Advice on Dish HD receiver(s)

[carolina_skies]

We are new to satellite TV. Our new roof mounted antenna is a Winegard Road Trip Mission(stationary). We are looking for others' experience with receivers for our two HDTVs. Those we are considering are the Dish VIP 211k and 211z. We've been told that the 211k is now a discontinued model and that the 211z is the "latest". Our main goal is to have HD picture on both TVs, even if not simultaneously. We will be using the pay-as-you-go Dish service. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

[I_rv]

first thing is that you are in the eastern arc and to receive almost every hd channel is just aim at sat 72.7 you won't receive any locals but everything else.i have the 622 receiver and get local channels wherever i am off batwing which is hooked to dish receiver then scan for locals through receiver,on menu after option 6 system set uo then option 9 for locals ,you must have sat signal before this will work locals will show up on program guide and all info,as far as hd on second tv i don't believ you will receiv it through home distreibution,you also don't receive local off air channels on second output of receiver i just leave mine on single mode and all is good can still dvr as normal.

[don_lou]

Like Bill says-Go with the K
Don

[Bill_Satellite]

If you want HD don't be too concerned about the difference between the K and the Z. You are likely going to connect the receiver to the TV with an HDMI cable anyway and both have these. The lack of an OTA tuner is a mistake in my opinion but there is an optional USB OTA tuner as well. The Z has a smaller footprint but if you have the room, personally, I would get the K but you should not have any issues with the Z.
Either will work fine with your dome but you will need to run a check switch routine on each receiver while connected to the "Main" coax cable. You will have to figure out which coax is the main but it is supposed to be where the primary receiver should be located. You then connect the second receiver to this connection and run the check switch exactly following the directions in your Winegard owners manual. When complete you need to move that out and install the primary receiver and start over again with this receiver. Once you have a successful SW64 on both receivers you will be in business. The second receiver will be a slave to the first and you will be able to watch a variety of channels but they must be channels coming from the same satellite selected by the primary receiver. The second receiver can never move you from one satellite to another (but that's usually OK).

[kjburns]

Oh well, like I said, I was guessing. I didn't look up the specs for each to compare them, but did suggest that.

[TechWriter]

kjburns wrote:
I'm guessing, but there's probably very little difference between the 211k and 211z. The "z" model is probably a mild update with a new feature or two. I would compare the two, but chances are that the 211z will be the better receiver.

"Better receiver"? Not hardly.

The 211z has no Component Outputs, no RF (coax) output, and there is no built-in OTA tuner.

If you want to connect a 211z to another TV, you'll either have to use its Composite Video connectors for some really bad-looking video or get an HDMI splitter.

[kjburns]

old guy - You're talking about DirecTV. The OP is talking about Dish. DirecTV uses a different band (Ka) for HD satellites and Ku band for SD on 101. Dish uses Ku for everything so a dome can run SD and HD with Dish Network. To get DirecTV HD, you have to use an open face multi-LNB antenna since all domes are single LNB.

The meter that the installer talked about is probably for aiming an HD antenna. They're not all expensive. I use the basic $10 meter to aim my tripod mounted antenna when I can't use my rooftop antenna. My RV is in my garage so I've setup an antenna on a tripod to feed the receivers. When we travel, I bring the tripod for those times when trees are a problem.

[kjburns]

I'm guessing, but there's probably very little difference between the 211k and 211z. The "z" model is probably a mild update with a new feature or two. I would compare the two, but chances are that the 211z will be the better receiver.

Since you're using a dome, there is only one LNB. That means that one receiver will control where the antenna points after running "check dish". To get to "check dish", press menu-6-1-1 on your remote and select it on the screen. That will setup the antenna to switch satellites based on the channel selected. The second receiver will have to watch channels on the same satellite the first receiver is tuned to.

For example, most HD programming is on satellite 129. Locals tend to be on 110. Satellite 119 has a mix. Dish has two sets of satellites for east and west. Since you're in NC, you're probably going to be working with the eastern arc. The ones I mentioned are in the western arc.

If the need to watch channels on the same satellite gets to be a problem, you can always run a second antenna (carryout, Tailgater, tripod mount, etc) to feed the second receiver.

[old_guy]

you need to check the HD portion of the dish. they tell me that with Direct tv you need a very expensive meter to tune in the dish to get HD television. standard is OK but HD is out. I might be wrong and I'm sure some one will tell me so but that is what an installer told me when I asked about getting a HD dish for my TT.