The zip code entry during satellite setup is just used to recommend dish pointing (angle, elevation, etc..) directions.

Well, I just found out myself that it is actually a little better in Austin with Directv than with Time Warner, in that for Fox Sports Southwest, Directv provides an "alternate" channel to provide games that appear in multiple markets. So while Time Warner Austin normally shows the San Antonio market (Astros), Directv gets that game plus the FSSW alternate channel showing the game from other markets (Rangers). I don't know if this will carry over to college football or basketball yet.

To get the other regional channels (like YES), though, you'd need the Sports Package ($12/month).

Interesting... I'll check that out.

The problem is that I'm usually looking for baseball games (outside of the astros and rangers) that are blocked because of the MLB Extra Innings package. (I have the Sports package already) and don't notice the difference between channels I do have whose programming is being blocked (for example YES network during Yankees games) and those I don't get access to (like the regional Fox channels outside mine).

I'm still new at this dish thing!

You can have seperate service and mailing addresses. The mailing address can even be changed online by the user. Directv has my home address for service (waivers, sports, etc.) but my bill has always been sent to a PO Box.

They don't care as long as they don't KNOW you do it.

And they absolutely won't help someone do this. The law is very specific about who pays the big fines if it's discovered that a satellite provider has assisted people in "moving". Subscribers can lie about "moving" without much of a penalty, but Directv and Dish Network CANNOT help them do it without major penalties.

The Sports Package will block out any and all games, with the very rare exception of replays. The California and Florida ones tend to have more tennis on, etc.. but there's not going to be anything in the way of pro sports that you can view via the sports pack outside of your normal Regional Sports Network.

That's the case during hockey and basketball season as well. You'll get Spurs, Rockets, Mavs, Stars, etc.. on the alternate channels when there is a conflict.

Well, considering I was chastised for asking about it, it does seem that getting local channels is a bit of a pain in certain markets...so I wasn't too far off the mark. Not to mention the $5/month fee.

i checked that dbs forum, somebody said that some areas are not exactly serviced by directv, there's two other companies, that use the directv name, but they dont offer the same deals as the real directv. I am assuming i live in one of those areas

Im i the only one that"HATES THE DISH".


my wife and i both walk around and say"hate the dish"everytime it rains hard i loose my signal....iv had Dish N.(canceled)and now DTV....i also hate the cable company so for know ill keep the dish...God though-,"i hate the dish"

We used to have both Dish and DirecTv, (a few years ago) yea, it happened every now and then, actually I don't ever remember it happening when we had Dish, and it wasnt very often with DirecTv. Wasnt a real issue.

and hopefully it won't be

What kind of signal strength levels do you have on a sunny day? Your dish might need re-aiming. We have had a summer full of violent storms and we've lost service for a total of 20 minutes that I'm aware of, 15 of those in one storm...

Yep. I can't imagine not liking satellite. I will never look back again. The rain fade problem is there, but it doesn't happen too much. I've had some horrible rain storms and the satellite only lost signal for a few minutes. The benefits the other 99.9% of the time that the satellite is working normally make up for it.

Cat

We got a lot of rain yesterday evening, and didn't have a problem losing signal. And trust me, it was recording all night.





How strong is the signal on sunny days?

I worked at Dish Network for 2 1/2 years, and aside from it being a terrible company, I rarely lose signal. During the huge blizzard we had here in Denver in March (3 feet of snow in 1 day), I only noticed signal was down the next morning because of a foot of snow on the dish. I cleared it off, and everything was back to normal.

If you lost signal because of rain, then your dish had a very borderline signal to begin with (50-60%). Heck - I remember talking to a woman in the south that said during a hurricane, her signal only went out for 20 minutes, while the rest of her neighborhood's cable went down.

It's too bad someone hates satellite for the wrong reason. I don't hate satellite, just Dish Network.