HD TV

DishNetwork offers HD tv. It requires a 6 ft. dish pointed at satellite 61.5. You will pick up about 8 HD channels. (National Geographic, some HBO's & Showtimes, and I t hink TBS). We are on the edge of the footprint for HD on this satellite. You will need to purchase all the equipment (dish, pole, receivers, etc.). Your monthly programming will be through DishNetwork. Which island are you on?

I'm on STT. Thanks for the info.

How many channels in all(video & music), What is the monthly cost?
Are you sure about the dish size?
I set up a system on a boat last week & worked great even though the boat was all over the place (at anchor).
I don`t know the dish size as it was covered in the gyro enclosure.these antennas can only accommodate a small amount of pointing error before it being unable to communicate with the satellite
I have a large screen LCD & a surround sound, I was kinda waiting for someone to buy out Jeffy Prosser Innovative & do it right (HDTV)!
Imagine HDTV, True high speed cable Internet, & reasonable(until they get their first WAPA bill anyway).
Dun

Yep dish size is correct - we were told you need the 4' and the 6' dish, so for us the 8 channels of HD was not worth having to have both so just went with the 4' dish (unless they have changed it since we switched from cable approx 6-8 months back)

Pia

On sat 110 you can get TNT, ESPN, HBO, SHOWE, HD net, HD theatre, HD net movie
On sat 61.5
Starz, Foodnetwork, TBS, HGTV, Nat. Geo, ESPN2, History, NFL network, NBA league pass, NHL Center Ice

All in HD

Several other channels are on 61.5 but....... There are 2 satellites in the 61.5 orbital position. We only see one due to the footprint.

The VIP722 dual DVR is incredible. 355hrs of recording standard def and about 50 hrs of HD. You can also hook up any external harddrive and store seasons of your favorites and/or movies.

Disclosure: I am an authorized Dishnetwork retailer.

How much does the satellite cost?
The last time I looked into it, they weren't free like in the states. I'm wondering if the cost has come down any?

I only service STX and systems start with a 4 foot dish and 2 receivers for $600

what do i need for TIVO

Tivo is a brand of PVR (Personal Video Recorder). While the Tivo brand will work with any Dish receiver in SD (Standard Definition), it will not record HD from Dish.

Dish has their own PVR which is built in to their HD receivers. If you want to record HD you should order a ViP 612, ViP 622 or ViP 722 from Dish depending on your needs.

Check out
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/receivers/index.shtml

Is anybody there using DirecTV? I recall from digging in their forums that service is supposedly offered in STX (possibly through the Puerto Rico operation.) Does DirecTV actually exist in STX and if so can you get HD?

Only DirecTV Latin America is available here. Not the same as the US.

HD TV is highly over rated. The often marginal reception makes the increased programming cost seem stupid.

At this time the HD TV audience is rather insignificant. Most people are not interested or do not have the proper equipment.

It is just another way of milking money from the great unwashed.

Maybe but isn't it the case that about this time next year the only U.S. programming available will be HD-based? How's that going to work for those with dishes and standard definition?

Tech experts please help me here.

HD (high definition) is not the same as digital signal.

old tv sets receive an analog signal ,the new signal next year will be digital. That in itself does not make it high definition.

Yes, older analog sets will require modification to receive the newer digital signal. However most providers, cabel. etc will arrange for their customers to receive the proper signal.

My post was only my opinion that the high definition picture that I have seen is not much improvement on the sharp clear signal you can get on any modern flat screen tv.

"My post was only my opinion that the high definition picture that I have seen is not much improvement on the sharp clear signal you can get on any modern flat screen tv."

I am assuming you mean in the USVI.

Until you asked I hadn't thought about it but yes digital broadcast and HD are not synonymous. A HD broadcast is digital but a digital broadcast technically doesn't have to be HD. However I'm not aware of any digital broadcasts here in the CONUS that aren't HD.

Also regarding the cable companies there will indeed be an option for older analog sets but it is a separate converter box. Don't know if they will be sold primarily for purchase (which would probably be so expensive as to almost necessitate an upgrade of a TV instead) or if the cable providers primarily plan to lease them to customers alongside their STBs.

Boy I hope HD quality isn't that disappointing in STX. As long as you have proper cables / connections for HD and a capable unit for display there is typically a demonstrable difference in quality here in CONUS.

Let me see if I can shed some light on this subject.
First of all the requirement that all channels go digital has nothing to do with HD. Just won't be able to get the analog signals so an analog tuner will become useless. Most people already have a digital tuner via satellite receiver or digital cable box.

To quote Ms information:
"HD TV is highly over rated. The often marginal reception makes the increased programming cost seem stupid. "
"My post was only my opinion that the high definition picture that I have seen is not much improvement on the sharp clear signal you can get on any modern flat screen tv."
Marginal reception? What does that refer too?
If you are watching an HD channel and not seeing much difference there could be many reasons. The interface cables from the receiver or DVD player must be HD compatable. HDMI or Component. The input you plug into on the monitor must be the correct one. And the show is best if filmed in HD format instead of older shows being converted to HD. Some people have the settings wrong on the TV or tuner . 1080i, 1080p, 720i, aspect ratio etc....
If you have "marginal reception" you have a problem with either dish size, bad lnb, connection, too long of cable run, tree in the way, mispointed dish....................

A good "visual" of the difference in clarity is the fact that a Dishnetwork VIP722DVR has a harddrive that you can record to. In standard defenition it will hold 350 hrs of programming. In HD it will hold only 50 hrs. Huge difference!!
Also with the 722DVR you can download via usb to ANY external harddrive. Save your favorite movies or entire seaons of your favorite shows.

As for the cost of the digital convertor for analog TVs see this link. You should get a $40 rebate from Uncle Sam.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html

The term CONUS is for continental united states beam. This means for the most part the satellite "energy" is focused on the mainland. We are outside that "footprint" hence the larger antenna (dish). With the proper system installed you can get pretty much anything that's available in the states. For HD channels you'll require more than one dish to get acceptable signal quality.

Hope this helps!

You said: "Boy I hope HD quality isn't that disappointing in STX"

If quality of HD TV is going to disappoint you, you might want to reconsider a move to the USVI! 😉

Hey I just have to be sure I can see my football team play! My wife on the other hand would probably be happiest if i can't....

Over rated? Where? The VI's? Well maybe there but not here on the mainland.

Not over rated at all.

I like HD, what little we get via Dish down here. I get 3 stations in SD ATSC digital from Puerto Rico via my outside TV antenna. The biggest disappointment is that you can't get the networks in HD except for the C-Band feeds off of Galaxy 25 and 26 for ABC and CBS.

Just watch Discovery HD Theater for a while and tell me that HD isn't better than SD.

All American Direct, the company that supplies us our networks from Atlanta and San Fran. says they will be HD in about 6 months. We'll see.

I was told six months ago that the only true HD (1080p) signals are over the air.
Satellite and cable are only 720P or less signals.
And that the "HD" satellite receiver or cable box is only upconverting. Just like an upconverting dvd player.
It is taking the satellite or cable feed and expanding the signal to 1080p by inserting what colors it thinks should be in the new pixel spaces.

SkysTheLimit,
I have the networks package from AllAmericanDirect so I hope that you are right about the HD feeds.

An interesting thing that I noticed when this whole networks vs locals thing occurred a year ago is that Dish offers a locals package for Puerto Rico but not the US Virgin Islands. The PR locals package is on a spotbeam for the Caribbean so it is the strongest transponder that we receive.

When I asked for the PR locals package I was told that we were not eligible in the USVI and have to go to AllAmericanDirect (www.MyDistantNetworks.com). The funny thing is that the PR locals include NBC and CBS from St Thomas USVI and only ABC from PR. WVXF is the CBS station in the package and WVGN is the NBC station in the package. That makes sense, we don't qualify for our own networks.