Direct TV ... snow ... poof ... current signal strength: 42 ...

[welshTerrier2]

if you climb up really close to the peak of my house, and you bring a ladder with you and you're able to get one leg of the ladder to rest on one side of the peak and the other leg to rest on the other side and you can lean the ladder against the chimney, you can clean the snow off the Direct TV satellite dish with a snowbrush ... well, the roof is still covered with ice ... forget it ...

so, i went out and bought a really long, 3-section extension pole that's used to clean windows on tall buildings ... i'm heading out into the snowstorm to try to clear the dish ... of course, the procedure may need to be repeated multiple times throughout the night ...

you really have to admire how far technology has come ... kudos to the guy who invented the extension pole ...

[underpants]

1. Important question about Direct TV

First, that is a dish thingy right?

Second, do you get Comedy Central?

We may be moving to a neighborhood that doesn't have cable so I am curious.

[welshTerrier2]

2. answers

yes, it has a dish and a receiver ... the two main companies are Direct TV and the Dish Network ... Direct TV costs about $40 a month and around $50 with a movie package ... you pay $4.99 for each additional TV you hook up ... Tivo is an additional $4.99 per month ... they often run deals to get the equipment and installation for free or for very little money ...

and yes, you can get the Comedy Channel ...

i would not recommend satellite for your internet connection, however, because it's very expensive to setup ... if you can get it, go with DSL if you don't have cable ... i pay $30 a month for DSL with Verizon ...

satellite TV has a very high quality picture ... the bad weather outages are not that common although they are a pain ... i just did a comparison of digital cable to Direct TV ... no comparison ... Direct TV is about $30 a month cheaper ...

links ...
directv.com: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/index.dsp
direct tv total choice package (channel listings): http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/Packages_TotalChoice.dsp
dish network: http://www.thedishnetwork.com/
dish America's top 120 (channel listings): http://www.idishnetwork.com/programming_top120.php

[Sporadicus]

5. My Dish Experience

As to your first question, DirecTV is indeed a dish, as is Dish Network - which I got as soon as I found out that Rupert Murdoch was buying DirecTV. Second: yes, it's got Comedy Central and everything available on cable - including local broadcast channels in most areas. In all likelihood you'll get more basic channels with a satellite receiver than whatever's available from the cable company.

I've been a dish-head since the early '80s, when the dishes were huge mostrosities. In the 'good old days' I could pick up all the premium channels for free. That changed in the late '80s when first the premium channels then most of basic channels began scrambling their signals, requiring a descrambler. 'Fixes' to the descrambler to allow free viewing lasted only so long before being lost for good.

When I moved in the mid-'90s I installed a small dish. 'Fixes' were available for them too, but those were lost when I switched to Dish Network. I'd rather pay more for service, however, than put a dime in Murdoch's pocket.

Basic programming starts at $26.99 / month for 60 popular channels. I get the 'top 180' channels for $47.99 / month. Premium packages are ~$12 more per month - but that includes more movie channels than a cable company gives you. For instance, the Showtime package includes FLIX, The Movie Channel, Showtime East, The Sundance Channel, Showtime Beyond, The Movie Channel Extra, Showtime West, Showtime HDTV, Showtime Extreme, Showcase, and Showtime Too. I get The Movie Channel and the Encore movie channels already as part of the 'top 180' package.

Dish Network is also throwing in a free TiVo for new customers, but that adds about $5 / month to the bill. I like TiVo, though, because it's far superior to a VCR - and you can pause live TV if you miss something.

[underpants]

6. Thanks to both of you

:hi:

[Aiptasia]

3. funny how time warner, cox and adelphia own them all..

just like they own the cable companies. Remember when the airwaves used to be free?

[welshTerrier2]

4. TV update

yikes ... i went out there with my triple extension pole ready to pole vault over my house but noticed that there's no snow stuck to the dish at all ... none ...

the outage is being cause by the snow in the air ... it's blocking the signal from the satellite ... oh well, there's never anything worth watching anyway ...

[StClone]

7. Don't climb a ladder to clean snow!!!

Use a garden hose or a well-aimed bucket of hot water.

[denverbill]

8. Learn a lesson from Welshterrior2.

If you install a dish, if at all possible, install it in an easily accessible location if you are in a snow-prone area.

It's pretty rare that it gets obstructed badly enough to have to clean it off, but if it happens, it's nice if you don't have to be climbing around on your roof in a snowstorm to clean it off.

[welshTerrier2]

9. i asked Direct TV about this

when i was installing my dish, i asked them whether snow would be a problem ... i could have put the dish on a post in the ground ... they told me "the higher the better; snow is almost never a problem" ...

they were totally wrong ... lower is better as long as trees aren't in the way ...