new guy has a question...

[pacerfan]

I have a Directv dish, an older RCA receiver in living room and a newer Samsung receiver in bedroom. I want to buy the new R-10 Tivo unit (a friend told me it was a great price at valueelectonics.com, probably where I'll buy from) to replace my RCA unit. I realize that I need a multi-switch to get it going. I searched some threads here and the standard price seems to be around $30US. I found a 3X8 one on ebay for $32US delivered and wondered if any old multi-switch will do. I want to do it right, so an extra bit of cash for a good one is fine with me.

Also, is it REQUIRED for the phone line to be hooked up to run the Tivo unit with Directv programming? I don't order PPV movies or anything like that, so I haven't had my phone line hooked up to either of my receivers for quite some time, over a year I think. The placement of my phone jack in proximity to my entertainment center will necessitate a huge pain in the butt to make it happen if it has to be connected all the time....If it is essential for functionality of Tivo, my shopping list of stuff will get longer! I'm the type of person who likes to plan, plan, plan and then install and run with it!! It would drive me nuts to get all this stuff going and then get dogged by one little thing!!

I talked DTV into giving me the $50 rebate as an account credit even for an outside purchase of a Tivo unit, and me being an existing (5 year) customer. I think I saw somewhere that they are offering the $50 rebate to all customers, new or existing now, but who knows. I am really looking forward to getting Tivo going, but want to do it right...

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!!

 

[Neutron]

Welcome to Satelliteguys!!

What kind of dish do you have? The 18" round single LNB, the 18X20 dual LNB or the 18X20 triple LNB?

The triple LNB (otherwise known as the Phase-III dish) has a built in 4 port multiswitch. If you need more than 4 ports you need to get at least a 4X8 cascadable multiswitch.

The phone line is only required for the initial setup. After that you won't need it but you'll need it for ordering PPVs unless you order those online.

 

[pacerfan]

thanks for the reply, and the answers..

I believe it is a dual LNB (doesn't it have to be for me to have two receivers?) When I got the second receiver, I got free installation. The guy that installed it changed to "head" on the dish from a one-port to a two-port, but he didn't change the dish. Forgive my terminology, not sure what to call it! I have the same dish that I've had since I joined DTV a long time ago.

I can watch separate channels at the same time in the two rooms. I'm not splitting a single line coming from the dish. It has two lines coming from the dish, one to each receiver.

I want to buy the switch on ebay, but I don't have to....I don't have a specific make and model for it, but the link is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32840&item=5738273011&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

Thanks again for your time!