BLOOMIS914 Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 OK, I have had it with local cable (MediaOne/Comcast) and need to identify the startup costs for DBS. Please help me answer the following: 1) I have five TV's hooked to cable currently, I would want at least two of the locations to have independent control of viewing channels. What is best/affordable way to send the DBS signal to two (2) independent and three (3)additional locations for a total of five (5) locations? 2) What is the better service Dish or DirectTV? And for extra credit I want DD and HDTV ability as well as this Tivo thing I think....tell me more about this Tivo. 3) I would also like access to my local channels and I live in Metro-Detroit. Help me make the sales pitch to the wife, I can't take another season of the Sopranos using regular cable. I have yet to find an intelligent person in the retail world (yes, I have went to high end stores) that can answer all of my questions on DBS....Very discouraging. ------------------ My main Klipsch system: KLF-30's Bi-wired KLF-C7 KSP-S6's KSW-15 Front Sub KSW-100 Rear Sub Monster cable 14 gauge in-wall cable Niles wall plates Marantz SR-8000 Toshiba SD-4205 5 DVD changer Pioneer PDF-1007 301-CD changer Mitsubishi 35" Mitsubishi VCR Pioneer VSX-608 Multi-room amp for Outdoor deck Polk All-weather AW2's deck speakers Niles in-wall volume controls Fridge full of beer and plenty of Don Julio, Jagermeister and Jim Beam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 here you have it: dishnetwork has the most experience in satellite equipment, they have been making c-band (big dish) eqipment for 20 yrs.,they provide one source for: programming/equipment/paper guide/tech support, instead of having to call several different numbers;they had the first hard drive/webtv/digital satellite receiver combo-the model 7200 dishplayer is the newest version-i don't/won't use the webtv, i have a pc for that, but the 'guide' and record options are driven by a different software than their other models, and i like the way it works, they have several dolby digital models, they have the greatest number of satellites/channel capacity,they have the most high definition channels,their chairman/ceo charlie ergen does a show to inform customers about the company/equip/programming updates and answers live ?'s on the air, they are active in washington for satellite consumers' rights,etc.,etc.,directv has some sports packages that dish does not. sound one-sided? the company i work for sells directv, not dishnetwork (maybe soon), i can help you contact a friend who is a dishnetwork dealer, they have free equipment/installation offers.avman.P.S.hookup 2 uhf receivers to the two MOST LIKELY locations where two different satellite channels will be watched at the same time-LOCAL CHANNELS NOT INCLUDED if you get them from an antenna OR LOCAL/LIMITED BASIC cable, keep in mind your viewing habits, alot of times when 2 or more people are watching tv at the same time, one or more are watching 'network' tv.hook your cable/antenna into the coax in on the sat recvr, hook the coax out to a two-way splitter (or straight to-if you use an a/v patch-you SHOULD) a signal combiner or channel modulator to view the picture/sound on your other tvs.you can also use a ir repeater kit if, like mine, the sat rcvr doesn't have an uhf remote.more ?'s-post 'em here. This message has been edited by avman on 06-22-2001 at 11:57 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 avman - Like BLOOMIS914, I too am looking towards a dish system and I'm glad he asked what I've been wanting to. Anyhow, I went to the Dish Network website and saw no mention of a DishPlayer 7200. There's a model 500 mentioned that sounds like what you're speaking about. Is that it? TIA Tom Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlos Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 go with Dishnetwork,i have it and im happy and it also has 3 outputs of video per reciever and the new reciever has hdtv output. so this would mean that you need 2 recievers right to getwhat your after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 the website for the dishplayer is http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/dplayer/specs/index.shtml the pvr doesn't work the same way, although it has longer record time, it doesn't have the 'search'option w/the keyboard, and i'm not sure about the pvr, but the dishplayer records THE DIRECT BITSTREAM from the satellite feed so the picture is identical to live satellite, AND IF THE SHOW IS IN DOLBY DIGITAL, IT PLAYS BACK IN DOLBY DIGITAL!! try that on your tivo!(ha ha). avman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOOMIS914 Posted June 22, 2001 Author Share Posted June 22, 2001 AVMAN- Thanks for confirming what I had been hearing about DishNetwork....Can you confirm the HDTV ability of the Model 7200 DBS receiver or will I need a separate HDTV decoder box in addition to the Dishplayer receiver? I will have only one TV/location for dedicated HDTV viewing. AVMAN, Please send me a Private Message re: knowledgable/reputable contacts/phone numbers for DISH equipment and any special promotions or offers to ease the pain of start up costs. Thanks again for all of your help. Am I being overly optimistic on hooking up five different locations? What should I expect to pay to accomplish this? My email address is bloomis914@aol.com Thanks a lot in advance Brett ------------------ My main Klipsch system: KLF-30's Bi-wired KLF-C7 KSP-S6's KSW-15 Front Sub KSW-100 Rear Sub Monster cable 14 gauge in-wall cable Niles wall plates Marantz SR-8000 Toshiba SD-4205 5 DVD changer Pioneer PDF-1007 301-CD changer Mitsubishi 35" Mitsubishi VCR Pioneer VSX-608 Multi-room amp for Outdoor deck Polk All-weather AW2's deck speakers Niles in-wall volume controls Fridge full of beer and plenty of Don Julio, Jagermeister and Jim Beam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Phillips Posted June 23, 2001 Share Posted June 23, 2001 avman,thanks for the link.I have had Dish for about 3 1/2 years now and at one time had C-Band,Dish and Direct at the same time.C had the cheapest Premium channels,Direct had the best menu and I only had it for the Pay Perview,dish best and still is best price.I do hate the Dish menu and hate it only goes a few hours ahead before"please wait or cancel"comes up.Direct goes days ahead.I'm going to look into the Player as my bedroom slave has a stereo seperation problem.Center channel and right channel get the same signal. Anyone going with Dish here is a tip,for $1.99 a month extra you can get a service policy that covers what ever.Ask about it.My slave can be replaced for the price of shipping,$14.95 to where I live. ------------------ Main HT:'77 Klipschorns w/ALKs,'75 Heresy center,modified with,K-Horn sqauwker & AA network. KSP-S6 at sides 2 KSP-S6's rear. Denon AVR-3801 2 Denon POA-2800 200X2 1 driving the Horns 1 driving the bi-wired Heresy center. 2 DIY 12"4ohm subs,Carver A500x 400 watts per ch.feed. 1 12" powered sub(behind the couch)feed from the surrounds pre-outs. Sony DVP-C650D.Dish Echostar 4700 w/DD JVC S7600U S-VHS Pioneer CDL-D501 laser Music in "Direct"only! DH Labs T-14 speaker wire to the front 3. Bed room HT:KSB 2.1 mains,SC-1,SS-1's,2 SW 8 II subs. 2 Heresy's for music. Denon AVR-2800,Dishnetwork,Sony SLV-975HF VCR,Panasonic DVD-RV31. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhawki Posted June 24, 2001 Share Posted June 24, 2001 Welcome to the next level cable SUCKS! DISH has got some cool stuff - my girlfriends father has the TV setup, as well as the newer internet stuff where you can send and recieve (at decent speed) through the dish (no dial up required). It's all on lease for the 1st year too. Pretty cool... I've got a DirecTV setup, which has been great! There cust. service has always been outstanding, even at 3 in the morning. There are some areas that have to call another company for service/problems which sucks, cuz they aren't even required to be open 24/7 like DirecTV is - they're sub'ed out i guess? Anyway, as far as local, i've got a dual LNB dish, which runs into a clip-on antennae from Terk (TV42 - combines signals and boosts) and then you split it out with a diplexer at the receiver. Works great if you're not in a valley or in between buildings - wouldn't cut it in NYC. You can also pay for the locals, but you only get the big 4. I've also got it split outta the receivers - 2 tv's to each receiver. Works pretty well, especially with the sony receiver which has an RF remote. Otherwise, you can get an IR->RF->IR thing or get an RF remote that has a "receiver" that sends IR to the remote location (like the One For All 9800) I like the Sony menus, etc, and the Hughes i have as a second is decent too. Dunno about the RCA's. -Rich This message has been edited by rhawki on 06-24-2001 at 11:37 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted June 26, 2001 Share Posted June 26, 2001 1st this is tongue-in-cheek here in the continuing cable vs sat saga (sorry to hear of your defection bloomis). but u cannot broadband transmit/broadcast/upload info over the web w/ a sat dish (can download though w/ certain systems). but uploading is light years away so it has to be using some other way which is really only the phone line. w/ cable however u can do it & that's why I say just sit back & watch as far as the interactivity & web based functions. as far as picture, channel selection & customer service some cable systems probably have a ways to go to catch up. to u sat guys i say thanks for giving my cable the incentive to get better for us. ------------------ Klipsch KLF 30 (front), KLF C-7, Cornwall I (rear) Velodyne HGS-18 sub woofer Monsterbass 400 sub interconnects & Monster CX-2 biwire & Z-12 cable Marantz SR-8000 receiver Sony DVP-C650D cd/dvd player Sony Trinitron 27" stereo tv Toshiba hi-fi stereo vcr Technics dual cassette deck Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 digital cable box Boa's Listenin Lounge: Klipsch RF-3 (front), RC-3, cheap little Technics (rear) Monster MCX Biwires Sony STR-DE935 a/v receiver Kenwood KR-9600 AM/FM stereo receiver (vintage 1975) Russound AB-2 receiver switch to RF-3 Teac PD-D1200 5-disk cd changer Technics SL-1950 turntable/AT LS500 cartridge Sega Genesis game player Sub: None yet rock on! This message has been edited by boa12 on 06-26-2001 at 08:08 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Jett Posted June 26, 2001 Share Posted June 26, 2001 StarBand Benefits Boa12, here is a quote from Starband who is the provider for Dish. http://www.starband.com/whatis/index.htm It's wider than narrowband, bigger than broadbandit's StarBand One Antenna, Two-Way: StarBand uses a single satellite dish antenna for receiving AND for sending informationno telephone connection is needed. Plus, the StarBand antenna can accommodate both the Internet and EchoStar's DISH Network® satellite TV programming. StarBand service can bring the Internet and hundreds of channels of television into your home, all through one dish antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhawki Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 YEAH! What he said!!! -Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColaBear Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Hey Brett, I have been a DirecTv subscriber for five years in the Detroit Metro area. Nothing but great things to say about their service/support. The locals come in great, but the best way to watch them is from their HD feeds (M*A*S*H never looked so good). Make sure you get RF Receivers so you can avoid having a receiver in each room. Locally I have heard that Walmart sells receivers very cheap. As far as PVR, I use a DirecTv/Tivo box on my everyday system and am perfectly happy with it. If you have any other questions, email me at mark@colabear.com. ------------------ KLF-30 mains KLF-C7 center KLF-30 side surrounds KG 3.5 rear surrounds KSW200 subwoofer Denon AVR5800 Pioneer Elite DV-09 Pioneer Elite PD-F19 RCA DTC100 DSS/HDTV Sony Playstation 2 Denon MD1000 Vidikron Epoch D-600 Vutec 100" 4:3 1.5 gain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Okay, I'm confused. I have DirecTV. I am going to be getting rid of it within the next couple of weeks because it's just not cost effective. The ONLY reason we got hooked up was for the NBA League Pass. The reason I'm getting rid of it is I cannot get LOCAL CHANNELS. About the only TV we watch is ABC and CBS. I currently subscribe to Tele-Media Cable solely because it's the only way to get network broadcasting. Where I live in Connecticut, I can't get a decent signal with a rooftop antenna (tried one of the big Channel Master deep fringe line, but picture was bad on most days, not there on some days, okay rarely.) I applied for a "waiver" with DirecTV to allow me to subscribe to network channels, and was declined. Twice. They will not let me subscribe bacause, according to their map, I live in an area where the signal strength of my local network affiliates (WTNH And WVIT) is sufficient that I can receive their programming over the air. I've heard that I can request someone from DirecTV come out to my house with a signal strength meter, and if I can prove that I cannot get local programming via antenna, that I will be allowed to subscribe, but I don't know how to go about that or who pays for it. So, for now, to watch satellite programming and network programming, I need both the dish and the cable. This amounts to over $120 a month for basic service. Is there a satellite TV service I can subscribe to that will provide network programming in addition to the various specialty channels (Disney, Nickleodeon, SpeedVision, A&E, yada yada yada)? Help help help. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 cjett & rich, that was a fast light year damn microsoft is at it again. i will have to eat some crow on my above. without getting into the cost, speed, security, local access things, it is definitely here. just hope it lights more fire under the hiney's of the cable cos. ------------------ Klipsch KLF 30 (front), KLF C-7, Cornwall I (rear) Velodyne HGS-18 sub woofer Monsterbass 400 sub interconnects & Monster CX-2 biwire & Z-12 cable Marantz SR-8000 receiver Sony DVP-C650D cd/dvd player Sony Trinitron 27" stereo tv Toshiba hi-fi stereo vcr Technics dual cassette deck Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 digital cable box Boa's Listenin Lounge: Klipsch RF-3 (front), RC-3, cheap little Technics (rear) Monster MCX Biwires Sony STR-DE935 a/v receiver Kenwood KR-9600 AM/FM stereo receiver (vintage 1975) Russound AB-2 receiver switch to RF-3 Teac PD-D1200 5-disk cd changer Technics SL-1950 turntable/AT LS500 cartridge Sega Genesis game player Sub: None yet rock on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 btw, anybody have that there starband? wonder if they'll get video-on-demand going before cable does. or maybe they already have(?) that's what i really am looking forward 2 - no more double trips to blockbuster for each movie(s). imagine u can order a set time PPV movie directly w/ your remote like w/ cable. but i guess the programming & the internet are seperate systems. wonder how much they are or will be tied together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Palm Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 I have Dish Network and love it. The tech people are very courteous and helpfull. Helped my Mother-in-law activateher Direct TV and thought it would take an act of congress. The CD music channels are great. Havn't listened to FM in over two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOOMIS914 Posted June 27, 2001 Author Share Posted June 27, 2001 Thanks all, it is interesting to see the different camps divided.....DirectTV, DishNet and AHHHEMMMM, Cable??...I have not defected yet but am currently assessing startup capital/equipment requirements as well as fixed costs for Satellite. I cannot express my disappointment with retail knowledge (lack of) regarding SAT. equipment/installation requirements and options, given my need for five locations (two could probably share one box/receiver). I basically want HD capability in one dedicated room, local channel access and at least 3 dedicated receivers that will allow for Dolby Digital sound for multiple HT's in my home. The good news is I am becoming extremely knowledgable quickly about this as I have sought out info. from HTForum and several other informative websites including this one. Stay tuned... ------------------ My main Klipsch system: KLF-30's Bi-wired KLF-C7 KSP-S6's KSW-15 Front Sub KSW-100 Rear Sub Monster cable 14 gauge in-wall cable Niles wall plates Marantz SR-8000 Toshiba SD-4205 5 DVD changer Pioneer PDF-1007 301-CD changer Mitsubishi 35" Mitsubishi VCR Pioneer VSX-608 Multi-room amp for Outdoor deck Polk All-weather AW2's deck speakers Niles in-wall volume controls Fridge full of beer and plenty of Don Julio, Jagermeister and Jim Beam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilH Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 Ray: Unfortunately, if DirecTV says you are in that area that you can supposedly receive your local channels via antenna, that is a blanket area all satellite servers must go by, determined by the FCC. These areas across the country were determined by local network affiliates and the government several years ago. When DirecTV first came out, many people subscribed to the 4 network affiliates they offered, one in Denver, one in LA, etc. Of course, by doing this, many people were not watching their own local affiliates, thus reducing ad revenue (less viewers) for the stations. Those local stations complained to the FCC (I would have too if I were them). A few years ago, the big shakedown occured and many lost access to DirectTV's major network's offerings. So if you are in that pre-determined area, you are shot down. Your only current choices with satellite is if DirectTv will broadcast your 4 local net affiliates in the future via satellite or if Dish network is doing it now. Unless that happens, cable is your only choice to meet your needs. (Either that or build a big ol nasty TV tower for better reception and get rude letters in your mailbox from your neighbors). PhilH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 Bummer. Am I the only one on this board with this problem? You can't believe how frustrating it is... my local cable affiliate, Tele-Media, is stringing fibre, but they went down the street my little road connects to without coming down my way, and they tell me that my road is not yet on the schedule for broadband access. That schedule extends through 3rd quarter 2002, so it's going to be AT LEAST that long before I can get broadband access through my cable provider. I can't get DirecTV to let me subscribe to network channels because their map says my antenna works. I can't receive over the air signals because I live behind the ridge running down the Naugatuck Valley. On a related matter, I can't get ISDN access, DSL (either ADSL or SDSL), Frame Relay or any other damn kind of high speed data connection because (a) I'm too far from the closest SNET POP, and ( the equipment in this part of Connecticut is the oldest in this part of the country, far as I can tell, and the switches are incompatible. So I bump along at 24K (on a good day) or 14.4 on most days. Web surfing at 14.4 is a truly abominable experience. Growl growl snarl snarl. There, I feel better now. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 ray, for the broadband access, how 'bout that Starband? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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