Dish vs Direct vs BHN

[bogusdata]

All, I've been reading this and other forums for several days now to try to decide whether I should go with DirectTV or Dish. I like the fact that DirectTV seems more commited to providing HD (supposedly launching some new satellites in '05) but I like the fact that I don't have to buy equipment or make a commitment with Dish. Then I hear about picture quality variations among receivers. Is the Dish 811 OK? Or is it better to go with DirectTV so that I can decide which receiver I want? Then I'm concerned about OTA reception. I gather that it's best to purchase my own antennae but which one (I'd only consider an attic install) and how many? I really want satellite but I'm tempted to just forego the headache and go with Bright House. I live in the Citrus Park area. If any of you live in this general area and have an acceptable set up I'd love to hear about it. Thanks in advance...

[mgd2win]

hey bogusdata,

I live near you in Westchase and I have D* with attic installation for the local OTA. I have 2 D* HD recievers, Hughes HTL-HD & Samsung TS-360. So I can only speak about this and I am extremly pleased with my quality of both the sat & OTA signals.

Grant it you will need antennas to get the HD locals if you have either sat system but you will be able to get all of the local HD's vs only some local HD's offered on BHN. FYI -- D* is launching new birds and will be providing all the local channels via HD by 2008. There is also a rumor if you live in the area of the new Verizon Fiber service that they will offer D* at some point in the future over the fiber.

As for the attic install it was fairly painless (now that it's cooler out) and not that expensive or hard to do. First I would look in your attic to get and idea of space you have available Then start looking around on the web or stores for antenna and purchase the largest one that will fit your space. For the best results you will need two antennas (probable) but you can always start with just the one VHF/UHF wideband and go from there. Might get lucky and pick up CBS 10 (digital 24) off the back side of the antenna, I did but the signal strength was a little lacking (due to my VHF/UHF ant size) so I had to go the 2 antenna path

There is alot of info on this site about OTA reception but if you ned more on the how to go about this or what you will need send me a PM

[Dknow]

As far as Dishnet's 811 goes it is a decent receiver. It locks onto the OTA HD channels so you don't experience break-ups and the HD PQ is stunning. The software is weak and the SD PQ isn't as good as most of D* receivers but you can't beat the price. One of the worst things about this receiver is that the software is such so that if you were to lose your signal due to rain fade, the receiver locks up and you can't even view your OTA channels. This could be fixed but right now it is definately a strike against. The D* receivers still allow you to channel surf even if the signal is lost. Also there is someting to be said for setting up your own OTA system and enjoying free HD. There's nothing quite like knowing that you could cancel service and still watch HD with 5.1 for free. Good luck