DirecTV satellite doesn't pick up NBC, ABC, CBS

[twinboat]

Solid Signal, a vendor of equipment made that statement.

There has been no statement from DirecTV about it. I would wait for them before throwing out all of the equipment.

The King Quest dome can be used with Dish Network, with the proper adaptor. That will be my route if Standard Def is discontinued by DirecTV.

[staggerlee]

Originally Posted by Crasher

WHen you travel outside of your area, and want the local network channels, call Direct and give them the local zip code. We do that whenever traveling with our Dish Network system.

Direct isn't as friendly with those in RV's, as Dish is. A friend from Tex. has a Dish, and when he travels, he calls in the zip code where he is, and he gets his local news from his home. It works across the U.S.
For us it isn't that big a thing.
We like music, and the scenery.

[docj]

Originally Posted by twinboat

There has been no statement from DirecTV about it. I would wait for them before throwing out all of the equipment.

No one said anything about throwing away equipment. The specific statement by Solid Signal (which has been discussed at length on the DBS forums) was that MPEG2 SD programming would cease on DirecTV as of April 2019. This has been widely misinterpreted to mean that all SD programming on DTV would end as of that date.

There's a huge difference between ending MPEG2 SD programming and ending all SD programming. Some DirecTV channels are already broadcast with MPEG4 encoding which reduces the bandwidth requirement on the satellite in return for a modest degradation in picture quality.

DirecTV has been eliminating SD local channels in more and more markets and has been offering some SD customers the ability to watch their locals in HD with no additional cost. This is consistent with ending all MPEG2 SD from the 101 satellite.

What appears to still be unknown to the public is what's going to happen to the Ku band transmitters on the 101 bird once MPEG2 SD programming has ended next year, if that's, indeed, what happens. Also, will a full slate of SD-duplicates continue to be offered on 101, considering that there are fewer and fewer SD customers with each passing year?

It's probably safe to assume that DTV won't want to have unused transmitters on a satellite. But one should also be aware of the fact that there's nothing preventing those same transmitters from broadcasting HD channels rather than SD.

At this point, no one really on any forum that I've read, really knows what DTV plans for next year. There's a lot of speculation that SD signals are important to truckers and boaters, in addition to RVers, but the exact number of such customers and their importance to DTV is not known.

So the bottom line is that no one should throw away any equipment in anticipation of a decision that hasn't been officially announced. JMO

[Mudfrog]

Is the Kingdome set up to receive multiple satellites at once? We use a portable 18" dish with single lnb pointed at 101. My understanding was that the locals didn't come in from that satellite.

[Bob_C]

When I got my King Flex, it said you needed two led's on ( there are 4) to receive locals.....so that's what I did....,then after about a year, couldn't get it to lock on so that the second light was on.....changed the settings on the controller to just one Led on, and there were my locals...,was fine at first!

[docj]

Originally Posted by Mudfrog

Is the Kingdome set up to receive multiple satellites at once?

No dome system can receive signals from more than one satellite at a time. There has been no need for DirecTV domes to be able to switch satellites because the HD satellite at 99 and 103 broadcast at a different frequency than the 101 which the LNB in the dome can't receive even if it was pointed at them.

We use a portable 18" dish with single lnb pointed at 101. My understanding was that the locals didn't come in from that satellite.

Originally (several years ago), there were SD locals on the 101 satellite for many larger metro areas (and, of course, there were HD locals for those same cities on 99 or 103). As DTV added locals for more and more cities, it ran out of room on 101 so those cities became "HD-only locals". So your comment that "the locals didn't come in from that satellite" depends on what your locals are.

Now that DTV is supposedly ending SD locals altogether, the statement will soon be true for everyone.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Dish broadcasts hi def to domes, DirecTV doesn't. Yery different systems.

The truth is that both Dish and DirecTV broadcast their HD signals into the atmosphere in general - the signals pretty much blanket the entire country. It's the LNB in the receiving antenna that either receives the HD signal or not. Dish recently (in the past few years) changed their signal, which made old dishes obsolete - now all their channels can be received by all the new antennas out there. DirecTV is going through that now, and in the near future. Currently their SD programming is on one specific satellite and their HD programmigis on another satellite, using a different technology. Current dome antennas cannot receive the HD signal because the LNB in the dish is not capable of receiving the signal - kind of like expecting to listen to an AM radio station using an XM radio receiver - it just ain't gonna happen!

[docj]

Originally Posted by Alan_Hepburn

The truth is that both Dish and DirecTV broadcast their HD signals into the atmosphere in general - the signals pretty much blanket the entire country.

With all due respect this isn't true. The local channels for different markets are spot-beamed with beam widths on the order of 150-200 miles.

Dish recently (in the past few years) changed their signal, which made old dishes obsolete - now all their channels can be received by all the new antennas out there.

The problem wasn't caused by Dish changing its signal. It was caused by a change in a particular transmitter on one of its satellites that no longer produced a reference signal that some receiving dishes were using to lock onto. It definitely didn't make all older dishes obsolete.

DirecTV is going through that now, and in the near future. Currently their SD programming is on one specific satellite and their HD programmigis on another satellite, using a different technology.

DirecTV uses one satellite at 101 for its English language SD programming. It uses two other satellites at 99 and 103 for its HD programming.

Current dome antennas cannot receive the HD signal because the LNB in the dish is not capable of receiving the signal - kind of like expecting to listen to an AM radio station using an XM radio receiver - it just ain't gonna happen!

There is absolutely nothing preventing DirecTV from using the Ku band transmitters on the 101 satellite from broadcasting HD channels. In fact, I believe that several years ago, before the introduction of the 99 and 103 satellites, this was, in fact, how the first HD channels were broadcast. It isn't that the HD and SD today use different technologies. They simply are being broadcast at two different frequencies and the LNB for one doesn't work for the other.

[davendeb]

My brother is workkamping in Branson and had to call dish with his Branson address. They switched something and he now gets the local networks.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by davendeb

My brother is workkamping in Branson and had to call dish with his Branson address. They switched something and he now gets the local networks.

The key word in your post is DISH. This post is about DIRECTV.