Dish Hopper compatibility with daily service address changes.

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Dick Zeiter

Dick Zeiter

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Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Posts
225
Location
Toledo Ohio
Dish Hopper compatibility with daily service address changes.

90% of our viewing is on major networks. Sometimes we want to record more than two (2) network programs).
Occasionally we want to also record 2-3 ?cable? channels at the same time as well.

10 PM is the most difficult time. Back in the day with E/W feeds this was not an issue (recorded two at 10 PM & two at 1 PM)

Dish Hopper sounds good on the surface but, we already have to stop early as it takes up to an hour to change locals when traveling (chat, check switch, accept download and Update schedule). Occasionally we have to go through it all again if the download fails.

What are the downsides of RVing with a Hopper and changing locals daily?
 
Get the Dish app on your phone.  Click a couple of buttons and your locals are changed.
My tailgater takes less than 10 minutes to find the satellites, then I get on the app, and within probably 20 minutes I'm watching local networks.
 
Old_Crow said:
Get the Dish app on your phone.  Click a couple of buttons and your locals are changed.
My tailgater takes less than 10 minutes to find the satellites, then I get on the app, and within probably 20 minutes I'm watching local networks.
Click to expand...

Don't have a smart phone. I use a desktop in the RV. More interested in Hopper info
 
Tech support told me changing locations is not yet available on the app for Hopper users. They also said to always select the tech support option to make the change. I?ve never had a failure to change locals when I?ve done this. Pretty hit and miss with the first level customer service people.

Tom
 
We have a hopper 3 with the Travler roof mount (and a Joey) because we record almost everything to watch later. Don?t like commercials ?. We are one of the ones who do not have the right type of account to use the app, so I always use chat with a saved script that I just have to plug in the new location on the Dish website. Takes maybe 5-10 minutes then another 5-10 for the locals to change.

As soon as they show as changed, I turn the receiver off and leave the TV on. This forces the program guide to download. Sometimes it will stop and start a couple times before reaching 100% (which is why I leave TV on to watch progress) but usually takes no more than 15 minutes.

So start to finish, 30-45 minutes, after satellite has locked on. Now sometimes that has taken awhile but that is another story. ? HTH

Vicki
 
I have been on Direct for many years and switching to Dish.  On Direct I have the DNS, but only SD, and that is going away at some p[oint in the next 2 years.  Did some research, came up with the Dish deal.  With the manual dish I could rock on in about 2 minutes. 
So I guess I won't be watching as quickly anymore...
 
I change my Dish locals frequently, although it's rarely daily since we generally stay in the same spot beam foot print for at least a couple of moves. The Android Dish app works fine for our Hopper changes, and when I use chat, it seldom takes more than 10-15 minutes for the updates. The most common failure we see using chat is that the CSR doesn't uncheck the default screen setting, and our billing address gets changed along with our service address change. That's simple to fix on our MyDish account though, so no direct recontact with Dish support is needed.
 
Why do I need a joey? Won't the hopper record the shows I want?
If it records four (4) main networks, how many "cable channels" will it also record at the same time?
 
Dick Zeiter said:
Why do I need a joey? Won't the hopper record the shows I want?
If it records four (4) main networks, how many "cable channels" will it also record at the same time?
Click to expand...

If you have a Hopper 3, it records a total of 16 channels plus up to 2 OTA channels. If you have the Primetime feature enabled, the big four channels are recorded during that period using a single tuner.
 
Dick Zeiter said:
Dish Hopper compatibility with daily service address changes.

90% of our viewing is on major networks. Sometimes we want to record more than two (2) network programs).
Occasionally we want to also record 2-3 ?cable? channels at the same time as well.

10 PM is the most difficult time. Back in the day with E/W feeds this was not an issue (recorded two at 10 PM & two at 1 PM)

Dish Hopper sounds good on the surface but, we already have to stop early as it takes up to an hour to change locals when traveling (chat, check switch, accept download and Update schedule). Occasionally we have to go through it all again if the download fails.

What are the downsides of RVing with a Hopper and changing locals daily?
Click to expand...

I don't know which Hopper model you have, but it looks like it's not a Hopper 3 if you don't have enough tuners to record your preferences. Have you tried setting your recordings to "Seek" instead of to specific channels? The programs will be found by name rather than channel. The "cable" channels often repeat programs in the wee small hours, and "Seek" will find them.
 
Dick Zeiter said:
Dish Hopper compatibility with daily service address changes.

90% of our viewing is on major networks. Sometimes we want to record more than two (2) network programs).
Occasionally we want to also record 2-3 ?cable? channels at the same time as well.

10 PM is the most difficult time. Back in the day with E/W feeds this was not an issue (recorded two at 10 PM & two at 1 PM)

Dish Hopper sounds good on the surface but, we already have to stop early as it takes up to an hour to change locals when traveling (chat, check switch, accept download and Update schedule). Occasionally we have to go through it all again if the download fails.

What are the downsides of RVing with a Hopper and changing locals daily?
Click to expand...
You may already know this, but just in case.  You don't have to change locals every time you move.  Just when you move out of a spot beam.  Here is a link to spot beam coverage:  https://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/index.php?page=dishnetworkmarkets&sub

Some of the western spot beams have extremely large coverage.  Denver covers just about the entire state of CO.  Portland, OR, in addition to covering all the state except for the far eastern border, it also covers WA to the far NW corner, into Vancouver BC, to within a hundred miles or so to Spokane, WA and 90-100 miles into northern CA. 
 
Be aware that the SatelliteGuys listings are no longer maintained and some are quite out of date now. There's been few spot beam changes though, so those are still pretty reliable. The most complete current locals listings and their satellite assignments are maintained by James Long's "The Uplink Activity Center".
 
>Be aware that the SatelliteGuys listings are no longer maintained and some are quite out of date now. There's been few spot beam changes though, so those are still pretty reliable. The most complete current locals listings and their satellite assignments are maintained by James Long's "The Uplink Activity Center".<

Thank you. When we travel we do 300-500 miles per day requiring almost a daily locals change.

My original question meant to read: Is a hopper good for me with so frequent locals changes? Or is it easier to stream the third 10 PM show later?
 
NY_Dutch said:
Be aware that the SatelliteGuys listings are no longer maintained and some are quite out of date now. There's been few spot beam changes though, so those are still pretty reliable. The most complete current locals listings and their satellite assignments are maintained by James Long's "The Uplink Activity Center".
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link.  I'll keep it handy so I can see what channels are on which satellite.

Do you know of an updated website which shows the coverage area of the spot beams?  Perhaps the coverage area at Satellite Guys is good enough, since I would expect that wouldn't change all that much.  How far from the spotbeam home city the signal extends, is the info most important to us as we travel.  We seldom stay in the cities and usually only change spot beams when we move out of the coverage.
 
AStravelers said:
Thanks for the link.  I'll keep it handy so I can see what channels are on which satellite.

Do you know of an updated website which shows the coverage area of the spot beams?  Perhaps the coverage area at Satellite Guys is good enough, since I would expect that wouldn't change all that much.  How far from the spotbeam home city the signal extends, is the info most important to us as we travel.  We seldom stay in the cities and usually only change spot beams when we move out of the coverage.
Click to expand...

I'd say stick with the SatelliteGuys maps for now since there's been little change to date. I sometimes use Google maps sat view to compare with the spot beams to get a better feel for the coverage area with roads and towns shown. As long as you're within the outer ring on the maps you should still get service, although the closer you are to the edges, the "iffier" it gets not surprisingly.
 
NY_Dutch said:
I'd say stick with the SatelliteGuys maps for now since there's been little change to date. ...............As long as you're within the outer ring on the maps you should still get service, although the closer you are to the edges, the "iffier" it gets not surprisingly.
Click to expand...
Yep "iffier" is right.  We have been on the fringes of the spot beam and could not get the HD signal, but the SD (Standard Definition) worked fine.  We were OK with that for an evening. 
 
AStravelers said:
Yep "iffier" is right.  We have been on the fringes of the spot beam and could not get the HD signal, but the SD (Standard Definition) worked fine.  We were OK with that for an evening. 
Click to expand...

Our experience has been the same, and it's certainly a factor in deciding when to change to another spot beam location.
 
Dick Zeiter said:
>Be aware that the SatelliteGuys listings are no longer maintained and some are quite out of date now. There's been few spot beam changes though, so those are still pretty reliable. The most complete current locals listings and their satellite assignments are maintained by James Long's "The Uplink Activity Center".<

Thank you. When we travel we do 300-500 miles per day requiring almost a daily locals change.

My original question meant to read: Is a hopper good for me with so frequent locals changes? Or is it easier to stream the third 10 PM show later?
Click to expand...

I missed your reply the other day, Dick. My apologies...

We change locals daily quite often with our Hopper, so I have our big 4 network station recordings set for "Seek" instead of by channels from the program guide. The "Seek" function finds the programs by name instead of channel, and will even record them from OTA if available. A downside is that multiple copies of the same program may be recorded if it's repeated later on, but using timer settings like "HD only", "New only", etc., can minimize that.  The "cable" channels don't change channels of course, so they're not a problem.
 
We just recently upgraded our satellite setup from a portable Pathways II system with 211 receiver to a Traveler system on the roof with two Hoppers. So far we have not had success through the app, but we just got DISH to categorize one of the Hoppers correctly so hopefully it works the next time we move. The regular DMS was a show-stopper for me since it didn?t include PBS. I absolutely couldn?t survive without my PBS.
 
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