If you can get both EA and WA which one would you recommend and why?

[rad]

It looks like Austin TX can be installed with either eastern or western arc. I have line of site to both so wondering if there's an advantage with going one way or another?

 

[Troch77]

It looks like Austin TX can be installed with either eastern or western arc. I have line of site to both so wondering if there's an advantage with going one way or another?

Imo western arc is a more reliable signal against rain fade.
Eastern arc, IMO should have a larger dish.

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[Scott Greczkowski]

I would go for Eastern Arc as everything is in MPEG4. I am told that the PQ is slightly better on the Eastern Arc because of this. (ie better encoders) I have never tested them side by side to see if this is true though, but the theory makes sense.

 

[dare2be]

Imo western arc is a more reliable signal against rain fade.
Eastern arc, IMO should have a larger dish.

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I concur. My rain fade became noticeably more frequent when I switched over to EA.

But I still prefer EA for CONUS locals.

 

[KAB]

On western arc, I only get rain fade (cloud, actually) just once or twice a year. If I had a choice, I would stay there.

 

[Bobby]

I would go for Eastern Arc as everything is in MPEG4. I am told that the PQ is slightly better on the Eastern Arc because of this. (ie better encoders) I have never tested them side by side to see if this is true though, but the theory makes sense.

All HD channels on the WA are MPEG4 anyway. Unless rad is interested in SD channels, i don't see the point....

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

All HD channels on the WA are MPEG4 anyway. Unless rad is interested in SD channels, i don't see the point....

Yeah I guess your right there.

 

[harshness]

Imo western arc is a more reliable signal against rain fade.
Eastern arc, IMO should have a larger dish.

I expect that the 1000.2EA is likely to become the order of the day for the EA; certainly for Hopper installs.

 

[Troch77]

I expect that the 1000.2EA is likely to become the order of the day for the EA; certainly for Hopper installs.

Of course it's the order of the day.
Has been for about a year now.
Doesn't mean it's great.

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[harshness]

Of course it's the order of the day.
Has been for about a year now.
Doesn't mean it's great.

For someone located near the 30th parallel, it should be just fine.

 

[ohioankev]

Imo western arc is a more reliable signal against rain fade.
Eastern arc, IMO should have a larger dish.

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For me I switched to the Eastern Arc ASAP so I could get my locals in HD (Parkersburg, WV DMA) when they were uplinked as before that they were only offered in SD on the Western Arc. So you might want to check channel/definition availability before you choose an arc.

 

[rglore]

When I switched to EA from WA, there was very little difference in rain fade. Only major storms knock out my signal for a short time.

 

[Tampa8]

Assuming the Poster has HD available on both ARC's and not just SD on the WA then;

There are basically three difference in determining which ARC.
1. I have posted for a long time as someone who has both ARC's in Ct and switched from EA to the WA in Florida that the EA does have more chance of a rain fade and that it will last a little longer. Not that it is often, but simply in comparing the two.

2. If you were to want anything off of the 118 satellite (Internationals) having the WA would allow for one DISH, if you have the EA you would need a separate DISH or make the change to the WA.

3. Some locals on both ARC's are going to leave the WA. Seems unlikely that would happen to a Texas market but there isn't always a rationale we can see for how that is determined.

The only other thing I can think of is you have sight to both ARC's, does one have more potential to lose that sight than the other? Changing ARC's is not a big deal so other than rain fade probably does not matter in the end.

 

[nelson61]

I don't think it makes much difference. The beam centers are in the SE for both.

 

[harshness]

For me I switched to the Eastern Arc ASAP so I could get my locals in HD (Parkersburg, WV DMA) when they were uplinked as before that they were only offered in SD on the Western Arc. So you might want to check channel/definition availability before you choose an arc.

There's a thousand miles longitude and 2.8 degrees elevation difference on 61.5W between Parkersburg and Austin.

As rad noted in the OP, HD locals are offered on both arcs.