SWMLine 5 National Launch

[RobertE]

The national launch of the SWMLine 5 lnb is currently set for 8/20.

Some things to keep in mind before you set your self up for dissapointment.

While the national launch is the 20th, your local warehouse may not have them in stock (at least in quanity) for a couple of weeks yet.

Your local techs may have yet to be trained on the SWM LNB.

AFAIK, the qualifers still remain the same:

NEW customers ONLY.

5 or more tuners, at least 1 must be HD. Can not subscribe to international programming, or be in a 72.5 market (yet)

Must have D12, R16, H20, HR20 or newer receivers.

Limit of 8 tuners per LNB.

For those wanting to swap out LNBs, I feel for ya. But those are DirecTv's rules. A CSR putting notes about getting a SWM will do NOTHING for you. Any verbal confirmation, while it might give you a warm fuzzy feeling deep in side, dosen't hold any value either. All that will mater is what the computer puts on the workorder as a line item. These things are inventory controlled, so it has to be a line item.

Or you can just buy one yourself and save yourself a lot of dissapointment.

[Mertzen]

For those wanting to swap out LNBs, I feel for ya. But those are DirecTv's rules. A CSR putting notes about getting a SWM will do NOTHING for you. Any verbal confirmation, while it might give you a warm fuzzy feeling deep in side, dosen't hold any value either. All that will mater is what the computer puts on the workorder as a line item. These things are inventory controlled, so it has to be a line item.

Or you can just buy one yourself and save yourself a lot of dissapointment.


Can you make this bold, glowing red. :lol:

[RobertE]

Can you make this bold, glowing red. :lol:

Yes I can :)

[evan_s]

And yet I'm sure we'll still get people complaining they didn't get the SWM promised. It will be nice when these are more common and are the standard LNB for most installs. I expect at some point they will be standard for any install that has a DVR at all unless they can't be used for some reason.

[NYCEGUY01]

The word down the line is that sometime in october ALL new HD customers ( without 72.5 or international or more than 8 tuners ) will be getting swm.


Could be wrong but thats whats been said by Dtv to our warehouse ordering people.

[Mertzen]

Yes I can :)

NICE :hurah:


Any word on getting new splitters more like the cable ones. The current ones are neat but are really for attics or crawl spaces. Not so good for concealing against a wall in an apartment.

[RobertE]

NICE :hurah:


Any word on getting new splitters more like the cable ones. The current ones are neat but are really for attics or crawl spaces. Not so good for concealing against a wall in an apartment.

Nope, I don't care for the port layout on the current ones either. Nice indoors, outside, not so much.

[Mertzen]

Nope, I don't care for the port layout on the current ones either. Nice indoors, outside, not so much.


GRRR. I wish the people from the design dept. drove with me for a week on routes and see what techs really need.

[Drew2k]

Thanks for the info Robert!

I think it's great the SWMLine 5 is going to out widely, it will make installation of DIRECTV that much more appealing to the uninitiated when they find out there's really not much fuss involved and the home's existing RG6 wiring can be used.

The only thing I'm really interested in seeing is how DIRECTV will react when two years from now a customer maxed out with 8 tuners and the SWMLine 5 wants to add yet two more tuners ... Will DIRECTV make the customer pay to swap out the SWMLine with a traditional dish and multiswitch, whcih woud also require new runs, or will there be some new expansion device in two years? Ahh ... the future is interesting. :)

[deboxer1]

It may be already in the r&d pipeline.

[RACJ2]

The national launch of the SWMLine 5 lnb is currently set for 8/20.

Some things to keep in mind before you set your self up for dissapointment.

5 or more tuners, at least 1 must be HD. Can not subscribe to international programming, or be in a 72.5 market (yet)

[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

When you save 5 or more tuners, if you get 2 HR22's and 1 H23, would you then receive a SWMline 5 lnb?

[evan_s]

Thanks for the info Robert!

I think it's great the SWMLine 5 is going to out widely, it will make installation of DIRECTV that much more appealing to the uninitiated when they find out there's really not much fuss involved and the home's existing RG6 wiring can be used.

The only thing I'm really interested in seeing is how DIRECTV will react when two years from now a customer maxed out with 8 tuners and the SWMLine 5 wants to add yet two more tuners ... Will DIRECTV make the customer pay to swap out the SWMLine with a traditional dish and multiswitch, whcih woud also require new runs, or will there be some new expansion device in two years? Ahh ... the future is interesting. :)

Since a SWMlnb is only passing 8 transponders out of a much larger total number of transponders I don't see how it would ever be possible to create a device that expands that number further. No matter what a device after it does it will never be able to get more than 8 transponders. No it might get lucky and have 2 tuners on channels that are on the same transponder but you have to plan for worst case scenario not best.

I imagine what will eventually happen in those cases is a standard LNB and 1 or more swm8's will be used or a second dish will be installed but thats just my guess. We could see something like a swm12 in the future too but that would be a new lnb or a swm8 like device not something that plugs into a swmlnb.

[RobertE]

When you save 5 or more tuners, if you get 2 HR22's and 1 H23, would you then receive a SWMline 5 lnb?

Yes, that would meet the 5 or more tuners requirement.

[Sixto]

Press release somewhere said the technology could support 12 tuners, but DirecTV was only using 8. Wasn't clear whether the hardware supports 12 or not ...http://www.entropic.com//products/dbs.htm

[Birdman79]

Actually it's not only for new installs but former ones too.

[texasbrit]

Press release somewhere said the technology could support 12 tuners, but DirecTV was only using 8. Wasn't clear whether the hardware supports 12 or not ...http://www.entropic.com//products/dbs.htm


Technically DirecTV is actually using nine channels, because one of them is common data like the guide. So it might be possible with the current base technology to have an SWM-11; this was mentioned way back when the specs for SWM first came out (I have a list of the channel frequencies and there are twelve of them, but for some reason DirecTV decided not to go to an SWM11).

[dave29]

Technically DirecTV is actually using nine channels, because one of them is common data like the guide. So it might be possible with the current base technology to have an SWM-11; this was mentioned way back when the specs for SWM first came out (I have a list of the channel frequencies and there are twelve of them, but for some reason DirecTV decided not to go to an SWM11).

maybe....
8 swm channels
1 communication channel
3 legacy channels

=12

[Johnnie5000]

NEW customers ONLY.

5 or more tuners, at least 1 must be HD. Can not subscribe to international programming, or be in a 72.5 market (yet)

Must have D12, R16, H20, HR20 or newer receivers.


Good:
Just got a fed-ex trailer full or Slimline 3's, SWM switchs, SWMLNBs, and all the other good stuff at our warehouse in Chattanooga Friday.

Bad:
72.5 Market. Also got a shipment of D11 refurbs to go with them.... :nono2:

[veryoldschool]

maybe....
8 swm channels
1 communication channel
3 legacy channels

=12
Eight "SWM" channels, one "comm channel" and one "guide" channel.

11 "tuners" with 8 SWM and three legacy

Now I know you did get the memo.... :lol:

[RobertE]

Good:
Just got a fed-ex trailer full or Slimline 3's, SWM switchs, SWMLNBs, and all the other good stuff at our warehouse in Chattanooga Friday.

Bad:
72.5 Market. Also got a shipment of D11 refurbs to go with them.... :nono2:

Classic. Nothing like shipping you a bunch of stuff you can't use. :lol:

[texasbrit]

maybe....
8 swm channels
1 communication channel
3 legacy channels

=12

No, I really mean 12 SWM channels. One for the guide, 11 for tuners. Plus of course the low-band communications channel. And then plus the legacy channels.

Here's the apparently planned frequency allocation.
Channel # - Frequency in MHz
1 - 974
2 - 1076
3 - 1178
4 - 1280
5 - 1382
6 - 1484
7 - 1586
8 - 1688
9 - 1790
10 -1893
11 -1995
12 - 2097

[mcbeevee]

Good:
Just got a fed-ex trailer full or Slimline 3's, SWM switchs, SWMLNBs, and all the other good stuff at our warehouse in Chattanooga Friday.

Bad:
72.5 Market. Also got a shipment of D11 refurbs to go with them.... :nono2:
Chattanooga is scheduled to get HD locals by the end of this month (Aug-08).

:)

[Hdhead]

So I have 4 HR21 and 2 H20 = 10 tuners. So I am a no go?

[Tom Robertson]

In theory the technology can support 11 SWM channels plus the guide data channel. In practice, Earl and I have both been told that there are no plans for that configuration.

RobertE (and other helpful friends), thanks for all your inputs. :)

Cheers,
Tom

[Tom Robertson]

So I have 4 HR21 and 2 H20 = 10 tuners. So I am a no go?

Correct. You would have to go with an Slimline and multiswitch(es). In your area, an SL3 Slimline should be available very soon as your locals get moved to the Ka sats.

Cheers,
Tom

[opfreak]

any word on the milwaukee market?

and if I only want 2 hr-2x's, i'd still have too run 4 cables? apartment place is cranky, one I could hide, more then that, much harder...

what would happen if I orders 2 hr-2x, another reciver, and then just returned the 3rd reciver?

[Jason Whiddon]

When do we think they will be out for sale on site sponsers?

[kstockwell]

The national launch of the SWMLine 5 lnb is currently set for 8/20.

Some things to keep in mind before you set your self up for dissapointment.

While the national launch is the 20th, your local warehouse may not have them in stock (at least in quanity) for a couple of weeks yet.

Your local techs may have yet to be trained on the SWM LNB.

AFAIK, the qualifers still remain the same:

NEW customers ONLY.

5 or more tuners, at least 1 must be HD. Can not subscribe to international programming, or be in a 72.5 market (yet)

Must have D12, R16, H20, HR20 or newer receivers.
--SNIP


Hi,
Newbie with a few questions. First, what is the 72.5 market? I'm located in Worcester Mass (50 miles west of Boston). Would I be in or out of this market? Next, my house is 3 years old with cable throughout (single line per outlet though). From my understanding, the SWMLine 5 lnb would mean that the installer wouldn't have to run second lines to locations where we would have HD DVR's right? Currently I have an install scheduled for next week with 2 HD DVR's. If I change my order to have 1 more standard receiver, I should qualify for this (or could I say that I already have one and get it through ebay?) . Since I'm new to DirectTV, would I have to insist on this option or are they pretty easy to work with? I realize that this might push out an install date but I just need to know how or if I can get this setup. Thanks.

Ken

[bobnielsen]

Hi,
Newbie with a few questions. First, what is the 72.5 market? I'm located in Worcester Mass (50 miles west of Boston). Would I be in or out of this market? Next, my house is 3 years old with cable throughout (single line per outlet though). From my understanding, the SWMLine 5 lnb would mean that the installer wouldn't have to run second lines to locations where we would have HD DVR's right? Currently I have an install scheduled for next week with 2 HD DVR's. If I change my order to have 1 more standard receiver, I should qualify for this (or could I say that I already have one and get it through ebay?) . Since I'm new to DirectTV, would I have to insist on this option or are they pretty easy to work with? I realize that this might push out an install date but I just need to know how or if I can get this setup. Thanks.

Ken

Your locals come from Boston and are not on 72.5, so that is not an issue for you.

[evan_s]

any word on the milwaukee market?

and if I only want 2 hr-2x's, i'd still have too run 4 cables? apartment place is cranky, one I could hide, more then that, much harder...

what would happen if I orders 2 hr-2x, another reciver, and then just returned the 3rd reciver?

You could do that. There would be a small charge for the 3rd receiver when you order and an extra 5$ on your first month for your additional receiver. You could return it at any point with out any penalties.

[skyviewmark1]

Well since my distributer (DSI) says this SWM-Lnb won't be available till October, I guess I won't be seeing any of them any time soon... And this whole debaukle is making the cost of the standard KA/KU dish go up in price too, I see a big problem with this whole thing. Since it seems DirecTV has seen fit to drop the reinbursement on the dish to a lower price for us dealers, while raising the cost of the dish, it's not going to be pretty

[TITAN_53]

Anyone know why standard ird's would give you the option for swimline 3 and 5lnb in the guided setup? I assume its to tell the rec. to work with a swm setup as opposed to the normal setup (assuming the rec. sends different signals to control the swm) but when the guide loads it shows mpeg2 hd channels in the guide and turning to them just gets you a banner and a black screen. Wondering what sense it makes to have hd channels showing on a standard rec. that obviously cant display them. I know the mpeg 2 hd's will be going away eventually but until then it will be very confusing for new installs that have an hd rec. and sd rec.'s if the tech sets 5lnb or swimline 3lnb on the sd rec. and they show info for hd channels that cant be watched on those rec.'s.

[TITAN_53]

Something else that was interesting. A guy in a 72 market got a local upgrade, standard ird's were set to 5lnb in the guided setup and he got searching for sat on all locals on his sd receivers. Changing the guided setup to a 3lnb (not swimline 3) corrected the issue.

[evan_s]

There are SD channels that come off 119 that the receiver would need to know if it's able to receive them or not. Locals in some areas come off 119. Additionally the spanish programing comes from there. I don't think you would strictly need the SL5 and SL3 in the setup but it makes it easier for customer and even installers so they don't have to know/remember which dish is equivalent to which.

[TITAN_53]

There are SD channels that come off 119 that the receiver would need to know if it's able to receive them or not. Locals in some areas come off 119. Additionally the spanish programing comes from there. I don't think you would strictly need the SL5 and SL3 in the setup but it makes it easier for customer and even installers so they don't have to know/remember which dish is equivalent to which.

Im aware of where all the programming comes from but there is no good reason for the hd channels to be listed in the guide of an sd rec. that cannot display any programming from that channel. Its not hard to know to pick 3lnb in the setup if the dish you installed is 3lnb or larger. The main reason im asking is because it seems to affect the way the rec. works. As stated in my 2nd post, which you may not have seen before you replied, when the sd ird's were set to 5lnb the locals off the 72 were searching for signal. After reprogramming to a regular 3lnb all locals came in on all ird's. (Not to mention i think it will be confusing for any customers doing the guided setup to see 2 different options for a 3lnb dish)

[evan_s]

What SD DVR was it? I would expect anything other than maybe a r22 to hide all the HD channels and that would be pretty weird if they weren't and something that should be fixed.

72.5 should be a separate setup from the main dish type and it shouldn't make a difference if they selected SL5 or Phase 3 for the main dish.

I agree it's not hard for those interested to keep track of which dishes are equivalent but wouldn't expect a new customer to know and there are plenty of stories of clueless techs.

[TITAN_53]

What SD DVR was it? I would expect anything other than maybe a r22 to hide all the HD channels and that would be pretty weird if they weren't and something that should be fixed.

72.5 should be a separate setup from the main dish type and it shouldn't make a difference if they selected SL5 or Phase 3 for the main dish.

I agree it's not hard for those interested to keep track of which dishes are equivalent but wouldn't expect a new customer to know and there are plenty of stories of clueless techs.

The ird's i have seen it on was a d11 and d12. Thats whats so confusing, there is absolutely no reason they should ever show hd channel listings. Totally agree about customers not knowing but why would they and there are a bunch of clueless techs and thats what i think will cause alot of issues. The tech did what anyone would think you would do and set the dish type to the dish type he installed which was a 5lnb but thats what caused the sd rec.'s to lose the locals until it was reprogrammed back to a regular 3lnb.

[evan_s]

definitely sounds like they need to work on that setup then =)

[TITAN_53]

Haha. For sure

[RobertE]

They have the Slimline3 & 5 in the setup in the event they need to broadcast mpeg2 programming from either 99 or 103. The receiver can see them, it just can do anything with the mpeg4 programming.

[RobertE]

The ird's i have seen it on was a d11 and d12. Thats whats so confusing, there is absolutely no reason they should ever show hd channel listings. Totally agree about customers not knowing but why would they and there are a bunch of clueless techs and thats what i think will cause alot of issues. The tech did what anyone would think you would do and set the dish type to the dish type he installed which was a 5lnb but thats what caused the sd rec.'s to lose the locals until it was reprogrammed back to a regular 3lnb.

As I put in my other post in the other thread, set the box for the right dishes and things will be fine. The control signals are getting messed up with the wrong dish selection.

[TITAN_53]

As I put in my other post in the other thread, set the box for the right dishes and things will be fine. The control signals are getting messed up with the wrong dish selection.

Yeah i figured out how to fix it by changing the dish type to oval 3 and putting 72 as "Installed" but i didnt try leaving it as 5lnb but if you say that would've worked also ill take your word for it.

[RobertE]

Yeah i figured out how to fix it by changing the dish type to oval 3 and putting 72 as "Installed" but i didnt try leaving it as 5lnb but if you say that would've worked also ill take your word for it.

If these are D or R series receivers then you should be fine. If they are H or HR series, then you'll want it set for 5lnb, not slimline 3 as you stand a chance of loosing your guide information.

[TITAN_53]

If these are D or R series receivers then you should be fine. If they are H or HR series, then you'll want it set for 5lnb, not slimline 3 as you stand a chance of loosing your guide information.

Yeah they were D series so should be good. Thanks for the info RobertE

[kstockwell]

Hi,
Does anyone have any idea which markets have inventory and are installing these yet? I'm near Boston and while I have an order in the system for 2 HD DVR's, I will be cancelling this and re-ordering 2 HD DRV's with another receiver so I qualify. Just wondering if I need to wait a week or two before re-ordering (hopefully not longer!).

Ken

[thestaton]

What's SWM?

[Michael D'Angelo]

What's SWM?

Single Wire Multi-switch

If you do a search for SWM you will find a lot of information on it.