DISH Western & Eastern Arcs

Updated 8/2/2018

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Though the Biblical Noah saved the world using a single Arc, DISH satellite TV uses two Arcs — named the Western and Eastern — to broadcast its programming.

The first arc, the Western Arc, uses 3 satellites (110°, 119°, and 129°) to broadcast DISH programming.

The newer arc, the Eastern Arc, also uses 3 satellites — 61.5°, 72.7°, and 77°.

Why should you care?

Depending on where you are, you may need to use a specific arc to receive the DISH local TV stations that are nearby.

To figure out which arc is needed,

Enter your current ZIP code on this web page — for example, 54311. The city supplying the local TV stations in your area will appear. For 54311, Green Bay, WI will appear.
Next, using this DISH Markets web page, look up the TV stations and satellites listed for this city. For Green Bay, WI, satellite 61.5° (of the Eastern Arc) is used for Green Bay’s HD (High Definition) local stations, and satellite 110° (of the Western Arc) is used for the SD (Standard Definition) local stations.

The Green Bay example just used is typical — that is, DISH appears to try to use both arcs for all its markets (see map below). This is great for RVers because it simplifies things.

However, when traveling around the country, it’s best to have a way to pick up the programming on both arcs.

For example, we use a rooftop Winegard Travler SK1000 (DISH version), but this dish is really just a Western Arc dish. (You can pick up the Eastern Arc 61.5° satellite, but not all 3 Eastern Arc satellites.)

If you’re considering using a 1000.2 or 1000.4 dish, remember that their parts — and LNBs — are not interchangeable.

Until we started using a Hopper 3 in our RV, we used a portable open-faced dish, the 1000.4, which can be configured for either the Eastern or Western Arcs:

DISH PRO HYBRID (DPH) LNBs

However, because we now use a Hopper 3, we have to use a 1000.2 open-faced dish that uses DISH Pro Hybrid (or DPH) LNBs.

The DPH LNBs is available in both Eastern Arc and Western Arc versions:

DPPvsDPH_03-wa dph and ea dph DPPvsDPH_09-wa dph ports closeup DPPvsDPH_10-ea dph ports closeup

DISH PRO PLUS (DPP) LNBs

If you’re not using a Hopper 3, then you can use DPP LNBs.

These are the part numbers of the DPP LNBs used on both the 1000.2 and 1000.4 dishes:

1000.2 Western Arc LNBs — #145511
1000.2 Eastern Arc LNBs — #184187 (This is called the Eastern Twin option because only two LNBs are used: 61.5° and 72.7°. This is one reason why we used the 1000.4 dish. It can pick up all three of the Eastern Arc satellites.)
1000.4 Western Arc LNBs — #175338
1000.4 Eastern Arc LNBs — #157092

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