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bluwtr49's avatar
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Sep 26, 2015

Dish Sat. Spot Beam Question

Question for those that understand Sat. spot beams for local channels.

We just set up in Idaho Falls, ID for the next 10 days and Dish nicely moved my service address to get the IF locals. OK so far but looking through my daily recording schedule I noticed that two of the programs I want are not being broadcast by the local ABC affiliate. Now I know from prior experience that once I have the I.F. locals I will continue to get them all the way to Boise and down into northern NV. Since my next stops will be the Boise area and Jackpot, NV this kind of makes sense.

So, with that in mind I was thinking about asking dish to move my feed to the Boise locals but, when I looked a a Dish spot map it appears there are three different spot beam that cover Boise but only one that covers both. Since most of the CS reps I get on the phone only follow a scrip I'm hesitant to make the call until I have a better handle on just how these spot beam really work and what I really should ask Dish.

Appreciate any thoughts on this subject. It's not a critical issue of course but an intriguing one.
  • TechWriter wrote:
    bluwtr49 wrote:
    Thanks for all your replies. Still thinking about how I want to approach Dish with this question. Under any circumstance most of your comments have been very educational.

    DISH will use your ZIP code (like this) to look up where you should be getting your local stations.

    So if you want Boise locals, you'll have to give DISH a Boise address.

    The problem is that the Boise spot beams may not be receivable at his Idaho Falls location.
  • It turns out the solution was fairly simple. I asked Dish CS for a feed from Twin Falls which is East of Boise and their ABC affiliate does carry the programs I want. Looking at the spot beam maps provided early it appeared that T.F. would be in the same spot beam as I.F..

    They did ask for an address in T.F. which was easy as it's on our stop list anyway. Got it all set up and reception is just fine.

    Thanks again for all the useful info, it help me ask the right questions.
  • Anyone know of a graphic display for Dish as rgatijnet1 posted for Direct TV ?