HOME	SATELLITE RECEIVERS	SITE MAP	ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS

"HOW TO" INSTALLATION:

EXAMPLE ONE - Multi TV hookup on single receiver which allows simultaneous viewing of local or satellite on different TV's, along with the capability of viewing satellite while taping local & vice versa. This is probably the most complex of arrangements.

EXAMPLE TWO - A simple diplexer hookup, and how you can bring in both a local antenna feed, along with the signal from the satellite dish, on a single coax.

EXAMPLE THREE - How a multiswitch is used when a household requires more than two receivers. The simple diagram shows hookups for four separate receivers.

EXAMPLE FOUR - How a multi dish system is hooked up.  For a complete instruction manual on hooking up a multi dish system, we have provided each chapter in .PDF format.  If you do not have the necessary software, we have also provided you with the link for ADOBE ACROBAT READER.

EXAMPLE FIVE - Typical DISH 500 installation (in work)

Before.pdf - CHAPTER 2 - Before you start
Survey.pdf - CHAPTER 3 - Site Survey
Mount.pdf - CHAPTER 4 - Mounting the Satellite Dish
Ground.pdf - CHAPTER 5 - Grounding, Wiring, & Aiming the dish
Swaj.pdf - CHAPTER 6 - Switch Installation
Wiring.pdf - CHAPTER 7 - Wiring Diagrams
Appendix.pdf CHAPTER A - Appendix

Download this program (zipcode32.exe) for a working calculator of the Dish Network's "Point Dish and Signal Strength" meter which shows all FOUR orbital slots and setup routine for the new Dish500. Simply enter your zip code to find out the azimuth (direction) and elevation for your area.

NEW!
There is now another version of this program available which shows all the satellites:
61.5 - 105 - 110 - 119 - 121 - 148
Zipped version dishont.zip (345kb)                unzipped dishpnt.exe (1080kb)

PROBLEMS WITH YOUR RECEIVER?

There is a way to corrupt the flash memory in your receiver using a "secret" screen. Doing this will cause the entire system to be reloaded. To access the special area, go to the diagnostics menu in your guide ( this can be accessed by pressing MENU-6-3 on your remote ).

Once on the SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS PAGE, press these buttons in sequential order on your REMOTE:

INFO
BROWSE
THEME

This will enter your system into the MEMORY DUMP AND DEVICE STATUS page. Pressing the

TV/VIDEO

button on your remote will cause the main dump to be active...simply press OK and shut off your receiver ON THE FRONT PANEL button for a hard boot. CAUTION: This will erase all special guides, ratings etc. that you have customized for yourself (It won't erase the Pay-Per-Views that you have stored...sorry). This will do a full reset and reload all flash memory back into your system.

COMMON PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS:

I HOOKED UP MY OFF-AIR ANTENNA AND CANNOT RECEIVE ANY UHF (CHANNELS 14-83), THE VHF (CHANNELS 2-13)COMES IN FINE. THERE ARE UHF CHANNELS IN MY LOCAL AREA.
THIS IS USUALLY CAUSED BY THE ACTUAL TV SETUP. MANY OF THE NEWER TV STYLES HAVE SELECTIONS TO CHOOSE WHAT TYPE OF INPUT THE TV SHOULD USE. TYPICALLY THE SELECTIONS ARE LABELED "CABLE" & "ANT". IF YOUR TV HAS "CABLE" SELECTED, IT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TUNE UHF SIGNALS. SIMPLY SELECT "ANT", OR ANY OTHER INPUT SELECTION.

MY TV HAS A SVHS (S-VIDEO) INPUT, BUT I CAN'T FIND THE PICTURE.
SOME TELEVISIONS HAVE ALTERNATE VIDEO SELECTIONS, TYPICALLY VIDEO-1 WILL BE THE S-VIDEO SOURCE. SOME BRANDS USE UPPER CHANNELS SUCH AS CH. 90 FOR THE S-VIDEO SOURCE. IF YOUR TV HAS THIS STYLE, YOU MAY HAVE TO MOVE THE VCR SELECT FROM CHANNEL 91 TO 92. THIS IS DUE TO CHANNEL 90 & 91 BOTH SHARING THE SAME AUDIO SOURCE. WE HAVE FOUND THIS MOST COMMON WITH RCA BRAND TELEVISIONS.

DO I HAVE TO HAVE THE RECEIVER HOOKED TO THE PHONE LINE?
THIS DEPENDS ON YOUR HOOKUP AND VIEWING HABITS. IF YOUR HOUSEHOLD ONLY HAS ONE RECEIVER, WE RECOMMEND IT NOT TO BE HOOKED TO A PHONE LINE UNLESS YOU HAVE PROPER SURGE PROTECTIONS, AS TELEPHONE LINES CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE. WITH A SINGLE RECEIVER HOUSEHOLD, THE ONLY REASON A PHONE LINE SHOULD BE HOOKED UP IS FOR PAY-PER-VIEW BILLING. YOU CAN STILL WATCH PAY-PER-VIEWS, THE PHONE LINE CONNECTIONS IS ONLY FOR BILLING PURPOSES. SIMPLY HOOK THE RECEIVER UP TO A PHONE LINE, TURN OFF THE RECEIVER FROM THE FRONT PANEL, AND THE RECEIVER SHOULD CALL OUT WITHIN 5 MINUTES.
FOR HOUSEHOLDS USING MORE THAN ONE RECEIVER, THE PHONE HOOKUP IS MANDATORY. DISH NETWORK MAY ACTUALLY DEACTIVATE YOUR RECEIVERS IF THEY CANNOT DETERMINE THAT BOTH UNITS ARE IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD.

CAN I JUST PURCHASE A UHF REMOTE FOR MY 301 (OR 3900/3700) RECEIVER AND BE ABLE TO USE IT ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE?
NOT WITHOUT ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS.  AN INFRARED STYLE SATELLITE RECEIVER (SUCH AS A 301 OR 3000 SERIES) WILL ONLY SUPPORT AN I/R REMOTE'S FUNCTIONS.  A UHF STYLE REMOTE WILL WORK ON THESE RECEIVERS, BUT ONLY "LINE OF SIGHT" AND NOT IN ANOTHER ROOM.  IF YOU WANT TO USE A UHF STYLE REMOTE TO CONTROL YOUR I/R RECEIVER THROUGHOUT YOUR HOME, YOU'LL NEED SOMETHING KNOWN AS A "I/R TO UHF UPGRADE KIT", WHICH IS FEATURED ON OUR ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS PAGE. 

I HAVE A CABIN, CAN'T I SIMPLY KEEP AN EXTRA RECEIVER UP THERE, AND JUST TAKE MY SMARTCARD WITH ME TO ACTIVATE THE CABIN'S RECEIVER WITH THE PROGRAMMING I HAVE IN MY HOME?
NO, THE SMARTCARD NUMBER IS MATCHED TO THE SPECIFIC RECEIVER, IF YOU INSERT THE SMARTCARD IN A DIFFERENT RECEIVER YOU WILL GET AN ERROR, AND NO VIEWING WILL BE PERMITTED. YOUR BEST BET IS TO SET UP YOUR RECEIVER WITH COAXIAL "QUICK-DISCONNECTS", ALLOWING FASTER REMOVAL & INSTALLATION.

IF I HAVE TWO UHF RECEIVERS IN THE SAME HOUSE BOTH WITH UHF REMOTES, CAN THEY BE PROGRAMMED NOT TO INTERFERE WITH EACH OTHER?
YES, YOU CAN ASSIGN UP TO 16 DIFFERENT CODES. TO DO THIS PRESS THE MENU BUTTON ON THE REMOTE, THEN 6-1-3. YOUR REMOTE ADDRESS SHOULD BE DISPLAYED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE TV SCREEN. WITH YOUR REMOTE CONTROL ON "SAT" PRESS THE ADDRESS SWITCH, THEN PRESS THE DESIRED NEW CODE (02-16) PRESS ADDRESS AGAIN, THEN PRESS THE RED RECORD BUTTON LOCATED AT THE VCR PORTION OF THE REMOTE. YOUR NEW REMOTE ADDRESS SHOULD NOW BE DISPLAYED ON THE TV SCREEN.

I JUST PURCHASED A 4900 (OR 501/508) RECEIVER & MY REMOTE DOES NOT WORK!
YOU MUST HAVE THE SMALL CHROME ANTENNA ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF THE RECEIVER ON THE 4000 & 5000 SERIES DUE TO THE FACT THE REMOTE CONTROL USES A UHF SIGNAL. THE SMALL ANTENNA SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM.

CAN I JUST BUY ANOTHER RECEIVER & MOVE THE SMARTCARD BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS FOR PROGRAMMING?
NO - THE SMARTCARDS ARE ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC RECEIVER AND WILL NOT WORK IN ANY OTHER SYSTEMS.

WHY CAN'T I SIMPLY BUY ANOTHER PRIMARY SYSTEM & USE THE RECEIVER AS A 2ND ROOM UNIT... IT'S CHEAPER & I'LL GET AN EXTRA DISH!
THIS HAS TO DO WITH THE PRICE STRUCTURES THAT DISH NETWORK IMPOSES DEALERS FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS VERSUS EXISTING ACCOUNTS.  IF A CUSTOMER PURCHASES A RECEIVER AT THE SYSTEM PRICE & ACTIVATES IT UNDER AN EXISTING ACCOUNT THEN WE THE DEALERS GET A SEVERE PENALTY (UP TO $300 PER UNIT) IMPOSED UPON US.  WHEN THIS HAPPENS WE MUST CHARGE BACK THE CUSTOMER FOR ANY LOSSES WE INCUR.  IT'S PRETTY MUCH THE SAME WAY AS CELLULAR PHONE CONTRACTS  OPERATE...IF YOU ARE A NEW USER YOU CAN GET A PHONE FOR ABOUT NOTHING, BUT IF YOU WANTED A NEW PHONE ON AN EXISTING ACCOUNT YOU WOULD PAY FULL PRICE.

WHY CAN'T I USE A SYSTEM FROM YOU GUYS JUST FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING (OR SKY ANGEL ONLY)?
THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE ANSWER IS SIMILAR TO THE ONE IN THE PREVIOUS QUESTION.  IF A CUSTOMER DOES NOT MEET THE MINIMUM PROGRAMMING REQUIREMENT (SEE INFO ON PRICE PAGE) THEN WE ARE NOT REIMBURSED FOR THE ACTUAL WHOLESALE COST.  THIS IS DUE TO THE PRODUCTION & DESIGN COSTS OF THE EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS OTHER FACTORS.  WE CANNOT SELL ANY SYSTEMS AT OUR DISCOUNTED PRICES TO ANYONE NOT SUBSCRIBING TO THE REQUIRED PROGRAMMING.  EVEN IF A CUSTOMER WAS WILLING TO PAY FULL PRICE FOR A SATELLITE SYSTEM JUST FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CHANNEL, WE COULD STILL LOSE MONEY ON THE SALE.  WE WILL SELL TO EVERYONE WHO WANTS ANY DISH NETWORK PROGRAMMING, BUT IF IT'S ONLY FOR SPECIFIC CHANNELS SUCH AS INTERNATIONAL ONLY... WE MUST ASK THAT YOU PAY FULL PRICE (MSRP).  ANY LOSSES BEYOND MSRP WE ARE WILLING TO ABSORB SO THAT WE MAY OFFER SERVICES TO ANYONE WHO WANTS IT.  

YOUR PRICES SEEM TOO CHEAP... ARE THEY NEW OR RECONDITIONED?
OUR SYSTEMS ARE BRAND NEW, TYPICALLY OUR STOCK ROTATES VERY FAST WE REORDER WEEKLY.  WE GET OUR SYSTEMS DIRECTLY FROM ECHOSPHERE & SUPPLIES FROM THE SAME PLACES THE LARGE CHAINS GET THEIRS. THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY, AND SINCE OUR STOCK ROTATES QUICKLY, SO YOU ARE ASSURED THE FRESHEST FROM THE FACTORY.  OCCASIONAL WE ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE SPECIAL OFFERS ON OLDER EQUIPMENT... WHEN THIS IS THE CASE THE ADVERTISEMENTS ARE CLEARLY MARKED AS REFURBISHED.  ANY PART OR RECEIVER WHICH IS NOT CLEARLY MARKED AS RECONDITIONED IS A NEW ITEM.

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR CONSUMERS

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DISH NETWORK VISIT THEM AT: http://www.dishnetwork.com
UPS GROUNDTRAK INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT: http://www.UPS.com/tracking/tracking.html
GENERAL FCC RULINGS  AND MEDIA BUREAU FACT SHEETS http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/
RECENT FCC RULING PROHIBITING RESTRICTIONS AGAINST HOMEOWNERS WANTING DBS :
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html
The ruling may also be viewed here.

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