TV options for Canadians going South

[Ret Syntst]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Bill, is it possible for your dish to stop and lock on to one of the new birds, and your 'old' reciver accept the update ?

The LNB on the motorhome will only lock onto the old satellites. The new XKU LNB can lock onto all three satellites I think because when I look at the channels received at home they are the same as the motorhome plus additional ones from the new satellite.

I've had the update done to the motorhome receiver and the only difference I can see is in the guide setup - everything else works the same. I actually have the Nomad 2 system which cannot lock onto the old satellites now because of the interference with the new satellite - there's no way to fix it. I have to tune the TV to the signal strength and shut off the power to the Nomad when the signal becomes strong. Once that's done it works perfectly. I usually get between 80% to 92% signal strength.

[wilco1]

For what it's worth, here's my experience with switching to Shaw Direct. It will not be applicable to many, but I think that there is some useful info in general.

Got a new MH that had a factory-installed Winegard dish, set at the factory for Shaw (prior to the G1 sat launch). Had been using Bell for years on the last MH and had switched to one of the Winegard mini-domes when Bell went away in the south. This allowed me to go for "Dish-to-Go" while down south (needed US address) and Bell when I was home. Dish worked well but a lot of confusion at the company about Dish-to-Go and some hassles about billing etc.. A possible solution for RV folks, but make sure you know what you're signing up for.

Anyway, new rig came with the Shaw dish (a really expensive option) so I decided to switch to Shaw, both at home and for the RV. As a result, I got new 600-series receivers and, of course, a new Shaw dish for the house. These were all ready for the new sat as installed with the new LNB etc..

What I needed to do was change the LNB on the RV dish and upgrade the Winegard software for the controller in the RV. In this day, the latter was a stupidly complicated and expensive process that involved Winegard sending me a box in the mail, plugging it in for about 15 seconds, then sending it back to them...sheesh!

Having done all of that, the receiver in the RV functions exactly as it does in the house, the Travler finds all three sats and all channels are available while I'm in Canada.

Based on last year's experience, as you go south, you eventually lose the G1 channels and you will get the "lost satellite signal" on the channels that are on G1. The remainder (most) of the programming was available.

The bottom line here is that, at least as of last season, so long as you change nothing, you're probably good to go for the most part.

But....

If you upgraded your home system for the new sat etc. and you left a dish and receiver down south that was on the old system, it will might still work, but Shaw will know at least that you have two different systems going and will be free to invoke their new "'home away from home" policies and possibly, that you have to have all your receivers/dishes on the same system. Just like Bell in the past, you should probably avoid calling Shaw for tech support if you're down south.

[Mjay]

I am going to take our Shaw spare tripod dish with KU Lnb and updated dish from house to AZ next week. From what i have read we should be able to get some of the HD channels, but not the newer ones in 100's. Hope this will at least get some hockey, news etc.
The Shaw/winegard traveler picks off the KU band 107 and 111 sats also, and not the newer 3rd sat. Want to try tripod dish before spending $2500 on traveler.

Am I correct in thinking this maybe possible to get some sat TV?

[Ret Syntst]

I'm getting HD channels in the 300's and 500's with the old LNB just not all the ones I get at home with the new LNB. Of course all the channels from 002 to 299 are all there. I watched a lot of hockey last year and the only drawback was because I live in southern Ontario I could only watch the Maple Laughs. With Rogers doing the broadcasting this year there will be a real choice and the bonus with the time difference (AZ vs ONT) is that I can watch the late games and not miss my bedtime

[Gordon Dewald]

Success. I hooked up the updated reciever today and it works fine. Getting 85% and the pictue is just fine.

[SomeDay]

Well it looks like most folks are still getting service down south which is very frustrating for us that we can't do so any longer, whilst equally encouraging that it is still possible.

If anyone knows of anyone that knows what they are doing and could come and find out if there's any way to get our Shaw working again down in Sarasota Fla would you please send me an email, we'd be most grateful. We're due to be there from 11th November thru to 8th January.

Email: HelenWilatTelus.net (replace at with @).

Many thanks for anyone in the area that might be able to assist.

[Grwalker]

Hi. We're in southern Arizona but can't seem to get a signal. It worked last winter. We have the largish Shaw oval dish on a tripod. Where do you go to get the skew, elevation and azimuth settings? I tried settings from dishpointer.com for Starchoice but as I said I can't get a signal. Seemed to get to @70% for a few seconds but now nothing. Help please.

[AlbertaSteve]

We are using an Explorer dish controller with the small oval motosat roof dish mount. As we have headed south, currently Northern New Mexico, some channels have disappeared due to weak signals. I'm guessing the channels from the new satellite are the first to go. I suggest setting your dish receiver to a channel in the 300s and give it a try. I have also found that it is necessary to "optimize" the signal from time to time. Again I'm guessing that we are dealing with a borderline signal that drops out because of shifts in the sat or our motorhome or both. Hope it helps.

[wclogger1]

We moved to a motor home from a fiver last year and continued to use our manual mount dish in a tripod. We were in NV,Az, and CA all worked well. Got the opportunity to purchase a fairly new Traveller from a friend. This is where it got interesting
Had to buy a second sat plan at 48.00 in addition to our house plan
Got the channels we wanted on the old lnb and receiver, no new sat thats fine.
Had trouble getting it to work on our first road trip, we live in Chase, BC and were in Revelstoke, phoned about the problem the first thing the gent said to my wife" Hows the weather in Revelstoke?" We had not told him where we were.
I beleive it has to do with the GPS for the Traveller.
We still had problems a few days later when we went home. The gal we talked to helped us sort our problems out. The first person had tried to lock us in on the new sat. Not the 107 & 111 sats. This was fine and well.
Then she informed us we would have to make sure the system was always up and running at the end of the month because they reset the codes each month. We will see what happens from here, we have been in the states since Oct 1st wit no problems through WA, OR, and now in San Diego. No hockey for us, curling is what we need
Bob

[newmar10]

i am not sure how all these ruhmors start but none is true. I have breen using Shaw direct for 4 years now with zero problems. You can use either LNB You will still get both old satelites with the new LNB. The channels on the new satelite will not work approximatly south of the Oregon border. I also had to have a factory reset done while i was down here about 3 weeks ago. we were having problems before we left canada and shoould have had it done here. The tech helping did not care where we were and said they would do what ever was nessesary to get us working

[Skip426]

newmar10, I guess the only thing that can be said is about the Shaw, service and support is that it is, erratic at best.
A neighbor showed up here in southern CA, with no knowledge of any potential issues and, a brand new HD receiver, and plugged in and has it working just fine , where others have one and two year old equipment up-graded in Canada, that will pick up nothing and can't get tech support to help if they mention USA. Others with non up graded 5 year old receivers are running along just fine.
Guess it breaks down to what you have , or , if you phone tech support, who you talk to.
Just because you're not having issues , doesn't make the problems others are having , rumours.
As the park here starts to fill up; 40% Canadian; I'll ask around to those who have Shaw and get some numbers, of those who have had problems getting service and/or support , to see what is actually happening.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by Skip426

newmar10, I guess the only thing that can be said is about the Shaw, service and support is that it is, erratic at best.
A neighbor showed up here in southern CA, with no knowledge of any potential issues and, a brand new HD receiver, and plugged in and has it working just fine , where others have one and two year old equipment up-graded in Canada, that will pick up nothing and can't get tech support to help if they mention USA. Others with non up graded 5 year old receivers are running along just fine.
Guess it breaks down to what you have , or , if you phone tech support, who you talk to.
Just because you're not having issues , doesn't make the problems others are having , rumours.
As the park here starts to fill up; 40% Canadian; I'll ask around to those who have Shaw and get some numbers, of those who have had problems getting service and/or support , to see what is actually happening.

Skip - we are in Yuma and seem to be OK. Are you close?

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Skip - we are in Yuma and seem to be OK. Are you close?

I'm at Parker Dam, about 2 1/2 hrs. north of you, my experience with Shaw ( Star Choice) comes from helping others here trying to tune in their systems, over the past 4 years. I've given up on Bell, after 14 years, both here and at home.

[ScottyB410]

Living here in Toronto, we are but 25 miles north of NY (across the lake).
I'm almost thinking it would be better to sign up with a US carrier for my satellite service. Especially since most of our travels are south of the border.

We do have access to a US address.