Dish or DTV

From many many previous discussions on the subject, it seems about equal on those who prefer DTV and those who prefer Dish. And likewise equal on those who hate one or the other.

We have had Dish for many years and very happy with it. We just call Dish when we arrive at a new area and tell them our new service address. Within a few minutes we get the local network channels for the nearest major city (along with all our regular sat channels). I prefer that over the distant network as all programs are in the normal time for that time zone rather than always being on eastern or pacific time.

the bear II wrote:
The media streaming technology is changing so fast that within a few years you'll be able to get whatever content you want via the internet. More and more cell services are offering unlimited data packages. Unless you need to make the change now, I would wait to see what is coming....

I use my Netflix, Amazon Prime, VUDU and HULU more now than I do the Dish service. I can watch what I want to watch when and where I want to watch it.

You haven't lived until you've watched the Godfather movie on your iPhone.

There are indications the media streaming is the next thing...recently I wanted to buy the new James Bond Movie. I discovered Sam's Club no longer sells DVDs. I found it at Best Buy but even the DVD offerings there have been reduced.

Which is fine if you have unlimited broadband to your S&B. When you fulltime and have an air card, no such luck. What's good for people in S&B often doesn't work for fulltimers.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Cancel both and same your money. (I'm not kidding).

We use our Dish Tailgater with DVR the 4 months we travel each year and wouldn't be without it. To each his own. We also use a pay as you go Mifi from Verizon and wouldn't be without that either. We don't pay for TV at home though, go figure.

How close do you need to be to your service address to receive the local channel signal? I was told they use a spot signal that is only about 100 miles wide. Do you change the address everyday while traveling?

200 miles is a general guideline. The spot beam which may not be round is not aimed at you but rather meant to cover population areas. So you may live near a outer edge where the signal is already weaker. So it depends upon which way you travel. It also depends upon your dish where larger is better and domes are smaller and more limited. It can also depend upon SD vs HD or even which satellite is used for a given channel.

We use a DVR and often don't call when we can't get locals and it's for a overnight. Rather watch a recorded show or heaven forbid read a book.

We get the DTV SF HD locals over a 550 mile NS range and 200 more miles for SD. However fringe reception is not necessarily reliable.

Jimf1234 wrote:
How close do you need to be to your service address to receive the local channel signal? I was told they use a spot signal that is only about 100 miles wide. Do you change the address everyday while traveling?

. For Dish some areas are quite large out west, like hundreds of miles. Out east we had to change more often. If you get set up and have no locals call Dish and give them the new service address. Hit the guide button and when you see the old channels turn red you know the process is starting, usually in a few minutes. The old channels will be removed from the guide and the new ones then come in. Usually takes about 10 minutes total. Then you need to reboot to bring in the guide data for the new locals. If nothing happens in 15-20 minutes, call Dish back and tell them you changed your service area but it didn't work so please do it again. 9 times out of 10 they get it right the first time.

Jimf1234 wrote:
How close do you need to be to your service address to receive the local channel signal? I was told they use a spot signal that is only about 100 miles wide. Do you change the address everyday while traveling?

Totally depends upon the area.

When we were in Big Bend National Park - we received local stations from Midland/Odessa - 240 miles away.

I can receive the Dallas/Fort Worth locals at Potter Creek Campground in Canyon Lake (between Austin & San Antonio) but cannot get the DFW locals at Cranes Mill - a few miles across the lake.

When traveling, we tend to try to change the locals only once a week. I dislike traveling everyday, so we don't out drive the signal daily.

I will first try the over the air antenna to see if I can pickup local stations. If that doesn't work, I'll change the service address.

When we left Fort Lauderdale, I changed my service address to a Daytona Beach RV Park address. That was good all the way to Georgia. Then I changed my service address to Charleston, SC, that was good all the way to Cape Hatteras. Then I changed my service address to an RV park in Williamsburg, VA. The next time I lost the local Norfolk signal was Dover, DE, and I changed my service address to Thomaston, CT. That was good in Dover.

We traveled across New England, and got the local channels from Hartford throughout the region.

As you travel and use the process, you get a feel for when you need to change.

I try not to bother with it if I can get local weather from a local station if I'm not staying in an area for less than four days.

We do not have unlimited internet for streaming video so we use our Dish service on the road. We have Dish both in the house and in the RV. We have a X2 portable receiver and get hi def Dish on it. We like the portable one because we often have to be creative about where we put it to see through trees and other obstacles. When it is on the roof, you are limited on how far you can move it.