HD TV reception via satellite service

[Harry B]

I had an interesting discussion with the MotoSat people at the Tampa RV show a couple of weeks ago regarding HD TV reception.

They informed me that no domed satellite dish today is able to receive the new HD channels provided by DirecTV on the 99W satellite, which transmits a signal that requires a LNB able to receive the Ka band versus the current Ku band.

I checked this out as I thought I would be able to purchase an upgrade for my in-motion domed satellite dish from Kingdome. They informed me of the same issue as MotoSat did, namely that the available upgrade will allow the dish to now toggle between 3 satellites (101, 110 & 119) allowing me to receive the HD or SD stations transmitted via those three satellites, but would not allow me to pickup the Ka band HD channels via the 99W satellite and that no one the market today other than the new open faced satellite dish from MotoSat has that ability today. Apparently they can not physically position 2 LNBs in the current size enclosure and a smaller dish.

Anybody considering purchasing a domed satellite dish might hold off until this is resolved. I am not sure if this will be an issue for Dish Network as well. They are both adding satellites to accommodate the additional bandwidth needed for HD TV.

The below link has a list of the current HD channels and which satellites they are being transmitted from.
http://kingcontrols.com/PDFs/HD%20Ch...%201-22-08.pdf

[Harry B]

I had an interesting discussion with the MotoSat people at the Tampa RV show a couple of weeks ago regarding HD TV reception.

They informed me that no domed satellite dish today is able to receive the new HD channels provided by DirecTV on the 99W satellite, which transmits a signal that requires a LNB able to receive the Ka band versus the current Ku band.

I checked this out as I thought I would be able to purchase an upgrade for my in-motion domed satellite dish from Kingdome. They informed me of the same issue as MotoSat did, namely that the available upgrade will allow the dish to now toggle between 3 satellites (101, 110 & 119) allowing me to receive the HD or SD stations transmitted via those three satellites, but would not allow me to pickup the Ka band HD channels via the 99W satellite and that no one the market today other than the new open faced satellite dish from MotoSat has that ability today. Apparently they can not physically position 2 LNBs in the current size enclosure and a smaller dish.

Anybody considering purchasing a domed satellite dish might hold off until this is resolved. I am not sure if this will be an issue for Dish Network as well. They are both adding satellites to accommodate the additional bandwidth needed for HD TV.

The below link has a list of the current HD channels and which satellites they are being transmitted from.
http://kingcontrols.com/PDFs/HD%20Ch...%201-22-08.pdf

[JavaJelly]

KVH told me that by March of '09 there will be a new technology out to receive all satellite signals. His advice was not to invest in the $300 tri-sat acquisition module and wait until March of '09.

[Bill Adams]

Harry,
You are correct that as of today there is no dome on the market that will pick up the KA band programming from DTV. The dome manufacturers are working hard to find a solution but they are still "working on it" in hopes of finding a solution.
Dish Network is still broadcasting on all KU band satellites so as long as your dome can point to 110, 119 and 129 it will still work with Dish Network as long as the receiver will work properly without seeing all 3 satellites at the same time.
Since most people don't "need" a dome anyway (only required for in-motion TV reception) and the open-face dishes provide better reception and do not suffer nearly as badly as a dome in the rain, I recommend that anyone interested in HDTV with DTV buy one of the new automatic dishes from Winegard or MotoSAT (MotoSAT is my personal recommendation) that can receive the 5 DTV or 3 Dish Network satellites simultaneously.

[Jim&MaryJo]

Just an FYI for Kingdome/TracKing owners...

Just before my 2 year warranty expired, I contacted the factory about gaining DishNet 129 Sat reception (had been viewing 110/119, now much of their HD content is migrating to 129)

The factory sent me a new control unit and a firmware upgrade box (had to post a ~$700 security deposit), which enabled Sat 129 reception and automatic switching between Sats, when switching channels on my Dishnet 211 HD receiver.

They were prompt sending the upgrade "kit" and returning my deposit. Their tech support staff was very helpful. Best of all, it was free.

While the upgrade won't enable Ka reception for Direct customers, I believe the auto-switch upgrade works with Direct receivers.

If you're within your 2 year warranty period, you may want to consider getting the upgrade. I recall the factory charges ~$750 outside of warranty.

[Bill Adams]

Great to hear that you were able to update your dome for the Dish Net. HD programming. However, even if the update would allow DTV users to do auto-switching, it will never get a DTV user the HD programming. Since NO dome can receive KA programming at this time the only option for dome users who want HDTV is to become a Dish Network customer.
If you are a DTV customer and like being a DTV customer then you will need to move to one of the new 5-head Slimline antennas from Winegard or MotoSAT.
We just installed 2 of the MotoSAT HD-SL5 antennas today and they worked perfectly! Great unit and the number of HD channels was quite surprising.

[Jim&MaryJo]

Sorry Folks,

I just got information that the King Dome factory changed their upgrade policy and is charging for the upgrade, even under warranty, but apparently much less than if out of warranty (reportedly ~$300).

I may have been one of the first "warranty upgrades" before they set a charge policy. I would not have posted or boasted had I known.

FWIW, It was a simple upgrade effort and it does work very well and I wanted it enough that I would have paid. I also have Dishnet service at home.