Direct TV changed FSNW?

[RobDeer 45]

I have Directv and live on the MN WI border so FSN North is my main channel. However when Brewers games are on they turn on the FSNWI feed and I get the game. The just switched where the channel is from 642 to 660 something. Anyway, since then I have not seen it in HD. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this? Or maybe knows what is going on. Any help would be appreciated.

 

EDIT: Please don't use excessive punctuation in subject line -- BtA

[2hoophead]

I have DISH, but to hopefully answer your question, the last scheduledFSN HD telecast was 8/3 and the next one is scheduled for 8/16

[RobDeer 45]

Ok, maybe it was just a lack of HD games here. I wonder why they have so many games in between HD broadcasts?

[MJLiverock]

DirecTV launched a new satellite this summer and will be adding another round of HD channels including some additional regional sports channels. A number of the existing channels have been moved around to accomodate the new channels and group some together. FSN WI has moved up to somewhere around 669 and 669-1 if I remember correctly but I know it is somewhere up in that area. I don't know if the channel is going full time just yet but I know DirecTV has commented that they plan on offering all the RSN's in HD.

 

I know the Big 10 Network HD also moved to 610. Living just outside Madison they also give me Comcast Sports Chicago HD as a local RSN and I know that moved off of 640 to 665. CBS College Sports HD is now on 613 I dont' know if it moved but I just had to had to my favorites list in the guide so it may have.

 

A few others like Noggin or the N have moved as well. I know ABC Family HD is launching soon and will be squeezed into that area of the channels. I think this Thursday, Aug. 14th, is the launch date.

 

check out this link for a complete list of the HD channels:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=103232&highlight=hd+channel+guide

[jhart05]

Yep, it is now Ch. 669.

 

But they still do not give it to Wisconsin people full time and have no plans to do it anytime soon.

 

I've had DirecTV for three years now. I'm sick of it. I'm in the process of switching back to cable.

 

A little bit of rain and my picture goes out, no FSN-WI full time, don't offer all the HBO channels, and they have the worst customer service I have ever delt with.

 

The only thing that has kept me with them this long, is that I got in when they still offered TiVo. I love my TiVo.

 

Anyone thinking of getting DirecTV, I would urge you to look elsewhere.

[RobDeer 45]

I have to disagree because of the quality hd programs and channels they offer. Yes, the signal goes out every once and awhile during a storm but that is only time to time and usually doesn't last long. But how can you live with out the NFL ticket. It might be the best thing ever created. I'm very happy with all the rsn channels too. I get all the baseball games from all those channels. It's pretty sweet. Anyway, here is to FSN getting more HD games going for us.

[MJLiverock]

Not trying to start a flame war jhart but my experience with DirecTV is just the opposite of yours. My signal has very rarely ever gone out, I am talking 1 or 2x a year for like 10 minutes. It all has to do with the aiming of the dish and the signal strength to begin with which can be affected by a nearby tree. Storms or rain fade rarely have any impact on my signal in either house I have had it at.

 

Everyone has to make their own choice about what works for them but customer service and the channel offerings as well as price and equipment blow anything Charter has out of the water and it isn't even close for me.

 

I know some like the old Tivo DVR but I run 3 of the new HR20's and they have worked great. Expanded hard drives were easy to hook up (huge capacity now over 150 hours of HD space per DVR), internet connected for on demand downloads and remote programming. I never used the suggestions function in Tivo otherwise all the other funcitionality is there.

 

The FSN-WI full time will be coming in the next year but I really don't miss it, other than the Brewer or Bucks games the channel is pretty much like all the other RSNs showing Best Damn Sports and whatever. I'll take the HD feed of the games and forego all the rest of it anytime.

[jhart05]

The only NFL I watch is Packer games. And I don't really care about the Big 10 network.

 

To each his own I guess.

[jhart05]

My signal has very rarely ever gone out, I am talking 1 or 2x a year for like 10 minutes. It all has to do with the aiming of the dish and the signal strength to begin with which can be affected by a nearby tree. Storms or rain fade rarely have any impact on my signal in either house I have had it at.

 

 

MJLiverock, when you get a chance, let me know what kind of signal strength you are getting, and where your dish is pointed. Send me a PM or something.

 

I would really like to figure out why my picture goes out with just a little bit of rain. I don't have any trees blocking anything.

 

 

 

The FSN-WI full time will be coming in the next year

 

Where have you heard this? All I ever get is the same bullcrap answers. I have received three different reasons why we don't get it.

[joepepsi]

I've had DirecTV for 5 years. My experience with their customer service has been fantastic. Yesterday I ordered my first DVR from them online. It's free "because I have been such a good customer". So is the installation as well as DVR lease fee of 4.99. We have had problems with the signal dropping out during bad rain storms--of which there have been plenty in the last year--and sometimes, a severe snowstorm. This is maddening, especially when the family blames me everytime it happens since I wanted DirecTV in the first place. We are getting the dishes adjusted in the next week or so; I am hopeful this has been much of the problem. The technician who added our second "local channel" dish was starting his first day on the job and mounted it right in front of the other dish. It seems like we've had more issues since then. Also trees have grown a bit in the last 5 years. May be time to move the dishes to a new location.

 

I like with DirecTV you can change programming instantly. This works really well online.

[jwill535]

During a rain storm, if your HD channel goes out, switch over to the analog channel, since they are on different satallites the analog sometimes works when the HD ones do not.

 

Another tip, if you want a HD DVR from DTV but only have one line run to where you want it, ask for a SWM8 switch. It allows you to only have to run one line to the box. I have two HD DVRs and another HD box and with the SWM8 only have one line run to each.

[MJLiverock]

I sent you a PM jhart05 and hopefully answered a few of your questions.

[1992casey]

MJLiverock, what details do you have about FSN-WI eventually becoming full-time?

[jhart05]

I don't have HD. Probably won't for a few more years.

 

My signal strength is in the 90s, and I don't have any trees blocking my signal.

 

My regular "poor-man's" picture will go out in a minor rain shower.

 

MJL, thanks for the help.

 

If anyone else has any suggestions about what you did to fix the picture problem in minor rain showers, I'd love to hear them.

 

 

 

The problems I've had with customer service...I call and get told one thing by them, then I can call back a few weeks later and get a different answer. "I don't know why that other customer service rep told you that, but that's not the case. So here's what you have to do." I've gotten that at least three times. Once is too many in my book.

[MJLiverock]

Yeah, that is the one beef I have had with the CSR's you can get different answers from each of them and many times I know more about the service or technology than they do and I am just a guy who likes TV.

 

As far as the full time FSN WI thing, DTV has said on a few occasions in press releases, trade shows, and investors reports they intend on getting all the RSNs signals out in HD and with Fox's announcement earlier this year that they intend to make all the RSN's full time HD (maybe next year?) I think it is very reasonable to think FSN WI will be a full time channel. One of the main impediments to the full time status has been capacity on the satellites but with the latest satellite being turned on in the last few weeks there is a lot of excess capacity. Think of last year when they launched a new satellite and the number of HD channels exploded and as much as I have read that satellite is still not running at full capacity. The new one will carry more local HD channels but even with that there is still a lot of room. DTV has historically used sports programming as it's main competitive tool and wants to keep that edge.

 

When some of the new HD channels turn on on Thursday (something like 30 channels) there will be a number of them dedicated to HD PPV but with the idea that they will eventually be converted to other HD channels as DTV signs agreements to distribute them and this still isn't going to use up all the capacity on the satellites. The HD PPV offerings will decline as more emphasis is put on the download feature of movies via the internet and the most popular movies they already load on the reserved space of the hard drives of the DVRs.

 

The SWM stuff jwil references is not available in all areas yet. I tried to get one in July but the installers said they haven't been trained on them yet and said he was shocked I even knew about it. I think the Chicago market has them and some of the other bigger cities for test marketing. It will be nice to run 1 wire for two tuner capability on the DVR's, especially in those rooms where a second wire is impossible or unsightly (my wife hates the exposed coaxial cable).

 

Jwill535, where did you get the SWM? I have been waiting to get my hands on one so I can return to dual tuner functionality in the main floor living room where 90% of my wife's recordings are done.

[logan82]

I almost never watch games live. I have to record games because of the shift I work. How well do DirectTV and Dish network record shows that are not on a regular channel? How well do Brewers' games get recorded without checking to make sure they are recording? If I was going to get either satellite provider I would have to be pretty sure that games would get recorded without having my wife check on it for me every night. I would absolutely hate to come home and find 1-2 games a week, strike that, 1-2 games a month, didn't get recorded because the game was on a different channel.

[MJLiverock]

The FSN WI games are always on the same channel on DirecTV although if there is an HD version of the broadcast it will be on 669-1, alll the SD games are on 669. The occasional WMLW game on Saturday nights usually has to be searched for as it gets carried on some random channel in the 600 or 700 level. I will say if you set the DVR to record the game you should check the end time as sometimes the game runs a little beyond the 3 hour block so you can "pad" the ending time and maybe catch a little of Yost's great post game comments.

 

I am not as familiar with Dish Network but I think they used to bump the channel around a little between 2 or 3 spots. Someone who has Dish will probably have to answer for that service.

[logan82]

MJLiverock wrote:

I will say if you set the DVR to record the game you should check the end time as sometimes the game runs a little beyond the 3 hour block so you can "pad" the ending time and maybe catch a little of Yost's great post game comments.

I currently have TiVo and record 4 1/2 hours per game which covers everything except the most extreme cases(rain delays and games that are longer than Sunday's game). That's good to know that I would most likely get all the games recorded. Weekends are not a problem because I am usually home. It is nice to know that I don't have to rush home to watch the game because it will be waiting though. Thank you for the information.

 

[jwill535]

I got it here, you need to get a 4 way switch(if you have more then two boxes) to go with it.

 

SWM8

 

Its pretty easy to install, you hook it up and switch the tuner type in the options to SWM. It only works with the new HD and DVR boxes(it explains it on the site). Oh and when you connect the one line, do not use the B-Band connectors(the little boxes) on the back of your box.

[JohnBriggs12]

I've had Directv since 2002 with HD service since February of this year. I've never given a thought to cable. It takes a pretty severe storm to knock out the signal (never for more than 20 minutes, usually less than 5). A heavy wet snow can also knock out the signal if it accumulates on the dish. Fortunately I can reach my dish with a broom so I just brush it off. Most of the time, if I lose the signal, I just switch over to my old antenna and watch over the air digital channels in HD until it comes back.

 

Back when I had cable, I remember losing service once or twice a year, having to call and then wait hours for service to be restored.

[jhart05]

Just following up...

 

I adjusted my dish last night, so now my signal strength is much better. I had several transponders registering below 60 signal strength, now nothing is below 80. We'll see if this fixes my "rain showers" problem.

 

 

Also, I have to say, I actually had a pretty good customer service experience today. I have an old R-10 w/TiVo. I see DirecTV has a deal right now for certain customers to upgrade their equipment for free. So I'm thinking of getting an R22 box, for the larger DVR space and access to their OnDemand stuff. Even thou I will loose some very cool TiVo features. So I email my questions and received a very good, well informed, explanation for a change. On top of that, they offered me FREE Showtime for the next 3 months.

 

So...maybe DirecTV isn't all that bad.

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Does anyone know if today's game is on Directv? I looked for it on the guide and couldn't find it?

[jhart05]

Regular DTV?

 

Should be on 669.

 

It was on my channel guide, I'm taping it.

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Yeah you're right, for some reason my favorite channels were put on, Fav. A, Fav. B... even though I never used them.

 

Thanks

[ManOfTheBeer]

I am not as familiar with Dish Network but I think they used to bump the channel around a little between 2 or 3 spots. Someone who has Dish will probably have to answer for that service.

Dish Network's DVR has no trouble adjusting recording times as long as it's on the same channel that the timer was set up for. I live in West Bend and have the regional sports package. Instead of FSN Wisconsin, I get FSN North (Kent Hrbek and Vikings coverage all day? Awesome!). There are maybe 10 ALT channels for baseball games. I usually just have to find which one has the Brewers. All other games are blacked out in my area according to the message. I did get to watch a Royals pregame show the other day, so I have that going for me...