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Shaw Direct In Areas South of Canada (Mexico, US, etc) Read Post 1

762K views 3K replies 259 participants last post by  bammer21yeg 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Edit by 57:

The following post has important channel information for 2019.

https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11...ico-us-etc-read-post-1-a-102.html#post3076793


Why is SD being limited in areas south of Canada?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11-...xico-us-etc-read-post-1-a-75.html#post2865377


Note that the new G1 satellite will have a footprint that will not allow viewing very far south of Canada, depending on dish size. You will likely not be able to receive channels on G1 if you're far south of Canada (about 1/2 way between Canada and Mexico).

Shaw Direct In Areas South of Canada (Mexico, US, etc) Read Post 1 - Page 10 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums


Footprint: http://www.telesat.com Choose Satellite from list


Channels on G1: Shaw Direct In Areas South of Canada (Mexico, US, etc) Read Post 1 - Page 56 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums also, Click the channel lineup link on the following web-page and the MPEG4 channels listed should be on G1?

Shaw Direct - Satellite TV Packages, Satellite Services / Prices - Shaw Direct


If you get a channel sometimes, but not at other times, it could be a simsub issue with one channel on one satellite and the simsub on G1, which you cannot get very far south of Canada. Discussed in the following posts:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11-...xico-us-etc-read-post-1-a-59.html#post2613761 Post 879 onwards.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11-...xico-us-etc-read-post-1-a-63.html#post2643337 Post 932-934


Another edit by 57 - if you wish to discuss HAFH (home away from home changes) please use the following link:

Home Away From Home Program - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums


Here is the method for switching your receiver to accept the Dual Quad or the Triple xKu LNB. This is temporary and goes away if your receiver reboots, etc.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11-...xico-us-etc-read-post-1-a-72.html#post2840577



I'm currently an Expressvu client, with the 9200 HD PVR. I'm very happy with the hardware, but have had the usual issues with customer service.

I have a second home in Mexico and am thinking about switching to StarChoice so I can take advantage of the home away from home offering. That is to say, I would install the DVR 530 at my house in Canada, then take a second dish and the receiver to Mexico in the fall to use it there for the winter.

Has anyone else done this? I believe StarChoice works in Mexico, but I'm not sure about HD. There are installers there who are familiar with StarChoice.

Also, I'm sure what I'm planning is technically illegal. Does anyone know how cooperative StarChoice is with clients using the service out of the country?

The only other alternative I might consider, since BEV doesn't work in Mexico, is to get a Dish network subscription for my Mexican house. That way I could get a 9200 equivalent receiver. But then I'm stuck with 2 subscriptions.

I would appreciate any advice.

Dan
 
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#2 ·
Since we know first hand that both F1 and F2 and Starchoice work in San Diego, and the published footprints say Mexico should be OK.
You might want to grap the E75 just to be safe.

I know in dealing with them, they will help as best they can, but only dealing with equipment in Canada for shipping purposes.

They have a fair bit of out of country viewers, wintering Canadians of course.
 
#7 ·
Satellite TV in mexico

We have a condo in Manzanillo,which is on the Pacific coast west of Guadalajara. Several friends there have Star Choice subscriptions, and get normal reception. It is on the fringe of the beam apparently, so it requires the use of an elliptical antenna.
I have a Bell Express Vu subscription in Canada, so I took my receiver down with me this past winter, along with a standard dish antenna. However,no signal could be obtained, apparently as the satellite beam is not directed southwards ,as is that for Star Choice, even though both systems have their satellites located at the equator. I don't know if HD works with either, but a friend who is building a house there has taken an HD receiver down and we will find out in the coming months.
The local installers seem to be quite capable of setting up the systems. I am aware that all of this is not quite legal, in international terms, but if the subscription is paid for, it shouldn't matter where the receiver happens to be, particularly if it is only for the winter months.
So, after no reception for the past few months, I have brought home my new ( useless) antenna , and Bell receiver, and before going south for the winter, I will get a Star Choice subscription, a receiver, and a large elliptical antenna, and I expect to be able to watch TV just as I would at home in Ontario (between strolls on the beach and after drinks at sunset on the terrace!!)
I definitely prefer Bell Express Vu, but will find Star Choice acceptable.
Dougw
 
#9 ·
We rented a penthouse in PV last Feb and the landlord has *C even though they are from Bellevue WA. Works just fine. The footprint extends down south of Acapulco. Friends from Denver also bought *C for the home in the Marina.

The only thing wierd is that the time is shown as 1 hour ahead of Toronto (Maritime) even though PV is on Central Time. We set the VCR to *C time just to avoid confusion. So prime time starts at 7pm instead of 8pm from networks in Toronto, Detroit or Buffalo.
 
#17 ·
I'm currently an Expressvu client, with the 9200 HD PVR. I'm very happy with the hardware, but have had the usual issues with customer service.

I have a second home in Mexico and am thinking about switching to StarChoice so I can take advantage of the home away from home offering. That is to say, I would install the DVR 530 at my house in Canada, then take a second dish and the receiver to Mexico in the fall to use it there for the winter.

Has anyone else done this? I believe StarChoice works in Mexico, but I'm not sure about HD. There are installers there who are familiar with StarChoice.

Also, I'm sure what I'm planning is technically illegal. Does anyone know how cooperative StarChoice is with clients using the service out of the country?

The only other alternative I might consider, since BEV doesn't work in Mexico, is to get a Dish network subscription for my Mexican house. That way I could get a 9200 equivalent receiver. But then I'm stuck with 2 subscriptions.

I would appreciate any advice.

Dan
I have the DSR505 StarChoice HD Receiver.

All the HD channels have a signal level in the llow to high 70s on Anik F2.

The regular non HD channels from Anik F1 come in with signal in the 40s+ range. A couple of peculiar ones such as City Toronto Ch 344 come in at 35 but the picture has no breakup. I might be able to work these a little higher but why?

If you are new to the game the first thing to do is make sure the dish mount is plumb. Very important.

My settings now on my E75 dish for a location north of Manzanillo are
Skew 102, Elevation all the way up about 75 degrees, Azimuth 192 degrees.

The HD channel pictures are spectacular. Bring on the Brier and Hearts!

Best regards,
Ronycoca
 
#20 ·
Lake Chapala/Ajijic/Riberas/San Antonio

Lake Chapala is about an hour south of Guadalajara. It is the largest lake in Mexico, and surrounded by mountain ranges of various heights. The area is about 1 km above sea level. (Manzanillo, on the west coast, is about 1.5 hours south of Puerto Vallarta.)

I have a second home here, and even though I brought down the larger StarChoice elliptical dish, the smaller dish works perfectly well for receiving high-def channels, as Ronycoco points out, if you are careful to plumb your dish mount.

At the moment, mine isn't plumb; it's sighted by hand using a receiver and a small TV up on the roof, but I hope to correct that, soon. Meantime, the HiDef channels come in stronger than the regular channels... but only if everything is pointed well.

I lost some HD channels for "no apparent reason", talked to StarChoice several times about it, decided it was the 505 box. Eventually discovered it was the dish; it had slipped perhaps a little.

In any case, while the sat signals are definitely not as strong way down here, they are perfectly good for getting everything StarChoice has to offer (except, of course, PPV).
 
#21 ·
Fingers crossed, I'll spend even more time in Puerto Vallarta as years go by; we definitely looked at real estate on that most recent trip.

Star Choice was covered in a recent article in the Guadalajara Reporter (the TechTalk column: Satellite TV in Jalisco). The author stated:

Only Star Choice works well in Jalisco. ... Star Choice is the only source of US network programming (from Seattle, Spokane, Detroit and Buffalo) in Mexico. I especially like the fact that I can get my Seattle ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC station in HD format on Star Choice. ... Dish Network offers programming aimed at US audiences. Sadly, most of the local network stations are not available in Mexico because the network stations are spot beamed to specific locations and the signals are not strong enough to be received here. ... The satellite programming from SKY Mexico is mostly in Spanish. ... The signal strength of Star Choice and SKY Mexico are quite good in Jalisco, that's not the case with DISH Network. ... see how much of the equipment you can bring down from up north, where the costs are appreciably less than here.
 
#23 ·
I am a *Choice sub living in PaaMul Mexico from October until April, just 55 miles south of Cancun right on the Caribbean Sea. There are around 200 other couples here, many from Canada, in particular Quebec and western provinces and the Yukon.

Using the 75cm dish, we have excellent reception on all channels.

Focusing the dish is a bit of a challenge, but with practice this becomes much easier.

An email to *Choice always gets our 530 and two 505's re-authorized promptly if we lose our authorization while driving from home to PaaMul which sometimes takes us a month or more because of sightseeing.

We see many *Choice subs on our Mexican travels, some from the USA. American sat TV is far less reliable here in PaaMul without a very large dish.

Hope this answers your question.
 
#24 ·
We have two 505's and a 530 here in PaaMul Mexico, 55 miles south of Cancun right on the Caribbean Sea. We live here from October till April of each year, then return our *Choice receivers to our home in Ontario.

We use the 75cm dish which is a bit of a challenge to focus, but once learned it is easy to repeat each year.

All channels including HD work perfectly with only temp LOS during strong thunderstorms or heavy cloud conditions with rain, just like at home.

There are many other *Choice subs here, including some Americans because their US sat systems do not work reliably here unless they have a very large dish.

Re-authorizations when required are requested via email which have always been promptly done without any question.
 
#26 ·
If you are a Canadian you can get StarChoice and use it in Mexico just like I do.

If you are not a Canadian (not a requirement for use) you must have a reliable Canadian postal address.

Finally, I do hear from time to time that persons not Canadians, and not having a Canadian postal address, do get StarChoice but as for how they accomplish this, I am not aware. Perhaps they know Canadians who are StarChoice subscribers, and use their receivers etc.

I can tell you that StarChoice works perfectly in PaaMul so you know it will work just fine in Cancun.

I hope this has been helpful to you.
 
#27 ·
Dishes and Star Choice

Recently, acquaintances in Mexico who use round dishes instead of the Star Choice oval dish have reported: loss of some news channels in the low 500s, and inability to receive the SuperChannels.

The 500-series channel loss is temporary, sometimes lasting hours, sometimes days. There may be other channels gone at this time, but they don't surf enough to have noticed.

It is an absolute that SuperChannels cannot be received without an oval dish, and perhaps even the dual-quad LNB is necessary. I also know that precise positioning is required to maintain reception of HD channels consistently. Their channel loss is quite recent, so I don't think it is a question of positioning, but I could be wrong.
 
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