Directv question, adding another HD receiver to the house

[blownss]

So I just added another HDTV to the house and I currently have one of the H20 receivers running on my current HDTV. I wanted to add another H20 for the 2nd TV, which currently is just being run by a standard def Directv receiver.

Question is, if I just buy a H20 off of ebay, they are like $40-50 less than what Directv wants, if it comes with the access card and everything, will there be any problems when I call Directv to set it up? All I should need to give them is the access card and receiver numbers, right?

Is there a better alternative for this?

Thanks

 

[randyk47]

Buying off of eBay has some risks. However, I bought my H20 from an authorized DirecTV dealer off of eBay and had no problems getting it up and running. It was new and had the access card, etc. Might add I bought it just before DirecTV went to basically all leased equipment so I do indeed own my H20. Buying a used reciever is a whole different situation and has a number of risks. First of all, of course, is that it may or may not work. Secondly, there aren't many owned recievers out there so you have to watch that somebody isn't trying to sell a leased unit. Third, the "owner" may not be in good standing with DirecTV and the reciever is registered as having unpaid balance. That'll keep it from being activated and unless the seller takes it back you just bought a doorstop.

 

[blownss]

LOVE THE AVATAR! I live in Tacoma, WA, been a Hawks fan my whole life!

So, what is the best option then, just going directly through Directv? Or just finding an authorized dealer on eBay that might have it for a little less?

Also I saw a H21 listed, is this a newer model? I saw it was in a black case which is more desirable for me, but wasn't sure if it would work with the dish I have?

 

[69Mustang]

I've sold used Directv equipment before. Check the tuner card # and the receiver's serial # with Directv and ask if the card is clear with no balance due or other issues BEFORE bidding. Long as the tuner operates well you should be good to go.

 

[randyk47]

Blownss - The H21/HR21 are the newer models of the HD and HD DVR units. They are indeed black. The major difference is that neither of the new models have OTA capability. Supposedly there is an add-on unit coming soon that will provide folks with OTA for those units if they have access to OTA signal in their area. The newer models work just fine with a Slimline or the older "side car" 5LNB.

Thanks for the avatar comment. I'm a diehard Hawks fan. I grew up in Tacoma, though actually mostly the Lakewood area south of town. Attended Clover Park High and University of Puget Sound. My son is a Curtis High grad and then WSU. Family has moved out of the area but we're still Hawks fans. One of the reasons I have DirecTV is NFL ST which allows me to catch all the Hawks games.

 

[blownss]

Nice!! Yeah I actually went to high school at Franklin Pierce, so our high schools played each other back in the day, I dont know if they still do with football leagues always changing around here.

Anyways I just ordered a H21 from a seller on ebay, they say they are a Directv reseller and i looked through his feedback and that is pretty much all they sell. Brand new in the box with everything still sealed up it was $90 shipped. Little cheaper than going through Directv, don't have to pay tax and shipping on top of the $100 they want. Hopefully there are no issues. I don't use the OTA feature on my H20 so it's not a big deal for me.

Thanks for the help. I will post my results when I get the unit in. They say they have locations all over the country and should be at my door within 2 days, so I'm hoping it will be here on Friday.

 

[randyk47]

As I said, I got my H20 from a business on eBay and it indeed was dropped shipped from Dallas. Had it up and running 3 days after closing the deal so it might be the same folks. I'd order from them again if I couldn't get DirecTV to make me an offer.

Yep. I remember Franklin Pierce. They used to hand us our backside, used to be a sports power in the state.

 

[blownss]

Ya we actually had the best year ever this year for football, made it all the way to the state championship game, but we lost......ahh well.

 

[blownss]

Well guys the H21 worked perfectly. I purchased it from the guy on Wednesday afternoon and it was at my door on Friday. Set it all up, called Directv and they deactivated the receiver this was replaced and activated the new one no problems.

Thanks for all the help on here guys!

 

[randyk47]

Great! As long as a person is relatively savy about consumer electronics and doesn't have any special wiring requirements (i.e., dropping an additional line for a HR20/21) there's really no reason you can't install your own. Of course, one of my neighbors was complaining about his setup in his theater and asked me to look at it. Amazing! What a mess! He'd taken everything down to paint the room and put it back together himself without labeling a thing. I won't even try to explain the details but things like rear speakers wired to the front output was typical.

 

[blownss]

Yeah I am a savvy guy when it comes to consumer electronics and electronics in general. I'm a software developer and am a huge audio freak. I have my Bachelor's in Physics, so I love to know how the stuff works as well. I'd much rather install it myself then schedule some bozo to come out at 6pm when he's supposed to be there between 8am and noon.

I just was mainly worried about the Directv activation side of it...I was worried they would give me crap because I didn't purchase the box through them.

BTW I have always wanted to get into home theater installations...I love that stuff. I have setup a few small ones for friends and family, but have never had the time to try and advertise myself and do stuff for people I don't know. I would love to get into it someday...seems like it would be a great side job or fulltime job if you could make it big.

 

[randyk47]

I've never had trouble activating any of my DirecTV stuff and I've bought maybe 3-4 units since my initial install back in 1998, including moving my stuff from Virginia to Texas in 2003. I didn't install my HR20 but by the time the installer got there I'd moved the H20 that was in the cabinet to a new location. All he had to do was "plug and play" as I'd also pulled the additional RG6 cable for the second tuner. He seemed to have some trouble activating it but it was more communicating with DirecTV than something wrong with the unit.

I'm a clinical psychologist so I'm not exactly falling back on training to install electronics. I did study to become a ham operator, owned part of a house/apartment rental company, and paid attention to my very inventive father who could fix anything. I hate reading directions (my wife considers that a male missing gene problem) and can normally figure out just about anything. Not sure one could make a good living as a "home theater" expert/installer but then again, based on what I've seen/heard at friends' houses, there certainly is a potential. Just like the guy across the street seating there watching/listening to his home system wondering why it sounds like garbage. In fact, the only reason it came up in discussion was him mentioning his frustration with paying so much money and not having the system look or sound like it did in the home theater store. Of course, he didn't initially mention he had reinstalled it himself and had virtually no idea how it worked.

 

[Sixkids]

Can I use an HD receiver and dish and tie it to a non-hd Receiver?

I originally had a Directv NON HD dish. (I still have it). I just signed up for HD and they installed a new HD dish antenna. I am thinking about ordering non HD service for our guest room for the summer. Would the non HD receiver work with the HD dish? And just as well, would our HD receiver work with a plain non HD dish antenna? Does anyone know if you can sign up for service with a non hd add-on to an HD account with Directv?
I hope I am posting this correctly! If not, please forgive me as this is my first time on your website
Thank you for your answers! Sixkids

 

[Bob Nielsen]

SD receivers will work with 5 LNB (HD) Dishes. HD receivers will work with single and 3 LNB dishes, but will only get those channels which operate on the satellites that the dishes are pointing at (i.e., not most of the HD channels). Some dishes with a built-in single-wire multiswitch are now being installed and only the newer receivers (SD or HD) will work with these. You can have a mixture of HD and SD on a Directv account.