New install w/ 3 LNB?

[tdenton1138]

Hi all. Long time lurker here. I recently switched from E* to Direct (mainly for HD) and have been very happy so far. So happy in fact that while visiting my father, I managed to convince him to switch from Mediacom and upgrade to an HDTV and HD-DVR - which he's been wanting to do for some time anyway.

Aside from the fact that the local Direct installers (Springfield, MO) came out, declared it impossible and left then said it'd be 10 days before they would come re-evaluate leading me to call a local installer (meaning I don't think I'll get the referral plus it cost him an extra $100), the service has been great. Reading along here, I am wondering about his install though. He had 2 dishes installed. My understanding is that one was a 3 LNB and the other was for the locals (? LNB). I called Direct because I knew I had a 5 LNB and wanted to confirm that these 2 dishes were the equivalent of a 5 LNB and was told that yes, it was fine. Is this true?

The second issue I wonder about is that these local installers also installed an aerial antenna and piggybacked the signal on the same coax as the sat signal. It appears that this will become a problem once Sat10 turns on? Unless D* releases some new multiplexer / switches soon enough, he'll need another cable run (me too if I want to fire up an ota)?

Thanks for any advice / info.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

The 3- and 5-LNB dishes will work for areas whose locals are on the 101 or 119 satellites. In some areas, a satellite at 72.5 degrees is used for locals, requiring a separate dish.

You are corrrect, the OTA should not be diplexed because of interferenced issues with Directv 10. However, this is only received with the 5 LNB dish and diplexing with a 3 LNB dish is still practical. Does your father have an HD Receiver? If so, the dish should be upgraded and a separate OTA line installed.

 

[tdenton1138]

He currently has (as in just bought/leased) the HD-DVR (HR-20-xxx I presume) and is currently receiving all HD and locals that are available to him - he has the Plus-HD package and it seems to be working fine as is.

The diplex for the aeriel was installed (I was told) after the switch(?) on its way to his one and only TV. Is this going to create a problem in the future when Direct10 goes live?

I sure wish I could have found an installer who knew this stuff before hand. As it was, they seemed to have limited knowledge of the DVR (I ended up finishing the install myself). That to me was a red flag, but we were already too far down the road and I was heading back home and wanted this done before I left.

Thanks for the help.

 

[iwc5893]

If he has ANY HD receiver, he should be getting the 5 LNB dish because the 3 LNB dish will NOT pick up any of the new HD programming when D10 & D11 go active. He may still need a second dish to pick up locals, if they are located on the 72.5 sat.

 

[tdenton1138]

Got it.

That's (not) great... I even called Directv and asked them specifically about getting a 3 lnb vs a 5 lnb and would that be okay for the new HDs... ack. I assumed that the 3 lnb plus the 72.5 for locals would be equal to one 5 lnb.

Next time, I'll be smarter and ask here first. So we need to change the 3 to a 5 and run a separate coax for the ota channels. More to do from far away now.

Thanks again.

 

[raoul5788]

Got it.

That's (not) great... I even called Directv and asked them specifically about getting a 3 lnb vs a 5 lnb and would that be okay for the new HDs... ack. I assumed that the 3 lnb plus the 72.5 for locals would be equal to one 5 lnb.

Next time, I'll be smarter and ask here first. So we need to change the 3 to a 5 and run a separate coax for the ota channels. More to do from far away now.

Thanks again.

You probably did get the 5 lnb dish, but it looks like it has only 3 lnb's on it. Three lnb's are combined into one unit. Does it say Slimline on it? If so, that's a 5 lnb dish.

 

[iwc5893]

An easier way to tell is by size...the triple sat dish is 20" across, and the slimline is about 36".

 

[tdenton1138]

It'll be tough to tell. Its mounted out of sight on the roof of the second story of my dad's house which is 1,200 miles away from me. I think I just need to call the guy who installed it and talk to him about what was done... He claims that 'service is all' to him and his little home theater company and I believe him, but I think some of the more technical aspects of how things work have passed him by.