TVG and Dish Network

[JimG]

Folks,

I am thinking about getting Dish Network pretty much for the sole purpose of being able to watch TVG. My wife and I also will hook up 2 televisions and watch channels encompassed in the "Top 50". Unfortunately local channels will still have to be had through cable for me but at a small monthly rate.

My question...for anyone that has converted to the satellite..is getting TVG worth it? are there any downsides to dish versus cable. Do you recommend buying equipment or renting equipment that includes a service plan.

I apologize PA and everyone else for putting this here...but I do value the opinion of the horseplayers here and wanted everyone to see and hopefully get some feedback. Thanks in advance,


Jim

[cj]

Someone (Tom?) recently posted a similiar thread that got many responses. If you try a search for TVG or Dish Network, there were many good replies, most positive if I remember right. I no I haven't found any negatives with the dish yet in about 4 months that I've had it.

CJ

[JimG]

CJ,

Good suggestion. The kind of day I have had...no surprise I did not think of it. Thanks again.

Jim

[GR1@HTR]

Jim,

I pay something like $5 to get the local channels...A good value if you like the remote and don't want to get off the couch.

If you go to thier web site, you shouldn't have to pay for any equipment...Just sign a 1 year lease and you will prob end up paying anywhere from $30 to $50/month based on what programming you want.

Also I have the Fox Sports package ($5/month) to get all the Fox sports channels...I need to dump it cause I never watch it...

[Tom]

I've had it for about a three weeks - and I LOVE it. I got the 50 channel package at about $25 a month - they hooked it up in under an hours, and I can swittch from satellite to cabel to VCR to antennae from one remote.
TVG is very good. At first, I thought I would hate it becasue it didn't show noting but races, but die to total inability to wathc YouBet, I got it out of frustration. I now really enjoy the talking heads- they make it just like a TV program and it is entertaing.
They are funny, informative, and the races are plentiful enough.
the sat. reception is far superior to Time Warner cabel - hands down.
Best thing I did this year, and probably last year, too.

[andicap]

Originally posted by JimG
Folks,

I am thinking about getting Dish Network pretty much for the sole purpose of being able to watch TVG. My wife and I also will hook up 2 televisions and watch channels encompassed in the "Top 50". Unfortunately local channels will still have to be had through cable for me but at a small monthly rate.

My question...for anyone that has converted to the satellite..is getting TVG worth it? are there any downsides to dish versus cable. Do you recommend buying equipment or renting equipment that includes a service plan.

I apologize PA and everyone else for putting this here...but I do value the opinion of the horseplayers here and wanted everyone to see and hopefully get some feedback. Thanks in advance,


Jim

Jim, if you go ahead and buy it, tell me first. I can get you a discount on installation and a free month of programming.

[jay22@NOLA]

Jim,

I switched from digital cable to DISH over a year ago, and I have been satisfied. A couple of things to keep in mind. First, there will be some outages in your reception due to rain storms. This is an issue for me in New Orleans. Seems like I had a number of outages in the first two months, but not as many since.
Also, DISH set me up with an antenna for my local stations, because they didn't have a satellite option in our area. The reception is less than perfect.
As for TVG, you probably know not to plan on watching tracks like Gulfstream and Santa Anita, which aren't covered. Despite some criticisms, I think the anchors do a solid job.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by jay22@NOLA
Jim,The reception is less than perfect.


If you are having outages (you didn't say what kind, are you talking about rain fade ? or what) and your reception is bad, you have an installation problem. You should not accept these problems. I have had 5 diff. dishes on two different houses and when it's done right you should never have "outages". If you are speaking of rain fade, that's a different issue, and so are solar outages. They are very rare. But any other kind of outage is unacceptable. If you have "Bad reception" something is wrong. There is no reason except for a bad installation.

If you really want to enjoy Dishnetwork, get a pvr personal video recorder to go with it. If you get two , your life changes. You will never watch TV the same. I have about 40 hours of programming recorded on two different PVR's that is just saved stuff, to watch later. When there is nothing else on, you can always go to the taped stuff. It records while you are away etc. Weekly, daily etc. I have the PVR in my racing room interfaced with my computer. Everything that is on the PVR can be sent right to the Computer. The nice thing is that you can back up anytime. The last channel you were on is always cued up with an hour of stuff you can go back to. Or you can hit pause and answer the phone etc. Then run forward thru the commercials. Anything that you have saved can forward thru commercials etc too. If you were watching TVG yesterday with Greg and Todd you saw some images that I emailed them and they used on the air. If you want to review races, it is fantastic. Slow mo, freeze frame, everything is crystal clear. :cool:

[GR1@HTR]

Only outage I get a few minutes during a hard storm (maybe twice a year) and when my dog ate my satelite cables...Besides that, the reception is good.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by GR1@HTR
Only outage I get a few minutes during a hard storm (maybe twice a year) and when my dog ate my satelite cables...Besides that, the reception is good.

That is so weird about the dog....... my satellite guy told me that he couldn't run a cable down around the base of my house because the dogs would get it? I thought he was crazy. He explained that the dog can hear a high pitched sound from the cable that humans cannot hear? This makes them chew the cable.....I thought he was crazy......I guess this might be proof that he is right.......I tried to tell him my two dogs never chew anything. He ran the cable up high because he said he didn't want to have to come back out in a month and fix it. :cool:

[Kentucky Bred]

Jim:

As I said on an earlier thread about this subject, I was the wacko that cancelled my NINE YEAR relationship with Direct TV satellite. I complained with them for about a year to no avail. I then went to the TVG booth at the Kentucky Derby and they said that Direct TV was offering them almost nothing for the feed and wouldn't negotiate. I called them again. Finally, after every country farmer in the county was asking me if I saw this race or that I said, "Enough!". They ripped out the old equipment and put in Dish Network. Got a great deal by negotiating with them over the phone too. Haggle...it works!

TVG has been great. They honored their deal. Also, you can now get a quad lmb which is techno-speak for a receiver that can offer other tv's in the house to watch different channels at the same time. Which means TVG is always on in the study and I don't have to listen to any whining about always having the races on. Life is much better.

I have also enjoyed their racing personalities. They are not actors using the network to advance their acting careers. I think most really like the sport and know what's going on. They mostly pick favorites but, hell, I would if you put me in front of a camera. Who wants to be right twice a week on TV?

My advice, get it and don't look back.

Kentucky Bred

[JimG]

Want to thank everyone for the feedback. I'm enjoying reading it and it will help me decide. I do wonder...any thoughts regarding owning the equipment or leasing it from them (which costs $5 extra per month, but if something breaks down...)

Jim

also...any problems using basic cable alongside dishnetwork? Local channels on DishNetwork are not an option in my area.

[GR1@HTR]

JR,

Not sure about the dogs being able to hear all that, but that same day my dog ate the my laptop power supply cable and one of my lamp plugs.

[rrbauer]

JimG wrote:
any thoughts regarding owning the equipment or leasing it from them (which costs $5 extra per month, but if something breaks down...)


also...any problems using basic cable alongside dishnetwork? Local channels on DishNetwork are not an option in my area.


Re: owning vs. leasing
There are some really good deals from both Dish as well as some of their dealers (use Google and do a search "Dish Network equipment installation") that makes owning the equipment cost very little. I've had my 2-receiver system for over three years and no equipment problems. I've heard good things about the PVR receivers, but I don't have one.

Regarding local channels via cable. You will need some switch arrangement to change from the satellite feed to the cable feed into either your VCR or your TV--that's pretty easy stuff. Echostar (Dish) is going to put another satellite into the mix later this year and that should enable them to offer more local channels. The problem now is that they don't have the channel-carrying capacity on their existing satellites to cover all of the locals.

[GR1@HTR]

Looks like for $25 you get 50 channels including Tvg, 2 TV hook ups.

A great deal:

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/getdish/FreeDish/index.shtml

[JimG]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their replies. After mulling it over, I have decided not to purchase at this time. I read where Cox Cable will start carrying TVG in April in San Diego and "other cities are to follow". Since this is my cable company I am going to play wait and see for awhile.

Jim

[superfecta]

Originally posted by GR1@HTR
JR,

Not sure about the dogs being able to hear all that, but that same day my dog ate the my laptop power supply cable and one of my lamp plugs. Wondered where Cujo ended up,now we know.On satellite,I specifically got it for the TVG channel.Worth it by itself,wish they would try to expand programming,would be nice to see more horse related programs after the races are over.Didn't think too much of the talking heads at first,now I miss them on days they run the races only.Hope somehow HRTV gets on satellite,that would just about fix me up.

[race_n_ponys]

well this thread is about the same as the one that was started a couple weeks ago,.....but i still say tvg rocks!!.....as far as hrtv goes though.....it is on all the time, it just isnt being broadcast on the dishnetwork/direct tv systems all that much.......if anyone has an old primestar ku band satellite dish........they can tune in hrtv and 7 other racing channels,.....just takes a receiver and a programmed card..........and you are good to go..........i still have one tv with tvg on most of the time, but its nice right now being able to tune into santa anita and gulfstream, also some of the smaller tracks,that they dont cover.

[lefthandlow]

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