HD Access

[OTAHDFORME]

For three years, we have been perfectly content with watching our local HD broadcasts by way of our OTA antenna run through our Hughes HD Receiver.

Now ... I really would like to try a DVR, but I understand that if I obtain a HD-DVR through Directv I will be required to subscribe to HD Access.

At this time, I am not interested in paying for additional HD programming, as we are satisfied with limiting our HD viewing to that available through the OTA antenna.

Is there a way for me to have an HD-DVR and still be able to view OTA HD without paying Directv extra for the HD Access that is tied to obtaining their HD-DVR equipment?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I don't think you have to buy the HD access..I can go online right now and get rid of mine.Call and ask,Tell them your plans.At worst you may have to buy a HR-20 outright. For $749

 

[OTAHDFORME]

I don't think you have to buy the HD access..I can go online right now and get rid of mine.Call and ask,Tell them your plans.At worst you may have to buy a HR-20 outright. For $749

Wow! HD Access at $9.99 (?) plus the DVR fee is sounding better and better. Or just curbing my desire to have access to a DVR.

 

[harshness]

Is there a way for me to have an HD-DVR and still be able to view OTA HD without paying Directv extra for the HD Access that is tied to obtaining their HD-DVR equipment?

A TiVo Series 3 would probably be the most convenient. The monthly subscription is not cheap, but if you buy before Father's day, you can get into an S3 with a three year subscription for $898.00.

I don't know if Sony still offers their DVRs or not, but they were a very good deal for conscientious objectors. I saw one at my area Fry's a while back for $799.

It should be noted that the DIRECTV and Dish Network DVRs will not tune analog (NTSC) channels. I'm pretty sure that DIRECTV does indeed charge an HD access fee of $10.99 without which you'll get no HD (satellite or OTA). Dish Network charges an HD enabling fee of 6.99, but their ViP622 has only one OTA tuner.

The DIRECTV HR20 will likely command a two year commitment to the Choice programming package at $39.99/month. After the DVR and HD access fees, you're looking at somewhere around $56/month. There is probably a $99 lease entry fee unless you want to pony up the $750 purchase price.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

It should be noted that the DirecTV and Dish Network DVRs will not tune analog (NTSC) channels. I'm pretty sure that DirecTV does indeed charge an HD access fee of $10.99 without which you'll get no HD (satellite or OTA). Dish Network charges an HD enabling fee of 6.99, but their ViP622 has only one OTA tuner.

Maybe I need to give up on the DVR approach. Spent my entire life limited to local channel viewing until we came out of the dark ages three years ago. I guess I can live without the benefit of DVR capabilities.

I certainly hope Directv doesn't start requiring an "HD enabling" fee just to be able to run my OTA antenna through the Hughes receiver. Never charged one before ... I hope it doesn't just mean that I have been fortunate.

Since the first of the year, my Directv billing shows a line item of "HD Access Special Offer $0.00" but that doesn't seem to be getting me anything other than "Network: FOX HD" and "Network: ABC HD" for which I am not charged.

FOX and ABC were added ages ago and available as long as I had a package with local channels included (which I do ... an older Total Choice Plus package with locals.)

I do not get the other programming that is included in the "HD Access" package. However, before they added that line item (and we had no HD "enabling" or program fee being charged) we were viewing OTA HD. Maybe that extra $3 for locals is my HD "enabling" fee.

I am curious now, though. It is my understanding that my HD TV requires an HD Receiver even to view OTA HD programming. If I were to drop satellite altogether are you suggesting that my Hughes HD receiver might not allow me to watch OTA HD?

 

[Brewer4]

Do you have a PC? With a Vista or Media Center version of XP or even using something like Snapstream BeyondTV on an XP machine and a capture card, you can turn a PC (even a laptop) into a DVR. No monthly fees at all. I've used 3 different variants and works great for OTA stuff even HD. Also, media centers can connect to Xbox's so you can watch the DVR in another room as long as the Xbox is networked. I also do this with my Xbox 360's.

Let me know if interested and I can provide more info how to do this. You can also hook a Directv box to the Media Center or Snapstream that records Directv content. Again no DVR fees.

 

[Newshawk]

OTAHDFORME, if you want to get your OTA channels with a D* DVR, but without paying the HD Access fee, then you're limited to hunting down a HR10-250. It will let you access OTA digital channels without subscribing to any packages and even be used as an OTA-only DVR. You will have to pay the DVR fee, however, if you want to record-but it's way cheaper than any TiVo access fee!

The HR20 (and the H20, BTW) do not have the capability to function as a OTA tuner only, however. They are the first D* HD receivers that require active service to even get OTA channels to tune-but OTA channels wil tune without HD Access fees, IIRC.

One last thing-the HD Access fee is $9.99, not $10.99.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

Do you have a PC? With a Vista or Media Center version of XP or even using something like Snapstream BeyondTV on an XP machine and a capture card, you can turn a PC (even a laptop) into a DVR. No monthly fees at all.

My PC and laptop both have XP but not Media Center. I looked at the Snapstream web-site ... but I was left with more questions than answers.

Thanks for the lead to a possible alternative. I will explore their web-site further, as time permits and figure out if it is an obtion I want to try.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

OTAHDFORME, if you want to get your OTA channels with a D* DVR, but without paying the HD Access fee, then you're limited to hunting down a HR10-250. It will let you access OTA digital channels without subscribing to any packages and even be used as an OTA-only DVR. You will have to pay the DVR fee, however, if you want to record-but it's way cheaper than any TiVo access fee!

The HR20 (and the H20, BTW) do not have the capability to function as a OTA tuner only, however. They are the first D* HD receivers that require active service to even get OTA channels to tune-but OTA channels wil tune without HD Access fees, IIRC.

This explains a lot more than I would ever get by calling Directv! I'm so glad I held off when they tried to get me to upgrade from my Hughes HTL-HD receiver and RCA DRD435RH dish. I would much rather know ALL the little details and quirks before I make a change to my system, than find out after (or during) an installation that it is more complicated (or expensive) than I initially anticipated.

From other reading I have been doing, I'm beginning to think that I can't hold out foreover for maintaining the OTA HD access. I may have misunderstood, but we only have one coax cable coming out of the wall at our TV. My understanding is that I wouldn't be able to use a diplexer to get my OTA antenna signal down to my TV if we upgrade our equipment?

The TV is located on the ground floor against a wall in the center of the house, and we haven't figured out how to get any additional cables run through the walls and ceiling/floor space from the attic to the TV.

How I miss our old single story home where my husband could easily get any cabling from point "A" to point "B" without a problem. I wish the builders wouldn't be so "frugal" when they decide how many cable runs to make in new construction. If this weren't a spec home, we would have had a say in the method to the madness ... but we weren't that fortunate.

If my satellite dish holds up, and I can continue to postpone an upgrade, how does one track down an HR10-250?

 

[Brewer4]

You can find HR10-250's on ebay. On the rare chance, you can get one through Directv but that will be a battle and result in probably a refurb one.

 

[Ramy]

Why do you not want the other HD channels? Do you not watch any sprots or watch movies?

 

[OTAHDFORME]

Why do you not want the other HD channels? Do you not watch any sprots or watch movies?

Why do we not want the other HD channels? Are you sure you want the answer to that?

If there was enough time in the day and enough in the way of HD choices that were important to us, available through HD Access, to justify the expense, I would be delighted to re-think my stance. As it is, we do not watch sports ... and we rarely rent DVDs or utilize PPV. We find enough other viewing options without paying another $120 (or more) per year to satisfy our needs. However, we really DO enjoy watching HD versions of the programs we do watch.

Every family's financial situation is different, and for different reasons they cut costs in a variety of areas. This is just one of several areas that I choose to watch costs (versus value) so that we can allocate those resources somewhere else more important to us.

Actually, if I had my way, I would settle on local channels and drop the expense for satellite tv. Unfortunately, there are a small handful of channels that my husband has become dependent on and I just can't take this simple pleasure in life away from him.

As it is, my children already think that large screen tvs, paid television programming, cell phones with all the bells and whistles, and constant access to the internet at the highest possible speed should be their birth-right and consider them necessities in life. Then, when they struggle to pay their car insurance, medical insurance and the various other genuine necessities they wonder why life is so tough. They have tough choices to make and they aren't making them. <off my soap box now >

 

[Ramy]

I understand entirely. I was just curious because the HD DVR won't be cheap and was wondering why the $9.99 Access fee was the hang up. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

I understand entirely. I was just curious because the HD DVR won't be cheap and was wondering why the $9.99 Access fee was the hang up. Thanks for letting me know.

I have been offered the upgrade to the HD-DVR for free (to keep me away from Time Warner,) so I wasn't factoring that expense into the equation. I am factoring all additional related expenses, however. I would be more than happy to pay the monthly DVR fee (the value is there for me) ... but not an additional HD Access fee when I can get the HD I want OTA.

 

[Ramy]

Hmmm, that's a tough one. Did they say you had to get the HD Access fee?

 

[Brewer4]

I have been offered the upgrade to the HD-DVR for free (to keep me away from Time Warner,) so I wasn't factoring that expense into the equation. I am factoring all additional related expenses, however. I would be more than happy to pay the monthly DVR fee (the value is there for me) ... but not an additional HD Access fee when I can get the HD I want OTA.

I can definitely understand that. About 70% of what we watch in HD is OTA and even higher with my wife. The HR10-250 is all she needs. Now my HD watching will greatly change when the new sat launches and I have more choice. I've been getting a bit sick of the networks canceling shows on me so my OTA HD watching will definitely be less then 50%.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

You can find HR10-250's on ebay. On the rare chance, you can get one through Directv but that will be a battle and result in probably a refurb one.

Thanks ... I'll look into it and evaluate that option along with the Snapstream option.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

Hmmm, that's a tough one. Did they say you had to get the HD Access fee?

First person I spoke with said I did ... but there's always another phone call in the future.

Only problem is that it will require an equipment upgrade, which will then possibly create complications with my OTA access. We only have one cable coming out of the wall at the TV and running an antenna cable directly to that downstairs location doesn't seem to be a viable option.

Can I even have a DVR with one cable coming out of the wall?

 

[Brewer4]

First person I spoke with said I did ... but there's always another phone call in the future.

Only problem is that it will require an equipment upgrade, which will then possibly create complications with my OTA access. We only have one cable coming out of the wall at the TV and running an antenna cable directly to that downstairs location doesn't seem to be a viable option.

Can I even have a DVR with one cable coming out of the wall?

Yes. If you stick with the 3 LNB Dish, you can couple the directv signal with an OTA signal on one wire. It splits right before you go into the DVR. You will only be able to do one Directv record tuner but you can then have the combo of OTA and Directv with one wire. I think they might have fixed the issue with 1 Directv wire but you can do 2 OTA tuners. So that means you can record one OTA at the same time as D* or do 2 OTA at the same time.

 

[OTAHDFORME]

Yes. If you stick with the 3 LNB Dish, you can couple the directv signal with an OTA signal on one wire. It splits right before you go into the DVR. You will only be able to do one Directv record tuner but you can then have the combo of OTA and Directv with one wire. I think they might have fixed the issue with 1 Directv wire but you can do 2 OTA tuners. So that means you can record one OTA at the same time as D* or do 2 OTA at the same time.

But ... that would mean that I still have to get my hands on an HR10-250 ... right? If I went with whatever Directv is offering at this point, I would have to upgrade the dish, wouldn't I?