[Rudy]

I never did like you Fred.

[Ed]

I installed a KVH RV-1 antenna and Dish sent me a “Wally” receiver. Jeff did the portion that required a smart phone.

On our first trip we went to western NY state and despite being in the middle of a large open parking lot completely clear of obstructions we could only get less than 1/2 of the programming we subscribe to.

So I spent a lot of time talking to KVH and Dish, both blaming the other for the problem. But I now have the keys to the kingdom in the respect I have learned how to get into the KVH antenna via its IP address using my laptop so I can verify signal strength, change satellites or satellite groupings, and verify its operation. I now use the coverage maps and if needed can be sure I am on the right satellite groups or a specific satellite depending on the programmng I want.

I also learned how to access the Dish diagnostics and can change any and all settings for Dish plus do whatever magic tricks are required to insure the Dish receiver is communicating with the antenna correctly.

Now no matter if I am talking to KVH or Dish neither can bullshit me because I can pull any and all data from either one to verify settings and signals are correct. Which brings me to my question.

Are any Dish users experiencing loss of programming? For reasons unknown to Dish or KVH we cannot pull all the channels we subscribe to. Dish has given uo and is willing to replace the “Wally” but I wonder if it is a problem associated with my geographic locations, both of which are near the edges of the coverage maps.

[Bill]

So glad you’ve got it all figured out…..After we had our Roadtrip (in motion) installed I have done NOTHING but have perfect service without lifting a finger thank goodness.. Just turn on and you’re good to go… haven’t been without signal yet.. in fact it does a better job than the old reliable Tracstar does as far as tracking in motion on the highway.

We had KVH on our boats and they were great but the KVH in one of our busses was horrible.

Cheers, Diane

[Jeff]

I’m at home watching Dish and don’t seem to have any problems.

These are the best coverage maps I’m aware of.

http://jameslong.name/

Click on the maps and you will get to spot beam coverage to cross reference to the channel/Satellite locations. Individual transponders get some funky shapes.

i can not get my Augusta locals a hundred miles away in Savannah, but I can in Auburn Alabama 350 miles away due to the oval shape of the spot beam.

National channels should be available in multiple places.

Good Luck and welcome to a tech world.

[Mike]

What channels are missing. I assume you know you cannot get ANY Network programming (ABC, NBC, etc.) when you are out of your service area (if you are registered with DISH in TX you can’t get ANY Network programming in NY or CA, etc.)

Depending upon how your account is setup you may be able to call DISH or use the DISH app to change your service address to bring in locals. There are also 2 sets of satellites so Network programming may not be coming from the group of satellites you selected.

The reason I didn’t recommend KVH earlier is due to the exact hoops you have had to jump through. No other antenna manufacturer requires computer access.

[Archived]

As I stated I get all the channels we subscribe to at home, and the fixed antenna there is aimed at 61.5.

The KVH is set for a group of satellites, in this case Eastern Legacy which has the coverage for the geographic area I am in. However if I choose I can select one of the satellites in the group manually by going into the KVH IP address, or I can opt to do the same thing by going into the Dish diagnostics section.

What is frustrating to the Dish technical support manager (yes, I have worked up to the managerial level with both KVH and Dish) is my conditions are inconsistent leading Dish to be willing to send a new receiver.

I have found several channels I was having trouble receiving to be on satellite 110 so I changed manually from 119 which was the satellite automatically selected by the antenna and the channels still could not be received 2 days ago.

Yesterday with no effort on my part I am now receiving some of those channels. Conversely, Dish has some music channels and I was originally unable to pull them in. Then 2 days ago I could, yesterday I could not.

Signal strength showing on both the KVH web site for my antenna, and on the Dish diagnostics age that shows signal strength agree. So I have to assume this is not an antenna issue prompting my question about Dish reception and reception issues from users.

I just want to be sure my issues have to do with a receiver that has issues. I have no objection having Dish send a new one to replace the existing one, but if it is not the problem getting help from Dish is going to be harder than it already is. The intermittent and inconsistent problems are what is driving everybody crazy, including me.

And for those who pick on me because I don’t have a smart phone with an app for my antenna or receiver, I don’t need no stinking smart phone because my trustworthy lap top can do it all, and it has a screen I can actually see.

[Archived]

Last week we “lost” many DishTV Channels. Winegard Playmaker antenna and Wally receiver showed no errors. Conversation with Dish tech led to them to “send an authorization signal to our receiver.” 5 minutes later, all missing channels returned. You can also trigger an authorization signal from the MyDish – but that requires a smartphone 😉

[Archived]

Roy, I have the keys to the kingdom without a smart phone. I can get into the diagnostics on both the antenna and the receiver and whatever the tech can do I can do.

I don’t need no stinkin smart phone now that I learned how to access everything.

[Dan]

But you still can’t change locals which you can do with DISH and a smartphone.

[Larry & Diane]

There are several winegard models and no real layman explanation of their use.

What are people doing for TV reception.

What mounts are you using to mount your LED TV?

How is the Internet based apps working?

[Greg]

Bill, I never have or really care to get local channels, but one really valuable benefit of both Direct and Dish is I can get music through them and except for the day the receiver and antenna shook hands and worked for the first time that music has not been available.

[Rocky And Tonya]

We have Dish in the bus and in our second stick/brick home. All was well when we had it active at the 2nd house a month ago. We haven’t had the need to use Dish in the bus for a couple of yrs.

Whenever we want to get the local channels, we pick up the flip phone and call them to let them know the address/zip code. They spot beam the locals to our new location for no additional charge.

Our 2nd home stationary HD parabolic satellite antenna is pointed at 110, 119, and 129, all at the same time

The bus round in-motion HD antenna also moves between the same satellites for HD service.

[Joe]

I cannot speak about all antennas, but the KVH can be set to receive satellite groups, and then depending on location it can switch automatically (if that mode is selected) or manually to receive the most appropriate satellite in the selected group. Or it can be set to receive a single satellite.

In my instance it automatically selected 119, then on a later day, without moving the coach it selected 61.5, and I manually selected 110 based on a recommendation from the Dish supervisor. Same channels for the most part were unavailable despite the satellite selected. However two of three I wanted to have access to never were received, but one of the three, without any change to the antenna or Dish receiver became available. It was stuff like that causing Dish a lot of grief.

[Archived]

You antenna needs to be able to toggle between multiple satellites to receive all the channels available from DISH. For the Western Arc (group) that would be 110, 119 and 129. For the Eastern Arc that would be 61.5, 72.7 and 77. If you are trying to get the antenna to select only 1 of the 3 satellites in the group you will not be able to receive all of your programming. Some part of DISH programming is broadcast from each satellite.

As a note, when you say you don’t care about locals, that means you don’t care about watching NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW and PBS. That may be true, but that’s a lot of programming.

[Archived]

I know the antenna on eastern arc looks for 61.5, 110, and 119 and I have it in automatic mode so it is switching automatically. But the Dish supervisor wanted me to try 110 exclusively because it was the satellite for the 3 missing channels I wanted available.

The receiver still could not get the channels so I went back to automatic mode.

I do know for sure the KVH antenna is not part of the problem because its signal strength is getting to the receiver, something I verified by being able to see both the antenna and receiver signal strength at the same time. Whatever signal the antenna gets is getting to the receiver verifying there are no issues up to the receiver.

Now that I am home I will restart my conversations with Dish to see how to either verify the receiver is messed up or if its software needs to get jogged or if there is something else.