[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]

Baseball, anyone? - GeneP59 - Jul 26, 2025 - 6:20pm
 
Environment - islander - Jul 26, 2025 - 6:20pm
 
Documentaries - KurtfromLaQuinta - Jul 26, 2025 - 4:13pm
 
Upcoming concerts or shows you can't wait to see - KurtfromLaQuinta - Jul 26, 2025 - 4:10pm
 
July 2025 Photo Theme - Stone - KurtfromLaQuinta - Jul 26, 2025 - 4:03pm
 
Trump - Red_Dragon - Jul 26, 2025 - 12:45pm
 
Climate Change - R_P - Jul 26, 2025 - 12:33pm
 
Israel - R_P - Jul 26, 2025 - 10:39am
 
Wordle - daily game - JrzyTmata - Jul 26, 2025 - 10:28am
 
NY Times Strands - maryte - Jul 26, 2025 - 10:05am
 
NYTimes Connections - Coaxial - Jul 26, 2025 - 9:54am
 
What are you doing RIGHT NOW? - GeneP59 - Jul 26, 2025 - 9:37am
 
The Dragons' Roost - GeneP59 - Jul 26, 2025 - 9:21am
 
Radio Paradise Comments - GeneP59 - Jul 26, 2025 - 9:12am
 
What the hell OV? - miamizsun - Jul 26, 2025 - 8:02am
 
Bug Reports & Feature Requests - SeriousLee - Jul 26, 2025 - 4:29am
 
Alexa Skill - Red_Dragon - Jul 25, 2025 - 4:26pm
 
Photography Forum - Your Own Photos - Alchemist - Jul 25, 2025 - 3:53pm
 
Name My Band - DaveInSaoMiguel - Jul 25, 2025 - 3:34pm
 
Economix - R_P - Jul 25, 2025 - 12:22pm
 
A motivational quote - oldviolin - Jul 25, 2025 - 10:46am
 
USA! USA! USA! - R_P - Jul 25, 2025 - 10:44am
 
Talk Behind Their Backs Forum - GeneP59 - Jul 25, 2025 - 10:24am
 
First World Problems - Proclivities - Jul 25, 2025 - 9:46am
 
Love the new Beyond Channel - blotto - Jul 25, 2025 - 7:53am
 
Today in History - Red_Dragon - Jul 25, 2025 - 7:07am
 
Thanks William! - Jonathon - Jul 25, 2025 - 6:53am
 
The Obituary Page - Steely_D - Jul 24, 2025 - 6:07pm
 
Trump Lies™ - R_P - Jul 24, 2025 - 5:59pm
 
Reviews and Pix from your concerts and shows you couldn't... - Steely_D - Jul 24, 2025 - 5:50pm
 
Democratic Party - Isabeau - Jul 24, 2025 - 3:08pm
 
Errata - ledzeplisa - Jul 24, 2025 - 11:42am
 
Living in America - oldviolin - Jul 24, 2025 - 9:31am
 
Things You Thought Today - islander - Jul 24, 2025 - 9:26am
 
Republican Party - black321 - Jul 24, 2025 - 6:40am
 
Poetry Forum - ScottN - Jul 24, 2025 - 6:16am
 
Musky Mythology - R_P - Jul 23, 2025 - 11:17pm
 
Artificial Intelligence - R_P - Jul 23, 2025 - 7:36pm
 
Movie Recommendation - Steely_D - Jul 23, 2025 - 6:01pm
 
Questions. - SeriousLee - Jul 23, 2025 - 1:12pm
 
Kodi Addon - wossName - Jul 23, 2025 - 12:38pm
 
Fox Spews - Proclivities - Jul 23, 2025 - 8:14am
 
How would you change the system? - Isabeau - Jul 23, 2025 - 6:12am
 
Lyrics that strike a chord today... - oldviolin - Jul 23, 2025 - 5:51am
 
old school add on global mix proposals - recogninho - Jul 23, 2025 - 3:44am
 
Photos - ScottFromWyoming - Jul 22, 2025 - 7:47pm
 
Music Videos - Steely_D - Jul 22, 2025 - 4:25pm
 
Yes - VV - Jul 22, 2025 - 3:38pm
 
RightWingNutZ - R_P - Jul 22, 2025 - 1:16pm
 
• • • The Once-a-Day • • •  - black321 - Jul 22, 2025 - 11:26am
 
What is the meaning of this? - oldviolin - Jul 22, 2025 - 10:12am
 
Local Undiscovered Artists - oldviolin - Jul 22, 2025 - 10:06am
 
Live Music - oldviolin - Jul 22, 2025 - 9:56am
 
Shipping News - islander - Jul 22, 2025 - 6:34am
 
Mixtape Culture Club - kurtster - Jul 22, 2025 - 5:39am
 
M.A.G.A. - ColdMiser - Jul 22, 2025 - 5:30am
 
Moon Landing - Coaxial - Jul 22, 2025 - 4:41am
 
the Todd Rundgren topic - Steely_D - Jul 21, 2025 - 3:34pm
 
Protest Songs - Coaxial - Jul 21, 2025 - 10:35am
 
Michael Franks - Steely_D - Jul 20, 2025 - 12:35pm
 
Counting with Pictures - ScottN - Jul 20, 2025 - 9:00am
 
260,000 Posts in one thread? - oldviolin - Jul 19, 2025 - 1:28pm
 
The Marie Antoinette Moment... - R_P - Jul 19, 2025 - 1:13pm
 
Are they married yet? YES THEY ARE! - KurtfromLaQuinta - Jul 19, 2025 - 6:21am
 
RP App for Android - auroralane7754 - Jul 19, 2025 - 3:06am
 
Gardeners Corner - GeneP59 - Jul 18, 2025 - 6:43pm
 
Fascism In America - kcar - Jul 18, 2025 - 12:55pm
 
China - R_P - Jul 18, 2025 - 12:15pm
 
Strips, cartoons, illustrations - R_P - Jul 18, 2025 - 10:48am
 
Vinyl Only Spin List - lesliefran - Jul 18, 2025 - 7:35am
 
Multi-Room AirPlay using iOS app on Mac M - youngers - Jul 18, 2025 - 7:18am
 
Happy RP Anniversary! - Jonathon - Jul 18, 2025 - 6:28am
 
Project 2025 - R_P - Jul 17, 2025 - 7:19pm
 
New Music - R_P - Jul 17, 2025 - 6:17pm
 
Movies to avoid? - buddy - Jul 17, 2025 - 12:37pm
 
Index » Entertainment » TV » DirectTV, Dish network, Cable, etc Page: 1, 2, 3  Next
Post to this Topic
ScottN

ScottN Avatar

Location: Half inch above the K/T boundary
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 12:29pm

 DaveInVA wrote:


1: The only time I lost signal is when the head of a t-storm came in. Once the head of the storm passed, usually a few minutes or less the reception was back. This only happened a hand full of times in the 10 plus years I had Directv.

2: Most the HD signals were very watchable though some HD stations lower on the totem pole sometimes had more compression. I hve diagonal screen so image quality is important to me. 

I now no longer have Directv as I can't justify $70/month plus taxes and fees any more for what I watch. Netflix streaming PQ sucks to the point I may drop it also. Hulu plus HD is on a par with Directv PQ. I have a Blu Ray Player and used to rent from Netflix but for now I stopped that also but I may go back to that in lieu of streaming as Netflix has no HD streaming and their standard streaming sucks big time.
Hey, I am only 51", but yes, definition is a big deal for me too.  And the expense is an issue here too...I want maybe 10-15 stations but no ala carte is available from any provider that I know of..  What to do?  I dropped Netflix when they upped their Blu-Ray charge plus their other miissteps.  I hope the smoke clears and some provider understands that a large demographic wants approximately what I want. I dont give damn about the Nascar channel or shopping channels! Univision?—I don't speak very good Spanish!


DaveInSaoMiguel

DaveInSaoMiguel Avatar

Location: No longer in a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 12:16pm

 ScottN wrote:
 DaveInVA wrote:

It was because of the different angles needed to reach the various satellites. About 3 or so years ago they went to a new satellite that is apparently in an orbit easier to access with one dish. At that time They even went to different HD receivers as the old ones couldn't access the new system.i 
For our part of the country I am told by pals that two dishes is standard for Directv HD, but I haven't actually asked them.  I am inclined towards them bcs of some bundling advantages and familiarity with their DVR, etc.  I am curious about two things with your experience w/them 1. Do you lose signal often?  We do in bad weather and winds which are frequent in MN. 2. Is their HD resolution satisfactory in your experience compared to other HD sources you may have watched? Anybody else is invited to chime in too!  Thanks! 
 

1: The only time I lost signal is when the head of a t-storm came in. Once the head of the storm passed, usually a few minutes or less the reception was back. This only happened a hand full of times in the 10 plus years I had Directv.

2: Most the HD signals were very watchable though some HD stations lower on the totem pole sometimes had more compression. I have 120" diagonal screen so image quality is important to me. 

I now no longer have Directv as I can't justify $70/month plus taxes and fees any more for what I watch. Netflix streaming PQ sucks to the point I may drop it also. Hulu plus HD is on a par with Directv PQ. I have a Blu Ray Player and used to rent from Netflix but for now I stopped that also but I may go back to that in lieu of streaming as Netflix has no HD streaming and their standard streaming sucks big time.


ScottN

ScottN Avatar

Location: Half inch above the K/T boundary
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 12:07pm

 DaveInVA wrote:

It was because of the different angles needed to reach the various satellites. About 3 or so years ago they went to a new satellite that is apparently in an orbit easier to access with one dish. At that time They even went to different HD receivers as the old ones couldn't access the new system.i 

For our part of the country I am told by pals that two dishes is standard for Directv HD, but I haven't actually asked them.  I am inclined towards them bcs of some bundling advantages and familiarity with their DVR, etc.  I am curious about two things with your experience w/them 1. Do you lose signal often?  We do in bad weather and winds which are frequent in MN. 2. Is their HD resolution satisfactory in your experience compared to other HD sources you may have watched? Anybody else is invited to chime in too!  Thanks! 


DaveInSaoMiguel

DaveInSaoMiguel Avatar

Location: No longer in a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:59am

 oldslabsides wrote:

weird.  wonder why.
 
It was because of the different angles needed to reach the various satellites. About 3 or so years ago they went to a new satellite that is apparently in an orbit easier to access with one dish. At that time They even went to different HD receivers as the old ones couldn't access the new system.i 
Red_Dragon

Red_Dragon Avatar

Location: Gilead


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:54am

 swell_sailor wrote:

Some areas further north have in the past required two dishes. I'm not sure if that's still the case. In fact I have two for dishnet. They're able to use one in this area now. 

 
weird.  wonder why.
DaveInSaoMiguel

DaveInSaoMiguel Avatar

Location: No longer in a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:53am

 oldslabsides wrote:

Yes, our single dish has three separate antennas in front of it.
 
Yes so does mine but its still just one dish.
Red_Dragon

Red_Dragon Avatar

Location: Gilead


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:52am

 DaveInVA wrote:

If by Direct you mean Directv I had it for more than 10 years and even with HD I only ever had just 1 dish. The HD dish is different because it has multiple pickups on it but its still just one dish.
 
Yes, our single dish has three separate antennas in front of it.
swell_sailor

swell_sailor Avatar

Location: The Gorge
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:51am

 DaveInVA wrote:

If by Direct you mean Directv I had it for more than 10 years and even with HD I only ever had just 1 dish. The HD dish is different because it has multiple pickups on it but its still just one dish.
 
Some areas further north have in the past required two dishes. I'm not sure if that's still the case. In fact I have two for dishnet. They're able to use one in this area now. 


DaveInSaoMiguel

DaveInSaoMiguel Avatar

Location: No longer in a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:45am

 ScottN wrote:
Us? Well I care only about MLB as sports go. Then movies, news, and CSpan, and Public TV. My SO is into design and cooking shows as well as the cultural and news stuff. She DVR's almost everything she watches to avoid losing half her life to commercials. We have Direct now, but not HD and I have a friggin' huge plasma HD that is going underused except for blu-ray discs. So a change is definitely due.

I am trying to reach a conclusion by, among other things, reading this complete thread. It's still unclear to me what to do.

Direct apparently requires two dishes and goes out in bad weather, with which we are blessed with in MN. Dish seems not-so-hot. That leaves cable. It's Comcast in this area. Of course nobody sells ala carte (by station), and it's big cost jump on Comcast from Basic (minimal service, local and that's about it) and the next levels which have the channels we want. Prolly going cable, but it has its downsides for sure. I had Comcast inet only and it had frequent very short term outages that nevertheless frequently caused me to reboot.  So, now I have DSL from CenturyLink (better, not perfect) and they are linked with Direct, I believe.  If not Comcast for TV, then just how workable is the compressed, two dish Direct option?.

Suggestions, opinions, comments are welcome! If I missed smth obvious, well, my disclaimer is I was dropped omy head, repeatedly and with vigor, as a child..

 
If by Direct you mean Directv I had it for more than 10 years and even with HD I only ever had just 1 dish. The HD dish is different because it has multiple pickups on it but its still just one dish.
ScottN

ScottN Avatar

Location: Half inch above the K/T boundary
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:39am

Us? Well I care only about MLB as sports go. Then movies, news, and CSpan, and Public TV. My SO is into design and cooking shows as well as the cultural and news stuff. She DVR's almost everything she watches to avoid losing half her life to commercials. We have Direct now, but not HD and I have a friggin' huge plasma HD that is going underused except for blu-ray discs. So a change is definitely due.

I am trying to reach a conclusion by, among other things, reading this complete thread. It's still unclear to me what to do.

Direct apparently requires two dishes and goes out in bad weather, with which we are blessed with in MN. Dish seems not-so-hot. That leaves cable. It's Comcast in this area. Of course nobody sells ala carte (by station), and it's big cost jump on Comcast from Basic (minimal service, local and that's about it) and the next levels which have the channels we want. Prolly going cable, but it has its downsides for sure. I had Comcast inet only and it had frequent very short term outages that nevertheless frequently caused me to reboot.  So, now I have DSL from CenturyLink (better, not perfect) and they are linked with Direct, I believe.  If not Comcast for TV, then just how workable is the compressed, two dish Direct option?.

Suggestions, opinions, comments are welcome! If I missed smth obvious, well, my disclaimer is I was dropped omy head, repeatedly and with vigor, as a child..




Coaxial

Coaxial Avatar

Location: Comfortably numb in So Texas
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 10:08am

 winter wrote:


:) I've tried to blot out those two years I spent managing a tech support team for Dish. Hasn't worked yet, though.

 
Yeah, I spent six years working in the headend of the cable system here in San Antonio dealing with all that stuff but that was almost twenty years ago.

winter

winter Avatar

Location: in exile, as always
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:51am

 Coaxial wrote:

You are correct, sir, I misremembered...The pay per view stuff would have to be land based. Mea culpa.{#Redface}

 



:)

I've tried to blot out those two years I spent managing a tech support team for Dish. Hasn't worked yet, though. :lol:
Red_Dragon

Red_Dragon Avatar

Location: Gilead


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:36am

 swell_sailor wrote:

That could come in handy.
 
once a year, anyway.
swell_sailor

swell_sailor Avatar

Location: The Gorge
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:35am

 oldslabsides wrote:
Okay, we just bought a PPV movie and are watching it.  My little brain now understands the difference between PPV and "buying" a movie.  Presumably, in a day or two we'll "own" Dracula.
 
That could come in handy.
Red_Dragon

Red_Dragon Avatar

Location: Gilead


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:33am

Okay, we just bought a PPV movie and are watching it.  My little brain now understands the difference between PPV and "buying" a movie.  Presumably, in a day or two we'll "own" Dracula.
Coaxial

Coaxial Avatar

Location: Comfortably numb in So Texas
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:33am

 winter wrote:


100 transponders to the sattelite, IIRC. You'd need far more to beam down on-demand programming to millions of subscribers.

 
You are correct, sir, I misremembered...The pay per view stuff would have to be land based. Mea culpa.{#Redface}
swell_sailor

swell_sailor Avatar

Location: The Gorge
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:30am

 oldslabsides wrote:

Assuming that this is some sort of wireless connection - which is what customer service described to me would cost an additional $100, it seems not to be working.
 
This device (if it's what I think it may be) makes possible the phone connection for reporting pay per view activity for billing purposes only. 


winter

winter Avatar

Location: in exile, as always
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:30am

 Coaxial wrote:

Transponders not antennas and each one has 24 outputs...Not sure how many transponders are on each satellite.


 



100 transponders to the sattelite, IIRC. You'd need far more to beam down on-demand programming to millions of subscribers.
Red_Dragon

Red_Dragon Avatar

Location: Gilead


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:13am

 swell_sailor wrote:

Hm, as Dave in V suggested, you typically need a phone line connection for PPV. When no phone line is nearby, they'll often rent you a wireless device that has a sender at one end (phone line wall jack) and a receiver at the other end that plugs into the DVR. I was thinking that's what this device was. If they're renting it to you you'll see it on your bill. It might be an additional $2-$5 monthly fee. Or they may sell it to you at installation. 

 
Assuming that this is some sort of wireless connection - which is what customer service described to me would cost an additional $100, it seems not to be working.
Coaxial

Coaxial Avatar

Location: Comfortably numb in So Texas
Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 30, 2011 - 9:10am

 winter wrote:


The satellites have only so many antennas to broadcast down to Earth. There's no practical way to deliver on-demand programming from a dozen or so sats to millions of customers wanting to watch millions of different programs at different times. Without a phone line or an Internet connection, you can get PPV but not on-demand.

 
Transponders not antennas and each one has 24 outputs...Not sure how many transponders are on each satellite.

Page: 1, 2, 3  Next