Satellite observation.

[K_Charles]

We have had directv since the beginning, be for that it was called USSB. A few years ago we got a dish VIP211K for the camper and thought it worked quite well. The price of directv keeps going up so we switched the house to dish.

What I found out was not about the company but about new technology. Our directv box was not HD, one was 11 years old and I forgot when we got the other one. One of the tuners quit about 8 or 10 years ago. The new hopper and Joey we got are not the same as the old boxes.

[SCVJeff]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Maybe the OP is referring to Prime Star. I believe they were bought out or became a part of DirecTV.

No, it was USSB that became part of Direct as mentioned, USSB was the supplier of the various movie channels carried on Direct. Prime Star was a separate stand-alone company

[Bill_Satellite]

Maybe the OP is referring to Prime Star. I believe they were bought out or became a part of DirecTV.

[GoPackGo]

I believe you can only get local and public channels OTA - because they are the only ones who broadcast OTA.

[Bumpyroad]

could you non-believers please explain to me how I can get hbo, show time, etc. OTA? I want to watch more than Jerry Springer myself.
but that is why they have this new invention called DVR etc. can tape and zip thru commercials.
bumpy

[K_Charles]

The point is technology has come a long way since we signed up with USSB 20 some years ago (when I cancelled directv said we were a customer for 22 years) and now. We always owed the box and when we got the last one there was no HD. I thought it was a big deal when they put tivo in the directv box but there was only one tuner.

Stuff just ain't the same as it used to be, that's all.

[RoyB]

X2 what DutchmenSport says... When the National Broadcast came out with the Digital HDTV we threw away all of our old analog TV sets and started watching local Over the Air HDTV using our Batwing antenna setup... Has worked out great for us getting our TV fill when camping off-grid like we do...

I used a spare SAt RCVR and portable dish for a few years as well to get standard SAT TV channels... That worked out pretty good too but stopped doing that as well when we started watching OTA HDTV...

Even when we go to the campground with cable we still like to watch the local town Digital HDTV signals.. Much better than the cable TV coming from the camp ground...

I'm sure things have changed alot now with SAT TV and one of the latest things that has caught my eye is the watching SAT TV using the internet downstreaming . No dish required here for this service... Sounding like it is catching on with some of the comments we are are hearing here

Being in my POPUP trailer off-grid like we are most of the time it is neat to pick up some live 24HR live RADAR TV station so we can watch the bad weather creeping up on us...

Roy Ken

[DutchmenSport]

We had both Direct and DISH. We ended up getting rid of it all and gave away our purchased equipment. Both companies kept raising prices, and what was on the air was 60% advertisements and 40% shows, and 100% reruns! We figured for the same amenities we could get THAT with Over-the-Air television and save ourselves a $100 (plus) monthly bill! Been happy ever since.

Last December we stayed at a KOA campground in Tennessee and they had cable. So we connected. We watched some of our old favorites, HGTV, DIY, True TV, just to find out it was still 99% commercials and shows we'd seen 3 years earlier! Made us glad we stopped subscribing to both DISH and Direct.

FYI, reruns and commercials are just as aggravating on over-the-air television, but at least its FREE!

[jarata1]

?

[SCVJeff]

Not sure what the point is? Dish and DIRECTV have several HD receivers with and without DVR.

Btw- DIRECTV wasn't called USSB. USSB was a separate company, carried by Direct and was the movie supplier.