Upgrading Old Receiver for NFL Ticket Only

[vankac]

The current RCA receiver I have, RCA DRD440RE, is acting up on me. It goes to black and white sometimes and then back to color. I've been with D* the past 7 years as an NFL Ticket Only subscriber. Every year I just pay for the ticket and I get that plus the NFL Network.

I called and asked about upgrading or replacing my existing SD receiver and they said, if I got one off of eBay or Craigslist or whatever, I could call them and they would send me a new card for $20 without making me sign up for a new 2 year contract.

I've recently purchased an HD TV and would like to upgrade to an HD receiver if possible. If not, I would just like a better/newer SD receiver I guess.

My question is, do I need to replace my old round single LNB RCA Dish too in order to get an HD receiver to work for the NFL Network and the NFL Ticket or will they just work with my current dish? It's only hooked up to 1 TV. If I can, any recommendations on the receiver (H10, H20, etc). If I can't, any recommendations on an SD receiver?

Thanks,

Curtis

 

[JosephB]

You'll need a slimline dish if you want to get the HD games. The H22 or H23 will be fine for your use, since you obviously don't need OTA.

 

[jdspencer]

BTW, the loss of color can be attributed to a bad s-video cable to the TV.

 

[vankac]

OK. I thought that might be the case. None of my other home projects ever end up being easy either.

I see there are 3 and 5 LNB slimlines. Can I just get by with a 3 LNB or do I need a 5? If I already have the mast for the old dish mounted and positioned, would it be pretty easy to swap out just the dish/LNB and then do some minor alignment using the TV?

As far as the signal switching from color to black and white, I tried swapping out the s-video cable and also using the standard video out but the problem still existed.

 

[Zynergi]

Unfortunately there is only 1 Non-Commitment HD box which is the HRPro +-$600 so if you upgrade to HD, chances are high that you will be on a 24 month commitment with a minimum month package sub.

As far as the Dish, if you are using the 18" then the 3lnb Slimline will be fine. The dish is much bigger with a bigger mast so no the mast for the 18" wont work, and using a "sleeve" as some might suggest will lead to problems as the dish is considerably heavier and has a much larger wind load than your 18".

If you go the Ebay route.. look for a D10 or D11... D12's are leased and will cause you problems when trying to activate. H2x Boxes are 95% leased and again you may spend X dollars only to find out D* wont transfer the RID to your account.

 

[jtwex]

As far as the Dish, if you are using the 18" then the 3lnb Slimline will be fine. The dish is much bigger with a bigger mast so no the mast for the 18" wont work, and using a "sleeve" as some might suggest will lead to problems as the dish is considerably heavier and has a much larger wind load than your 18".

Take this to heart as I tried it twice (doing pull-ups on the mast) & each time the dish mount failed. On the plus side, the holes line up perfectly for a j-mount so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[JosephB]

You'll need to mount it on a new mast. The 3LNB will be fine. Also, if you're ONLY getting NFLST, and DirecTV is offering you a receiver without a commitment, then jump on it. Just be sure you get them to put it in writing on your account.

 

[vankac]

Thanks for the help/advice. I just had a couple more questions. Do I have to purchase both the dish and receiver at the same time to verify that they work? In other words, if a found an H21 receiver and hooked it up with my current round single LNB 18" dish, could I verify that it is in working order or do I have to have the slimline dish installed in order for it to work at all? I know I won't get/see any HD channels this way. Secondly, could I do the same with the slimline dish? Could I install it and still use my current DRD440RE receiver to verify that it's hooked up correctly and still see the NFL Network on SD?

Thanks,

Curtis

 

[JosephB]

Thanks for the help/advice. I just had a couple more questions. Do I have to purchase both the dish and receiver at the same time to verify that they work? In other words, if a found an H21 receiver and hooked it up with my current round single LNB 18" dish, could I verify that it is in working order or do I have to have the slimline dish installed in order for it to work at all? I know I won't get/see any HD channels this way. Secondly, could I do the same with the slimline dish? Could I install it and still use my current DRD440RE receiver to verify that it's hooked up correctly and still see the NFL Network on SD?

Thanks,

Curtis

Your old receiver should work with a slimline as long as it is NOT a SWM dish (it must have more than 1 output from the dish). Alternatively, you can connect up a new receiver to an 18" dish, but obviously you won't get the HD channels.

 

[Zynergi]

Keep in mind if you "Find" any H21/22/23 receiver no matter how much the seller is selling it, it will be a leased box and will put you in a commitment. You may on a slim chance be able to find an Owned H20 (silver box) but verify with D* that it is not leased before buying it.

 

[vankac]

Based on my conversations with D*, I believe you are correct. Any one selling an H21/22/23 is selling a leased not owned unit unless I spend $500 or more for one. Do you think the H20 would have the same issue? It sounds like I should stay away from the H20-600 model and look for an H20-100 model.

If H20's don't work, I think I have to take a different approach. I'm also researching H10 models since perhaps they might work. I would still need the slimline 3 LNB non-SWM dish correct?

If that doesn't work, I may just try a more modern SD receiver. I'm not sure if the picture will end up looking any better but at least I can get better sound out of it.

 

[randyk47]

There are a few H20's out there that were bought, not leased, very early in their release. I want to say it was somewhere around January to March 2006. I actually own my H20 and I bought it in February 2006. The point though is that when I say "few" I mean that like in rare so big time "buyer beware" sign on any H20 you see for sale. As for the H20-100 versus the H20-600. Well, I've read the threads and comments here and have to say I've been running my H20-600 for three years now without a problem. It did get replaced last fall under what was more or less a forced recall but my original unit was working just fine. In fact, subsequent to the recall effort DirecTV has backed off and is only replacing H20-600's when the customer has a problem. Unfortunately that's left me with a deactivated H20 doorstop that I guess I need to send to the electronic recycle bin. I own it, and its replacement, but it can't be activated as the RID has been registered as a replaced defective unit even though it was working perfectly fine when DirecTV replaced it.

 

[vankac]

OK. I've found an H21-100 and an HR20-700 that are owned. I called about a couple Hughes HTL and H10-250's but the D* Customer Service Rep told me that I couldn't get HD programming with those anymore because of the number of satellites D* now uses to carry HD. Is that true?

 

[Zynergi]

Any HD receiver other than H20/21/22/23 and HR20/21/22/23 will no longer get HD programming, well will soon not get it all, they only have 3 or 4 Mpeg2 Hd channels left on the sats the older HD boxes read from.