Yesterday I read that I am eligible for the PBS national feed if Dish does not offer local channels in my area:
http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/aboutpbs_prog_dish2.html. So I called Dish to see about adding that feed. But the Dish rep told me that I can get local channels. I told him that I had been told the day before that my area is not eligible, and I asked him to double-check my 36832 ZIP. He confirmed that I am eligible. Now here is where it gets weird: he said I would get my local channels from Milwaukee, WI. He even read off the channel numbers.
Sure enough, a little while later I noticed channels from 7070 through 7081 on the guide, and the channels were the same as he described and the same as listed here:
http://www.dish-systems.com/hdtv/dis..._wisconsin.php. On most of them I get an error message that indicates Dish knows there is a reception problem and is working on it. But on 7080 and 7081 I get an error message that the channels are not available outside the designated viewing area.
Anybody know what's going on here? Aren't the Milwaukee channels on a spot beam? Is it even technically possible to receive them at a 36832 ZIP in Alabama?
This has been really confusing. The first Dish salesman who called me a few weeks ago said we have locals. When they called to confirm the installation, the second rep said we do not have locals, so I canceled the installation. I later decided to go ahead anyway, and when I spoke with another Dish rep about not getting the guide for OTA channels, he said the guide is transmitted OTA, and that Dish has no way to provide them. That same guy explained that the reason I can't get locals is technical (because the spot beam does not quite reach my area). Then the last guy signs me up for Milwaukee locals. I'm beginning to think I would get more consistent answers if I asked the clerk at the local Zippy Mart instead of calling Dish.
