HD Upgrade advice needed

[Poirot]

I self-installed a Sony SAT-A2/B2 waaaaaay back in the day for my mom, and have decided to upgrade her to HD or her birthday. I understand that there will need to be a new dish installed for the HD channels. My plan was to have the service upgraded BEFORE I had the new TV delivered, seeing as I was going to have to build the TV stand, remove the old one before the new TV arrived, and I am in DC and she is in the woods of Alabama.....a working vacation shall we say. I am not too sure how soon the installation could take place after the order has been placed, as my time on-site is limited, hence the boondoggle of a plan. I assume :grin: they could get it done in less than 8 days.

So, does my plan see ok? I assume the installer will do the installation on the old TV, make sure tings work ok, and just leave the HDMI cable for me to hook up the new TV (insert assumption jokes here) when it arrives. Any suggestions? Should I just place the order for the upgraded service after the new TV arrives, and is all set up for him? I wanted to test the waters here, BEFORE I called them up to make the arrangements. I thought there had to me more knowledge here than some voice on the end of a plantronics headset.

TIA
Poirot

[miketorse]

I've heard some installers on here (I think?) say that some installers won't upgrade to a HD box without attaching it to a HD TV. Not sure if that is common practice or not, but be aware.

How old of a TV is it? It needs to have at least an AV connection IN to it, or it would be messy. HD Receivers don't output through a coax.

[BattleZone]

I don't allow my installers to do HD installs without HDTVs unless I talk to the customer first, and get a customer sign-off before proceeding with the install. The reason is because when your HDTV arrives, if it doesn't work for any reason, the SOP is to charge back the tech for the service call. And you'd be surprised at how often people don't know how to hook up their new TV, or do it wrong, or don't set the TV to 16:9 or HD resolution, and then complain.

Also, some areas right now are running 2-4 weeks behind for installs. It's winter, so weather is bad (hard to work in), and DirecTV recently lowered installer pay (!), so lots of techs have quit. Some areas aren't that bad, though. I'd call in ASAP and see what you can do.

[Mertzen]

Yup, a lot of HSP tech will refuse to do the upgrade without a HDTV. Mostly for the back charge and to dump the low paying upgrade.
Offer to pay any possible back charge on the spot or wait till you have the TV.

[offrovin]

We were required to have the HD TV installed prior to DTV HD upgrade last month.

[Poirot]

Thanks for the info. I called DTV and they advised that I call a week before the TV's arrival and call up the local installer to try and set up an appropriate time. Just trying to get everything coordinated in advance.

Thanks
Poirot