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Returning to Directv

1K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  amikav 
#1 ·
A little background. I was a loyal Directv subscriber for about 9 years and about 2 years ago in February I got a HDTV and upgraded. It was great for two months until the leaves on my trees grew back in and blocked the dish. I had 3 installers show up (actually 1 didn't even show after I waited for 10 hours on a Sunday) after that and run off before fixing the problem (not even trying to move the dish). By then I gave up and got comcast for two years (which was a good deal for about 1 year - and now is outrageously expensive with less content in HD than Directv by far).

The other day, I located where my dish needs to be for 5 satellites using the sun/shadow method (from this forum). My old dish (which is still on my roof) will be in the shade for the 119 Sat and 110 Sat. I assume that one of those Sats carried the HD channels 70-80 then.

Finally, my questions. Do I still need to have access to those two western Sats (I am in the DC area)? If an installer comes out, I have a feeling, they'll see the dishes on my roof (and old round one, and newer oval HD one) and just connect them again. Should I go on my roof and take down those old Sats and get a brand new one?

Thanks for any help. I loved Directv when I had it, but got so frustrated with the installers. Hopefully, I'll get a better one this time. BTW, I probably will order 2 HD/DVR's and 2 regular receivers. I may need to replace an RG59 cable upstairs with two RG6 cables for the HD/DVR(which I can do myself if the installer is going to charge me a lot to do this).
 
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#2 ·
No, unless you want spanish or chinese programming you do not need 110/119.

If the RG59 runs are inside the walls you are better off doing it yourself. Many tech will charge for wall fishes and are allowed to do so.
 
#4 ·
amikav said:
Am I correct in assuming back in early 2007 the HD's were on either 110 or 119? Just in case my sun/shadow project was done incorrectly.
The HD channels in the 70's were on 110 and 119. Those have either moved or been duplicated in the 200's and 300's, along with all the new HD channels, and are fed from 99 and 103. You do not need 110 or 119 for any of the regular, English language, programming packages from DirecTV, including HD. If you need foreign language programming, then you may need 119.

There are two different HD LNB assemblies for the Slimline dish. A 3-LNB and a 5-LNB. The 3-LNB sees 99, 101 and 103. The 5-LNB sees 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119. If you do not have visibility of 110 or 119, then you need to make sure you get the 3-LNB version.

The current HD dish is the Slimline. You most likely have the older Phase III dish, and you also mention a round dish. Those can both be removed (but I would leave the foot plates in place so you don't have holes in your roof). The installer will have to put a new foot plate down for the Slimline, it is larger (both longer and wider) than the plate for the older dishes.

To be safe, I would have two coax cables (RG6) to each DVR location, and one coax cable (RG6) to each non-DVR receiver location. If you want those inside the wall, do it yourself if you have the ability. That is not part of standard installation. You will have a multiswitch someplace (needed to feed that many tuners). Four coax from the dish to the multiswitch, other coax from multiswitch location to receivers. The multiswitch can be outside but should not be directly exposed to weather.
 
#5 ·
Turns out, I did have a slimline, except it is the 5LNB type. I took it down anyway. There were two cables running from my old rounder dish, and two from the slimline.

Would it be most probable that the installer will bring the Slimline 3LNB vs. the 5LNB. I read on this site that there were problems with the 5LNB if it did not see the 110 and 119 Sats. I guess I would rather bypass all that and just get the 3.

Thanks for the help so far.
 
#7 ·
amikav said:
I may need to replace an RG59 cable upstairs with two RG6 cables for the HD/DVR(which I can do myself if the installer is going to charge me a lot to do this).
Depending on how long the run is and how old the RG59 is, you may not need to replace it. I am using RG59 for both my living room and bedroom dvrs and neither one is having a problem. Both runs are direct from the dish and are no more than 50'.
 
#8 ·
The RG59 did work with my old SD single tuner receiver. I figured since I have to run an extra cable (for the DVR) to that room anyway, I might as well replace the current 59 with a 6, too. pretty easy since I can just run the cable through the attic over the garage and through the garage into the basement.
 
#9 ·
amikav said:
The RG59 did work with my old SD single tuner receiver. I figured since I have to run an extra cable (for the DVR) to that room anyway, I might as well replace the current 59 with a 6, too. pretty easy since I can just run the cable through the attic over the garage and through the garage into the basement.
While RG-59 is 75 ohm coax and was used for many years, the times have changed. RG-6 is need to handle the MUCH higher frequency of the sinals running from the LNB's to the receivers. Also most of the RG-6 is double braided plus foil shielded.

For the same reason your connectors (such as a simple barrel connector) must be replaced. Years ago a little loss was not shuch a big thing. Today it is.
 
#10 ·
Ric54 said:
While RG-59 is 75 ohm coax and was used for many years, the times have changed. RG-6 is need to handle the MUCH higher frequency of the sinals running from the LNB's to the receivers. Also most of the RG-6 is double braided plus foil shielded.

For the same reason your connectors (such as a simple barrel connector) must be replaced. Years ago a little loss was not shuch a big thing. Today it is.
Thanks Ric, I should've ended my comment with YMMV.
 
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