[Ponbiki]

Hey all,

I just purchased a used Samsung H10, no service or sat currently, but I am trying to use it for the OTA ATSC tuner. It has an access card but basically I've gone through guided set-up and since no Sat it won't go past the gathering guide info. Also, if I skip the guided set-up w/menu + down on unit and try to manually go to "Antenna Setup" it is greyed out.

I tried using a friends old Sat hook-up hoping if it downloaded the guide info the OTA would work, but it [Sat] was installed around 1999 so probably not angled correctly. I called D* and spoke with only one tech, she was under the impression that the tuner should work even w/out Sat, but misinformation seems to be their goal sometimes.

Anyway, next plan is to try a Sat install I know is working, if no luck will probably eBay it. I guess it's possible the box may be defective, if not it's kind of annoying that a company purposely makes a device useless when someone actually paid for it...Any useful info or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[JLucPicard]

Ponbiki,

First of all, Welcome to DBSTalk! :welcome_s

Partially just guessing here, but without the receiver activated, I would guess the box is not enabled to do much of anything - OTA or not. If you connect it to a working satellite signal, you may get channel 100 or one of the channels that basically let you know you've got signal. If you get through all the set up steps (would still need to be connected to the working satellite signal and maybe even an OTA antenna for the OTA set up to work properly), you may or may not be able to get the OTA working. Again, without activating the receiver through D*, I wouldn't be surprised if OTA still didn't work.

As far as "if not (defective) it's kind of annoying that a company purposely makes a device useless when someone actually paid for it", the H10 DirecTv HD Receiver was not designed to be a stand alone OTA receiver - it was designed to be a satellite receiver. If you wanted just an OTA HD receiver there are many receivers that are made just for that purpose that have nothing to do with satellite at all. Unless you plan to subscribe to DirecTv service, it may have been a better idea to invest in one of those instead.

 

[litzdog911]

The H10/H20 HD Receivers cannot do much of anything without an active subscription and access card, including OTA reception.

 

[Strejcek]

And even if it did OTA reception, without DTV service, the locals would not even show up in the guide. But good luck with it Ponbiki.

 

[Ponbiki]

Hey guys, thanks for replying, just thought I'd give an update.

Basically I connected the box to a working dish, it got signal and guide info, and said I'd have to call to get service etc. The OTA started working also. I also disconnected the dish and the OTA continued to work, even after turning it off and on.

The dilemma is once power is disconnected from the box it looses the guide info. So my next plan is to buy a UPS and hook it up at the dish location, then bring the UPS and H10 back home. That should get me going, not sure if there is a timeout before the box locks up without a dish connected though.

I would just install a dish, but my apartment doesn't allow it. The reason I am trying to use the H10 just for the OTA is an ATSC set-top costs at least $180 retail and prices will probably drop to below $50 in the text two years, so if I can buy a device for $50 now meant for D* that does OTA it's worth it.

 

[iceman2a]

The problem is that anytime you lose power or the box resets it's self it will need to go through the whole boot up process, without a sat signal it will not complete the process and the ATSC tuner will be useless. Unless you power it thru the UPS all the time! I had this problem with a samsung when I lost an LNB on a phase III dish. D* support told me to do a reset and I refused, knowing A) it wasn.t a rcvr problem and B) it would not complete the boot up and I'd Lose my OTA's!

 

[nocaster]

Hey guys, thanks for replying, just thought I'd give an update.

Basically I connected the box to a working dish, it got signal and guide info, and said I'd have to call to get service etc. The OTA started working also. I also disconnected the dish and the OTA continued to work, even after turning it off and on.

The dilemma is once power is disconnected from the box it looses the guide info. So my next plan is to buy a UPS and hook it up at the dish location, then bring the UPS and H10 back home. That should get me going, not sure if there is a timeout before the box locks up without a dish connected though.

I would just install a dish, but my apartment doesn't allow it. The reason I am trying to use the H10 just for the OTA is an ATSC set-top costs at least $180 retail and prices will probably drop to below $50 in the text two years, so if I can buy a device for $50 now meant for D* that does OTA it's worth it.

IMO, if you already have a dish the H10 could be a viable ATSC tuner as it will still recieve guide data even when deactivated. Mine actually recieved the latest software upgrade in this configuration. I'm actually using mine like this until the HR20 gets the OTA tuner activated.

$50 for H10 + UPS + "your time spent messing with it"
vs.
$180 ATSC tuner that will work even after the power bumps in the night.

I don't see the economical advantage of the H10 in this case.