The year was 1998, and we were about to relocate to our newly-purchased home. Moving can be an exciting time, and the experience for us was no exception. What made it even more exciting for me was the fact that I was going to finally escape from cable TV.
At that time, we lived in a rural area that was a bit too far away from a major city to get decent television reception with just a roof-top antenna. This left us with only one other way to get TV in our home and that was with cable television. In addition, I really like a lot of the programming that was available only by way of cable at the time. I really enjoy channels like The Discovery Channel and The History Channel.
Satellite TV was available during this time, but with a thick grove of trees directly behind our house that was between us and the satellites, I did not think that we would be able to receive the signal. I did not want to cut the trees down, since we had been planning to move for a few years, and had been saving our money to help with the down payment on the new house. Paying to have the large trees removed would not have done much for our savings!
There were several reasons I was never happy with my cable TV service. First of all, the “crystal clear” reception they promised was never a reality at my house. Making matters worse, when I would call the cable company and ask them to correct whatever problem was causing my reception problems, I was always told that there was no problem. They would send a technician out, and he would check a few things and tell me that everything was OK, and there was nothing more he could do.
Then there were the price increases, or perhaps I should say frequent price increases. It seemed like they were raising their prices every few months, and for someone who was not happy with the service to begin with, I was not a very satisfied customer.
When our plans to move were finalized, I decided that I would try satellite TV. The new services with the smaller dish antennas were still fairly new at the time, and I figured it could not be much worse than the cable TV service I had been getting. Our new home sits on the edge of a large field, and there are no trees or obstructions between the house and the satellites, so I knew it would be an excellent location for receiving a signal.
Being the kind of person who does a lot of research before making a major purchase, I set about deciding whether I would sign up with DISH Network or DirecTV. At the time, it was a major purchase, because back in those days you had to buy your own equipment.
I finally decided on DISH Network because of their programming packages. DirecTV seemed to have more sports programming, and since I am not a sports fan, and I liked the looks of the DISH Network programming options, I ordered up my DISH Network satellite receivers before we had even moved!
Since I had used our new address when I placed the order, we arrived at our new home to unpack, and found that UPS had already delivered the equipment, and it was waiting on our doorstep. I was very anxious to get it set up, but we had a lot of unpacking to do first.
After a few days, I managed to find time to get the system installed. Although the reception I got after setting the system up does not compare with the HDTV we have today, it was the best television picture I had ever seen at that time, and I realized that I would probably never get my television programming from a cable company ever again.
It’s been about 10 years since I first installed DISH Network at my home, and I am still a satisfied customer to this day. I now have an HD-capable DVR, and an HDTV that makes our original system look rather inadequate, but the two receivers I purchased back in 1998 never gave us any serious trouble or had to be repaired.
I know cable TV has come a long way since 1998, and that they now offer digital cable, and other advanced features, but I’m still quite happy with DISH Network, and I see no advantage that I would gain by switching back to cable television.
Since I still rely on the local cable company for high-speed Internet service (it is the only high-speed service available in our area), I know that they are still rather fond of raising their prices too frequently for my taste.
In contrast, DISH Network raised my prices perhaps three times in about 9 years. I do pay more now due to the HD-capable DVR, but the prices are still very competitive with cable and I plan on keeping my DISH Network service for a long time to come.
Bradan Kellen is a self-confessed gadget freak and enjoys writing about the latest developments in technology and entertainment. He has a special passion for consumer issues and often writes on subjects such as Audio and video equipment and where to get the best satellite TV deals.
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