[jmferraiolo]

I am getting installed on 10/30 with a new HR20 (so they claim...) , but I wanted to make sure that my install site would be good for the AT9, so I asked DTV for the name of the company that would be performing the install. They told me, and I called their main number, then called their local office.

Right now I have the old single LNB dish on a bucket mount on the patio of my apartment. When I told the installer that I was upgrading to the HR20, he said that the AT9 dish wouldn't fit on my existing bucket mount and that I'd need a new way to mount the thing. I already knew this and had explained what another guy had done -- basically got a big block of wood and secured it to the patio using cables of some kind (not bungee cords) and then the dish was mounted into that block of wood and aligned, etc.

The installer said that to be truthful, there wasn't much of a reason for having the 5 LNB dish in an apartment since the other 2 satellites haven't been launched yet. He said he wasn't sure that they could do the mount in the way that I had described and whether or not it'd be secure. He went on to tell me that I could get the regular multi-sat 3 LNB dish they use now and that it would fit on my existing bucket mount and I would have no issues or "lose" any programming with this 3 LNB dish.

He was a really nice guy and explained everything well (spent over 30 min on the phone with him), but I just wanted to make sure that what he says is true. Am I going to suffer by not going with the AT9 now? Loss of programming or poorer quality? HD Locals are not available in my area, and are not likely to be any time soon either, if that plays a role.

I am probably moving from my apartment into a house inside of 6-8 months anyway, if that matters, and I'll probably be able to upgrade to the new Slimline dish at that time for free, he said.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

 

[mstenbrg]

You need the 5LNB dish to receive the MPEG4 local channels and all new HD channels in the future.

 

[litzdog911]

The installation company's advice looks good. According to DirecTV's web site at http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/packProg/localChannels.jsp?assetId=900018, no locals are yet available in your area (standard definition or high defintion). So a 3-LNB dish would work fine, providing you with all of the nationwide HD channels.

See also this information here ....
http://www.dbstalk.com/hr20/html/DTV_LIL_DMA.html

 

[jmferraiolo]

Yeah I am not overly concerned about local channels through DTV; I just want to make sure that I can get all of the other normally offered channels (HBO, NFL Sunday Ticket HD broadcasts, ESPN, etc etc.) with the 3 LNB dish and he said that I could.

Are there any other drawbacks to having this dish, such as reduced PQ? And will the installer have to run any more RG-6, out of curiosity? I have 2 wires fed to the single LNB dish for dual-tuner action right now...

 

[litzdog911]

PQ will be the same.

The 3-LNB dish has four cable outputs. If you just have the one DVR, then you only need two cables connected to the dish. Each additional receiver requires its own cable, so your 3-LNB dish can support one DVR (two tuners) plus two stand-alone single tuner receivers. Just let the installers how many receivers/DVRs you have.

 

[jmferraiolo]

Beautiful. Thanks for your responses, litz.

 

[litzdog911]

Enjoy! Let us know how your installation goes.

 

[Canis Lupus]

I would probably have the same attitude about locals since we're prolly a year away from having them coming down from the actual dish, but my rub is that the wife really digs a lot of network programming. And the current SD local channels on the new HDTV I just got (ABC and CBS especially) look pretty bad. So I prolly need to hold out for the proper 5LNB install correct? (Understanding I'm gonna need the OTA to be turned on in software to take advantage of at least the locals through that antenna).

 

[jmferraiolo]

Well, installer came out today. Unfortunately it appears that I have no line of sight to the other satellites so I can't get the HD package I was given the option to cancel the install or go forward and just get the HR20 and new dish put in anyway, so I did that. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the same $49 deal given the shortage of units if I cancelled now and ordered again later.

He finagled with the dish a few times to try and lock in the other satellites but no dice. Basically my dish is in a bucket mount on my apartment patio but it points / abuts toward the side of the building itself. I figured since the 3 LNBs aren't angled in any way, it would pull in the other sats besides the 101 fine, but ... no. He said that I could try some kind of custom mounting to perhaps extend the base of the dish further out from the patio so it would clear the building, but I don't know about that. Maybe I can take some photos and post them here and someone can see what is and isn't feasible?

I'm kind of bummed out; just bought a new 61 inch TV and scheduled the DTV upgrade so I could get into the world of high def in style. Now it appears that I won't have any high def ... except for the NFL Sunday ticket channels on my superfan package. He said that the only channels I wouldn't receive would be the ones listed in the package (TNT, ESPN, etc. etc.) but if something else was offered in HD, then I would get it. I don't really understand, but I hope he's right.

 

[cybrsurfer]

Well, installer came out today. Unfortunately it appears that I have no line of sight to the other satellites so I can't get the HD package I was given the option to cancel the install or go forward and just get the HR20 and new dish put in anyway, so I did that. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the same $49 deal given the shortage of units if I cancelled now and ordered again later.

You should be able to keep your original offer, despite the fact that they are out of HR20's and delayed install.