For informative, interesting, alternative television;
news and programs not shown on regular network & cable TV...
2 very good channels are:
FreeSpeechTV
WorldLinkTV
They are available on Dish Network.
Info on digital satellite dish systems
- the monthly fees are usually less than cable, for the same number of
channels.
- Dish Network and DirectTV are 2 of the main providers in the U.S.
I highly recommend Dish Network.
DirectTV is owned by Time-Warner cable (the last time I checked), the
same company that owns many cable companies and cable television stations.
- the satellite dish needs a clear line-of-sight to the location of the
satellite in the sky. This seemed problematic for me at first, since
there are many trees around our house. But there was a satisfactory
location on the roof.
- local channels are not broadcast through the satellite
(except for some major metropolitan areas. if you live
in one of these, you may receive the local channels
through satellite broadcast for an extra fee).
Depending on your location and reception conditions, the local channels
can probably be picked up fairly well with a regular indoor tv antenna.
(you can switch between local channels and satellite channels by
using the tv/video (or however it is named) button on your remote).
- in order to be able to watch one channel while recording another
with your VCR, or to have 2 different channels playing at the
same time on different tvs (in different rooms for example),
you will need 2 receiver boxes (this may be done with a single dish)
There is an extra monthly fee, about $5, for receiving programming on
the 2nd box.
- Dish Network includes a program guide, with which you can scroll to see
what is showing on any channel at the current time, as well as being
able to see info on each program. This program guide does not include
your local channels. The guide allows you to scroll to future times,
however it seems very slow to load the future info, and for me this is not
worth the wait.
- the receiver boxes (the ones I have, at least) do not include an LED
display of which channel is currently tuned to, as cable boxes sometimes
do. This initially took me some getting used to. However, one can always
press the info button on the remote. This will display the channel number
as well as the name and description of what is currently showing on that
channel and its start and end times. This has turned out to be a lot more
useful than an LED channel number display.
- the Weather Channel will not include your local weather segments as it
does on cable. DishNet has a channel which shows your local weather
(similar to what you can get on the yahoo! weather website), however
the forecasts are not very accurate. Also, this channel cannot be
received with the 2800 receiver box.
- You can usually get a basic satellite system including installation
for free, if you sign up for programming. If you want special options
(such as getting 2 boxes like I did, including the 4922, which isn't
the basic box) it may cost you. However, you may still be able to get
that refunded if you decide to install the system yourself, and/or
if you sign up for a certain level of programming for a certain
length of time.
Check retailers for various specials. I got my system from
Satellite One.
- Supposedly in heavy rain or snow, your signal may fade. I've had
my system for more than 2 years, and haven't noticed this. There
have been a very few instances when the satellite signal was completely
lost (perhaps due to sunspots?), but this has always fixed itself within
a short period of time, or even by simply resetting (unplugging and
plugging back in) the receiver.
- For watching pay-per-view channels, you are supposed to keep the boxes
connected to a telephone line. However, with Dishnetwork, this is not
necessary if you do not watch pay-per-view programs.
You will need to temporarily connect each receiver box to a phone line
while initially installing it, for setup purposes.
My Setup (see diagram below)
-------------------------------
One (20 inch) satellite dish (Dish 500) on the roof, connected to 2
receiver boxes in the house.
The 2800 Dish Network box is a basic version and the 4922 box is a more
advanced version, which includes timers, etc.
The coaxial signal cables coming from outside the house (from the dish)
are connected inside through a surge protecter. The power cables
for the receiver boxes, the TV, VCR, and DVD are a also connected
to this surge protector.
One coaxial cable goes to the 2800 box, the other goes to the 4922 box.
The 2800 box is connected through a manual switch box to TV#1.
The 4922 box is connected to a VCR. (Only some boxes have the ability
to set timers for use with VCRs. The 4922 does and the 2800 doesn't.
If one was using the 2800 with a VCR, one would have to leave it
tuned to the channel which one wanted to record.)
The VCR has both coaxial output and video outputs, both of which can
either transmit signals from a video cassette, or the satellite.
The VCR's coaxial outputs are connected to TV #2 in another room.
The VCR's video outputs are connected to the manual switch box,
which in turn connects it to TV#1.
So, both TVs can use the VCR and can view the satellite channels
as well as local channels.
A DVD player is also connected through the manual switch box to TV#1.
In the following diagram, inputs are on top (and right) and outputs
are on the bottom. Connections are denoted by either 'X' or '+'.
X = A/V inputs/outputs (3 plugs on each end - Red & White for audio
and Yellow for video)
+ = coaxial inputs/outputs (2 different type cables are used, the
larger gauge one is used to connect the dish to the receiver
boxes, and the smaller gauge for the other coaxial connections).
*---------*
* Dish *
*(on Roof)*
*---------*
+ +
| | (2 separate coaxial cables from dish)
| |
+ +
ground block (outside, connected to ground)
+ +
| |
+ +
*-----------------------------------------*
* surge protector (inside) *
*-----------------------------------------*
+ +
| |
+ +
*----------* *----------*
* 2800 box * * 4922 box *
*----------* *----------*
X X
| | |--------------------
| X + |
| *------* *-----------------* |
| * DVD * * VCR * |
| *Player* *-----------------* |
| *------* X + |
| X | | |
| | |--------------- | |
X X X | |
*------------------------* | |
* manual switch box * | |
* (selects 1 output from * + |
* multiple inputs) * *---------------* |
*------------------------* * TV #2 * |
X * in other room * |
| * * |
| *---------------* |
| Indoor TV Antenna |
| (for local channels) |
| + |
X | |
*-------* + |
* * coaxial splitter |
* TV #1 * + + |
* *+------------- --------------------------------------|
*-------*
Notes:
Although not shown in the diagram, both receiver boxes include a coaxial
output connection, which allows one to connect them to older tv sets
which do not have a/v inputs.
The boxes also have a coaxial input which one can connect to an antenna
for the local channels. However, I get better reception by connecting my
antenna directly to the TV (and VCR) than by routing these cables through
the receiver boxes.
Also not shown on the diagram is that the VCR is mono, not stereo.
So for its mono a/v inputs, I had to combined the red&white (stereo)
jacks together with a connector. For the output, I did the reverse,
splitting the single signal into 2.
TV#2 also has an indoor antenna connected to it, which isn't shown
in the diagram. The antenna and satellite/VCR signals (both of which
come in on separate coaxial cables, are combined with a 2 way splitter
used in reverse. This sometimes causes slight interference (colored
spots can be seen when the picture is dark) but isn't a significant
problem for me.
The VCR can record both local and satellite channels.
For recording a local channel, the VCR timer is set with the input as
the local channel number.
For recording a satellite channel, the VCR timer is set with the input
as A/V (audio/video input). The way I do it, is to also set the 4922
box's timer separately, so that it will turn to the correct satellite
channel at the appropriate time. Alternatively, one could leave the
satellite receiver box tuned to the appropriate channel.
The receiver box also has an "IR Blaster" option which supposedly would
allow it to be programmed to send the recording start/stop signals to
the VCR, but I do not use this.
Because both receiver boxes are in the same room, and because of how
the 2800's default remote control works (even when the 2 remotes and
receiver boxes are set to separate addresses, the 2800 remote seems
to still send out a default signal which controls both boxes),
I had to get a different remote to use with the 2800 box. I got a
"One For All Cinema 7" "learning" remote, which can be programmed from
another remote - by temporarily setting the 4922's remote to a different
address, I was then able to program the learning remote for the 2800 box.
(This was cheaper than getting a 2nd DishNet remote of the type that
came with the 4922 box).
The 4922's remote has UHF capability, so its signals can pass through
walls. This makes it good for use from the other room with TV#2.
Page created Feb. 25, 2003.
Last updated Feb. 26, 2003.
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