HD receiver setup

[billkenny]

I have two receivers in my home. The one in my living room is a HD receiver. The one in my basement is a standard. I had an old HD Tivo repaired and would now like to put it in my basement. My dish is a slimline 3 lnb. What is the best way to get this hooked up. I called Direct tv and they told me I would need to pay $80.00 to have a technician come out and hook it up for me. They said something about the cables from my dish being wrong. Can anyone help me with this.

Thanks: billkenny

 

[Ronnie-]

You would be better off upgrading the tivo to the HR at this point, it will give you alot more HD channels. They should do it for free

 

[bimplebean]

I have both receivers in the living room and my wife and kids still use the TiVo far more than the HR21 since the UI is easier to use and most of their programming is SD. I also record network programs off the air in HD off the TiVo as a backup in case something goes wrong; there have been times when the TiVo hiccuped and I have it on the HR21, or vice versa.

If you enable the TiVo with DirecTV it can hold 200 hours of SD programming and/or record HD programs off the air (OTA). (Good antenna needed, go to www.antennaweb.org for advice.) I'm in LA so I get a lot of HD OTA content.

I don't think DTV will charge more in DVR or HD fees for hooking up a third DVR, but you should check to be 100% certain.

You will of course need another set of cables to go from the sat dish to the Tivo. Depending on your current hardware you may also need a new switcher to accommodate the third pair of coax cables. I have a rig like this with the new Slimline dish and the HD TiVo works just fine. Bear in mind there's no satellite-based HD programming left for the TiVo, though; it's all on the HR21 now.

If you're really keen on doing this and don't feel like running cable, swapping out switchers, climbing on the roof, etc. etc. the $80 may be worth it.

Hope that helps...

 

[Ronnie-]

You know you can record OTA channels with the HR-21 if you get the ota tuner (which they will usually give for free). You wont lose any functionality by getting the upgrade

 

[billkenny]

Thanks for the help you guys. I should probably add that the tivo that I want to hook up is an hr10-250 model, and that I already have 2 cables running from my dish to the old non HD Tivo. Is there a different LNB hook up at the dish for the cables to HD receivers then for standard receivers. I don't mind getting on the roof if I have to. I'm just wondering why Direct TV wants to send out a tech guy and charge me $80.00 if it is something they can do from their end by pushing some buttons.
Thanks for your help: billkenny

 

[Ronnie-]

I dont see why you cant hook it up yourself and then just call them to activate it. Since you already have the dish and the cables.