[Vision2020] KAYU, Time Warner, DirecTV, & DISH

[Kai Eiselein, editor]

I've had DirecTV for 10 years or so. In the early years, the signal was 
spotty during bad weather, but that seems to have been rectified. I 
occasionaly have to clear snow off the dish, but not often because I spray 
it with a non-stick cooking oil (like Pam) and the snow has a harder time 
sticking to it.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "g. crabtree" <jampot at roadrunner.com>
To: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at roadrunner.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 6:43 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] KAYU, Time Warner, DirecTV, & DISH


> Following the KAYU dispute, my wife switched us to Dish and for the most
> part it's been OK. Picture quality has not been the crisp digital image 
> that
> they advertise (we did not buy HD) but it's tolerable. Cable was better.
> Channel line up is good. More history and science. Weather hasn't been too
> much of a problem. We lost signal once due to snow fall but a quick 
> clearing
> off of the dish solved the problem. With that in mind I would be sure that
> the dish is installed somewhere you can reach with a broom. I can't 
> imagine
> that there isn't someplace on your property that you can't get a line of
> sight on a patch of southern sky so the install should be doable. I don't
> know what RTV is but my wife very much likes the features of the
> receiver/DVR that came with the Dish system. I never use it myself. As to
> signal splitting, I believe you must be able to. We have a second TV 
> slaved
> to one of the mains. Both sets have to view the same station. No hardship
> there. Hope something here helps.
>
> g
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at roadrunner.com>
> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:57 PM
> Subject: [Vision2020] KAYU, Time Warner, DirecTV, & DISH
>
>
>> Visionaries:
>>
>> After losing KAYU about a year ago, I think I've been more than patient,
>> as
>> Pat Kraut counseled waaayyyy back then.
>>
>> Time Warner has yet to be successful in their negotiations with KAYU. 
>> For
>> their most recent platitudes (11/21/2007), check out:
>> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Northwest/MoscowKAYU.html
>> I'm not interested in placing blame because there are always at least two
>> sides to every story.
>>
>> Coupled with their ongoing unacceptable intermittent delays and failures
>> with email sending and receiving, I'm about ready to jump ship.
>> Particularly since I figured out that if I jump to DirecTV or DISH, I'll
>> get
>> all the programming I pay for on *every* TV without exorbitant additional
>> monthly fees for each TV on top of already pretty steep monthly costs 
>> with
>> Time Warner.
>>
>> I've reread the discussions here on the Viz regarding the DirecTV & DISH
>> options we've got locally from back when KAYU and Time Warner reached
>> their
>> impasse, and I've contacted a person or two I know who use one option or
>> the
>> other.  Since more people have made the jump since that original
>> discussion
>> about a year ago, I'm wanting to revisit it, if anyone cares to share
>> their
>> thoughts & experiences.
>>
>> I've looked at the channel line-ups, so I'm fairly familiar with the
>> differences between the two.  Music "channels" matter not a rip to me,
>> and,
>> unfortunately for me (but luckily for my dh), neither DISH nor DirecTV
>> offers a "sports free" package option <sigh>.  Maybe I can use parental
>> controls to block the sports channels <g>.
>>
>> I am, however, very interested in local performance differences, if any,
>> between the two.  One of my concerns about making the jump is that we've
>> rarely experienced cable outages with Adelphia or Time Warner regardless
>> of
>> weather.  How often do those of you using DISH or DirecTV experience
>> outages
>> and how long do they typically last?  How was performance during our
>> recent
>> heavy snows?
>>
>> I'm also unclear about locating the dish itself.  We live in a single
>> family
>> home in an older residential neighborhood with lots of trees -- are the
>> trees likely to be a problem?
>>
>> I know this is a long shot, but if anyone uses ReplayTV (the
>> better-than-TiVo-option) units, I'm particularly interested in any
>> comments
>> about your experiences.
>>
>> I'm especially curious about the outputs on the standard receivers (we
>> have
>> no need for DVR capabilities because we are die-hard RTV folks), 
>> something
>> I'm not having a lot of luck finding out.  For instance, for one of our
>> TVs,
>> the existing cable outlet services the TV and two separate RTV units
>> located
>> there -- is that kind of set-up possible with the DIRECTV or DISH
>> receivers?
>> Can the signal be "split" like cable can be split?
>>
>> I'll also be appreciative for any other comments folks care to share 
>> about
>> their experiences with non-Time Warner TV service.  I was hoping against
>> hope that perhaps FiOS has made it here since the last time I checked, 
>> but
>> it hasn't . . . maybe in a decade or so <sigh>
>>
>>
>> TIA,
>> Saundra Lund
>> Moscow, ID
>>
>> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
>> nothing.
>> ~ Edmund Burke
>>
>> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2007 through life
>> plus
>> 70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce
>> outside
>> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
>> author.*****
>>
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>
>
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
Kai Eiselein
Editor, Latah Eagle