In a first-of-its-kind event, DISH Network has launched the DISH Earth channel. A channel that will show our planet 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the vantage point provided by DISH Network’s EchoStar 11 satellite.

Orbiting some 23,000 miles above the Earth’s equator, the stationary satellite will provide DISH Network subscribers with stunning views of our planet as the never-ending changes cross its surface. In addition to the changes viewers might expect to witness such as the transition from day to night (and vice versa) and wandering weather systems, some speculate that the new camera may capture a passing UFO or two.

Launched during 2008, EchoStar 11 is positioned at 110 degrees west longitude in order to provide television programming for DISH Network customers who are inside the satellite’s broadcast “footprint.”

This development marks the first time in history that a camera has been mounted on a commercial communications satellite. In development for six years, the project was the result of a working partnership between DISH Network, it’s sister company EchoStar Spacecraft Operations Team, Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation of Pasadena, CA, and Space Systems/Loral. It is being operated under a license granted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“We are pleased to be able to offer, exclusively to our customers, footage from the world’s only Earth-viewing live video camera on a commercial communications satellite," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming at DISH Network. "What’s more, from time to time, the DISH Earth camera is able to capture some unique images, including an unidentified flying object last August.

UFO buffs with copious amounts of time on their hands may want to keep watch in DISH Channel 212 for any other-worldly visitors that may be buzzing out planet. DISH Network customers who also have DVRs could also record hours of the new channel and later fast-forward through the footage for any interesting phenomenon,

Sounds like it could be an interesting tool for the guys in UFO Hunters.

Before anyone gets the idea that I’m making light of UFOs, and worse yet, those who investigate such things, I will admit that I find the whole UFO phenomenon quite interesting and I never miss an episode of UFO Hunters myself.

Although, I have never seen anything I would classify as a UFO myself, a family member did about 12 or so years ago. When something like that happens, it kind of makes you wonder what might be going on “up there.”

Having not yet checked out the new channel yet myself, I’m going to head to my TV and tune to channel 212 just as soon as I finish this entry.

DISH Network announced on Friday, April 10, that it has added an additional seven national HD channels to its HD offerings.

The new HD channels are: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike TV and VH1. The new channels are available at no additional cost to customers of the service tiers in which they were placed.

CMT HD, Comedy Central HD, MTV HD, Nickelodeon HD, Spike TV HD and VH1 HD are now available at no additional charge to customers of the Classic Bronze 100 HD tier and above. The BET HD channel is available to customers of the Classic Silver 200 HD and above.

Consumers who sign up for DISH Network may also be eligible to receive high-definition programming at no charge for the first 6 months, in addition to  a free HD DVR and free installation.

“We are pleased to now offer our customers these top-rated high-definition channels, and we look forward to a long-term partnership with MTV Networks and BET Networks that includes broad video-on-demand and Internet-streaming rights,” said Dave Shull, DISH Network programming senior VP. “The launch of these channels is a testament to our continued HD leadership, as no one has more HD channels or a higher-quality picture than Dish Network.”

One of the main reasons I switched from cable TV to DISH Network satellite TV was the frequent price increases I was experiencing. It seemed like they were edging the price upwards every couple of months or so.

Well, for those who are reluctant to believe that, I urge you to check out the like I have included below. I think that says it all.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/may-2009/viewpoint/overview/cable-rates-ov.htm

I won’t deny that I take my share of pot shots at Comcast here. You may think it’s just my way of convincing people how much better DISH Network is, but that really isn’t the whole story. I really do have a strong dislike for Comcast and I don’t care for their shady practices. Here’s the latest example:

  
This is an e-mail message I received recently from Comcast, and at first glance, I thought they were going to upgrade my speeds rather dramatically for free. Notice how they really make that 50 Mbps stand out. That is indeed fast!

This started me on a little research. I own my own cable modem since I was tired of paying Comcast the $3 o$4 a month to rent one from them when I could get my own for a pretty reasonable price. In the two years I have had it, it has more than paid for itself. Another reason I decided to buy my own was that the modems they were providing were not working all that well. A lot of people seemed to think the Motorola SurfBoard brand of modems are among the best, so I bought one of those – specifically the SB5120, and have had no problems with it.

What my research also revealed was that my SB5120, is a DOCSIS 2.0 modem, and would not support speeds as high as 50 Mbps. At this point I started to wonder if it might be worthwhile to rent a modem again so I could get a DOCSIS 3.0 modem which would be capable of providing these impressive speeds. Since I am paying way too much every month just for internet service alone (around $73), I figured I’d spring for the extra few bucks to rent a DOCSIS 3.0 modem and get a big boost in speed for my money.

So, I dialed up Comcast and made my way through their automated telephone maze to the sales department where a friendly woman told me that those speeds were indeed available in my area and I could surely rent a DOCSIS 3.0 modem and enjoy that lightning speed.

When my questions started to get a bit more technical in nature, the friendly lady decided I would be best off talking to the Internet people. I was then transferred to a gentlemen who was also very friendly and polite. He also told me he could set me up with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem and seemed to think that was all he needed to tell me. When I asked him how it was exactly that I could get one, he didn’t seem terribly sure, but was able to tell me that the modem rental fee would be “about” $3 or $4. When I wanted to confirm that, he decided he should transfer me to yet another person.

The third person actually seemed to know what he was talking about, and was also very pleasant to talk to. After we talked for about 10 minutes, it became clear that I did not understand the offer that was being made in this e-mail message. What they were really saying is that the speed of my current service would be “doubled” from something like 6 Mbps to 22 Mbps – how that is considered “double” is not clear to me, but since it is more than double, I did not complain.

If I wanted the super-fast 50 Mbps speed, not only would I have to rent a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, I would also have to upgrade to a more expensive service plan. I told him I felt that I was paying too much already for internet service alone and he then offered to see if he could get me a lower rate by bundling some new services in with my internet service. In other words, he could get my rate lower if I agreed to sign up for Comcast cable TV or digital phone service. That, I told him, was the last thing I wanted to do and he seemed to understand.

As it turns out, ,my DOCSIS 2.0 modem will handle the new speeds of up to 22 Mbps – that’s what he told me anyway. So, I won’t have to upgrade my modem to get the faster speeds that Comcast is offering me for free.

Feel free to sound off if you think I am wrong, but the e-mail I received from Comcast seems a little deceptive to me. I thought they were offering me an upgrade to 50 Mbps for free. After all, there they are: The words “50 Mbps” and “Free” on the same page. Now that I know what the real deal is, I understand what the message is trying to tell me, but without the information I got by calling, it seems to me that it is easy to think that a free 50 Mbps upgrade is what was being offered. I guess I now know that I have to take the time to sift through every single word and carefully decipher any other offers that Comcast sends my way.

One thing I will give Comcast credit for is that the employees were very pleasant to talk to on the phone and although some of them seemed misinformed, they seemed to be doing the best they could to help me.

A speed upgrade to 50 Mbps would have been nice since we are very active internet users in my family, but I’m certainly not willing to start writing bigger checks to Comcast for it. The speeds we are getting now are pretty good, so that’s what we’ll stick with until something better – and more reasonably priced – comes along.