Help me understand DirectTV local programming

This does not exactly apply to your situation, but some have said that you can only get locals within a certain distance from your home address and that isn't always true. Some markets like the SF Bay Area have standard definition locals available on the 101W satellite. We have cheap 18" round dish on a tripod and take our non-DVR simple receiver with us and can watch our locals anywhere that 101W reaches. Our last trip was to Bandon, OR, which is over 500 miles away and we were able to watch our locals. HD locals do have the distance restriction because they are on spot beams.

You keep getting "yes" responses when in reality the answer is "it's y our choice". You can choose 2 accounts so folks at home can watch programming while you use a receiver in the RV with DNS, you can choose to set all receivers to DNS and get Network programming while you travel (you just pay the $15 additional fee for DNS) or you can choose to do nothing other than move the receiver into the RV and you will get your Network programming in your RV (assuming you have a compatible antenna) until you drive too far from home (could be 100 - 800 miles) at which point you would only be able to receive Network programming via your OTA antenna.

you have to have a separate programming package for affiliate channels because you can't "mirror" your home programming. You wouldn't want to because you would lose your home local channels and only have the affiliate channels. Again, not the fault of DirecTV. The fault of the government. That's why we mirrored our home programming and just use over the air channels for locals.

57 Panhead wrote:
OK, I understand now the mechanics of DNS vs. Home local channels. For the traveling account do I need to pay for ALL the programming or just the DNS channels? We only go about 10 to 12 weeks a year so I can't justify paying for 2 full accounts. If they expect me to pay for all the programming twice then I guess we will just have to do without the local/DNS stations and use the regular sat programming from home and hope for the best on OTA for the broadcast networks.

Steve

Yes, you will have to pay for the full programming if you get the second, DNS, account. That is the reason so many of the responses were about getting the locals OTA through your batwing antenna. That is what 99.99% of us do.

You must have programming from Dish or DirecTV first. Then you can add DNS programming to an account. If you setup 2 accounts you would have 2 full accounts to pay for. There's just no reason you should ever have to setup 2 full accounts unless you have someone at home watching TV while you are traveling.

OK, I understand now the mechanics of DNS vs. Home local channels. For the traveling account do I need to pay for ALL the programming or just the DNS channels? We only go about 10 to 12 weeks a year so I can't justify paying for 2 full accounts. If they expect me to pay for all the programming twice then I guess we will just have to do without the local/DNS stations and use the regular sat programming from home and hope for the best on OTA for the broadcast networks.

Steve

You can get EITHER your local network channels OR the DNS network channels (New York/LA) on a single account, not both, not switching off and on.

If you are getting DNS, you will be watching New York/LA locals at home as well as traveling.

If you are getting local network channels you can watch them for about 200 miles from home, then you lose them completely. Your choice.

The 2 accounts that was mentioned was so you can get your local network channels on one account and watch them at home, and get the DNS network channels on an RV account while traveling and watch them away from home.

BTW, Dish Network has to work under the exact same rules. Actually, Dish got into trouble with the FCC for violations of this rule and can't, themselves, provide the DNS service. They have outsourced that service to a separate company. However, that is transparent to the user.

Steve, you being from the Central Valley, you are going to have a difficult time finding a local for the Central Valley given its 2/3 of the state. That being said, your question is a little difficult to answer for your specific needs. If you go onto the DirecTV site under Travelers there's an explanation of what that document you have is all about and more.

I had Dish until recently and found a local, when I was visiting, for Grass Valley was Eureka. I would have thought it would have been Sacramento or S.F. but Eureka? Who cares about Eureka? Locals are not always what they are cracked up to be! The process of calling Dish for the locals every time we moved was a little too much for me!

I never had two accounts just added the east coast feed to my home account for $15 per month.

Never found the form complicated

1. Photocopy of your vehicle registration
2. Mobile Vehicle Declaration of Intent form (Form enclosed).
3. Photocopy of commercial driver’s license (if you are requesting service for a commercial vehicle).
4. Application for a New Mobile Vehicle Account form (This form is required if your residential account has more than one receiver and one of those receivers is located in your mobile vehicle. Form enclosed).

57 Panhead wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. Where I'm confused is that the waiver paperwork said that if I was using a receiver from my home I would need to setup a separate account. I certainly don't need a new account for an occasional week or 2 out camping. I understand that Dish Network has a pay-as-you-go service that allows you to buy only what you need a month at a time. Why can't Direct TV get with the program?

Thanks

Steve

You only need 2 accounts if you want local Network programming on your home receivers at the same time that you will be using DNS Networks in your RV. Dish pay as you go would also have you paying for 2 services if you want to accomplish the same thing and if you keep DirecTV at home and use Dish pay as you go while on the road you are still paying for 2 services.
If you just want to move your receiver into the RV for a couple of weeks you can have all of your receivers set to receive DNS while gone or you can just not worry too much about the Networks via satellite and do nothing. If you travel outside your area you can use the OTA antenna and if you don't you will still get your locals (assuming you have an antenna capable of doing so).