Advice on upgrading DTV equipment

[NYRDiehardfan]

Hey guys,

I want some of your input on my upgrading to High Def programming.

I currently am a Directv and Patriot Media subscriber in Branchburg, NJ. I have just the basic cable ( No stb) for cable and I have Directv w/ Tivo as well. I am am an avid sports viewer and subscribe to NFL, MLB, and NHL packages. Now my dilema is what to do to upgrade cause I have an interest in high def. Should I upgrade to the h20, cause I am eligible for the HD locals out of NY, or should I get one of the h10's instead? I have heard and read the NUMEROUS complaints about the locals on the h20 as far as the sound delay and picture going out. Is this was others mostly find?

Also, I have some large trees in the backyard and am worried that even thouh I get signal strenght of mostly 90's on my dish, that the 5lnb has to be able to get other signals from other directions as well. This might be a problem as my current dish is pointed at the southern sky, but right right between two large trees where there is an opening. I also am concerned about the future launching of the Directv Sat's and if all of their future HD programming will be on the MPEG4 Sat's. Please note that I also have an OTA antenna mounted on the roof of my house from previous owners that I havent taken down yet. It is disconnected, but it still is up there. And from what I remember of it, it pulled in the local Ny stations very well. ( Im about 42 miles from NYC). It also has a clear view of the Northern Direction where the NY channels are at. (No trees in front of my house and clear view with a slightly down angle of the Horizon.)

I also have not purchased the TV, yet. Im leaning towards the Sony 50a10.

So, I am just looking for input from you experts as far as what direction I should go in. (One more question, If I decide to hook up the antennea, can it be hooked up to the h20 receiver for the OTA Ny locals? I read somewhere that this cause the h20 receivers to reboot all the time.)

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jimbo]

Hey guys,

I want some of your input on my upgrading to High Def programming.

I currently am a Directv and Patriot Media subscriber in Branchburg, NJ. I have just the basic cable ( No stb) for cable and I have Directv w/ Tivo as well. I am am an avid sports viewer and subscribe to NFL, MLB, and NHL packages. Now my dilema is what to do to upgrade cause I have an interest in high def. Should I upgrade to the h20, cause I am eligible for the HD locals out of NY, or should I get one of the h10's instead? I have heard and read the NUMEROUS complaints about the locals on the h20 as far as the sound delay and picture going out. Is this was others mostly find?

Also, I have some large trees in the backyard and am worried that even thouh I get signal strenght of mostly 90's on my dish, that the 5lnb has to be able to get other signals from other directions as well. This might be a problem as my current dish is pointed at the southern sky, but right right between two large trees where there is an opening. I also am concerned about the future launching of the Directv Sat's and if all of their future HD programming will be on the MPEG4 Sat's. Please note that I also have an OTA antenna mounted on the roof of my house from previous owners that I havent taken down yet. It is disconnected, but it still is up there. And from what I remember of it, it pulled in the local Ny stations very well. ( Im about 42 miles from NYC). It also has a clear view of the Northern Direction where the NY channels are at. (No trees in front of my house and clear view with a slightly down angle of the Horizon.)

I also have not purchased the TV, yet. Im leaning towards the Sony 50a10.

So, I am just looking for input from you experts as far as what direction I should go in. (One more question, If I decide to hook up the antennea, can it be hooked up to the h20 receiver for the OTA Ny locals? I read somewhere that this cause the h20 receivers to reboot all the time.)

Thanks in advance.

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NYRDiehardfan,

Ok, I would definatly go with the H-20, of the receivers you mentioned, (I have the H-10 and like it very well, except for the occasional "Service temperarly unavailable" message I get from time to time, not as often anymore).

The H-20 has a better OTA tuner than the H-10 and is MPEG4 compatable, H-10 only MPEG2.....

I would not worry about getting the locals thru D*, save your money, use your antenna , already up there, UHF/VHF works good, keep it...
D* only covers the big 4 channels, nothing else, PBS, UPN, WB whatever you have available, also no sub channels from D*, you should get all this for free with your antenna.

As for your signal, if you aye in the 90's now, with a 3 LNB set up and you want to go to the 5 LNB, not sure how much of a benifit it will be at this time, in the future it will be, but they will have other dishes out by then, they seem to change them every couple years.

If you do not need the LNB for locals, (you don't), no need for 5 LNB at this time.
If you do decide to go with the 5 LNB they should be able to get a signal regardless, the other 2 sats are only 2* from the ones you are already pointed at.

As for TV's, you budget has a lot to do with it, Personally I stick with SONY, I have a Sony 60" HD LCD (60XBR950) I love it.

See if you can get one with a HD tuner built into the TV.
Advantage, My TV tuner is better than my D* tuner, of course OTA only.

Many people will try to persuade you away from Sony, saying you pay too much...
Too each his own, everyonee has thier own opinions.

In my bedroom I still use my old Sony 27" XBR, that is 16 years old and looks just as good as it did the day I got it.

That is one reason I stick with Sony.

That said, there are a lot of very nice TV's out there and prices are dropping.

As for TV's go with what you like, your eyes are the ones looking at it, make sure it fits you budget and does what you want.


Jimbo

 

[NYRDiehardfan]

Wow. Thank u very much for the well thought out response. Thats what I was hoping for. My only concern is that I have a single LNB now. Will I have a problem going with the 3 LNB or 5 LNB as far a smy sight lines? And is the only difference bewteen the 3lnb and 5 lnb the ablitity to get the locals in High Def? The 3 LNB gets all of the other High Def programming?

And also, what about the issue I read where some h20's have a reboot problem when an OTA antenna is also hooked up to them?

Again, thanks.

 

[Jimbo]

Wow. Thank u very much for the well thought out response. Thats what I was hoping for. My only concern is that I have a single LNB now. Will I have a problem going with the 3 LNB or 5 LNB as far a smy sight lines? And is the only difference bewteen the 3lnb and 5 lnb the ablitity to get the locals in High Def? The 3 LNB gets all of the other High Def programming?

And also, what about the issue I read where some h20's have a reboot problem when an OTA antenna is also hooked up to them?

Again, thanks.

Eventually, it will have to be a 5LNB set up, but not till they actually start broadcasting MPEG4 programming, you can get by with a 3 LNB and pick up all you channels now.
You can get your locals in HD OTA and use the D* receivers and the channel guide will show up with your OTA locals.
Like I mentioned before, If you can go with OTA to get your locals, over the long haul you will be better off, you don't pay anyone, cause they are free .... and you get better picture quality, there is no compression to speak of, compared to D* or DISH.

You guess is as good as mine as to when the MPEG4 broadcasting will start, keep in mind, I doubt that they are going to just throw a switch and say , there, we now work on MPEG4, it will be a slow process to change all channels over ....
It will be quite a while .....

As for going to a 3 LNB set up, I doubt you would have trouble.
Q. Would you be setting it up or is D* seting it up ?
If it's D*, make sure you are there to see how everything is done, make sure it's to your satisfaction.

I have set up 3 LNB's with out any major trouble, it's a case of being patient mostly.
The slightest movement of the dish is a BIG movement out there ...23,000 miles away.

Find your signal then peak, then adjust for your tilt and the other 2 should come in.

Sound quite easy ..... It's not quite that easy, but if everything is level your mast is level, you are on your way.

Paitence is the biggest thing, move the dish in small incriments.

The setting you get from the receiver should be used as a guide, they won't be perfect.

Jimbo

 

[NYRDiehardfan]

Man, again, thanks so much. I am probably goping to use Directv to set it all up cause Im scared of heights and my roof is pretty high. Ha. Id love to do it myself, i just dont feel confident enough.

Getting back to this, if I were to purchase a Sony 50a10 or 42a10, I would assume that they also have an internal tuner already. I wouldnt have to hook it up through the h20, right? In your opinion, whats the main differences bewteen the h20 and the h10 receivers as far as quality HD reception? Ill still be able to get all other HD programmig with the h10? And which h10 reciever is the best, in your opinion?

 

[Jimbo]

Man, again, thanks so much. I am probably goping to use Directv to set it all up cause Im scared of heights and my roof is pretty high. Ha. Id love to do it myself, i just dont feel confident enough.

Getting back to this, if I were to purchase a Sony 50a10 or 42a10, I would assume that they also have an internal tuner already. I wouldnt have to hook it up through the h20, right? In your opinion, whats the main differences bewteen the h20 and the h10 receivers as far as quality HD reception? Ill still be able to get all other HD programmig with the h10? And which h10 reciever is the best, in your opinion?

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Internal tuners analog for sure, I do not see the TV's you listed. Do you know the actual model #'s your refering to ?

I can't imagine it not having a HD tuner built in, but would not want to tell you without making sure. It kinda looked like an older set IF the models I tried to find are correct.

If it has an internal HF tuner, then you would not need to run it into the receiver.
If you are talking about OTA signals (and have a HD tuner in it) then I would bring the antenna into both the TV and the D* receiver, using a splitter. This would give you the most options for your money. My Sony XBR tuner gets more channels than the H-10 picks up.

Remember, NO splitters on the Sat signal feed.
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differences bewteen the h20 and the h10 receivers as far as quality HD reception?

HD quality, None MPEG2 wise.
H-10 is MPEG 2 only, H-20 does MPEG4 also, so in the future, the H-20 will eventually pick up the MPEG4 signal, the H-10 won't.
H-20 is suppose to have a superior OTA tuner in it, there have been a bunch of post quoting that being the case.

As for available programming, they both get the same programming, until MPEG 4 is used.

I have the 10, the 20 wasn't out at the time, both can be used with the 3 LNB dish as well as the 5 LNB dish .... I still use the 3, theres nothing that D* offers yet that I would need the 5 for.

Overall I like my H-10 would also like the H-20, but don't want to start a new 2 yr commitment, at least till the NEW HD DVR comes out, then I will have to consider leasing it, this way if it's not as good as I have hoped, I can give it back, supposivly, a good reason to try the lease program.

Jimbo