What do I need?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well folks, if you seen in the pub, I am going to be getting DirecTV in an effort to help expand our DirecTV area (and in addition I will be working with DirecTV to expand our area) It is my hope that with DirecTV I an finally talk about DirecTV and know what I am talking about so I can better support the DirecTV folks here at SatelliteGuys.

Anyways I had a friend check on my account with DirecTV, since I had DirecTV for NFL Sunday Ticket 6 years ago (and only Sunday Ticket) in his check he saw that I was purged from the system and can sign up again as a new DirecTV customer.

I was only thinking of getting a HR 20, however now that the equipment is free (or lower cost) I am thinking about getting a total of 3 to 4 receivers.

All of my TV's in the house are HD. But I don't need HD receivers on all the TV's.

I only need one HR20, which I understand will cost me $199. What should I get for the rest?

I was thinking 1 or 2 MPEG4 non DVR receivers, and a SD DVR.

Do I need one of the 5 LNB dishes or will a 3 LNB dish be enough?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

You do need one for every tv. H20 are non dvr HD receivers. $99 each.plus alot of times there are $100 rebates on them. D11and D12 are standard def receivers.$49 each but alot of times Directv will give them to New customers for free.With the 5lnb dish you can only hook up 4 non DVRs max or 2 DVRs max.or 1 DVR and 2 Non DVR's.(Directv only installs the 5lnb dish) If you want more you would need a multi switch.I don't know much about the multi switches,for the new HD. DVR service is $5.99 per month,2 or more receivers hooked up is $4.99 per month each

 

[cheebs]

Scott:

Go with the 5 LNB, otherwise when the new birds go up you'll be SOL with the new HD programming!

As far as equipment, well the H20 is a horrid receiver (I've had two that would reset every 5-10 mins), but there's no non-DVR HD alternative. The D10-11 is very stable but is SD. So, in your case I would get the HR20, one or two H20s and an R15.

HTH

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Scott:

Go with the 5 LNB, otherwise when the new birds go up you'll be SOL with the new HD programming!

As far as equipment, well the H20 is a horrid receiver (I've had two that would reset every 5-10 mins), but there's no non-DVR HD alternative. The D10-11 is very stable but is SD. So, in your case I would get the HR20, one or two H20s and an R15.

HTH

I've had on problems with my H-20 to date.Had since Febuary 2006

 

[iceturkee]

i haven't had any problems with either my h20 or hr20. and i'm about to add a second hr20.

 

[boston area dtv]

I have the H20 and have had no issues. You need the 5LNB and make sure they give you the grey box.

Its funny cuz this is the be careful what you wish for stage. I can see it now. "I have the HR20 and the 622 and the HR20 is awful"

 

[afulkerson]

You need the 5 LNB dish for any of the MPEG4 channels both now and in the future.

 

[joed32]

Great news Scott! Glad to see you will be checking out the "dark" side. If you order the HR20 and three other recievers D* will install the 5 LNB dish and the 6x8 multiswitch at no charge as you can only run 4 lines off the dish and you will need at least 5 connections. If you run into any problems I'm sure you will get any help you need from the people here.

 

[rad]

IIRC, D*'s doing only the Ka/Ku dish installs for new customers, but just make sure since you'll need that for any new HD channels and your HD locals/RSN's.

If you can wrangle it, I'd try to get the HR20's where ever possible since compared to the H20 and R15 it's a better box, plus D*'s putting a lot more resources into adding new features then the other two boxes (the H20 still doesn't have the 'active' feature enabled in the national release code, only in the two latest CE's). You might also want to ask for the HR20-600 model since new CE releases come out for that version more often then the HR20-100, but D* will probably say you'll get whatever comes off the truck.

I have an R15-300 which replaces a R15-500, which kept blowing out the smartcard. I've got the latest CE version of code running on that box and it's been stable since then, prior to that it would lock up every now and then requiring a reboot.

I've had a H20-600 since late fall 2005 and except for the missing 'active' code in the national release it's been OK. The the CE code that I've been running enabled active but my HDMI now has a problem, if I take the H20 out of standby before the monitor is all the way up I loose audio until I put the H20 back in standby and then out again. The H20-600 is also know for running hot so you need to keep it in a well ventilated area, the H20-100 doesn't have that problem.

You also need to cable runs to each DVR, no single wire solution like with E*. You might also want to have an ethernet connection near the HR20(s) so you can play with the MP3/JPEG features and will be able to use the VOD feature which is supposed to be coming out in a couple months.

And just so you know, you can't diplex OTA onto the sat cable at this time, you will be able to once the release the FTM switch to the public.

Hope you can get a good deal out of them and welcome to the dark side

 

[Todd Wiedemann]

Scott -

My HR20-700 has been rock solid. (I've got an old LG and Hughes to round out my receivers)

I've heard stories about people not getting the "B-Band" converters installed.

Make sure you get those as well.

 

[Jackm]

Scott - I have the H20, HR20 and one of the small standard receivers...and have had no problems at all, one thing - the H20 I have has a much stronger OTA receiver than the HR20 - as for locals - I live in the Adirondacks and pick up everything over the air. And yes, you want to new dish to get all the new HD channels this fall. Keep us updated.

 

[bonscott87]

Scott,

5LNB is what you'll get.
You'll also get (and should ask to be sure) the Zinwell 6x8 multiswitch which means you can connect up to 8 tuners to it.

HR20 is the HD DVR
H20 is the HD non DVR
R15 is the SD DVR
If you have any old DirecTivo's laying around you can activate those too.

I read your thread in the pub. There is no need to make this some sort of competition. There is no need. If there becomes some war between forums over this information then DirecTV will just clamp up and take their ball home.

That is bad for *everyone*. If DirecTV would prefer to just work with one small group of people on one forum then don't push it just to make yourself or this forum seem more important or that you must be *the one* that reveals the info. Again, this just hurts us all, on all the forums.

Just my thoughts. I'm glad you're getting D* to check it out and provide more D* info. Hopefully your HR20 is as good as mine has been.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

If that happens then it happens. But I don't think it will.

I am willing to push the envelope for our members.

 

[rad]

If that happens then it happens. But I don't think it will.

I am willing to push the envelope for our members.

I sure hope you're right, because if you're wrong there will be a backlash against you for causing it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am not to worried about it.

If the kid wants to take their ball and go homel, there is nothing I can do about it.

I would just hope that the kid would want to play ball.

 

[boston area dtv]

Im a D* sub and a businessman. If Scott wants to push the envelope for the benefit of his site then all the power too him.

I know this site is a love and a hobby but its also a business.

If D* walks away then its D*'s fault not Scott's.

I would expect Scott is like everyone else here. We want to be the best. Im glad he isnt satisfied with just having the best E* site and OTA site.

Im disappointed in fellow D* subs who only half heartedly support Scott. We complain about not getting the D* info and get upset at the E* slant and then when the guy makes a move to get more info., I hear dont try too hard Scott, from the same people.

This is a two way street if we want sat guys to be a D* leader then we have to support Scott unconditionally.

As for this not being a competition, dont be naive. Two sites, both targeting sat subscribers and both targeting advertising dollars this absolutely is a competition.

Not to mention the sheer pride in doing your best.

 

[rad]

Boston, if Scott can get the same consideration from D* that DBSTalk and Earl have, that would be great. My only problem is if Scott pushes D* on this issue and they end up shutting down info to both sites. No more CE releases or customer participation in testing of hardware like the SWM we loose as D* customers because of the bad blood that exists between the two sites.

If D* does pull the plug at both sites then Scott wins, D* customers loose.

Oh, and BTW, if you notice I signed up on this site back in 9/2003, right after Scott started it and I've make multiple contributions in the past, but have stopped as of late due to the lack of D* info. If things again pick up I have no problems providing additional funds to Scott to keep things going.

 

[bonscott87]

Boston, if Scott can get the same consideration from D* that DBSTalk and Earl have, that would be great. My only problem is if Scott pushes D* on this issue and they end up shutting down info to both sites. No more CE releases or customer participation in testing of hardware like the SWM we loose as D* customers because of the bad blood that exists between the two sites.

If D* does pull the plug at both sites then Scott wins, D* customers loose.

Exactly. More power to Scott trying to be the best D* info site available. Competetion is good. But if DirecTV looks and see's two 10 year olds bikering about who should get what info and decide to end it for all then we *all* lose.

Better to take the high road for the good of D* customers. Just don't let pride and the "need" to have to be #1 ruin it for everyone, that's all I ask as should we all.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Sorry folks no taking the high rode on this, I tried and it got wiped in my face.

Sit back it's going to be a ride.

I just ordered my equipment.

HR20
H20
R15
5LNB Dish
Switch

 

[rad]

OMG, I never thought we'd see the day when Scott gave D* another shot.

Did you get an install date yet? BTW, some folks have mentioned if they got a date a number of weeks out they've had luck going to the D* web site and being able to get an earlier date.