There is probably 99.9999% chance that you'll never see FIOS and U-verse available in the sam area. Verizon and at&t each have their local service area, no overlap, for pulling copper/fiber to a home.
Scott's DirecTV Diary Comments
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 199
- Views 19K
-
WELCOME TO THE NEW SERVER!
If you are seeing this you are on our new server WELCOME HOME!
While the new server is online Scott is still working on the backend including the cachine. But the site is usable while the work is being completes!
Thank you for your patience and again WELCOME HOME!
CLICK THE X IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER OF THE BOX TO DISMISS THIS MESSAGE
- Status
There is probably 99.9999% chance that you'll never see FIOS and U-verse available in the sam area. Verizon and at&t each have their local service area, no overlap, for pulling copper/fiber to a home.
Verizon has almost no coverage in the state of CT, as the former SNET ruled the roost. I'm not even sure if the one verizon town in CT I know of (Greenwich) has FIOS available...
I know Fios isn't available anywhere in Northeastern PA,and I've never even heard of what att is doing.
AT&T's answer is U-Verse (see Scotts review on this site, he tried it). AT&T feels that they can continue to use copper to the premise by installing VRAD's in neighborhoods to keep the copper distance low. This approach doesn't provide anywhere near the bandwidth to the premise that FIOS does, right now U-Verse can stream only 1 HD channel to a home at a time, they keep saying they'll be able to increase it to 2 concurrent HD streams, BFD, two still isn't enough.
I really appreciate the detailed thread on your installation. I'm considering doing the same thing in a few months, after they fix the problem with local HD Raleigh stations to outlying areas, and your info will really help me.
I wonder, though, about the necessity of using the Laguna Mark 3 Sat ID Meter. Satellite.com lists it at $425, which is a ton to spend for one-time usage during installation. It certainly would make the installation easier for me, and I really want to install my own, but it would be very hard to justify for me, against the cost of a professional installation. Some years ago, in a previous residence, I installed my own Dish set up, and just used the TV signal strength indications to align the dishes, with my wife relaying reading via intercom. It was awkward amd clumsy, but we did manage. Do you think that approach would be feasible with the DirectTV installation?
I wonder, though, about the necessity of using the Laguna Mark 3 Sat ID Meter. Satellite.com lists it at $425, which is a ton to spend for one-time usage during installation. It certainly would make the installation easier for me, and I really want to install my own, but it would be very hard to justify for me, against the cost of a professional installation. Some years ago, in a previous residence, I installed my own Dish set up, and just used the TV signal strength indications to align the dishes, with my wife relaying reading via intercom. It was awkward amd clumsy, but we did manage. Do you think that approach would be feasible with the DirectTV installation?
I think you could do it with the receiver without the need of an expensive meter.
The meter was nice because it identified what Satellite I was on, basically I stuck the dish on the pole and spun it until I found the 101 satellite.
The meter was nice because it identified what Satellite I was on, basically I stuck the dish on the pole and spun it until I found the 101 satellite.
...The meter was nice because it identified what Satellite I was on, basically I stuck the dish on the pole and spun it until I found the 101 satellite.
Thanks. No doubt the meter makes the process much more convenient. I have a few months, at least, before I do the project, and maybe I will find a way to rent one, or find a less expensive, alternative meter.
I hope your last component shows up today, so you can move on with the project.
There are plenty of less-expensive meters. The installation video used an Accutrac22, which can be found for around $100.
The problem with not having a meter is getting the dish accurately centered on 101, which is a bit trickier than just peaking it. This is necessary because the beamwidth for the Ka sats is much narrower than for Ka. I recall seeing on one of the dbstalk threads that someone had gotten it close and then used the receivers signal strength display on 99 or 103 to get the peak, but haven't tried it myself (I was prepared to, but the Ironwood installer did a great job of alignment).
I think using the receiver to peak the dish will work for ideal conditions, but when they are marginalized you might have trouble getting a signal. Like Bob said, the ka beam is alot narrower than a ku.
The $100 price range is pretty reasonable. Is the installation video you referred to included with the dish package?
No, but the instruction sheet is pretty complete. There is a video for the AT-9 at http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp. The Slimline procedure is similar, but some of them have a slightly different mount where the azimuth adjustment is done in the same manner as the elevation adjustment in the video. Directv had new videos on channel 578 but now those are only available to authorized installers. The procedure in the instructions and video only use 101 and 119 for the adjustments, which will work with the cheaper meters. I think some of the more expensive meters will allow tweaking at 99 or 103 as well.
Very helpful videos. After watching all five of them, I'm convinced I wouldn't try it without the meter. I am just starting to look at satellite options, after a couple of years on cable with an SA8300HD DVR. My apprehension about what TWC is doing with the implementation of Navigator software for the 8300 has pushed me in this direction.
I apologize for going a bit off topic on this thread, but I was taken aback to discover that all equipment must be leased from D*, and they offer free installation for new customers, so this all may be moot.
Last edited:
"I did play with the H20 down the stairs (which is running the latest CE) for some reason it's not getting my local channels from the satellite (I have the PLUS DVR HD package) so I am not sure whats up with that."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Saw this on your install diary. You can log into your directv account and have the services refreshed and this usually solves the problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Saw this on your install diary. You can log into your directv account and have the services refreshed and this usually solves the problem.
Was just about to post the same thing. Common issue with locals, your access cards need a "rehit" which you can do online as directed above. You can also do it via the phone tree if you call or a CSR can do it as well. Much easier to do it online though.
Wait about 5 minutes after you resend authorization and then try it again.
FYI that when my HR20 was first hooked up it took about an hour for all my locals to come down and populate the guide (same happened on my old DirecTivo's as well). Just common locals issue with installation of a new receiver (DVR based at least).
Was just about to post the same thing. Common issue with locals, your access cards need a "rehit" which you can do online as directed above. You can also do it via the phone tree if you call or a CSR can do it as well. Much easier to do it online though.
Wait about 5 minutes after you resend authorization and then try it again.
FYI that when my HR20 was first hooked up it took about an hour for all my locals to come down and populate the guide (same happened on my old DirecTivo's as well). Just common locals issue with installation of a new receiver (DVR based at least).
The same thing happened to me.
i did a clear and delete on my hr10-250 last week and spent 2 hours checking everything, called diretv and the little automated system said it was troubleshooting the problem and bam the guide populated the locals, i couldnt help but laugh.
Scott, if setting up the HR20 didn't do it automatically, you should update the software (reset and type 0-2-4-6-8 when the "hello" screen appears). The boxes usually are a few revisions behind when shipped.
In one of the recent updates, the guide data is now cached on the hard drive, so rebooting will not delete any of it.
In one of the recent updates, the guide data is now cached on the hard drive, so rebooting will not delete any of it.
Couldn't tell if you were getting the 721's on both the H20 and HR20 or not. Either way I'd just call D* say tech support at the prompt and get someone to check your programming options. I ran into that problem a few times, in my case their system didn't have me in the right county, once that was fixed haven't seen it since.
Was just about to post the same thing. Common issue with locals, your access cards need a "rehit" which you can do online as directed above. You can also do it via the phone tree if you call or a CSR can do it as well. Much easier to do it online though.
Wait about 5 minutes after you resend authorization and then try it again.
FYI that when my HR20 was first hooked up it took about an hour for all my locals to come down and populate the guide (same happened on my old DirecTivo's as well). Just common locals issue with installation of a new receiver (DVR based at least).
Bonscott,
Do you have a link for the D* rehit page?
I have never seen it and don't know where to find it .
Thanks,
Jimbo
- Status
