. I'd say your "Pro" was light on training and antenna theory. If you know how they work, getting them to work is just a matter of doing it right. An installer doesn't need to have a handle on antenna theory (it helps a bunch, but most installers react to the concept with the classic blank look), all thats needed is good, functional hands-on training.

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Satelite vs Cable, etc...
We did a lot of research when finally landing on Dish Network. I was disappointed that we could not get the NFL package, (DirectTV still has an exclusive contract with the NFL), but I did find out that DISH is cheaper. Here's why: With either satellite service, you pay $5/month for each additional receiver. With DISH however, you can watch two different TV channels off from 1 receiver. You need a sperate receiver with DirectTV to do this. Therefore, to be able to watch sperate channels in 4 different rooms with DISH, you need 2 receivers, or $5 more per month. With DirectTV, you would require 4 receivers to do the same thing, or an additional $15/month. ($5 for each additional receiver). I confirmed this here in Pittsburgh with Radio shack who sells Dish, and Circuit City who sells DirectTV. As far as I know, this is still the case. Something else I have not seen anyone post is that fact that scrolling through channels with satellite is much slower than cable if you are just pressing the up and down channel button, but I got used to it. It was worth the cost and quality upgrade. Good luck.

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i am very new to the satalite TV. I am hoping to find some way to watch the NHL. I understand that comcast provides this coverage but are they avliable in Australia. If So were do i find them

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explorer777 wrote:

... I did find out that DISH is cheaper. Here's why: With either satellite service, you pay $5/month for each additional receiver. With DISH however, you can watch two different TV channels off from 1 receiver. You need a sperate receiver with DirectTV to do this. Therefore, to be able to watch sperate channels in 4 different rooms with DISH, you need 2 receivers, or $5 more per month. With DirectTV, you would require 4 receivers to do the same thing, or an additional $15/month. ($5 for each additional receiver). I confirmed this here in Pittsburgh with Radio shack who sells Dish, and Circuit City who sells DirectTV. As far as I know, this is still the case. Something else I have not seen anyone post is that fact that scrolling through channels with satellite is much slower than cable if you are just pressing the up and down channel button, but I got used to it. ...

DishNetwork's 1-receiver/2 TV rig is nice, but DirecTV has long had dual-tuner receiver/recorder combos, which, while not capable of simultaneously outputting 2 different satellite programs to 2 different TVs will record one program while watching another, allow you to watch one program full screen and another in PIP, switching between the two at will, or watch a prerecorded program while recording 2 different programs, all for a single receiver charge. A couple or 3 of those, and you have a pretty flexible rig, though each additional dual tuner receiver/dvr incurs its own $5 single receiver charge. Its worth it to me. Also, I find the menu and screen navigation characteristics of DirecTV receivers superior to DishNetwork receivers. Apart from that, I find the video and audio quality of DirecTV to be superior to that of DishNetwork, but thats first of all subjective, and secondly, it takes a fairly high-end rig to really reveal the differences; I doubt most folks would notice.

HockeyFan wrote:

... I am hoping to find some way to watch the NHL. I understand that comcast provides this coverage but are they avliable in Australia. If So were do i find them

The NHL games will be broadcast over Outdoor Life Network, available in the US both on DirecTV and DishNetwork, as well as many cable sustems. While there may be foreign broadcast arangements, I'm unaware of any. Of course, with the proper hardware - an old-fashioned full-size "Big Ugly Dish" and a 4DTV receiver, you can snag the satellite live-feed C-Band (small dish satellite is KU-Band) backhauls (the live event coverage is beamed from the venue to a satellite, from where it is beamed back to the distribution facillity which then distributes the program material to the various providers - satellite, cable, over-the-air; you snag the downlink to the distribution facillity), though I dunno if the necessary satellites would be visible from Oz ... I sorta doubt they would be, but I could be wrong.

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I have all of that with cable and the HDTV package is really very good. The movies selections have improved remarkably, even including some Kurosawa classics in hi def. All of the IMAX documentaries are being shown. The only thing thank would back me off from satellite again is the damn off-the-air antenna they have to install on my roof (I got away with it with VOOM even with the larger upgrade but not sure what DISH or DIRECT would install) and the loss of signal with our severe weather last winter.

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Well, here in the boonies, cable ain't an option. Cable's available in a couple nearby towns, but for real digital cable, with HD feed, the closest is in a small city about 45 minutes away, and even that isn't full digital- mosta the channels are plain old NTSC. I'm happy with satellite, and really pleased the way HD program material is expanding. I do snag Off-the-Air HD (and NTSC as well) from any of 4 cities, all of which are around 80-100 miles away, using a big, rotatator-mounted, amplified antenna array on a 35' tower, and don't get "Locals" (there aren't any - I live in an "exempt/unserved" zip code :cool: ) from satellite; I take the East/West Coast network feeds.

As I've mentioned before, I don't have much problem with weather outages, due to the fact I use a very-well aimed, heated, larger-than-standard DTH antenna, which also has heated LNBs. A few moments of outage if really, really heavy rain is approaching from the South-Southwest, but it isn't frequent, and never lasts long. Can't recall ever having had an outage due to snow.

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Why would DirecTV install an OTA antenna?

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Our local LA stations do not license to be sent over the satellite, therefore the satellite company installs a VHS bar antenna which is inadequate in my area. I'm too far away from Mt. Wilson so I guess I'm kind of in the boonies also. I don't believe DirecTV can beam my local stations either.

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The "local stations" issue is becoming a huge problem for satellite companies. Combined with an inept and poorly trained support staff equals lots of unhappy customers.

Right now I get all of my local channels via satellite as well as OTA (some are really bad OTA). Most of my HD content comes OTA though. I do get the "HD" feeds of CBS, NBC, and ABC, but not FOX, out of L.A., in the 80-90 range. I only watch them if the OTA HD feed is bad. Nobody I know gets the satellite FOX HD feed without selling their firstborn. In fact, my parents don't get FOX at all, so when I'm visiting I often miss big time sporting events. This I don't understand - there is no FOX affiliate broadcasting in their local market, so why won't DirecTV provide it?

With everything going to HD soon, something's gotta give.

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Satellite is great depending on who you get to install it
If you get a bad installer life can be shear craziness, make sure the technician is insured before you let them start work. I know because I was an operational manager for Ironwood Communications. Left and started up my own company, which does professional installs & custom work for low cost. A lot of companies out there use contractors and if the main contractor isn't insured and there's damage to the house you'll have a hard time getting them to pay for the damage. Also, make sure they're trained alot of these technicians have a week's training at best before they're turned out on their own. This was one of the reasons I left, that and I can now actually make customer's happy.

Hope this helps. MWendel Razz

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First, welcome to A2K and the Consumer Electronics forum!

As far as installation of components, I now work at CCSS, Creative Concept Sound Solutions, and our design sales people go out to homes to survey what a contractor had installed for all the low voltage applications like speakers systems, surveillance, et al. It's usually a mess. Ditto a lot of wiring done by satellite and cable people -- I've had to re-do my own every time they touch it. Our techs are well trained and consumers should look for companies who have also done commercial. We are just completing the St. Regis and Montage resorts here in Orange County.

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I just got DirecTV installed (again) and got the 5LNB HD dish. The guy put holes in my garage roof to install it, instead of using the existing pole mount on the side. I wasn't home at the time and my wife didn't know any better. Argh.

They also gave me a "free" HD receiver that is just so-so. Without it you cannot get local channels in HD over SAT, as evidenced by my Sony HD200 that I still use. I don't like the new one for a variety of reasons, mostly, it is just more dificult to use. It also allows me to change the format of HD broadcasts, which is useful about 1% of the time but more than likely is just another feature for my kids and their friends to screw up. If a signal is 1080i or 720p is should display that way, and double check me if I try to change it, not simply allow the signal to be modified without confirmation. That's MO.

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The cable and satellite companies have started to add that feature so their techs can tell you to switch to a lower picture quality because of what is almost always a problem of decompressing the compressed signals. Wouldn't want to cut into their profits by actually having one of their screw-up installers come to your home. Time/Warner has been here eight times since they went all digital on their fiber optic. The problem isn't enough signal, however, but too much. At first it looked like poor signal drop-out which also was bleeping the sound. They have managed to improve it to the point I now get intermittant sound bleeps, so I'm calling them again. Or switching to satellite except their service is even worse.

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I purchased a 37" Vizio LCD HDTV for upstairs (our bedroom). I like it because the kids can go downstairs and watch TV on the older HD set and we can get an hour or so of much needed extra rest while watching some primetime broadcasts. The Vizio is not so great for standard def, but it does just fine on HD - very good in fact. For under $800 I couldn't beat it. The next TV will be a smaller 25" or so LCD for the kitchen/dining area so we can watch Food Network while we cook. For now we are just using an old portable TV/VHS combo set we bought for long trips in the van.

As far as DirecTV - even with the 5LNB oval dish, we had weather come through last week that knocked out the signal. I had to go to the set with the cheap antenna to watch the weather (it was in HD, btw).

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Hope you bought an extended warranty for Vizio. We no longer sell them. The main frame was failing and they would "make it good" by delivering a refurbished set. I still get customers in who complained about the reliability and have actually took the sets back to Costco.

The best performance is now the Panasonic Plasma 9 Series Pro Monitor and they give a 5 year warranty at no extra charge.

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cjhsa wrote:

I just got DirecTV installed (again) and got the 5LNB HD dish. The guy put holes in my garage roof to install it, instead of using the existing pole mount on the side. I wasn't home at the time and my wife didn't know any better. Argh.

They also gave me a "free" HD receiver that is just so-so. Without it you cannot get local channels in HD over SAT, as evidenced by my Sony HD200 that I still use. I don't like the new one for a variety of reasons, mostly, it is just more dificult to use. It also allows me to change the format of HD broadcasts, which is useful about 1% of the time but more than likely is just another feature for my kids and their friends to screw up. If a signal is 1080i or 720p is should display that way, and double check me if I try to change it, not simply allow the signal to be modified without confirmation. That's MO.

Oh lord don't get me started on Directv's HD service. It's either great or horrible. They don't have an in-between. Ours happens to be horrible.

They only reason we haven't cancelled is because we plan on moving in a year and think maybe it's our location that causes such rotten service.

And we bought the HD DVR box, which cost $399 to RENT (yes, they are rental now) from Directv and we don't want to have to pay that again to have service re-installed at our new place.

If we move and it still sucks, we'll cancel then.

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I just assisted a customer getting DirectTV and it wasn't a rental -- it was an outright purchase and could be taken to any new location. To my knowledge, they will still rent the equipment on a monthly charge. Because they make improvements, especially in the DVR storage capacity, I'd rather rent the equipment. I've had two boxes from Time Warner, actually the first HD DVR receiver available in Orange County which has since been replaced. It was another attempt to solve the signal problems but I'm calling them today to resolve that. I might end up with Direct except in stormy weather (which we haven't had in our drought plagued Southern California this last year!) when there is intermittent dropout.

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Lightwizard wrote:

Hope you bought an extended warranty for Vizio. We no longer sell them. The main frame was failing and they would "make it good" by delivering a refurbished set. I still get customers in who complained about the reliability and have actually took the sets back to Costco.

The best performance is now the Panasonic Plasma 9 Series Pro Monitor and they give a 5 year warranty at no extra charge.

Advice taken. Costco's policy is 90-days return, but on the box, it says there is a two-year in home replacement program through Vizio. Perhaps that is the refurb of which you speak.

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First, welcome to A2K and the Consumer Electronics forum!

As far as installation of components, I now work at CCSS, Creative Concept Sound Solutions, and our design sales people go out to homes to survey what a contractor had installed for all the low voltage applications like speakers systems, surveillance, et al. It's usually a mess. Ditto a lot of wiring done by satellite and cable people -- I've had to re-do my own every time they touch it. Our techs are well trained and consumers should look for companies who have also done commercial. We are just completing the St. Regis and Montage resorts here in Orange County.

Why did I just say that?

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Are Ya Happy with your Satellite TV Service?

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