To change DISH programming requires a new antenna?

BluStem wrote:
Called DISH to -downgrade- programming because we don't need or want Sirius radio. It's now AT120 w/locals and I wanted to change it to Flex w/locals. Before they would do that they need to send a tech out to upgrade our antenna?. I'm getting 119,110 and 129 on the 1000.2 and HD channels so why the upgrade?
Searched online and can't find anything close to why the antenna is all of a sudden outdated.
What's up? Trying to make downgrading difficult or what? I dunno..

not sure what the 'flex' package is but we've got the same antenna you have and our DISH account is on month-to-month. try calling back and this time press "4" for technical support.

If your in The east depending on where you , are they haven't a clue thinking your a house not a RV .. "service " can't change your antenna for free as they state. My bet is What they want to do is put you on the eastern satellites requiring a different sat lnb pattern.using A replacement land line dish. Are you near a town that has switched to the eastern birds and using that address? Ask for the RV department when you call or call a tech support line. Your chance of finding someone who gets it will go up

Is this for your S&B dish system or your RV system??? If it is for the S&B system then yes they might have to change the dish from a Western Arc dish to an Eastern Arc dish depending on where you're located. My self be have the top 200 package and in order to use the Flex packages and get the channels we wanted in our S&B it would have ended up costing use more then our current top 200 package. This was due to the way they packaged the channels so that we needed to subscribe to enough Flex packages that it cost more.

It's PAYG we use when camping.
We camp around the Des Moines, IA area. West arc perfect across the lake. To many trees for East at most if not all sites.
Dish down, antenna up today.

I changed from AT120 to Flex; all the channels work on eastern or western arc. I did have to get a (free from dish) sim card for the old 211K receiver.

johnhicks wrote:
I changed from AT120 to Flex; all the channels work on eastern or western arc. I did have to get a (free from dish) sim card for the old 211K receiver.

That's me. I have a 211K and AT120 and wanted to switch to Flex but they say I need a new antenna. Makes no sense to me. Seems like nothing ever works smoothly when dealing with DISH.

BluStem wrote:
It's PAYG we use when camping.
We camp around the Des Moines, IA area. West arc perfect across the lake. To many trees for East at most if not all sites.
Dish down, antenna up today.

Tell Dish you don't need a different dish because you only have line of sight for the western arc satellites. The Des Moines locals are on both arcs in HD, so they shouldn't care which arc you're using. The dish or arc has no relation to which plan you're on.

No new antenna unless you have a WA antenna and they believe you need an EA antenna to receive local programming. In either case, you just need to let them know you will be using this service in your RV and you plan to travel the US. The WA satellites (1000.2) are much better for travelers than the EA satellites (1000.4).

Hmmm..I have a Winegard Pathway X2 but there was no discussion of the actual dish. When I ordered Flex I specified No Locals. Kinda befuddled them a bit but I held firm.

I've learned that it's far easier to get things done via online chat than on the phone. Chat's usually easy while the phone get you a bubbleheaded nincompoop.