Forum Discussion

CA_Traveler's avatar
CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Sep 14, 2013

DTV DNS and SD/HD Locals

I live in the Phoenix area and move the receiver to the RV for the summer. I'm planning to apply for DNS for the West coast channels when we're in the RV for the summer and want the Phoenix locals when we return to Phoenix. I would appreciate any input on this subject.

Currently I call to get the locals where I'm located which is in Brisbane, CA right now. The process is quick and easy if I give them a previously established address which they have on file. It's longer if they have to look up a new address.

With my SF locals I didn't receive them in Oregon. HD is somewhat new in the RV and the next day I enabled the SD channels and now get SF SD. So my question is: Is there any information on SD vs HD local coverage? In the past just trying to figure out local SD coverage was limited but thought I'd ask about HD coverage.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Sep 14, 2013
    SD and HD coverage is the same as long as you have an antenna capable of receiving them in the various locations. That means you will need a Slimline 3/5 antenna. You still won't be able to receive SF while you are in OR due to the Network signals being spot beamed but you will either be able to call and get OR locals or use the DNS option to get Los Angeles everywhere you travel.
  • CA_Traveler's avatar
    CA_Traveler
    Explorer III
    Sep 14, 2013
    Bill.Satellite wrote:
    SD and HD coverage is the same as long as you have an antenna capable of receiving them in the various locations. That means you will need a Slimline 3/5 antenna. You still won't be able to receive SF while you are in OR due to the Network signals being spot beamed but you will either be able to call and get OR locals or use the DNS option to get Los Angeles everywhere you travel.
    This is partially incorrect. Yes the locals are spot beamed. I got SF HD locals in southern OR and SF SD locals in central OR.

    SD and HD are on different birds and from what I saw the spot beam coverage is different.

    That being said DTV would not provide you with SF locals if you were in OR.

    In the past I've gotten SF SD locals on my 18" dish in Portland at night but not during the day.

    Plus my RV dish is not a slimline but a RF Mogul full array SWM dish.
  • schneid's avatar
    schneid
    Explorer
    Sep 14, 2013
    I'm with Bill. Maybe he should have said the spot beams are intended to have the same coverage and probably required an FCC sign off. Many variables would explain differences in fringe area coverage. I grew up Indiana but could at times get WABC in NYC.

    I imagine under the paint job your RF Mogul is a Slimline as is the LNB an SL3s. I guess they could have manufactured their own but that would be expensive and might violate DirecTV patents.
  • CA_Traveler's avatar
    CA_Traveler
    Explorer III
    Sep 14, 2013
    Good points. An older non DTV pre HD spot beam map shows locals for SF are beamed in central OR. That's one reason I was asking if there are updated coverage maps.

    My understanding is that RF Mogul manufactures it's dish. But I don't know what license or parts purchase plans are in place. I bought it because I believed that it was a solid reliable dish with significant design improvements from the Monosat dish. Some of the employees are former Monosat employees as I understand the company.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Sep 14, 2013
    CA Traveler wrote:
    Bill.Satellite wrote:
    SD and HD coverage is the same as long as you have an antenna capable of receiving them in the various locations. That means you will need a Slimline 3/5 antenna. You still won't be able to receive SF while you are in OR due to the Network signals being spot beamed but you will either be able to call and get OR locals or use the DNS option to get Los Angeles everywhere you travel.
    This is partially incorrect. Yes the locals are spot beamed. I got SF HD locals in southern OR and SF SD locals in central OR.

    SD and HD are on different birds and from what I saw the spot beam coverage is different.

    That being said DTV would not provide you with SF locals if you were in OR.

    In the past I've gotten SF SD locals on my 18" dish in Portland at night but not during the day.

    Plus my RV dish is not a slimline but a RF Mogul full array SWM dish.


    The RF mogul antenna is much like the Slimline and will have the 3 LNB's for 99, 101 and 103 but if any of the locals are broadcast on 119 (usually the SD locals) then you will not be able to receive them.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Sep 14, 2013
    RF Mogul does manufacture their own dish and it's done differently than the Slimline but with the same general idea. They use one dish across the platform of service providers and adjust the LNB's accordingly.
    Spot beams vary in size and shape and if you happen to get SF in OR then that's great, it's just not intended to serve that area. It's just impossible to broadcast a prefect beam so overflow signals can be hundreds of miles beyond the intended reception area.
  • wilanddij's avatar
    wilanddij
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2013
    I imagine under the paint job your RF Mogul is a Slimline as is the LNB an SL3s. I guess they could have manufactured their own but that would be expensive and might violate DirecTV patents.
    RF Mogul is the new name for the Motosat outfit. Slimline is the name of the the dish from Winegard. I doubt RF Mogul is repainting anything from Winegard, and not violating any DirecTV patents.
  • CA_Traveler's avatar
    CA_Traveler
    Explorer III
    Sep 15, 2013
    wilanddij wrote:
    I imagine under the paint job your RF Mogul is a Slimline as is the LNB an SL3s. I guess they could have manufactured their own but that would be expensive and might violate DirecTV patents.
    RF Mogul is the new name for the Motosat outfit. Slimline is the name of the the dish from Winegard. I doubt RF Mogul is repainting anything from Winegard, and not violating any DirecTV patents.
    The input that I got was some of the better employees formed a new company when Monosat got a new CEO and both companies existed for a time. Eventually RF Mogul took over the Monosat repairs.

    The RF Mogul design is completely different. My usage has been rock solid. They only support SWM for DTV and I believe that is also true for the other providers.

    Field replaceable parts and firmware is another advantgate. I recently upgraded to version 1.59. I downloaded the file onto my camera card, inserted the card into the controller and rebooted. Later the vGPS module was moved, a few switches on the controller were changed at that time and this improved the signal level.

    Not that we had any signal level issues. This summer we used the dish on the Alaskan Highway and Alaska with the vGPS in it's original position.
  • schneid's avatar
    schneid
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2013
    wilanddij wrote:
    I imagine under the paint job your RF Mogul is a Slimline as is the LNB an SL3s. I guess they could have manufactured their own but that would be expensive and might violate DirecTV patents.
    RF Mogul is the new name for the Motosat outfit. Slimline is the name of the the dish from Winegard. I doubt RF Mogul is repainting anything from Winegard, and not violating any DirecTV patents.


    Slimline is a DirecTV product. Wingard uses both genuine DirecTV Slimlines and SL3s LNB's on their SK-SWM:

    SolidSignal

    SpecSheet for RF Mogul SWM shows a DirecTV branded SL3s:

    http://rfmogul.com/files/52089733.pdf

    Maybe they stamp their own dishes but sounds more cost effective to buy already engineered ones.

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