Sony Bravia and Motionflow

[fsense]

I would like to offer a hurrah for DISH.
<<snip>>
I am a big confused on the "be a much lower angle for HD. " I am under the impression that they - all video source and XM but not Sirrus - use Geo synchronous satellites. They all MUST be exactly at the equator, exactly 23,700 miles up (or close to that number). So I am not sure how HD could be lower? Perhaps a bit east or west of standard, but always the same elevation relative to your latitude.

I'll leave it to others to explain the reasons, but having gone back and forth between DirecTV and Dish twice, I can tell you for sure that the Dish satellite we were pointed at was lower in the sky by several degrees from the DirecTV satellite. I have a dense woods to the south of the house and while the DirecTV sightline cleared the trees, the Dish sightline did not (pointed out to me by the installing technician). So, the Dish dish had to be moved to a different position with a clear sightline. We also noticed that rainstorms moving in from the south west created more and longer outages on Dish than on DirecTV (had them both hooked up at once for a short time). There could, of course, be multiple reasons for that difference, but I suspect the lower angle for the Dish satellite was partly the cause. And - the DirecTV receiver recovered much more quickly from loss of signal than the Dish receiver did. Also noticed that for SD satellite channels at least, the Dish picture had much more noticeable digital artifacts that degraded the picture somewhat.

[stevekaden]

I went to the DISH site, they have a satellite details page. I they are all specified to be in parked orbits, meaning they are Geosynchronous and must be directly over the equator. But they spread from (rounded) 60 (south of Bermuda), 110, 120, 150 (over the Pacific?) degrees west longitude.

Direct TV satellites are mostly about 90-110 degrees west longitude.

Thus, depending on your lattitude, you could be almost looking east, to west across the horizon - with DISH going considerably farther west.

That then would determine what got in the way, and be different for almost any different location we could discuss. In south texas, the dishes probably point close to straight up, and in Nothern Montana, very low.

I would guess you are living pretty far up north. That would mean the dish would have to point low, and the signals go through more atmosphere - or more succintly, more rain when it occurred. Also, it would be another, more detailed investigation to find out how much power - at what time - any particular satellite is putting out. I hear they adjust for storms etc. to get the maximum efficiency.

[fsense]

<<snip>>
I would guess you are living pretty far up north. That would mean the dish would have to point low, and the signals go through more atmosphere - or more succintly, more rain when it occurred. Also, it would be another, more detailed investigation to find out how much power - at what time - any particular satellite is putting out. I hear they adjust for storms etc. to get the maximum efficiency.

We're in North Carolina. I believe the installer said the satellite we were using was at an elevation of 38 degrees. The DirecTV satellite was something like 40-42 degrees. Last month I was on Prince Edward Island in Canada and the dishes there were pointed just about at the horizon.

[stevekaden]

North Carolina....well that explains the heavy rain. I'm in LA - I think only once in 5 years did I have a DISH problem with rain. Might have been the only time it rained. (Just Kidding!). But we don't get much.

In all this discussion of DISH...and satellites, I do always now recommend FiOS if available. The internet is just screaming fast (and not near what they are capable of), and while the set top box is disappointing (esp. the guide info), it is reliable, accessible from the web, and anything with a good signal give a good image. But, I can not compare even to my old DISH system as I now have new TVs so even my memory is invalid (if it ever was!).

[eliwhitney]

stevekaden . . .

Terrific " posts " re: positioning & definite technical differences / contrasts betwixt the two satellite outfits!

Very much appreciated.

Regards,

eli

p.s. - - - also agree with "FIOS" and their application of fiber-to-the-home in order to get the very fastest Service for surfing our Internet !

[Richard]

This link has all the original product warranties for Sony

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reId=10151

I looked at Computer Displays, Flat Panel Color TV and XBR LCD Color TV. There is no statement about the requiring an AC lightning/surge protector. This is the same standard boilerplate language for a limited warranty that I have been dealing with for 28 years. There are two gray areas that vary from manufacturer to manufacturer; is the warranty transferable and is the warranty limited to consumer applications versus commercial. Sony could care less as long as you can produce a valid dales receipt.

Back to the Sony Extended Warranty.

This is not administered by Sony and your contract is with Service Net Solutions, LLC, an extended warranty underwriter and services provider. It would be a misrepresentation to imply that the Sony Authorized Service Network will be handling the repair. Often times it will be but once the product is past the original Sony warranty, Service Net Solutions can select any electronics service company they wish for your repair whether they are Sony authorized or not. That is not the issue as much as the fact that Service Net Solutions, like any other extended warranty provider, will choose the service facility giving them the best labor rates, not necessarily the best service. Like any other extended warranty, buyer beware!

The link you provided states:

Service Plans include:
* Complete protection against unexpected, costly service bills
* Coverage on all Sony Consumer Electronics
* All covered parts and labor for the term of your Service Plan
* Lightning/surge protection
* 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year access to service representatives via our toll-free number

Moving over to the terms and conditions link
Power Surge and Spike: This service plan protects against operational failure of a covered product if a failure occurs while connected to a surge protector approved by the Underwriter

[eliwhitney]

Hi Richard . . .

Certainly never intended to cause you so much research or start such a 'fuss!'

In future, I'll be more specific in that I ONLY have / give Sony sets which always do have that added Service Net warranty for the (5) years .... and, even w/o same and in a locale that's never has a lot of problems regarding local lightning, I see no "disadvantage" to spending the $20 & having that Philips unit regardless ... their included "insurance" might be of use, come-to-that.

Home Owners' Policies are certainly of very little worth, because of the customary ~ ~ large deductible.

Thanks for investing all the effort! And, I'll be more careful of the wording hereafter!
eli

[runter]

Don't pay DISH TV their added fee for your local HD channels, obviously - just continue w/ your antenna. Sole disadvantage will be that you can not record them on the DISH TV set top box, of course.

Not true, Dishnet DVR's display local channels and program guilde as the satellite ones and can be recorded in a similar fashion.

[akirby]

Same for DirecTV. The only downside is if you need to rotate your antenna for different channels - that can't be done for unattended recording. My antenna stays put but I only use the OTA channels as a backup now. They came in handy during the Falcons game and Nascar race on Sunday when we had torrential rain.

[eliwhitney]

Hello runter -

Not true, Dishnet DVR's display local channels and program guilde as the satellite ones and can be recorded in a similar fashion.

BUT - the "key wording" IS that DISH TV charges additional for that ability on 'HD' currently ....

eli