Is there a workaround to make Dish equipment work with Direct tv?

[saganco]

I'm stuck for another year with direct tv unless I want to pay the early cancellation fees - but LOVED my dual tuner dvr from dish (direct tv's equipment is so much less impressive). Is there a workaround to make the dish unit work with my direct tv signal? If there is, could it be explained in a pretty NON technical way? Crossing my fingers...

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm stuck for another year with direct tv unless I want to pay the early cancellation fees - but LOVED my dual tuner dvr from dish (direct tv's equipment is so much less impressive). Is there a workaround to make the dish unit work with my direct tv signal? If there is, could it be explained in a pretty NON technical way? Crossing my fingers...

That is impossible. All the codes are proprietary, and the satellites are different. There are lot of significant differences in the two systems technically. If you were happy with you had before, why on earth did you change your service?

 

[saganco]

You know the saying "you never appreciate what you had till you lost it"? It was a cost thing (we thought...), we saved some money the first year, but they're going up a bunch for this month's bill, and that's just too much! The other reason we changed was that there was a channel hubby wanted that Dish doesn't have, but after a year, he hardly ever watches it anymore. But the best answer to your question of why - stupidity! It's called "stupid tax"...

I was really hoping there was something all these wonderfully intelligent audiophile geniuses could do...

 

[Amherst]

Even if you were able to break the encryption to be able to switch service-the signal is different and the lnb's on the dish are different. The set top boxes are also dialed into their particular satellites. No Hope.

 

[saganco]

Oh well, there was no harm in asking anyway. Thanks guys for your helpful answers.

 

[highfigh]

You know the saying "you never appreciate what you had till you lost it"? It was a cost thing (we thought...), we saved some money the first year, but they're going up a bunch for this month's bill, and that's just too much! The other reason we changed was that there was a channel hubby wanted that Dish doesn't have, but after a year, he hardly ever watches it anymore. But the best answer to your question of why - stupidity! It's called "stupid tax"...

I was really hoping there was something all these wonderfully intelligent audiophile geniuses could do...

Call and beat them up for a better price. Don't just sit there and get mad, tell them you'll leave if you don't get a better price. Don't scream and yell, just tell them "It's just TV. It's not a life-altering event, so if I have to switch to another provider, it's no big deal to me".

That got me 3 months of free HBO channels and it knocked off close to $30/month.

 

[highfigh]

I'm stuck for another year with direct tv unless I want to pay the early cancellation fees - but LOVED my dual tuner dvr from dish (direct tv's equipment is so much less impressive). Is there a workaround to make the dish unit work with my direct tv signal? If there is, could it be explained in a pretty NON technical way? Crossing my fingers...

How is it less impressive? The DirecTV DVR doesn't have dual tuner outputs but that's about the only difference I can think of. The loop button works the same way, the video quality is fine and the sound is much better than what I ever had with Time Warner receivers.

Altering secure communications equipment owned by someone else is illegal. If you were leasing something to someone, I'm sure you'd have a big problem with the lessees messing with your property. It's not "your" DirecTV signal, it's theirs.

 

[saganco]

No, I own my own dish equipment - unlike stupid DTV where they "sell" you the equipment and then want it back (or else...) - I actually bought and kept my own dish equipment. The inferior comment is the quality of the lovely "rented" equipment - it's buggy as heck, but if I replace the stupid thing, they start the contract time all over again. If you doubt that, google it! But I do like your comments about "not life altering - it's just tv". That's much better than getting hot under the collar.

Thanks again for your help and comments.

 

[TLS Guy]

No, I own my own dish equipment - unlike stupid DTV where they "sell" you the equipment and then want it back (or else...) - I actually bought and kept my own dish equipment. The inferior comment is the quality of the lovely "rented" equipment - it's buggy as heck, but if I replace the stupid thing, they start the contract time all over again. If you doubt that, google it! But I do like your comments about "not life altering - it's just tv". That's much better than getting hot under the collar.

Thanks again for your help and comments.

I have Direct TV here. Direct TV equipment has no tolerance to over under voltage, especially under voltage. This is what makes it buggy and fail. Powering Direct TV equipment from a battery UPS is mandatory. It needs to support or shave voltage within tight limits in less then 5msec. Since using UPS in both my Direct TV installations, I have had no problems for several years, other than a hard drive failing in one unit, bit no more lockups etc.

You need something like this.

 

[highfigh]

No, I own my own dish equipment - unlike stupid DTV where they "sell" you the equipment and then want it back (or else...) - I actually bought and kept my own dish equipment. The inferior comment is the quality of the lovely "rented" equipment - it's buggy as heck, but if I replace the stupid thing, they start the contract time all over again. If you doubt that, google it! But I do like your comments about "not life altering - it's just tv". That's much better than getting hot under the collar.

Thanks again for your help and comments.

I had a DirecTV receiver die and they didn't re-start the contract. I also bit on the service plan for a while and when I asked about who actually owns the equipment, they said DirecTV does, so I threw the Time Warner example in his face and that's about the time I hauled out "It's not a life altering event..." and that I will switch if necessary. That's also when they decreased my monthly rate, removed the service plan and credited me for the time I was paying it.

 

[highfigh]

I have Direct TV here. Direct TV equipment has no tolerance to over under voltage, especially under voltage. This is what makes it buggy and fail. Powering Direct TV equipment from a battery UPS is mandatory. It needs to support or shave voltage within tight limits in less then 5msec. Since using UPS in both my Direct TV installations, I have had no problems for several years, other than a hard drive failing in one unit, bit no more lockups etc.

You need something like this.

I have one that sometimes kicks into Guided Setup when I turn it on, so I'll look into the UPS. It's not on a surge supressor like the others, and it's a definite possibility that the voltage is varying.

 

[saganco]

both of you have some great info. I won't be able to afford the UPS though, besides it's their crappy equipment, not mine. I'm still wanting to switch, so I think I will use highfigh's idea on talking to them, and if I fail, oh well - bye bye DTV! That's a conversation for later this week (when I have time).

 

[highfigh]

both of you have some great info. I won't be able to afford the UPS though, besides it's their crappy equipment, not mine. I'm still wanting to switch, so I think I will use highfigh's idea on talking to them, and if I fail, oh well - bye bye DTV! That's a conversation for later this week (when I have time).

A UPS doesn't need to be expensive.

 

[lsiberian]

A UPS doesn't need to be expensive.

Yeah they are cheap if you know where to look.

 

[saganco]

Glad to see that this thread has taken on it's own life. I'm getting my ducks in a row to call them later this week. If they would let me see copies of my bills it would be nice (didn't think I needed to keep them, too much paperwork around here as it is). But you can't see your old bills unless you sign up for paperless billing - and with their reputation for taking money out of your account without permission, I want to keep an eye on them. BUT, I may have to go ahead and sign up for paperless just to get the bills, then "unenroll" from paperless after I get the bills printed out. I want to see how much I paid for the receivers that I don't get to keep. Stupid company. Want some eye opening stuff? Google dtv and payments or cancellation (or something like that)...

 

[mtrycrafts]

..
I was really hoping there was something all these wonderfully intelligent audiophile geniuses could do...

Thanks for the great words but we do have our limits as well. If we didn't, I think we would be too busy working raking in the big $$$$

 

[highfigh]

Glad to see that this thread has taken on it's own life. I'm getting my ducks in a row to call them later this week. If they would let me see copies of my bills it would be nice (didn't think I needed to keep them, too much paperwork around here as it is). But you can't see your old bills unless you sign up for paperless billing - and with their reputation for taking money out of your account without permission, I want to keep an eye on them. BUT, I may have to go ahead and sign up for paperless just to get the bills, then "unenroll" from paperless after I get the bills printed out. I want to see how much I paid for the receivers that I don't get to keep. Stupid company. Want some eye opening stuff? Google dtv and payments or cancellation (or something like that)...

Paperless billing and automatic payment are two completely different things and if you don't sign up for auto pay, they can't touch it. I don't get many paper bills and have yet to be charged without my permission.

 

[saganco]

Yep, unfortunately hubby gave them the debit card number, but that's easily fixed by talking to the bank (worst case scenario, they cancel that card and issue a replacement that DTV doesn't have).