Possible switch back to DTV from Dishnet Dish configuration

[Barry Erick]

I used part of this setup when I had DirecTV:
I use a seperate dish for 119 and the others. As a result I use the multiswitch as external.

For Dish I have a dish pointing to 61.5, a supe3r dish at 105 and 110 (although 105 isn't used anymore) and one at 119.

119 is the big thing for DirecTV. I know the slimline won't work. The 61.5 dish and the 119 were DirecTV dishes back in the late 90's and I only changed the LNB's and I think the adapters since one was round and the other square.

Anyway, can I still use an external multiswitch with DirecTV and single/combination for the signals I want: Local & HD Choice Plus, basically.

 

[jdspencer]

In order to determine which DirecTV sat has your locals, we need to know your location. Some are on the 119, but the technology has changed quite a bit, so you really need to update the dish. And the Dish multiswitches won't work.

DirecTV's main satellite is at 101 with 99 and 103 used for HD. As I said 119 has some locals (SD) and 110 is used for international (I think).

 

[Barry Erick]

I know dish multiswitches won't work, but does Direct have the ability?


Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market. I know on day one the SD's were on 119 as I worked with Direct to set us up (I was in broadcasting until I retired a couple of months ago) and there was a lot of trouble with locals in this area because of 119 being used on Direct. Dish was over on 105 and 110 which caused us to promote using Dish rather than DirecTv. I don't know where the HD feeds are. I know where they are picked up but not what bird they end up on.

 

[dishrich]

OK, here's the deal...
ALL HD locals, regardless of DMA, are on either 99 or 103, so that shouldn't be an issue for you. Now, as far as your SD locals, they still are on 119 - but, your big 4 + PBS are all in HD, so you really don't need them obviously in SD. (as long as you are NOT going to use any SD only receivers) You DO have another station, WQMY-53, which is NOT in HD, but I do believe it IS in MPEG4 only & NOT on the 119 bird, so really, you could get by w/out needing 119.

Now here's something that's very important - if you can't see 119, you MUST use an SL3 slimline, which only sees 99, 101 & 103. If you attempt to use an SL5 & can't see 119, you WILL have guide issues on all your receivers, as on that type of dish, it sometimes gets guide downloads from 119. (on the SL3, this is not an issue at all)
If you have D* come out, I'm not sure in your market if they will do an SL3 or SL5, since technically you do NOT need to see 119, as ALL your locals are in MPEG4, just not the SD dupes. (I know in our market, they ONLY do SL3's as standard, but we're in transition to MPEG4 ONLY locals...) You could buy your own SL3 on e-bay or something & have the tech use it instead.

 

[jdspencer]

It looks like your SD locals are still on 119 and the HD ones are on 103. So, you'll need the SlimLine SL5 dish. It can either be the SWM version or not. There's no way to combine your current dishes to receive the DirecTV sats. The SWM install can support up to 8 tuners (DVRs have two).

Check the XLS file in post #1 of this thread http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=178558
Your locals are shown in Network 717 in column 1.

 

[Barry Erick]

I do not need SD locals, but the guide is only on 119? The installer here (I did not put the super dish in) thought he could get 119 from where it is, but it was weak and choppy so he said to hook up the way I had it. Perhaps a nother end of the house can see 119. Antoher installer, a week before, had me put a pole in and that is stilll there but the installer a week later did not want to use it (the line would run under the sidewalk). I needed installers because Dish only sold this as an installed package. I am close to calling on the specail "come back to us" deal.

The seperate off air receiver that is a companion to the direct receivers - does that provide a guid and can it be recorded on a timer on the dtv easily

 

[jdspencer]

If you don't need your SD locals on 119 then the SL3 dish should be installed. Then the guide is delivered from 101.

I'm confused as to which installers you are mentioning? DirecTV or Dish?

The AM21 add-on dual OTA tuner is totally integrated into the HR series of DVRs.
It's guide is incorporated with the DVR's guide.

 

[Barry Erick]

Dish was the instaler trying to find 119 and ended up using the seperate dish that I had for Directv at the time.

Ok, so I am a go for a SL3. Before I retired I would have used the SD things as part of my quality control.. But the company only needed one guy on dish and another on Direct but I do not care about that anymore. I just had a call from the Local Directv pickup asking a question and I got some info from him.

 

[Barry Erick]

My welcome back offer does not say which hr receiver, hd plus dvr or just hd dvr. Are both still shipping? I know the plus has off air in it,but the non-plus does not.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

All of the current HD DVRs are called "plus". The HR20 (discontinued) has dual built-in OTA tuners, but you can get the same features on newer models with the AM21, which is an external tuner that connects to the HD receiver or DVR via USB. You may get any HR2x model (the latest is the HR24, which is much faster). The HR20 and HR21 had 300/320 GB hard drives, while newer models have 500 GB (~100 hours of HD recording).

 

[harshness]

As I said 119 has some locals (SD) and 110 is used for international (I think).

119W has most of the SD locals (the ones that aren't MPEG4) and quite a bit of Latino programming. 110W has no conventional programming at all (just an art card).

 

[Barry Erick]

My neighor has the same package (with premium) that I am getting and he has a SL3 dish with SWR (or whatever -- one wire) . That was changed a few months ago. He was never able to get the locals on SD (119) but is fine with them I am fine with just HD and i also get them all via OTA.

Are you saying the current products do not have OTA inputs? I thought the older ones did not and the new ones did. No problem... I just do not want to buy something I do not have to.

 

[jdspencer]

The other way around, only HD DVR that has the built-in OTA tuner is the older HR20. What Bob Nielsen said.

 

[Barry Erick]

ok I will order the OTA tuner once I make the order. It will be in July since I am going out of the country in a few days until the 4th.