[Guest]

I've been an E* sub for a couple years now. I got started when the model 7200 was new. My current equipment is the following:

Dish500
2x SW21 switches (only one of them in use)
Model 7200 dishplayer

I'm currently subbed to top100 and PTV. I'm a bit tired of paying $10 a month for PTV when I could potentially upgrade to one of the new PVRs and have it pay for itself in a few months from the savings I'd get from no more PTV charges.

BUT, I'm a little bit lost when it comes to understanding all the newer terminology (DishPRO, Quad LNB, SW64, etc.). That makes it tough to decide where I should go from here. I am thinking about possibly upgrading to the 721, and would possibly like to add a second receiver in the future, but it depends on how much equipment and installation it will require...

Anyway, E* doesn't even list the 721 on their website so it is very unclear as to how I would have to proceed. I need this info to decide what upgrades make the most sense for my use and budget.

Can anyone point me to a good reference that clearly explains all the options and requirements for the newer equipment? Other than that, I'd appreciate any advice you might have!

 

[John Corn]

Hi Jarrod, Welcome to DBSTalk.

The 721 is only available to Dish retailers at the moment, in the future I imagine Dish Network will sell them as well. Usually the retailers are a bit cheaper anyways.

Where to buy, thats up to you. I have dealt with a couple of the online retailers without any problems. We have some that visit here.

ProCom Plus is an online retailer I have dealt with.
I can't say enough about Jason, a very nice and helpful guy.
Here's the ProCom Plus Link.

Dish Depot is another popular online retailer.
Here's the Dish Depot Link.

DishPro is the new line of switches from Dish Network, although not all are available as of right now.
Here's a Link to the
DishPro Switches.

Quad LNB is an LNB you put on your dish that enables up to 4 receivers. The switch is built in to the LNB. In your case you could hookup 1 721 and 2 more receivers.
Here's a Link to the
Quad Switch

SW 64 switch will allow you to hook up 4 receivers of your dual LNB.

There are numerous ways to cascade more switches to get 4 or more receivers hooked up.
Take a Look here at these wiring diagrams for multiple receivers

Remember one thing about the 721, it takes 2 lines in because it is a dual tuner receiver. You will have 2 RG6 cables hooked to the back of it.

Feel free to ask more questions, hope this helps a little

 

[Jarrod]

John,

Thanks for the info. I have no problem buying from an online dealer that's not Dish. In fact I believe I bought the original setup from 4dws.

Would I be able to make the 721 work at all with two SW21 switches? In theory, I've got all the right connections in place to run a single 721 right now (with no other receivers). I could do a quad LNB or sw64 later on if I wanted. I'm just trying to spread the expense out as much as possible!

Any pros/cons to using a quad lnb vs the sw64? I'm assuming that you can't watch four independent channels on four different receivers with the sw64+dual LNB, correct? My understanding is that you are limited by the # of LNBs you've got.

So I guess with the sw64 you could watch two different channels *total* at any given time, but spread across four different receivers, right?

Which brings up a question...how do the four receivers interact with each other on the sw64? If you set the channels on the recievers so that they are trying to tune four separate channels simultaneously, does it change channels on the other recievers, or do two of them just lose signal?

 

[Jacob S]

The thing is that most people dont have the money up front to shell out for the extra cost of a Dish PVR to save the $10 a month to make up for the cost of the receiver. Dish probably decided to not give an option to pay for the PVR feature each month for a discount on the equipment because a lot of people would not activate the PVR function therefore the company would not get their money back and make a profit off of the hardware.