Help me understand what I just did!! *HR10/ST promo related*

[Smitty20]

WARNING: This is going to be confusing...


OK, So the HDTivo deal got me curious. Since D* is apparently trying to get rid of these HR10's, I figured I'd better jump on this now...


But here's a little background:

I recently moved from Minneapolis to Houston. May 1st to be exact. At that time I put my account into "suspend", with a start date of July 1st, because I'm in corporate housing until then.

I'm building a home that is expected to close on June 30th. We hope!

So, I was just going to wait until I had a concrete closing date to book the "move."

But, I didn't want to miss this HR10 deal.


So I called into retention. The CSR was very nice and very helpful. She found the deal, but her computer wouldn't let her choose it with a delivery location of Houston becasue of the MPEG-4 locals. (Minneapolis has not been upgraded, yet)

So, I was SOL!


This peaked my curiosity, so I asked "Will I have to replace my RCA DTC-210 as well, and if so, what's that gonna cost me?"

She wasn't sure, and since my account was in suspend, she couldn't tell for sure. So, she offered to "pretend" we were setting up my move now, to see what the computer would allow her to do.

She set a move date for July1st, and popped in my new address. She said "yep, we're gonna have to swap out your RCA for an H20, and we'll do that for free. You're 3 other DirecTivo's will be fine. And it's also letting me choose a 3LNB dish, rather than a 5LNB. It should require a 5LNB. Weird."

So, I said "If you can select the 3LNB, then I should be able to get the HR10, right? And just not be able to get HD locals on that reciever?"

She says "Not sure. Let's try it."

So now the "move" install is set up for a 3LNB dish, a new H20, and my 3 DVR's.

She goes back into the other system, and finds the HR10 promo, pulls up my account, and sure enuf, there is the HR10 as a selection for my account.

She sets up another install for the same date and time as the "move"install to deliver/setup the HR10. Only charge to me is the $20 shipping/handling fee.

Then she ties both job numbers together, so the local installer will see that there are 2 jobs for the same day at the same address.

She says "we're good to go!"

I say "So, if I got this right, I'l get a new H20 (for my DTC-210), a new HR10, a 3LNB dish, and 4 total recievers installed for $20?"

She says "Yessir"


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1. Will this work?

2. Did I understand this correctly?

3. Will every receiver except for my HR10 and H20 get locals thru D*?

4. Can I just use an OTA antenna on my HR10 and H20(I am well within range) to get my locals?

5. Why do I need to upgrade to the 5LNB? And when?


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Here's a shot of my D* account:

06/08/2006 Delivery and Handling - Charge $19.95 $1.45 $19.95
06/08/2006 HD-DVR Upgrade - Charge $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
06/08/2006 NFL Sunday Ticket 2006 Season - Charge $209.00 $13.06 $209.00



Whew, that was exhausting!

 

[lou_do]

3. Will every receiver except for my HR10 and H20 get locals thru D*?

You should get the SD locals on them also.

4. Can I just use an OTA antenna on my HR10 and H20(I am well within range) to get my locals?

Yes, but you should not need it unless you are trying to get the HD locals, the SD ones should be received via satellite.

5. Why do I need to upgrade to the 5LNB? And when?

You will need the 5 LNB dish to get the locals in HD, via D*, if or when, they are available in that area.

 

[Smitty20]

You should get the SD locals on them also.


Yes, but you should not need it unless you are trying to get the HD locals, the SD ones should be received via satellite.


You will need the 5 LNB dish to get the locals in HD, via D*, if or when, they are available in that area.

Sweet! So, if you can get your HD locals OTA, there really is no *need* for the 5 LNB at this time, right?

Now the question is, when they start providing *other* channels MPEG-4, I'll need tu upgrade the dish.

 

[lou_do]

Sweet! So, if you can get your HD locals OTA, there really is no *need* for the 5 LNB at this time, right?

Right. I live in the Orlando market and we don't have HD locals available yet, but I get 29 HD and digital locals, via my OTA antenna.But some of the newer receivers only get the digital signals, using the OTA antenna, on analog ones.

Now the question is, when they start providing *other* channels MPEG-4, I'll need tu upgrade the dish.

It will not be so much a question of the MPG-4 format but the location of the satellites that transmit the HD signal. The 5 LNB dish sees 2 more satellites that the 3 LNB does. Those are the satellites that D* is currently using for their HD locals signals. When they have all of the locals going and all of their new satellites in place they could move some of the National HD signals to them.

I find it hard to believe they are going to put up a 3 LNB dish, as I thought all new installs were to get a 5 LNB dish.

 

[Smitty20]

Right. I live in the Orlando market and we don't have HD locals available yet, but I get 29 HD and digital locals, via my OTA antenna.But some of the newer receivers only get the digital signals, using the OTA antenna, on analog ones.


It will not be so much a question of the MPG-4 format but the location of the satellites that transmit the HD signal. The 5 LNB dish sees 2 more satellites that the 3 LNB does. Those are the satellites that D* is currently using for their HD locals signals. When they have all of the locals going and all of their new satellites in place they could move some of the National HD signals to them.

I find it hard to believe they are going to put up a 3 LNB dish, as I thought all new installs were to get a 5 LNB dish.

Got it, that makes more sense.

And actually, I'd be fine with them installing a 5LNB, wouldn't I?

I just wouldn't get locals on my HR10, but I could still get everything else, right?

 

[lou_do]

Got it, that makes more sense.

And actually, I'd be fine with them installing a 5LNB, wouldn't I?

Yes, you would be better off, as you would receive the HD locals when they are active in your area. I thought they were installing all dishes as 5 LNB ones now.

I just wouldn't get locals on my HR10, but I could still get everything else, right?

You should still get the SD locals on it. The only thing you may not get is analog OTA channels on some of the newer D* receivers, as they do not have analog tuners in them.