Off-Air Antenna From Dish

Hi guys. I'm a former DirecTV customer who has moved to Dish (being installed this coming Monday). DirecTV didn't have any good deals in converting from conventional to HDTV. Dish gave me the $49.95 special. A few days later, after setting up my install appointment, I called Dish and asked them if they had assigned the install to one of the local dealers yet. You see, I wanted to directly ask the installer if he'd also hook up an off-air antenna for me at the same time of the Dish installation. Well low and behold, Dish told me that they would put that on my account and charge me only $50.00 for it. I was wondering if anyone else has gotten this deal and if so what type of antenna they ended up getting. I'm in the New Orleans area and about 47 miles from both New Orleans and Baton Rouge so I know I'll need a pretty good antenna to reach those markets. I'm assuming that the installer will know what type of antenna I'll need in order to pick up the network channels in HDTV. Thanks in advance for any info!

Dish installed mine as part of signing up. However, it was not an antenna, it was another satellite dish (to complete the range of local stations). Have to pay $5.00 extra each month for using it.

Jim

Dish installed mine as part of signing up. However, it was not an antenna, it was another satellite dish (to complete the range of local stations). Have to pay $5.00 extra each month for using it.

Jim
Dear poolandgolf,
What channels do you get with the second dish, do you get a different areas local channels? I live in south central PA and work close to DC, which means that I have to go through the Baltimore area to get to work. Currently I have cable which has Baltimore stations so I can find out how traffic is. I am getting Dishnetwork this coming Saturday and will only get Harrisburg local stations. I don't want to get the dish and put a big antenna on my roof too. I live about 40 miles from Baltimore and 70 miles from Washington, DC. and I don't know if there is another way of getting a different areas channels.

poolandgolf ,

If Dish installed a second dish for the balance of 'your' local channels, it was required if desired. They are not charging you 5.00 a month for the second dish. They are charging you 5.00 a month for ALL the locals that are available in your area.
fred

I finally got ahold of the individual installing my new dish today. The antenna that he was about to give me for the $50.00 was one of the halo ones, which would be no good for me. He as just about as uninformed as the customer service individuals regarding high def stations. His response, when I asked about what type of antenna he had planned to install on my house was, "I wasn't sure why you ordered an anteanna anyway, you are getting the "SuperDish" and will be able to get local channels through your dish", well no kidding Batman, I KNOW I can get local channels through my dish, what I want is the ability to receive HIGH DEFINITION network broadcasts which I cannot without an off-air antenna. That is the reason I requested one. Bottom line is I cancelled the off-air antenna order through Dish Network and will end up buying and installing one myself.

I'm probably misinformed, but I thought the superdish was for local hd channels. Man these sales people lie.

I'm probably misinformed, but I thought the superdish was for local hd channels. Man these sales people lie.


I know, when I first talked to the Dish Network people they said the same thing. But from doing all the research on here and other places, I am 99.9% sure that I/you will NOT get HD local channels from the Superdish. I found the customer service people at Dish very uninformed and useless when asking questions like that. I actually called three times and asked the same question and got the same answer that yes, I would receive them. However I then called the tech people and asked the question and they disagreed, saying the only way to receive HD network broadcasts is by using an off-air antenna. I informed the tech rep that they should inform their customer service reps because they are putting out bogus info. One of the customer service reps even told me that " due to the new technology, you WILL receive HD network broadcasts if you are approved for local channels".

I'm probably misinformed, but I thought the superdish was for local hd channels. Man these sales people lie.

I believe the SuperDISH has all three LNB's that are needed to get the signals from the three separate locations all on one dish. I got my dish in 2000, before DISH 500, SuperDISH, etc. It only had 2 LNB's, thus I had to get a second dish installed and aimed at the third location so I could get the full complement of channels I pay for. I believe the compass locations are 110, 119 and 61.5; with my original dish I was only getting 110 and 119. SuperDish eliminates the need for the separate dish.

DISH does provide CBS-HD, but only to those people in markets that are O&O markets and are cleared to receive the channel. Only other way to get locals, then, is with a separate antenna. Period. No matter what DISH CSR's tell you.

To be honest with you, if you could get them that way, that's the best way to go. I get the all my locals OTA with an antenna, all in HD (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, UPN, WB, PBS), therefore eliminating the need for me to pay DISH extra for my locals :)

I believe the SuperDISH has all three LNB's that are needed to get the signals from the three separate locations all on one dish. I got my dish in 2000, before DISH 500, SuperDISH, etc. It only had 2 LNB's, thus I had to get a second dish installed and aimed at the third location so I could get the full complement of channels I pay for. I believe the compass locations are 110, 119 and 61.5; with my original dish I was only getting 110 and 119. SuperDish eliminates the need for the separate dish.

DISH does provide CBS-HD, but only to those people in markets that are O&O markets and are cleared to receive the channel. Only other way to get locals, then, is with a separate antenna. Period. No matter what DISH CSR's tell you.

Yea, I know. Luckily, as a "new" Dish Network customer, I'm not paying extra for local channels with the package I got.

To be honest with you, if you could get them that way, that's the best way to go. I get the all my locals OTA with an antenna, all in HD (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, UPN, WB, PBS), therefore eliminating the need for me to pay DISH extra for my locals :)

Yea, I agree. My goal is to get my off-air antenna this weekend. Watn to watch the Superbowl in high def. Luckily, I'm not paying extra for the local channels via Dish, they are included free in the new customer package I got.

Yea, I agree. My goal is to get my off-air antenna this weekend. Watn to watch the Superbowl in high def. Luckily, I'm not paying extra for the local channels via Dish, they are included free in the new customer package I got.

Is that permanent? Or is it a deal where they are free for x-months and then you have to start paying for them.......?

Is that permanent? Or is it a deal where they are free for x-months and then you have to start paying for them.......?

From what I understand permanent. The deal I got as a new customer is the high def channels free for 6 months then I have to pay, but the same was not said about local channels.

From what I understand permanent. The deal I got as a new customer is the high def channels free for 6 months then I have to pay, but the same was not said about local channels.

I would double-check with them. It's very odd that they would give you free local channels permanently, because that means that they would be doing it for every new customer, and I doubt they would cut off that revenue stream. I would think that it's the same situation as the HD channels: free for six moinths, then you have to start paying. Remember the old axiom: "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is" :D

The newer prices have incorporated your local channels into the package: 60 for 29.99, 120 for 39.99, and 180 for 49.99.
This pricing has been available for over a year.

Check to make sure your local fox(superbowl) is uhf and get a decent uhf only antenna.

fred

btw - the prices are going up Feb 1 31.99, 42.99, and 53.99

GRN,
Please tell me what O&O Markets are.
OTA antennas do not work in my location.
Thanks
Gene222

GRN,
Please tell me what O&O Markets are.
OTA antennas do not work in my location.
Thanks
Gene222

Owned and Operated markets. In those markets, the station is owned and operated by the corporation. For example, CBS has seventeen owned and operated stations in the following cities:

Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Marquette, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Green Bay.

That serves a very small percentage of the country. Therefore, to reach other markets and cities, independent companies carry CBS programming (AKA affiliates).

The problem that arises is when you are located in an area that can receive both a feed from an affiliate and a feed from an O&O station. Baltimore has that problem, because aside from the Baltimore feed, some residents are also in range of the Washington DC CBS affiliate. As such, if they wanted to get a CBS-HD feed from DISH Network, they would need a waiver from the Washington affiliate. The CBS-HD feed from DISH is a distant network feed (i.e it's either WCBS from NY or KCBS from Los Angeles), so what that means is that the Washington affiliate would have to bascially give you the OK to receive the DISH signal because it potentially could mean a loss of revenue for them i.e. loss of viewers equals loss of ad revenue for the affiliate (you'll be getting either NY or LA commercials, not the local ads for "Charlie's Steak House").

It's totally up to the affiliate whether they grant the waiver or not, and from what I've seen many do not. If they don't, then you're SOL; DISH will not give you the CBS-HD feed without the waiver.

D* offers more local channels in HD than DISH (ABC, FOX, NBC in addition to CBS), but again you run into the same problem with those stations that you do with DISH: Unless you live in an O&O market, then you need to get a waiver from the local affiliate to get the HD feed from D*.

The ONLY exception to the above is is you live in a "white area". Translation: You live in the boonies and cannot get a feed from ANY local station. If that's the case, then your carrier will provide the HD feed for you without the waiver.

Owned and Operated markets. In those markets, the station is owned and operated by the corporation. For example, CBS has seventeen owned and operated stations in the following cities:

Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Marquette, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Green Bay.

Unless I am missing something, based on what you just said, I should be getting CBS HD on DN in Chicago since Chicago is a in the O & O market.

Unless I am missing something, based on what you just said, I should be getting CBS HD on DN in Chicago since Chicago is a in the O & O market.

Here is the info direct from the site:

HIGH DEFINITION UPDATE

DISH Network has expanded its line-up of High Definition programming to include CBS-HD programming from WCBS in New York, and from KCBS in Los Angeles.
NOTE: To take advantage of this High Definition signal, subscribers must have a second dish antenna pointed at the 61.5 or 148 satellite location and an HD receiver. A High Definition Television is also required.

As with any distant network signal, subscribers must qualify to receive these High Definition services. This qualification is mainly a function of federal laws relating to delivery of local channels. In general there are two ways you can qualify:

QUALIFICATION METHOD #1
You must live in one of the 17 market areas served by stations owned and operated by the CBS corporation. Owned and operated stations are commonly referred to as O&O stations. (O&O stations serve only 35% of the country. Hence, most areas in the country are served by stations which carry CBS programming, but are owned by independent companies. These are known as affiliates.)

The 17 markets served by CBS O&O stations are: Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Marquette, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Green Bay.
AND
You must not be in range to receive the signals of a CBS affiliate from a nearby city. For instance many people in Baltimore (an O&O station market) are in range of the Washington DC CBS affiliate. These Baltimore residents cannot receive the HD feed without a waiver from the Washington DC CBS affiliate. The logic behind this is that the owners of the affiliate station do not wish to lose viewers to the New York or LA CBS station, generally a loss of viewers leads to a loss of ad revenue for the station.

Importantly, it is possible to get a waiver from the affiliate station allowing you receive a distant CBS feed. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to compel affiliate stations to grant waivers. Waivers are granted at the affiliate station's discretion, which is beyond our control.
AND
If you subscribe to any one of our distant or local network packages, the CBS-HD feed will be added at no extra charge.

QUALIFICATION METHOD #2
You must live in an area that does not receive the broadcasts of local stations in any market area (a so called "White Area")

If you subscribe to any one of our distant or local network packages, the CBS-HD feed will be added at no extra charge. Otherwise, each CBS-HD feed will be available for $1.50.

Note: NFL games on your HD network feed are subject to blackouts according to league restrictions.

poolandgolf ,

If Dish installed a second dish for the balance of 'your' local channels, it was required if desired. They are not charging you 5.00 a month for the second dish. They are charging you 5.00 a month for ALL the locals that are available in your area.
fred

Yeah - I didn't meant to indicate it was $5.00 for the second dish - $5.00 is for all locals.

Jim

Dear poolandgolf,
What channels do you get with the second dish, do you get a different areas local channels? I live in south central PA and work close to DC, which means that I have to go through the Baltimore area to get to work. Currently I have cable which has Baltimore stations so I can find out how traffic is. I am getting Dishnetwork this coming Saturday and will only get Harrisburg local stations. I don't want to get the dish and put a big antenna on my roof too. I live about 40 miles from Baltimore and 70 miles from Washington, DC. and I don't know if there is another way of getting a different areas channels.

Not really different area, not sure why some are carried on one satellite and the rest on another but that is how it is here around Tampa. One dish points sw and the other se.

Jim

Unless I am missing something, based on what you just said, I should be getting CBS HD on DN in Chicago since Chicago is a in the O & O market.

You have to call them and ask them to activate it for you. You don't get it automatically; they have to do it for you.

The Superdish is for certain areas of the country where the locals are on two differnet birds near the main bird.
It is not necessarily for HD. I've got Dish500 for sd, locals, and HD.

fred

I am a lil confused over your decison from switching from DirecTV to Dish. I live about 45 miles from Metairie just outside of Baton Rouge.
I have a Toshiba HD Receiver/HD Tuner. I have been watching everything from the playoffs to Jay Leno tp PBS, etc. and just recently LSU vs Kentucky basketball game to mention a few in Hi Def.
The Hi Def channels that I am receiving are all local and OTA. They are ABC CBS NBC Fox PBS. I even get the weather station from channel 2 (ABC) that is also on cable.
The reason that Im confused about what you are saying relative to DirecTV and Dish is that no one not even cable are allowed to braodcast to you any of the major networks in Hi Def. So what was the point of changing from DirecTV to Dish? There is so much disinformation on Hi Def that at this point in time everyone needs to read and study what is available.
DirecTV's strong point was and is their sports programming. But neither they nor Dish nor cable are allowed to braodcast any of the major netwwoks in Hi Def. There are some excptions but only apply in remote areas. The antenna that I am using is a small 2 foot VHF antenna for ABC since it is in the VHF frequency and a UHF antenna for the rest of the channels..I hope this helps you in your endeavour to eceive Hi Def channels. Im assuming of couse that the Dish receiver also has a Hi Def tuner built into it..

When I replied to your quote I was doing it at 2:33 PM and did not chreck for typos and before I submitted it. Please accept my apologies for several typos that I see are in my reply.

I am a lil confused as to to your reasoning for switching from DirecTV to Dish because of Hi Def. I live about 45 miles from Metairie, Im just outside of Baton Rouge in Gonzales. I have a Toshiba HD Receiver/HD Tuner. I have been watching everything from the playoffs to Jay Leno to PBS, etc. and just recently the LSU vs Kentucky basketball game to mention a few in Hi Def.

The Hi Def channels that I am receiving are all local and OTA (over the air). They are ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS. I even get the weather station OTA on channel 2 (ABC) that is until now only been available on cable.

The reason that Im confused about what you are saying relative to DirecTV and Dish is that no one not even cable are allowed to broadcast to you any of the major networks in Hi Def. So what was the point of changing from DirecTV to Dish? There is so much disinformation on Hi Def that at this point in time everyone needs to read and study what is available and find out for themselves for as you stated the installer was less informed then you were. Go to any retail store and even the salestaff think that all Hi Def channels and even the local Hi Def channles are available either through cable or satellite.

DirecTV's strong point was and is their sports programming. But neither they nor Dish nor cable are allowed to broadcast any of the major netwwoks in Hi Def. There are some exceptions but only apply in remote areas. The antenna that I am using is a small 2 foot VHF antenna for ABC since it is in the VHF frequency and a 2 ft UHF antenna for the rest of the channels. They are both mounted in my attic. No outside mounting is require due to the proximity of the stations. If you got to antennaweb.org you will see that the location of your stations are also in close proximity and you should not need an outside antenna.

I hope that this helps you in your endeavour to receive Hi Def channels. Im assuming of couse that the Dish receiver also has a Hi Def tuner built into it..

The reason for the switch was the fact that DirecTV wanted to charge me $299.00 for the upgraded high def turner even though I had the proper dish, whereas Dish Network gave me the entire package, including the high def tuner with no out of pocket expense.

DirecTV's strong point was and is their sports programming. But neither they nor Dish nor cable are allowed to broadcast any of the major netwwoks in Hi Def. There are some exceptions but only apply in remote areas. The antenna that I am using is a small 2 foot VHF antenna for ABC since it is in the VHF frequency and a 2 ft UHF antenna for the rest of the channels. They are both mounted in my attic. No outside mounting is require due to the proximity of the stations. If you got to antennaweb.org you will see that the location of your stations are also in close proximity and you should not need an outside antenna.

DISH provides CBS in hi-def. D* provides CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX in high-def.

To say that they are not allowed to broadcast any of the major networks is wrong. They ARE allowed; certain markets are not allowed to RECEIVE the broadcasts through DISH or D* because of certain restrictions which we discussed about a page back on this thread. In fact, with DISH's acquisition of the VOOM bird at 61.5, the plan is to use that satellite to provide local channels in HD to its customers in order to compete with D*, since they are already doing it.

I've been reading around on here for a few days, learning alot. My most pertient Q pertains to this new satellite acquisition by Echostar. I've read the posts and press releases about D*'s planned sat launches/increses in HD capacity, with the footnote that customers would need new dishes and HD rcvrs. So what do you guys think of the likelyhood that receiving the added channels from this new 61.5 bird would require an upgrade over the Current versions of Dish hardware?

Particularly I'm talking the DVR 921, which from what I've read seems better and much less buggy than the (still) $1000 HD TiVo. I might even buy a TV through Dish, since I was lookng to spend about $1200 or less for (my first) HD set. This deal: http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/system/index.shtml seems like a winner, provided that the 921 would be able to receive whatever added HD channels Voom's ex-sat will hopefully be beaming to all of Dish's HD customers within 6 months. The TV and DVR were given "Good" and "Very Good" reviews, respectively, by Cnet.

The funny thing is that I was leaning towards Voom about 5 days ago, after reading mostly positive reviews here of their PQ, Programming, and Customer Service. But it would be stupid to order from Voom now that it seems to be dissolving. Or would it?

LSU ROCKS2003,What brand antenna's are you using.I live in Gonzales also,but I can't receive 44 & 33 in hdtv.Need 44 for SUPER BOWL & Nascar.

What exactly is an "off-air" antenna? Where can I get one? Why would it give me HD signal and is the HD signal 1080i compatible? Great Thread.

What exactly is an "off-air" antenna? Where can I get one? Why would it give me HD signal and is the HD signal 1080i compatible? Great Thread.


An "off-air" antenna is nothing more then the old-fashioned ones we had years ago. It's funny, TV reception has gone full circle. When I was a kid, everyone had antennas on their roofs, then everyone went with the HUGE satellite dishes, then cable, then small dishes now we are back to antennas if you want to get HD for network broadcasts.

You can get them at Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circut City, Lowes etc, or you can get them online. I like http://www.solidsignal.com.

Now not all programs are broadcast in HD. If you go to http://www.titantv.com you can create a program schedule just for you, that will give you all the HD, analog, satellite and cable broadcasts.

Hope this gives you some info to go on. Oh and to see if you need an off-air antenna and what one would work best for you, go to: http://www.antennaweb.org. Sort on DIGITAL stations, now not all digital broadcasts are HD but it will give you a good idea of what stations you'll need to pick up, how far and what direction to point your antenna.

I live in an area of hills and mountains just 7 miles from downtown Reno. 3 of the big 4 stations broadcast from Slide Mountain, which I am unable to get with my attic antenna, as I am just over a hill and have no line of sight vision to the transmiters. The 4th (FOX) and PBS broadcast from a mountain on the other side of Reno, and I am able to get those loud and clear via my attic antenna. I have received authorization to get CBS in High Def (a Los Angeles channel) from Dish, but it necessitated installation of a second dish, at an extra cost. I presume I could have gotten a waiver for ABC and NBC as well, but these channels have opted not to allow Dish to provide HDTV broadcasts, as it would have to be via a station which would compete with our local broadcasters. The whole issue is a big mess. I have a $5000 LCD television in my living room, and I can only get two channels in HD, one OTA and one which I have to pay extra for.
As long as the FCC considers its mandate to protect local broadcasters, this absurdity will continue. Does anyone have a suggestion for an OTA antenna which I can mount outside my house which may bring in the 3 local channels even without line of sight to the transmitters?