72 Local Swap

[Former member 134676]

I have a Directv account in my name (not for me, for my aunt) and I was signing in to pay the bill and noticed the 72 Local swap message. So I called in and they said I do qualify for the free 72 local swap. So what they did was made me get a hd receiver and replaced my national feed satellite. They said it was free since they require it. Two questions what is the 72 local swap like where do I get more info and do I still need my aunt to keep the local dish up still?

 

[ChrisK114]

They are shutting off the 72.5 satellite which is a satellite some people use to get their locals off of. Directv is replacing these SD feeds with the HD version of the same channels. Since they use a MPEG 4 compression technology for the HD signals, they have to replace the old standard equipment with equipmnet that can accept the Mpeg4 signals, which is a slimline dish and a HD or HD-DVR or R22 SDDVR receiver. She can take down the old dish that she used to get the 72.5 signals. I am surprised they didn't do it when they installed the new dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

actually they may not be in HD on the new sat...they are moving them to 99 or 103 and still be SD just in MPEG4

to the OP, yes the upgrade is free. They will give her a new dish (replacing the existing 2 dish setup) and give her a new receiver if need be

 

[CEV]

I am getting that same message as well when I log into my account. Have actually been getting it for awhile, but just have never taken the time to call in. I have a HD-DVR, 2 SD DVR's, and a plain sd receiver. Will I be able to get another HD-DVR for free to replace the SD DVR's?
Chad

 

[Mr Tony]

here is some info from a thread a week ago of same subject (different area)

You may be eligible for a free exchange. Please call us at 1-888-763-7772 and mention "FREE 72 LOCAL SWAP".

If you're not sure you have a legacy receiver, tune to channel 563. If you see a message saying "Channel Not Available" or "Searching for Satellite" you will need to exchange that receiver.

CEV
since you have a HD-DVR you already have the dish for the swap (slimline)....check 563 to see if that "plain old" receiver sees it. Is it a D12?

 

[Mr Tony]

what is weird is my D15 doesnt have 563 listed...assuming because I am not in a 72 market

 

[ChrisK114]

actually they may not be in HD on the new sat...they are moving them to 99 or 103 and still be SD just in MPEG4

to the OP, yes the upgrade is free. They will give her a new dish (replacing the existing 2 dish setup) and give her a new receiver if need be

Yeah, I am not sure about everywhere else, but here they use the HD signal. Didn't think about that.