Some locals no longer available. "Moving" advice

[bamadoc]

As of 10:59 last night WTVA's NBC and ABC affiliate for Tupelo-Columbus MS was blocked on DTV due to a dispute. I'm thinking of "moving." Would the Memphis and or Birmgham spot beam reach Tupelo? If I "move", does it have to be an actual address or can I just make one up in the zip code I need?

 

[edisonprime]

I wouldn't recommend using an actual address. You never know if that address already has DirecTV or will get it later. Google map search an area for the locals you want; and pick a number between two housing numbers. Say as if there are houses 210 and 214 next to each other, pick 212. As far as will those locals work, I don't know, but I'm sure somebody here will, so just wait for an answer and be patient.

 

[ejb1980]

Both spotbeams should reach you just fine. It just matters which city you want. To be sure, what are your signals on satellite 99s, spotbeams 11 and 13, and satellite 103s, spotbeams 17 and 18? The first is Birmingham and the latter is Memphis spotbeams.

 

[Booboy]

I have Memphis locals in Tupelo area on directv, I moved years ago, they work fine

 

[bamadoc]

Both spotbeams should reach you just fine. It just matters which city you want. To be sure, what are your signals on satellite 99s, spotbeams 11 and 13, and satellite 103s, spotbeams 17 and 18? The first is Birmingham and the latter is Memphis spotbeams.

For 99s transponders 11 and 13, I got N/A for both. But on 99ca I got 94 and 90 and 99cb 86 and 93. For the satellite 103s transponder 17 and 18 I got 95 and 95 for both. For 103ca I got 88 and 89 and for 103cb I got N/A N/A. I'd rather have the Birmingham stations but the N/A has be confused because surely I should get some signal. I'm only 40 miles away from a county that is in the Birmingham locals area.

Any info based on the above would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bamadoc]

I have Memphis locals in Tupelo area on directv, I moved years ago, they work fine

Thanks for the info. I figured Memphis would work but wasn't sure about Birmingham, but I have to believe the Birmingham spot beam would work. I'm less than 40 miles from an address that is in the Birmingham DMA.

 

[ejb1980]

Thanks for the info. I figured Memphis would work but wasn't sure about Birmingham, but I have to believe the Birmingham spot beam would work. I'm less than 40 miles from an address that is in the Birmingham DMA.

I may have misunderstood the spreadsheet about the actual transponders. I would definitely think you're within range. I am "moved" well over 100 miles from the edge of the Boston DMA and they work fine. They do go out due to rain fade before the other channels but not enough to be a big deal.

 

[raoul5788]

For 99s transponders 11 and 13, I got N/A for both. But on 99ca I got 94 and 90 and 99cb 86 and 93. For the satellite 103s transponder 17 and 18 I got 95 and 95 for both. For 103ca I got 88 and 89 and for 103cb I got N/A N/A. I'd rather have the Birmingham stations but the N/A has be confused because surely I should get some signal. I'm only 40 miles away from a county that is in the Birmingham locals area.

Any info based on the above would be appreciated. Thanks!

Memphis is on 99s T2 and T4, not T11 and T13. Local hd channels are (mostly) on the satellites with the S after them. The CA or CB satellites carry the national channels.

 

[bamadoc]

Memphis is on 99s T2 and T4, not T11 and T13. Local hd channels are (mostly) on the satellites with the S after them. The CA or CB satellites carry the national channels.

Thanks. Would you happen to know the Birmingham HD satellite and transponder information?

 

[raoul5788]

Sorry, I screwed up. Birmingham AL is on 99s, 21 and 22. Memphis is on 103s 17 and 18.

 

[bamadoc]

Sorry, I screwed up. Birmingham AL is on 99s, 21 and 22. Memphis is on 103s 17 and 18.

No problem. It happens. Thank you for your help. I'll check these out when I get home tonight.

 

[ejb1980]

My head hurts - it seems we all messed those up, lol. Either way, just pick an address between two real address, call and tell them you moved there, brought your dish (or say there was one there), and everything works fine. Let them change the billing address, to reduce suspicion. you can change that back yourself online in a few days.

 

[Jw2016]

I wouldn't recommend using an actual address. You never know if that address already has DirecTV or will get it later. Google map search an area for the locals you want; and pick a number between two housing numbers. Say as if there are houses 210 and 214 next to each other, pick 212. As far as will those locals work, I don't know, but I'm sure somebody here will, so just wait for an answer and be patient.

Yep Google maps work great for finding a address that is not real address but close to one, not that I have ever done that. My not so real address qualifies for two sets of locals since my other city is a significantly viewed area. No way to pick the moved locals with an antenna so it's satellite only. This comes in real handy when the weather twits do wall to wall weather coverage for a rain shower 200 miles away and interrupt network programming. The other thing for me is I can watch my favorite NFL team from the other area and not have to buy Sunday Ticket which probably is getting close to $400 or more now. The only thing I lost was a PBS station that comes from extreme western Minnesota which is in the MPLS DMA but maybe does not qualify as significantly viewed but who cares. Also a local independent local is now in SD rather then HD which it is in the main locals for some unknown reason, but I have AM21 so I get it off-air and my local PBS plus their subchannels they have so no big deal. I do get a PBS in HD on the imported locals and my real locals I get off an AM21 which has all the subchannels in it's database. Just do your homework, the biggest thing as said was to be in the spotbeam. If your moved locals are in an significantly viewed area and the beam reaches you, it is nice. Changing service addy was easy, well the first time the CSR changed it, the imported local channels would not come in. She transferred me to tech support and they refreshed the guide and they finally came in. I think there is a very few significantly areas that Direct carries. The only other problem is if your receiver dies, they send the new receiver (unless they don't want it back if it's old) and the return shipping box to your service address so if you "moved" that's where it's going unless you can convince them to send it to your billing address, good luck with that!. I am not sure if all dead receivers trigger a auto truck roll, but have been told by tech support that they still cardboard box it so who the hell knows.

 

[ejb1980]

Yep Google maps work great for finding a address that is not real address but close to one, not that I have ever done that. My not so real address qualifies for two sets of locals since my other city is a significantly viewed area. No way to pick the moved locals with an antenna so it's satellite only. This comes in real handy when the weather twits do wall to wall weather coverage for a rain shower 200 miles away and interrupt network programming. The other thing for me is I can watch my favorite NFL team from the other area and not have to buy Sunday Ticket which probably is getting close to $400 or more now. The only thing I lost was a PBS station that comes from extreme western Minnesota which is in the MPLS DMA but maybe does not qualify as significantly viewed but who cares. Also a local independent local is now in SD rather then HD which it is in the main locals for some unknown reason, but I have AM21 so I get it off-air and my local PBS plus their subchannels they have so no big deal. I do get a PBS in HD on the imported locals and my real locals I get off an AM21 which has all the subchannels in it's database. Just do your homework, the biggest thing as said was to be in the spotbeam. If your moved locals are in an significantly viewed area and the beam reaches you, it is nice. Changing service addy was easy, well the first time the CSR changed it, the imported local channels would not come in. She transferred me to tech support and they refreshed the guide and they finally came in. I think there is a very few significantly areas that Direct carries. The only other problem is if your receiver dies, they send the new receiver (unless they don't want it back if it's old) and the return shipping box to your service address so if you "moved" that's where it's going unless you can convince them to send it to your billing address, good luck with that!. I am not sure if all dead receivers trigger a auto truck roll, but have been told by tech support that they still cardboard box it so who the hell knows.

The only SV channels for the Birmingham DMA is 1 county (Cleburne) that gets Atlanta NBC with the Birmingham locals. Memphis has no SV.

I found a sweet spot like you did - Windham Co VT. It's Boston DMA, but gets all VT channels, too. Burlington VT is an HD-only market so the SV locals are HD! I am only missing 2 of my home locals - WPTZ Plattsburgh, NY NBC and WCFE Plattsburgh PBS. Both come in fine OTA and have the subchannels in the AM21 database. Directv provides WNNE Hartford, VT NBC which is just a relay of WPTZ with it's own ID at the top of the hour. The Burlington DMA is severely lacking in locals, but Boston has all of the English and Spanish major networks in HD (except ion, but who cares because we have ch 305).

 

[bamadoc]

Thanks for all the replies. For Birmingham the transponder strength is 87 and 86? Is that a sufficient strength to get good reception? Sorry, but I'm totally ignorant in relation to this stuff. Memphis was a strong 95 on both transponders.

 

[ejb1980]

Thanks for all the replies. For Birmingham the transponder strength is 87 and 86? Is that a sufficient strength to get good reception? Sorry, but I'm totally ignorant in relation to this stuff. Memphis was a strong 95 on both transponders.

You're good to go.

 

[Jw2016]

Levels are just fine. I have seen posts where people had "moved" to an area 300 miles away thinking that they can get that cities locals, they did not fully understand spotbeams, how to check maps and signal levels.

Do your homework and you may have a surprise!. Wouldn't it be something in a few years that Dish or Direct put a GPS receiver in the LNB so the receiver knows exactly where it was?. Coordinates of your home locals and RSN's could be set to a certain lat/long and if you change service address to a "moved one" and the box stays put, it will say ah no and not allow it. I think both providers don't really give a crap anyway as long as you pay your bill.

 

[Jimbo]

Levels are just fine. I have seen posts where people had "moved" to an area 300 miles away thinking that they can get that cities locals, they did not fully understand spotbeams, how to check maps and signal levels.

Do your homework and you may have a surprise!. Wouldn't it be something in a few years that Dish or Direct put a GPS receiver in the LNB so the receiver knows exactly where it was?. Coordinates of your home locals and RSN's could be set to a certain lat/long and if you change service address to a "moved one" and the box stays put, it will say ah no and not allow it. I think both providers don't really give a crap anyway as long as you pay your bill.

Shhh...
Don't give them any ideas.
That actually wouldn't work too well, seeing they allow you to have recvrs at more than one location already, unless they were to allow multiple addresses on the account.

Many have recvrs at thier home and thier cottages at the same time and D* is fine with that.

 

[Jw2016]

Yeah that would never happen, too much involved. As mentioned before if you pay your bill on time they don't give a crap where you are. DirecTv is little more strict now with DNS but a post said it was very easy to get DNS stations to replace the disputed ones. On the other hand, they better be careful. Remember the Dish DNS fiasco, jeez I think they had five cities to serve as DNS channels and they were giving them to anyone no matter where they lived but that stopped when they were busted for doing it. When I had Dish a few years ago, I was able to get all those extra locals even though my locals were carried by Dish and did not have to "move" to a white area. Just called and they said great and turned them on. I applaud people who have to "move" due to poor local stations in their home market to much better ones in another DMA. Of course the limiting factor is the spotbeams, so you can't choose too far away.

 

[ejb1980]

Yeah that would never happen, too much involved. As mentioned before if you pay your bill on time they don't give a crap where you are. DirecTv is little more strict now with DNS but a post said it was very easy to get DNS stations to replace the disputed ones. On the other hand, they better be careful. Remember the Dish DNS fiasco, jeez I think they had five cities to serve as DNS channels and they were giving them to anyone no matter where they lived but that stopped when they were busted for doing it. When I had Dish a few years ago, I was able to get all those extra locals even though my locals were carried by Dish and did not have to "move" to a white area. Just called and they said great and turned them on. I applaud people who have to "move" due to poor local stations in their home market to much better ones in another DMA. Of course the limiting factor is the spotbeams, so you can't choose too far away.

When WHDH and WLVI (NBC and CW) Boston were in dispute for the past month, I applied for and got the DNS NBC and CW. It took less than 10 minutes. I even have another NBC affiliate in my Directv LIL lineup (WNNE from VT)! WHDH and WLVI have been back for a few days, and I still have the DNS. Choosing a place in the DMA you "move" to that is rural and as far away from the city/cities will increase your chances of getting the DNS since you only get them if you're not in OTA range.

I was a "Dish Sunday Ticket" viewer. I used to have Dish and would call in as needed to change my CBS and Fox affiliates for whatever games I wanted. Between the 5 cities, it was a good chance you could find what you're looking for. 2 affiliates in those 5 cities, the Superstation pack, before they dropped channels at whim, before there was HD to ruin - Dish wasn't all that bad. No locals via satellite, but I got them all and Montreal OTA in the good ol' analog days.

Now happily with Directv, I am "moved" to SE VT which gets my home locals (Burlington, VT) which aren't the best with only big 4 + 3 PBS affiliates AND Boston which has all the English/Spanish networks in HD. Boston is a 3.5 hour drive from my place, but their locals come in good enough, both spotbeams are in the 70s... They fade faster in heavy rain than the others, but it's not a big deal. It doesn't change my sports at all to "move" there. With the AM21, I am able to add the limited selection of local subchannels in the Burlington DMA. Since digital, the Montreal stations have all disappeared except CBC, TVA, SRC, and CTV but the conditions have to be right for them to be watchable. I hope Directv never cracks down on "moving" because it is one of the best things about it!