forced to drop E* and move to D*

[IPAonTAP]

I have been a relatively satisfied E* subscriber since '99. I most recently have an 811 (owned), 522 (leased), 7100 and OTA for HD locals. All equipment suprisingly works quite well. I subscribe to AT180+locals + old HD Pak (MPEG2) for ~$82/month. I have just moved and my new home location does not allow for E* signal capture due to trees. I have been told that I should be able to receive a D* signal though. In the interim, I currently have TWC (sucks big time) but have come to need the HD DVR functionality. My questions are as follows:

What HD programming will I be missing with D* that I had with E* (MPEG 2 only)?

I have heard that I can not get an HR20(?) DVR from D* due to limited availabilty, and HD locals are not yet available in my area. If I were to jump to D* now, would they insall the 5 lnb dish (required for eventual HD locals) and provide me with some sort of voucher for the the HD DVR when available?

How many cables will enter my house from a D* dish to feed 4 TV's? Are switches used like E*, if so can they be mounted inside to keep structure penetrations to a minimum?

I was fairly knowledgeable in all the E* stuff and hate to drop it but I have no choice and I do not care for TWC at all. Any help is greatly appreciated. I may have a "bug free" 811 available once this gets sorted out.

 

[KwestJones]

Shouldn't u be asking this on the D* forum?

 

[cybrsurfer]

If you sign up for HD package you will get likely the new 5lnb slimline or AT-9...

I have been a relatively satisfied E* subscriber since '99. I most recently have an 811 (owned), 522 (leased), 7100 and OTA for HD locals. All equipment suprisingly works quite well. I subscribe to AT180+locals + old HD Pak (MPEG2) for ~$82/month. I have just moved and my new home location does not allow for E* signal capture due to trees. I have been told that I should be able to receive a D* signal though. In the interim, I currently have TWC (sucks big time) but have come to need the HD DVR functionality. My questions are as follows:

What HD programming will I be missing with D* that I had with E* (MPEG 2 only)?

I have heard that I can not get an HR20(?) DVR from D* due to limited availabilty, and HD locals are not yet available in my area. If I were to jump to D* now, would they insall the 5 lnb dish (required for eventual HD locals) and provide me with some sort of voucher for the the HD DVR when available?

How many cables will enter my house from a D* dish to feed 4 TV's? Are switches used like E*, if so can they be mounted inside to keep structure penetrations to a minimum?

I was fairly knowledgeable in all the E* stuff and hate to drop it but I have no choice and I do not care for TWC at all. Any help is greatly appreciated. I may have a "bug free" 811 available once this gets sorted out.

You would get Slimline or AT-9 5lnb dish for HD programming. Next year 94% of locals (217 Markets) will be in HD with DirecTV and up 150 national HD channels. This will surpass Dishnetwork. So if you can wait until Summer 2007 you will have the best in programming for HD. Plus you get your Regional Sports now in HD in many markets. Plus Sunday Ticket, MLB, NHL, NBA...

 

[Greg Bimson]

I am finding it a bit strange that you cannot have Dish Network but you can get DirecTV.

Dish Network's main programming is at the 110 and 119 slots. For DirecTV, you will need 110 and 119 for HD and 119 for the Buffalo SD locals. So I am not understanding why you could get DirecTV but not Dish Network.

 

[IPAonTAP]

Thanks for the quick replies. The E* installer was the one who told me I may be able to get a D* signal. I have not yet had anybody out to install D*, but it appears to me that the D* equipment points much more south, and at a higher elevation than E*. It could be entirely possible that I can not get a signal with D* either, but that would be terrible, as I would then be stuck with TWC until FIOS becomes available.

 

[Greg Bimson]

Just so I understand, if the MPEG2 programming on Dish Network was on the 110 and 119 slots, and you are blocked by trees from those satellites, then you cannot get programming from 110 and 119. By going to DirecTV you will not be able to get most of the HD programming, as most of the programming is also on the 110 and 119 slots through DirecTV. Buffalo locals (SD) are also on 119.

However, if the HD programming is on another satellite slot, and it is that slot which is being blocked instead of 110 and 119, then you should be able to receive all DirecTV programming as you would have access to 101, 110 and 119 (and later the Ka-band systems at 99 and 103 w/ the 5LNB dish).

 

[IPAonTAP]

Greg, Thanks again for your help. It is my understanding that I would have problems with the 119 slot. I can currently get both 110 and 119 at signal strengths of 92 and 112 respectively, however there a no leaves on the trees right now.

 

[cybrsurfer]

Keep in mind all HD programming will be moving to ka band satellites 99 and 103...

Greg, Thanks again for your help. It is my understanding that I would have problems with the 119 slot. I can currently get both 110 and 119 at signal strengths of 92 and 112 respectively, however there a no leaves on the trees right now.

Next year all HD national, local and Regional sports will be only available on MPEG4. MPEG2 will be SD only. Keep that in mind in regards to getting a signal on 99 and 103.

 

[IPAonTAP]

I think I will be able to receive both of those, I have trouble with anything west of 110

 

[Jimbo]

Next year all HD national, local and Regional sports will be only available on MPEG4. MPEG2 will be SD only. Keep that in mind in regards to getting a signal on 99 and 103.

Where has this information come from ?
Is D* going to replace everyones MPEG2 recievers ? and at what cost?
So all the HD recievers out there (MPEG2) will be obsolete ??????????????
This sounds like a short sighted design.

Please post where this information is, so we can read over it and determine for our selves.

Jimbo

 

[Teronzhul]

Eventually I'm sure hes right, that all MPEG2 HD will be gone in favor of MPEG4. Will that happen in 2007? I doubt it. They'll probably leave what they have in terms of HD package channels in MPEG2 until 2008.

I bet they will drop the DNS MPEG2 streams as soon as they possibly can though, since the DNS eligible customers will be a small fraction of the HD customers. That will at least provide an additional 8 HD channels worth of bandwidth for them to increase PQ on their current chans and give them some breathing room.

 

[charper1]

Next year all HD national, local and Regional sports will be only available on MPEG4. MPEG2 will be SD only. Keep that in mind in regards to getting a signal on 99 and 103.

Tech007; is that you?

This is like the 3rd or 4th time you have mentioned this yet continually fail to sight any sources when asked too. PLEASE SIGHT and show us the info about this? You are saying in around 7 - 9 months ALL current MPEG2 HD units will be useless for receiving DirecTV HD DBS programming?

There is no doubt at all that MPEG4 (or even something newer down the road) will take over MPEG2 but it sure is NOT happening en mass in the summer of 2007.

 

[IPAonTAP]

Assuming I can receive all 5 satelites, and get the 5 lnb dish, does that mean I have to run 5 RG6 lines into my house?

 

[Dollar2]

Assuming I can receive all 5 satelites, and get the 5 lnb dish, does that mean I have to run 5 RG6 lines into my house?

No, the 5LNB dishes have four outputs. You can run fewer if you have fewer receivers. You'll need (or want) two feeds for each DVR.