Install and SWM + OTA questions

[don109]

I recently called DTV, and being a "loyal customer" was offered a NO-CHARGE upgrade to switch for a SD DVR (R15) to a HD DVR. I live in the Houston area. I am obviously a satellite technology newb, but I would like some info to defend myself when the installer comes. I am 6 days from my install date, which is 4 weeks after my order.

I currently have a vintage Directivo R10 that I want to keep (my wife LOVES the TIVO more than me or HD ) with dual RG6 cables for two tuners. I assume little will change here, and they will use legacy ports.

The R15 I am upgrading has one RG6 wire coming to it, and I use a diplexer to also send OTA signals from an attic antenna to the HD TV and a PC tuner/Windows Media player. I have tried to research if I can use SWM technology to allow the two tuners on the new DVR to run off of one RG6 wire, and also preserve the OTA signal for my PC.

Questions:
What model dish am I likely to get? Will it have integrated SWM?
Can I use the one cable to supply two tuners on the new HD DVR and also send the OTA signal on the same cable? Is there any special equipment needed to do this, or that I will have to pay for?
What HD DVR are they likely to bring, and should I lobby for a certain one (I think I asked for HR22 with the csr, but I don’t think there is any guarantees)?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

If you are keeping the R10 active, you will probably get a non-SWM Slimline 3 or Slimline 5. Without the R10 you might get a dish with integrated SWM. They typically do not supply a SWM8, but if you bought one yourself you could use that to have a single wire going to the new receiver (and your diplexer would probably work), with the R10 fed by legacy ports.

The DVR would be either HR20, HR21, HR22 or HR23. It depends on what the installer's warehouse has on hand and might be a refurbished unit. As you said, there are no guarantees.

 

[jdspencer]

If you get the dish with integrated SWM (SWMLine), then you won't be able to use your R15 as it isn't SWM capable. You should get the 5LNB dish with the SWM8 module which will give you single wire to the HD DVR and legacy ports for the R15.

Since you use OTA, you need them to add the AM21 external OTA tuner for the HR21, unless they bring the older HR20 that has OTA built in.

 

[don109]

Maybe punt the SWM and go Traditional route

Thanks for the speedy response. Keeping the DirecTIVO is a must, so therefore the dish with the integrated SWM is not an option.
So when the installer comes, I guess he will install the non-SWM Slimline 3 or 5 and hook up the DirecTIVO with the existing 2 cables. I think I may go ahead and pre-run another RG6 through the attic partition and leave it coiled in the attic over the future HR2x location. Then I think the DirecTV installer is required to go down one exterior wall with the second wire to the HR2x, and I will then have the traditional dual RG6 installation. It’s a trade-off vs. the added expense of the SWM8 and power supply. I won’t have SWM technology, but I will have dual tuner capability on both DVRs and the OTA diplexed signal, which I mainly use for my computer in the same room. I don’t need the AM 21 as I will get local channels in the DVR via DirecTV.

Thanks a bunch. Any additional advice is much appreciated.

 

[Liquidforce88]

Thanks for the speedy response. Keeping the DirecTIVO is a must, so therefore the dish with the integrated SWM is not an option.
So when the installer comes, I guess he will install the non-SWM Slimline 3 or 5 and hook up the DirecTIVO with the existing 2 cables. I think I may go ahead and pre-run another RG6 through the attic partition and leave it coiled in the attic over the future HR2x location. Then I think the DirecTV installer is required to go down one exterior wall with the second wire to the HR2x, and I will then have the traditional dual RG6 installation. It’s a trade-off vs. the added expense of the SWM8 and power supply. I won’t have SWM technology, but I will have dual tuner capability on both DVRs and the OTA diplexed signal, which I mainly use for my computer in the same room. I don’t need the AM 21 as I will get local channels in the DVR via DirecTV.

Thanks a bunch. Any additional advice is much appreciated.

Your going to pay a wall fish fee to have that fished down a wall. It's not included in the upgrade.

 

[don109]

hmmm... csr said running cable through one outside wall was included, but it wouldn't be the first time a csr got it wrong.

After reading some more in this and other forums, I am starting to wonder if my plan to use dual RG6 cables for HD with one of them diplexed for OTA will work. Is there incompatibility with the HD MPEG 4 frequencies and OTA frequencies in the same cable? I may be misunderstanding what I am reading elsewhere.