canadian satelitte tv

MACHZER wrote:
Well, I guess I will buy one of the auto units for both Bell and Direct/Dish. Can you get Direct/Dish on a month-month contract or has to be a full year?

Dish offers a month to month contract to US residents or, at a minimum, a US CC.

joebedford wrote:

myredracer wrote:
A larger dia. dish can sometimes help.

A larger dish will have ZERO effect in getting Bell Expressvu in "southern US".

It MIGHT have an effect on getting Shaw Direct which was what the OP asked about. I use a bigger dish for Shaw but to be honest I'm thinking about switching to my smaller one for ease of packing in my RV.

I agree but it depends on how far south. A footprint map for Bell 82 (that has the desirable HD channels) is here. It shows you can get about 1/2 way down into the US with a 1 to 1.2 meter dish which would get you down to about the OR/CA border. I couldn't find a similar footprint map for 91 but satbeams.com shows 82 & 91 to have approx. the same coverage. Have read that some get Bell 91 fine in San Francisco and NYC but don't know if that is outdated info. If there are any current updated footprint maps out there, I'd sure like to see them... I have to wonder if there's a certain distance when there's a sudden dropoff in Bell's signal strength.

A bigger dish for us is no biggie because we're towing a TT with a truck and have the space. The problem I have found though with a bigger dish is anchoring down so it won't blow over. :(

joebedford wrote:

myredracer wrote:
A larger dia. dish can sometimes help.

A larger dish will have ZERO effect in getting Bell Expressvu in "southern US".

It MIGHT have an effect on getting Shaw Direct which was what the OP asked about. I use a bigger dish for Shaw but to be honest I'm thinking about switching to my smaller one for ease of packing in my RV.

I find that there is a difference between the larger and smaller dish. We have a friend that uses the smaller dish when we are in Quartzsite and I find that with our larger dish we always get better reception and better HD clarity.

Well, I guess I will buy one of the auto units for both Bell and Direct/Dish. Can you get Direct/Dish on a month-month contract or has to be a full year?

myredracer wrote:
A larger dia. dish can sometimes help.

A larger dish will have ZERO effect in getting Bell Expressvu in "southern US".

It MIGHT have an effect on getting Shaw Direct which was what the OP asked about. I use a bigger dish for Shaw but to be honest I'm thinking about switching to my smaller one for ease of packing in my RV.

A larger dia. dish can sometimes help. You can look up footprint coverage maps on the internet for the Anik sats at 107.3 degrees and 111.1 and see if a larger dish than you are using now is recommended for where you will be staying.

I've been able to get Bell 82 as far south as the WA/OR border with a 24" dish and had good signal S & Q. I have a 36" dish I will take the next time we go farther south and see how far it will work. Getting a weaker signal takes more careful aiming with the larger dish though and can be frustrating. I've been looking for a 10' dia. mesh dish for home but would be great fun to take RV-ing, lol... :)

Bell HD channels are on Nimiq 4 at 82 degrees but what I don't like is that the program guide is on their other sat at 91 degrees and you can't prerecord anything either. I prefer to use just one LNB to make setup easier and faster and don't need to bother with skew.

MACHZER wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:

lovetotow wrote:
A number of years ago shaw changed their satelites and made that option dificult, if you have a second account you might be lucky and your shaw will work but no hd. Because shaw is based in alberta it works in arizona but florida not so well

Not sure any part of this is correct. Shaw works great in the US as well as Mexico.
Bell Express is no longer a viable US option but Shaw users are pretty happy. Not sure when you plan to retire but this could all change any time Shaw chose to do so.

Are you sure No Bell in Southern US?

Yes.

Bell satellite does not work in the US other than within 100 to 200 miles of the Canadian border.

Bill.Satellite wrote:

lovetotow wrote:
A number of years ago shaw changed their satelites and made that option dificult, if you have a second account you might be lucky and your shaw will work but no hd. Because shaw is based in alberta it works in arizona but florida not so well

Not sure any part of this is correct. Shaw works great in the US as well as Mexico.
Bell Express is no longer a viable US option but Shaw users are pretty happy. Not sure when you plan to retire but this could all change any time Shaw chose to do so.

Are you sure No Bell in Southern US?

Here we go yet again.

READ MY LIPS!

Shaw works well down south.
When the old satellites die all programming will be switched to the new satellite. This newer one does not extend it's footprint south of the border.
Till then, enjoy Shaw down south.