Upgrade a Dish 2800 to PVR 721

[pad77]

I currently have a Dish 2800 receiver. My Dish is a model 500 with 2 seperate LNBs mounted on a plastic Y adapter. There are 2 coaxes coming out of the LNBs to a SW21 switch in my attic with 1 coax going to my 2800 receiver. I'm thinking about replacing the 2800 with a PVR 721. If i buy the PRV 721 does it come with everything i need to connect to my old Dish 500? Do i need to buy another SW21? I heard that the PVR 721 comes with a DishPro LNB does that replace my old 2 seperate LNBs so it will work with the new PVR 721? I guess what i'm asking is .... does the new PVR 721 come with everything you need to make it work except the Dish 500 antenna.

Thanks...

[Neil Derryberry]

Sounds like you will need a new switch... the sw21's together would only run 1 721. Possible combinations - a sw44 will get you 1 721 and two regular receivers (or 2 721's), an sw64 would do the same, but would pull in one of the side satellite slots.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yup Neil is correct you will need a new switch.

[Randy_B]

I thought all Dish 500's had two lines out of each LNB (119 A/B and 110 A/B) and could handle 2 receivers. Sounds like only one of the feeds from each LNB is being used. If so, he could connect up the unused feeds from each LNB add another SW21 and then have each SW21 feed one input to the 721. This would ONLY support the 721 and you couldn't have another receiver on line. If so, buying one more SW21 and adding some RG-6 will be a lot cheaper than buying an SW44 or SW 64. Yes?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Depends on his LNB if its a Dual or not. I would suspect that because he has a Dish 500 it would be a Dual, but I could always be wrong. :)

[HTguy]

It sounds like pad77 might have gotten the 2802 system. That sytem was packed out with the 2800 receiver, a 20" dish and 2 single LNBFs with a SW-21 switch. The 2802 system was designed for "over-the-counter" sales at Sears, etc. for $99.

If that's the case, he will have to swap out the singles for duals & another SW-21 or a TWIN LNBF.

If he actually has 2 dual LNBFs all he needs is another SW-21 and a drop to the 2nd tuner port. Possibly he started with a 2801 system and upgraded to the Dish500. I can't think of any other way he would wind up with a 2 dual LNBF dish and only a 2800 receiver.
:shrug:

[pad77]

Thanks for the quick replies....

I think HTguy is right. I went outside and climbed a ladder to my dish and removed one of my LNBs. It only had 1 rf connector on it. So i have 2 LBNs but they only have 1 output each. I got the system directly from Dish Network for $75 plus free shipping about a year ago and the receiver came with the model 500 dish. So i have no where to connect a 2nd SW-21. But someone said that the PVR 721 comes with a DishPro LBN does that replace the LNBs i have now? What exactly does the PVR 721 come with?

I just checked Dishdepot.com and they sell a PVR 721 with a DishPro Twin LNBF for $619. So i guess that is what i have to order to upgrade my existing system. I'm not in a rush to upgrade so i will wait until after the July 8th tech forum on Dish Network to see if they have any upgrade info on the show.

Thanks again for your help.

[HTguy]

You can order the complete PVR system and swap your 2 single LNBF/SW-21 switch for the DishPro TWIN that comes with it. You'll wind up with a spare 20" dish.

OR you could check with a local retailer & see if he'll let you trade your LNBFs & switch towards a regular TWIN if you buy the PVR721 from him. You probably would save a few bucks this way but I think I would recommend going for the new DishPro hardware in case you do any additional upgrades later.

[Jacob S]

You are better off just purchasing the whole system with the dish 500 and the dishpro lnbf for these reasons:

> Dishpro technology allows for it to diagnose any problems that may result if something would go wrong such as bad wiring, bad switch, etc.

> It will have a built in switch so you would not have to mess with more wires or switches going bad.

> It will cost less this route than having to pay to upgrade the lnbf's and still having to buy another sw-21 switch.

> You would have some extra parts and you could sell them to make up for all or most of the extra $50 you would spend between the difference of the standalone receiver and the whole system.