Thinking about getting D*, have some questions

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I'm surprised they still install 18 inch dishes. You'd think they'd be better off installing a slimline for future HD upgrades by the current homeowner, or the next homeowner.
 
Its most likly a Phase III 18x20 Dish , If not a slimline.

Installing a phase III 18x20 dish seems like a waste of time. It can get the 101 satellite, but not the 99 and 103. I thought that old thing was only used for a parados or the old mpeg2 HD channels.
 
I'm surprised they still install 18 inch dishes. You'd think they'd be better off installing a slimline for future HD upgrades by the current homeowner, or the next homeowner.

Its most likly a Phase III 18x20 Dish , If not a slimline.

my sister got her install last Monday 2/8 and just the 18" dish was there. It was a 4 room SD install (no HD's in the house) ;)
It wasnt a Phase III.
 
Minnesota :)
(why would we have D* in Canada..... :rolleyes: )
Mpls locals are on 101

I've mentioned it a few times. She got a box UPS a few days before the install
4 D12's
3x4 multiswitch
18" dish

My install is tomorrow so they couldnt ship the stuff out quick enough
 
yep I know my old area (Duluth, MN) is on 119

but a single dish will work fine here. My neighbor has just the 18" dish too :)
 
yep I know my old area (Duluth, MN) is on 119

but a single dish will work fine here. My neighbor has just the 18" dish too :)
Having 18 inch round dish is nice.
Its too bad where I live, Its always one extream to another.

Like the SD in my area required the Phase III since Day one because of the locals, (when we finally got locals back in the early 2000's)
But now they are sticking a few of our SD locals on the 103, so now even SD customers are getting them huge Slimlines. (Huge for D* Standards)
Same with My E* Its took 2 years to finally get a Single dish solution, and Now if I want International I need another dish.
It was great when I had D* back in 1995 when 18" dish was all that was needed, and a Bill that really was less then $40.:)
Sunday Ticket was also $139.95 that year too.
 
When did the R22 get discontinued and does anybody know why.? I'd been thinking about replacing my 3 R15s with R22s since the R15s aren't SWM compatible. I think the R16s are SWM compatible so I guess I could get them. Do the R16s have an Ethernet jack?
 
But now they are sticking a few of our SD locals on the 103, so now even SD customers are getting them huge Slimlines. (Huge for D* Standards)

my neighbor has one of them slimline (the old version...the 5 LNB slimline) on the roof. He cancelled a while back so if the tech MUST install one, I'll have the tech leave mine in the garage and hook into the neighbors (its only about 6 feet from my motorized :)

My buddy asked me was I going to have the tech come through the garage (where the 2 6 foot dishes are sitting) and I told him "yep" :D
 
well I put up a dish today for the tech to do his "professional install" on ;)

didnt have a 18" dish around (except an old D300) so I slapped up a Phase III and got mid 80's to low 90's on all conus TP's

then tweaked my ghetto setup (Primestar dish) and got low to mid 90's on all conus TP's

now to patiently wait for the installer :)
 
yep everything is pretty much done. All the tech will have to do is hook up the cable since I dont have a cable with ground wire handy :)

no holes need to be drilled. He can just run it from the roof (which is up one level) down the existing cable "cluster" into the hole where the rest go. This goes into my drop ceiling in the basement and run it up through the floor (again where another cable cluster is) and hook up to receiver.

Cables to TV are already setup :) sooooooooo hopefully the tech will work with me so he can get on his merry way and I can start enjoying D* ;)
 
he just left :)

He showed up about 3:05. I opened the garage and he sees the 6 footer and says "I'm not putting that dish on the roof am I? :D

I said no and we introduced ourselves. He starts asking the normal questions about where the dish is going to go, the receiver etc and I made his day by saying "most of it is done. The dish is installed. It just needs the cable from the dish to the receiver and grounded.

He gives me this weird look and I said "come here and see." Well when he walks to the deck and sees a 6 footer, a Primestar and a 4 footer he starts laughing. I showed him the Phase III on the roof and he asked if I wanted to keep that or to get a 18" dish. I said just keep that up there (because I'll take it down in the next day or so and run it to my Primestar dish) ;) I think I made his day by having a bunch of stuff done. He did say it was his last job and "my easiest one in a long time" as his 1st job today was a receiver upgrade and he had to run a 200 foot cable for. We walked through where he would ground it, where the cables will run to, etc and he started.

I didnt know the DVR was dual tuner. I know it doesnt have dual outputs but hey I happy I can record one and watch another :)

Anywho we ran the cables into the hole where the rest are, he grounded it and we hooked the cable to the dish. He checked the signal on the dish I installed and said "dont need to touch this dish" :) He did ask about the dish farm and asked if I was transmitting. I explained free to air and I did peak his interest about some of the channels from other countries .

Hooked up to the dish and we went inside and ran the cables through the floor (again where the existing cluster was) and hooked up receiver. Looks like its the R15 DVR. Activated it and we were done in maybe 45 minutes. Signed the paperwork and he was on his merry way. 65 minutes start to finish

All and all I was impressed with the tech. Very professional, was happy that this "one room DVR install" wasnt going to be a nightmare. He allowed me to help with simple things, commented on my setup (how impressive it was) and walked me through everything.
I was impressed he didnt put down free to air (I was worried the tech might say something about the dish farm) and was very nice. The guy my sister had install hers kept complaining about the little bit of snow we had

So now I am a D* customer :)
I know I'll have lots of questions ;)
 
yep. Lemme go check to see what the model is. It doesnt say on the front

edit: yep says R15 on the back. And it was a D* truck that came to install
 
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