I'm not sure what the Dish Network range is on local channels but back when we had DTV it was published at 250 miles. Your issue may be the that you need a multiple LNB dish in order to get your local channels. I'm not sure what the issue might be with the HD, could be the dish. When we had DTV I simply bought a triple LNB dish off of Craigslist for $20. Mounted it to a wood platform that I could level and took an extra receiver from the house. I could set up and aim the dish in 10 minutes with no signal meter. I just used the signal indicator on the receiver that's displayed on the television.