DirecTV MPEG4 Rollout to begin

[hancox]

It's due to KA vs KU, and how the signals come down. Another example of this is the E* SuperDish.

It, in theory, should help on the current birds a little (101,110,119).

 

[M Sparks]

Can Lurch or someone else explain the wiring? The pictures are confusing. 99/101/103 are on one giant LNB- that makes sense. But the multiswitch shows two inputs for 99/101 even/odd and two for 103/110/119 even/odd. It appears there are four outputs off the monster LNB, and two little black cables running from the other LNBs to the big one.

Do the four outputs just plug into the multiswitch? And if so, do you need the giant switch of you don't have more than 4 receivers? Or is there an internal multiswitch too?

Geez, no wonder they're going to require professional installation. I just put up a DISH 1000 and was shocked at how simple it was, because I had always had legacy equipment. I used to have two dishes, four cable coming into the house, and two combiner switches. Now I have one dish, one cable, and one splitter for a dual tuner.

Of course, that's just for three sat locations and one machine. Four locations still requires 4 cables and an expensive switch. DirecTV's system is still quite an engineering feat.

 

[minorthr]

The one thing I noticed from the pics is that the gigantic dish in pic 1 is round and it does not look the same as the dish thats in picture 2 which has a much more oval shape to it and appears to be a lot smaller.

 

[lurch]

the little black cables are jumpers from the 110,119 lnbs to the bigger one to connect them together.You dont need the multiswitch unless you have more than 4 irds.And the 1st pic is just an illustration,showing relative size to the multi-sat,not an actual picture.

 

[merics]

Spoke with DNS dept @ DTV. I'm in the PACNW (Seattle) DMA and he clearly stated that it would be the top 12 not 24 to receive the inital wave. He did state that Detroit will stand up on the 16th, but iterated that the process is this. Once HD locals are avail in an area, customer calls in for upgrade, every one that calls will be scheduled an install date no earlier than 3 weeks from call in, so the Detroit customers want see installs until Nov 6 at the earliest, he stated. Customers needing new equip, us all I assume, will get the upgrade at no cost, I have the H10, he stated I'd get the new dish and the H20. When the remaining markets get the HD, best answer was they'll continue roll out post the top 12 starting end of 2005 and on, probably more like 2006 and on for the rest of us I'd say. I asked also about what other HD channels are coming and when, he stated over 150 new HD coming, to be completed 2007.

 

[beast37799]

does anybody know if you can use the flex ports for ota?

 

[lurch]

no the flex ports are for 72.5 and 95 sat locations only. OTA cannot be diplexed withe lines off these dishes either cuz it will interfere with the new frequency range.

 

[moonman]

Flexports are used to interface with new DIRECTV satellites such as 95 W and 72.5W.
Flexports can only be accessed with latest APG (Advanced Program Guide) satellite receivers. Earlier, non-APG satellite receivers can select the first 4 ports only (101/110/119W satellites)
• If you only have one of 95W or 72.5W, then always use Flexport 1 before using Flexport 2. This will reduce system acquisition time.

 

[M Sparks]

Hmmm, since the HD is supposed to be going to the Spaceways, why would you even need the 110 or 119 LNBs unless you had locals on 119 or wanted spanish programming?

Does anyone know if a dish could be made considerably smaller if you just wanted 99/101/103? Or is it going to be huge no matter what due to the Spaceway bands?

 

[grydlok]

Spoke with DNS dept @ DTV. I'm in the PACNW (Seattle) DMA and he clearly stated that it would be the top 12 not 24 to receive the inital wave. He did state that Detroit will stand up on the 16th, but iterated that the process is this. Once HD locals are avail in an area, customer calls in for upgrade, every one that calls will be scheduled an install date no earlier than 3 weeks from call in, so the Detroit customers want see installs until Nov 6 at the earliest, he stated. Customers needing new equip, us all I assume, will get the upgrade at no cost, I have the H10, he stated I'd get the new dish and the H20. When the remaining markets get the HD, best answer was they'll continue roll out post the top 12 starting end of 2005 and on, probably more like 2006 and on for the rest of us I'd say. I asked also about what other HD channels are coming and when, he stated over 150 new HD coming, to be completed 2007.

Boy I could have sworn that people Scott and Robert said "Don't call Direct TV about this"

 

[grydlok]

I swear. We had an idiot sub who read this thread and called D* for a service call.

He wanted a tech to make sure he had LOS for the newer dish, and if he didn't have LOS the sub wanted the tech to move his current dish to the correct spot. In is mind when the dish arrives it will be an easy swap.

 

[charper1]

Spoke with DNS dept @ DTV. I'm in the PACNW (Seattle) DMA and he clearly stated that it would be the top 12 not 24 to receive the inital wave.

This is what was said exactly.

1 DET would be initial rollout test market.

then

2-12 would roll out next (that is the TOP 12)

then

13-24 would roll out by the end of 2005 (thats the next 12 for a TOTAL of 24 in 3 separate "waves") no one here said all 24 would roll out at once.

 

[charper1]

Hmmm, since the HD is supposed to be going to the Spaceways, why would you even need the 110 or 119 LNBs unless you had locals on 119 or wanted spanish programming?

Does anyone know if a dish could be made considerably smaller if you just wanted 99/101/103? Or is it going to be huge no matter what due to the Spaceway bands?

You never know what DirecTV will add or swap around transponder/channel wise, or if any bird has a catastrophic failure; so its always smart to have access to them all.

 

[M Sparks]

I suppose the dish would be big no matter what. But it is interesting that ONE oversized LNB will cover 128 transponders, and it takes two more to get the last 11.

Putting the 3 transponders at 110 on HD duty was smart, but what will be the point a couple years from now? If it were on the edge instead of in the middle, I bet it wouldn't have been part of the new design.

 

[jaybertx]

Will current equipment work with the new dish? I realize that it won't be able to decode MPEG4 channels but will I be able to use the new dish to continue to use my HDTivo until the MPEG4HDDVR is available yet at the same time receive HD locals using the new HD stb?

 

[charper1]

MPEG2 and MPEG4 will coexist for some time so older receivers will be OK for a good while. The new dish is merely a tool to take advantage of new satellite locations and has no idea, nor does it care which compression method it is receiving.

 

[Alan Gordon]

Will current equipment work with the new dish? I realize that it won't be able to decode MPEG4 channels but will I be able to use the new dish to continue to use my HDTivo until the MPEG4HDDVR is available yet at the same time receive HD locals using the new HD stb?

You will be able to use the HD-TiVo to receive the 101, 110 and 119 orbital locations just like you do now with your current Phase III dish, but you will not be able to pick up the new orbital locations (99, 103) with your HD-TiVo (not that you'd want to since odds are that MPEG4 will be the only encoding used on them) since the new orbital locations will be KA instead of KU.

~Alan

 

[merics]

Charper1, I'm sure you know that there are at one time, many threads being posted on like subjects with different spins. My response was to one I saw when I logged on few days ago that quoted the following "In fact, by the end of this year, 2005 we will have your local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX in HD in the top 24 Designated Market Areas, (DMAs) to cover more than 65% of all homes in America." I'd already called DTV and my intent was nothing more than to simply pass on to the forum what I was told.

 

[merics]

Boy I could have sworn that people Scott and Robert said "Don't call Direct TV about this"

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Although your concern is appreciated, I must express that one can't possibly catch all threads and the info in my response was acquired prior to reading the thread that led to my post. Yes, the thread I responded to was from Robert, but no where in it did it ask that no one call DTV regarding such. This and other forums are great sources of shared data, but they're not the place I would expect controls to be placed on anyone outside of conforming to forum policies etc. I see forums as a place to share views, knowledge, and experiences; This forum is one of the best I've seen for doing just that, in my short time as a member I've certainly picked up a some great tips and info.

 

[Grey Guy]

I've read the entire thread here and am a little confused about my situation. I'm in Detroit and have the HD package so I'm assuming I will be contacted. However, I have an RCA HD-TV with a built-in D* box along with a D*Tivo (so I have the need for 3 lines from the dish, although I only have 2 and switch them back and forth depending on what I want to view) and another TV with another D*Tivo. I have been considering getting the HR10-250 HD Tivo of which I heard is being offered at BB with a $200 rebate. Should I simply stay put with what I have for now, get the upgraded equipment when an installer calls and wait to get a D*HD-DVR and will my built-in box still work with the upgraded dish?