huzefa

If I get the HDTV receiver from Dish (Model 6000), will all of the broadcasts I receive be in HDTV format, or just certain ones?

TheKobra

Only the HDTV stations. Not all of them.

huzefa

Is there a list of them somewhere? I couldn't find it on Dish's website.

Frank S

Dish offers the following in HD:

HBO-HD
Showtime-HD
CBS-HD (if you qualify)
Demo-HD channel
PPV HD Channel
***Discovery Theater HD*** This will start Monday the 17th of June and be offered free until August when they switch to a $7.99 monthly fee for it.

Also you can get whatever local HD channels offered in your area by using the 8VSB module for the 6000.

huzefa

Thanks Frank. BTW, what do you mean by CBS-HD (if you qualify)? I live in Skokie, does that qualify me?

Now all I need is a good deal on the 6000 receiver.

Frank S

Actually your VERY close! All CBS O&O (Owned & Operated) stations have a blanket waiver to get the CBS-HD channel from Dish....BUT because of the ignorant FCC laws for the network affliates we are right on the border of the Milwaukee DMA (I know it rediculous as we could NEVER get that channel in Milwaukee) so you need to call Dish and ask if you qualify. I had called and I qualify on one of the DMA qualifying outfits but not the other so I could get it (I'm in Buffalo Grove) but the one I qualified for I barely did so it's very close in our area! You may need to call several times until you get someone who knows what the heck their doing and be sure to ask if you qualifed on one or both (or none) of the qualifying companies.

Also be aware the CBS-HD is the national network feed out of NY.

Also be aware that being in Skokie you should be able to get CBS-HD off-air even though they are operating at only 2/3 power! And all the other OTA station should be a piece of cake to get with a decent antenna.

I am a DISH retailer so I will see if there are any 6000 refurbs available and let you know the costs. Of course you need the 8VBS module of you want to tune in OTA HD channels.

huzefa

Thanks again for your help, Frank. I still have a couple of questions though:

DMA? What does it stand for?
What is a 'DMA qualifying outfit'?

I was under the impression that some shows on CBS (aka Monday nite Raymond, etc.) were shown in HD on all available CBS network affiliates. If that is the case, why would I need to get a 8VSB module? Also when I tune to the Fox channel on my Dish receiver to watch shows like 24 , it says HD on the bottom of the screen. Does that mean that if I have an HD receiver, I would be able to watch 24 in HD mode?

My thinking is that since there aren't that many HD shows to begin with at present, I don't need to spend additional funds on the 8VSB module. I can just receive the HD shows I want to watch through my locals on DishNET, right?

Are there really a lot of OTA HD channels in the Chicagoland area? I can't think of any; I mean I know FOX sometimes broadcasts shows in HD and so does CBS, but not all the times; and regardless of whether or not those shows are OTA, I can still receive them in HD Mode from DISHnet, right?

Thanks

Frank S

DMA stands for Designated Market Area.

The name escapes me of the outfits that do the DMA qualifing but they basically take their research DMA maps that take into account the transmission patterns of the transmitters used by a particular affliate as well as things such as the geography of the land etc... and determine whether a particular address is in one DMA or another or any DMA at all. There are two outfits used by Dish Network and you must qualify with at least one of them (they differ a bit in their research) to be able to get the CBS-HD channel from Dish.

CBS does offer all of their prime time HD to all CBS affliates that are capable of re-transmitting it and it is up to the local affliate to decide if they want to pass the HD along to their viewers. WBBM Chicago does pass along all HD that the network sends out! The 8VSB module is the hardware that takes the OTA Digital HD signal and converts it to the HD standard that DBS companies use. Without it you will get NO local HD programming on the 6000.

FOX does NOT do ANY HD what-so-ever! They believe that 480p (progressive) is "good enough" and that the consumer won't see any difference between 480p and 1080i HD! Of course we all know that is a load of BS (ask anyone who watched the 480p Superbowl compared to the CBS 1080i Superbowl the year before) as 480p can not come anywhere near the quality of 1080i! So FOX does do 480p for a few shows like 24 and the now cancelled X-Files and it is in widescreen but it NOT HD by any stretch of the imagination!

No, you can not get your locals in HD on Dish Network or anywhere else except from an off-air antenna. The available HD on Dish Network is HBO, Showtime, CBS-HD, PPV and this Monday Discovery HD. All other network HD is done OTA.

Currently CBS does all primetime except a couple of magazine shows in HD, ABC does 4 or 5 (with more next season), NBC does 2 shows (with most of their new show going to HD next season), Chicago PBS does just about nothing (even though the national PBS passes along a fair amount of HD to WTTW but they refuse pass the HD along to us). FOX does a few shows in 480p but NO HD at all! UPN should be up and running by the end of this year so there will be a couple shows in HD from them as well.

Overall of you are buying the 6000 spend the extra $150 or so to get the 8VSB module as you will get enough extra local HD to justify the cost.

huzefa

Thanks for your last post, Frank. That answered pretty much all the questions I have. So I decided that since I spent 2500 on this TV, I might as well splurge and buy the Dish 6000 receiver as well with the 8VSB module. Is the 8VSB module going to be powerful enough to receive all the OTA transmissions with signal loss? Or do I need to get some kind of a bigger antenna to get a better signal?

Also, do u have any update on those refurb 6000's?

huzefa

One more thing: if i have the 8vsb module installed, will the receiver automatically switch over to OTA programming if I tune to a certain channel or will I have to switch tv/video or ant1/an2 each time?

Danny_boy

The 8VSB is just a module that is installed in your receiver. You still need an antenna to receive OTA programming. From what I understand (I've never used this receiver) the OTA channels will be listed in your program guide along with all sat channels. As far as signal loss. With digital channels there is none. It is either there or it isn't, there is no weak signal like with analog TV.