bought dish network HD reciever, dont want to buy service

[lumis]

okay, the subject line might be a little misleading.. no i'm not trying to steal dish network service.. that is illegal.. but i did buy a dish network 811 HD reciever at a garage sale for $20 and i want to use it to pick up my local OTA HD channels.. i'm not interested in picking up dish networks pay channels.

the problem is it keeps trying to aquire a satellite signal when i turn it on and wont stop..

i can hook it up to my friends dish network setup and get it to aquire the signal (although it wont bring in any dish network channels), and then scan for local HD channels and they come in just fine.

is there any way to cancel out of this "aquiring satellite singal" thing so i can get the local OTA HD channels?

[Capt.Video]

Lumis, Im not trying to bust on ya bro, but you are so far off base. You could use that DishNet DISH to pickup DVB, or FTA (Free To Air) satallite transmissions, but you need to buy a DVB receiver.

For OTA (Over The Air) HD, the free HDTV that your local stations put out, they transmit the signal just like the old days, over the air. So you need a regular antenna for that. They do make HDTV antennas. You will also need an HDTV receiver to plug your TV into.

With either one, theres no subscription or fees.

If you have any more questions, ask, theres a bunch of peeps here that know more than I do.

Andrew

[lumis]

i understand that..

i've got a pair of rabbit ears hooked up to it, and i was able to pick up a few OTA HD stations with it when i had it hooked up to my friends dish network setup (actually connecting the cable running from the dishnetwork dish to it)..


but when i bring it back home and try and hook it up with without it being connected to a dishnetwork dish, it keeps trying to aquire signal and wont get past that.. if i could get it to get past that, then i could scan for local HD channels and watch them on my tv..

i'm basically trying to use the box as an OTA HD reciever box, i'm not even interested in getting dish network channels..

the problem is without it being connected to a dishnetwork satellite, it wont go past the "aquiring satellite signal" screen.. and if i could figure out how to cancel out or bypass that, i might have some success.

[Silvas]

You must hook the receiver up to a dish for it to receive OTA signals. It's hardwired into the box to look for a satellite signal upon powerup.

[Capt.Video]

Satellite and Over The Air are *2* different things. I spent a fair amount of time trying to explain this for you, and you acknowledged that you understood, but you dont.

Please, go back and read my reply maybe twice more, from start to finish. I didnt put that much time into the reply to have it skimed over and not absorbed.

What you are trying to do is impossible with your setup. Stop. Give up. Spend your time with something productive.

Good luck,
Andrew

[Guest34343]

Capt.Video, you are the one that is not understanding. This decoder box supports both satellite and OTA antenna and presents a unified channel guide with all the channels. lumis wants to disable the scanning of the satellite signal while continuing to scan and decode OTA signal.

lumis, dishes are cheap and one day you might want the service. You might also try the manufacturer's support to see if there is a way to scan only the OTA signal.

[ybeard]

Maybe I'm missing something, but don't you still need to have an over the air external antenna to hook into this receiver even if you did manage to somehow get it to stop scanning for the satellite??? If you have an HD tuner on your television, just hook up the external over the air antenna to it and be done with it. That's what I do on my satellite receiver, the same one you have acquired.

[Capt.Video]

Neuron, I stand corrected due to the fact I wasnt familiar with that specific piece of equipment.

It sounds as though it wants to fully initilize before it will do anything.

This one will be interesting to follow.

Sorry if I caused any confusion, it was done with the best of intentions.

Andrew

[painkiller]

Indeed, this should prove to be interesting.
I'd love to hear (find out) how well Lumis does with this setup.

Best of luck.

[lumis]

neuron2 hit the nail on the head.. thanks for clearing that up..

after messing with it for a while and looking through the manual available online i was unable to get it to go past the aquiring satellite signal screen..

i might try opening the box, but i doubt i'll actually tinker with anything.

i'm going to look in to purchasing a dish network dish 500 dish.. i'm sure i can find one pretty cheap from someone who didnt pay their bill or something.

from there i just need to mount it correctly and i've got a cheap hd setup..

my hdtv is just a "monitor", it wont actually decode digital singals.. only analog..

thanks for the help guys, and i'll let ya know how things go.

[BJ_M]

it is in the service (advanced menu) to stop it looking ....

i thought you can also stop it from the transponder selection menu ...

OR

plug it into a UPS and hook it up to a near by dish to you -- after it sets up , walk back to your place and plug the ups in ....

[funny guy]

The only way to get a Dish 811 receiver to display and decode local HD OTA broadcasts is to supply a satellite signal. You don't have to activate the receiver, but it must be constantly connected to the satellite signal. At least the last time I tried it that was how it was done, unless Dish has updated something in the software.

Or you can call Dish and check the R00 and S00 numbers you see on the TV screen and see if the receiver is tranferable.Then sell it on Ebay, these generally sell for $200 or more, and go buy a regular HD tuner.

[Supreme2k]

Too bad you don't live near me. I have about six dishes in my garage from getting them on and off from DN. When they'd have a Free Dish promo, I'd have it for a year, then switch to cable when they had a free 3-4 month promo.

[lumis]

BJ_M, do you know exactly where that is? i've looked all over and cant find anything to make it stop searching..

thanks for the offer supreme2k..

a friend of mine dropped off an old dish 500 dish at my house this morning before work, he said it works just fine.. it looks to be in pretty decent shape.. has 2 cables connected to couplers coming out of the dish arm.. so i'm guessing i just connect some coax to that and run it to the reciever.

so when i get home i'll give that a whirl..

anyone know how hard it is to install a dish network dish and get it aligned correctly?

[BJ_M]

it is pretty easy ... in fact just get it somewhat close in your situation ..

you have to switch to the right transponders then -- they will each show signal strenth and switch the strongest ones ..

[painkiller]

Lumis,

Perhaps you may find your answers within here?

http://www.dishdirect.com/dishnetwork/installation.asp


http://tech.dishnetwork.com/

http://ideamaster.com/budget/dishaim.htm

[Guy_Fawkes]

I have direct tv, with HD, the rabbit ears you bought won't five much success. I believe the local HD signals are UHF. I receive my local HD using a amplified indoor powered antenna. This can be bought at many local stores, best buy, circuit city or on line. Even when the Direct TV gets washed out in a storm the local HD comes in fine of this antenna

[sammie]

Not sure which model Dish receiver you have, but I checked my Direct TV HDTV receiver's manual and for that one you must get a sync/ initializtion first before the receiver will proceed to the regular menu. With that said the over the air digital and HD receiver does make for a really wow! picture on a good TV (high end but older Sony tube). We got a nice Pioneer plasma as a family gift for Christmas last year so the HD receiver is hooked up to that now, but I can't wait till you can buy reasonably priced OTA DTV set top boxes to use like you are trying to use the Dish receiver. At least around here the OTA HD/DTV signals blow away regular cable, and in most cases digital cable as well. (Not sure why on the digital cable? All I can figure out on the digital cable is the signal must be over compressed.)

Seconding the opinions on rabbit ears. You won't get much. Granted I live in a fairly remote part of Texas with all but 2 network stations 30+ miles away, but it took a good amplified antenna on a 28' mast to get a reasonable selection of signals.

[lumis]

well, i got around to installing the dish network dish 500 dish this saturday.. it went fairly well, just eyeballing it and talking over my mobile to my accomplice inside i was able to get a 123 signal strength.. easily aquiring the satellite signal and then did a local channel scan, picked up all my HD channels and it works pretty damned well.. another added bonus was that the HD reciever has 2 RCA inputs on the back, so i can hook up my ps2 and vcr to the back of it and only change channels on the HD reciever to access them instead of having to change the input on the television..

for only $40 (i spent about $20 on cable & a face plate coupler) and the dish donation from a friend i was able to get a pretty sweet & cheap HD setup going.. far cheaper than going out and purchasing the $200 HD reciever from wal-mart..

oh, and it also has a DVI output.. and for some reason i'm getting the NASA channel from dish network.. not that i'll watch it, unless i need something to put me to sleep..

thanks for all the help guys.

[painkiller]

Quick question for you, Lumis.

Can you tell me what kind (make & model) OTA antenna you have hooked up?

And what's your average distamce to your HDTV broadcasters?

Thanks.

[lumis]

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103086&tab=support

that's the antenna i have.. i have it mounted on my roof on a 5 foot mast..

i'm about 30 miles away from my HDTV broadcasters.

[painkiller]

Perfect. Highly similar to mine.
Thank you.

[vhelp]

@ lumis

Would it be too nervy of me to ask.. could you post a few pics of
your channels that you *do* get in, please ??

I miss my sat, but not the macroblocks it would produce (thanks
to DirecTV) But after two years w/out it, I miss all the channels
that I did get from it. Now, it sits in my living room, collecting
dust. I wish I could do something w/ my dish. Anyways.

Thanks,
-vhelp 3664

[lumis]

painkiller, no problem..

vhelp,

i'm not sure i follow.. you want me to get some screencaps of the hdtv channels i get in or what?

[vhelp]

No. I mean, pics from the AVI source (assuming you capture some, and
using vdub to pull pics from) ..sorry for the confusion

Again, thanks.

-vhelp 3665

[lumis]

i have a video capture card, but it's an ati all in wonder 9200 and only has analog inputs.. so the quality would be bad no matter what..

[vhelp]

fwiw, here are a coupld of pics w/ my antenna rig..





- SPECS -
** VCR: JVC S-VHS HR-S3910U
** ANTENNA: Model RCA-ANT200B w/ 25db gain
** CAPTURE DEVICE: ADVC-100
** PIC FORMAT: .PNG

The pics above were taken w/out putting any effort on the Antenna.
But, on some days, I get a little better reception.

-vhelp 3666

[vhelp]

forgive me for asking..

Regarding antennaweb.org and searching channels in my area ...

After visiting this site, I found many (to many to list) in my
line up. But I'm confused about some things.

Could someone explain to me what does 'degrees' means when
talking antenna and location, etc. please.

What are Good and Bad numbers when looking at my channel line up.

Thanks,
-vhelp 3667

[painkiller]

That's the direction to point your outside TV antenna in order for it to receive the best signal for that particular station.

If you have a rotator installed (and your TV antenna on it), then you twist a knob on the control unit inside your house to swing the antenna in the desired direction.

[redwudz]

Vhelp, you want to select just the digital stations. And if you have entered your street address, (You don't need any other info, just street address and zip code.) You should get the local HD stations listed. The color code is from strongest signal at your location to the weakest, top to bottom.

The degrees are referenced from true north. If you select the map, you should be able to orient it with your location. I would print out the map. Mine is upside down on the screen. I just turn the printed version around and line it up with true north and it points to the transmitters. Most city streets run N, S, E, W on true headings, so it should be easy to orient.

I have one station in red which I can't get with an indoor antenna. The others come in 80% signal or better. All the local transmitters are within a few degrees of each other. Unfortunately, there's not much of anything on worth watching. Most of the network stations are not in high resolution, just the public broadcasting one.