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Getting an HR54 and C61K and have some questions.

2K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  dreadlk 
#1 ·
Ok so I broke down and ordered the pair from SS and am going to install it.
I have a SWM 16 but I know I will have to change out for and LNB with RB eventually. I ordered one but for now I would like to just hook up and get it activated with directv.

So my first question has to do with procedure. The HR54 has it's own access card and from what I am reading the C16K has some form of like Mac address that needs to be paired to the HR54 via the SWM. So does this pairing happen before I call Directv for activation or do I have to activate the HR54 first and then pair the C61K and then call Directv again to have the C61K added to my account?

Thanks for any help
 
#2 ·
So with a HR54 there is no real pairing with a client. The HS17 keeps track of the exact client activated. You basically you just need to activate both with directv Once everything is up you will go whole home on the HR54 and add a client which gives you a PIN number. You then go to the client and enter that PIN number and you are good to go
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the replies guys.
I am still a bit confused, SS said that they will get it activated if I have any problems withe DTV and directly calling it in. What I don't understand is that from the above statement it makes it sound like you hook up the HR54 then activate it and then just hook up the C61K and add it as a client in the HR54 menu. So how does Direvtv know the C61K is connected? I know they bill you for every client attached so i figure you have to give them some sort of C61K device number so they can add it to the account or does it require having both connected at the same time and just informing them you want to pay for one client and they send some info to the HR54 that allows one client to access it?

Sorry to be asking such noob questions but I have always stayed away from the Genie equipment and never really had much need for it up until now, so it's all very new to me.
 
#10 ·
As I stated you will add it to the HR54 by entering a pin that the genie will give you
Got it, so after hooking up both units I should look at the C61K for a Pin that it generates and call in the card and receiver number for the HR54 along with the Pin number for the C61K. I guess after the HR54 is activated I can go in and enter the Pin into the HR54 and C61K should also come on.
 
#12 ·
Got it, so after hooking up both units I should look at the C61K for a Pin that it generates and call in the card and receiver number for the HR54 along with the Pin number for the C61K. I guess after the HR54 is activated I can go in and enter the Pin into the HR54 and C61K should also come on.
Close

Once everything is up you will go whole home on the HR54 and add a client which gives you a PIN number. You then go to the client and enter that PIN number and you are good to go
 
#3 ·
Does Directv even allow people to do self installs for 4K upgrades? I wouldn't be too sure they won't insist on sending out an installer. Sometimes Directv's system will ENFORCE an installer visit for certain things, especially ones that require an LNB upgrade which their system assumes only installers can do.
 
#5 ·
I had an HR-54 and 2x C61K installed about a month ago to my existing account. I have 2x HR-24 remaining from my old installation. To my surprise they put in a 22 channel SWM RB LNB not the 13 channel LNB (I am not complaining). I only saw the 13 channel LNB on the SS web site perhaps the larger one is also available there or elsewhere. I assume that they will require a truck roll but perhaps by calling Loyalty department you will be able to have them authorize the system when you obtain the LNB.
 
#14 ·
Well in the end everything worked out.
First major hurdle was SolidSignal first saying they could activate the boxes and then when I got them hooked up and called they said oh no no we can only activate commercial equipment. Hmm I wasn’t buying/leasing commercial equipment from them so why lie?

So I ended up with a nice lady at DTV activations and she eventually agreed to add them to my account.

C61k took the hit but the HR54 did not. I rechecked every and she rehit it again and it worked.

Getting everything else going went smoothly but then I went to the 4K channels and got the dreaded your not eligible to watch this content” or something like that.

From some research I found two solutions that seemed common. Let the unit gather data for a few hours or rehit the c16k because it should have been the second of the two authorized not the first.

Anyway I did both thing and 2 hours later the 4K was working :)

So far I. Am loving the 4K video
 
#15 ·
I’m really surprised D* allowed a self install and activated everything for you. I guess its hit or miss on you get on the other end of the phone.

Also interesting that Solid Signal can still activate commercial acccounts but not residential accounts. I was told that they couldn’t activate any D* accounts anymore because everything was being switched over to AT&T.

Anyways, glad you got everything working. :)

Just curious, what equipment did you have before?
 
#17 · (Edited)
I'm really surprised D* allowed a self install and activated everything for you. I guess its hit or miss on you get on the other end of the phone.

Also interesting that Solid Signal can still activate commercial acccounts but not residential accounts. I was told that they couldn't activate any D* accounts anymore because everything was being switched over to AT&T.

Anyways, glad you got everything working. :)

Just curious, what equipment did you have before?
At this point I would not trust what SS has to say. They said they could do home activation's and then they could not, so maybe them telling me if it was commercial would also turn out to be untrue.

The equipment I have is two HR24s, two HR23's and now this HR54 and C61K.

I have to say even the regular 1080P HD channels look better on the HR54 and C61K.

For those who have not tried it yet, the 4K is pretty good.

On a scale of 1 to 10 on 4K quality I would rate things as follows.

Netflix 4K HDR= 1 ( Yes its just 4K with almost no color depth and a low bit rate of about 1.6MB/S)

YouTube High Bandwidth 4K= 3
( This is the kind of 4K content that will not play properly unless you have a 4MB/S or faster connection.

Huge 4K Demo files from Samsung or LG= 9 (These are the files that are like 520MB in size for 90 seconds of video or about 6MB/s)

DirecTV 4K channel 104= 5
( I have looked at several shows and yes it varies based on content, but overall it averages IMHO to about a 5, which is pretty darn good)

Directv 4K Sports 106 = 7 (I Watched my first basketball game on it and the picture was extremely good. They evidently use a higher bit rate for the sporting broadcasts.

I do get at least two blips or pauses during most one hour shows but it so far it has not become annoying yet.
 
#16 ·
I would guess the commercial accounts will be last to transition to AT&T since they are more important to them (more $$$) That will give them time to work the bugs out of the system. Since not all the residential accounts are transferred, maybe none of the commercial ones are yet.
 
#18 ·
I just noticed something about the C61K that I did not pick up on for the first two days of use. When you fast forward or Rewind through a recorded show it does not show any video!

How the heck are you supposed to skip past commercials blindly? I end up having to FF then stop then FF and stop and the eventually overshoot and have to RW and stop. It's very frustrating.

If your wondering, I kind of used it mostly for just the 4K ch 104 for the first two days and only got around to really watching other recorded channels tonight. I had lots of recordings on my HR24 to watch so it was not a priority.

I have also noticed several tiny blackouts even on regular channels, I am wondering if I need to replace my cable or the cable ends. I will test them out on the weekend when I have time.

On a positive note the speed is pretty good and the picture is better on 1080P material than the HR24. I like the unit even though the guide and menus are a step backwards from older models.
 
#20 ·
I checked again and none of the units C61k or HR54 do it with recorded content only with live TV in the buffer.
Also the C61K does not rewind, it just goes back to the start of the recording.

Are you saying that you are not experiencing any of these problems? Could it be because your using a HS17 ?
 
#27 ·
Well thanks guys a reboot with 10 minutes of unplug time seemed to have fixed the issue :). I have to say I was skeptical because I had unplugged it a couple of times after it was setup. I had to unplug them while I moved things around in my HT cabinets for optimal placement.

I am a little bit shocked at how unstable this software seems to be. I have never had an HR-2X series DVR reboot and have an issue like this before and judging by some of the posts I have read several others have had behavior changes in the unit after reboots that required several more reboots to fix them. BTW another bug I found in the C61K is that When I switched to RF remote control the first time it worked. I switched back to IR and the unit started working with my old Logitech 900 remote in IR mode. I looked back in the menu and it was still saying it was in RF mode. I went through the procedure again and it still saying its in RF mode but its really in IR mode. Anyway I need it to be in IR mode so I just left it the way it is. It works fine with the 900 remote so it not a problem.


I am now going to try setting up some series recordings and hope that I do not get the dreaded did not record problem.
I do like the HR-54 and C61K but I am a bit concerned about the stability. I am really loving some of that 4K content :D
 
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