New to HD getting upgrade this weekend, questions.

[lowe41]

Hello, this is my first post here, but I have been lurking here for a while. I have been with D* for a couple years and finally decided to to upgrade to HD.Since I live in the Atlanta metro area, I am getting the new AT-9 and H20 reciever, supposedly, this Saturday 8-12am. I had some questions about the install and other things that maybe someone could help me with.
I currently have a 3 LNB dish on the roof, can the AT-9 go on the roof as well? If so, is it safe. I have never had a problem with the current one being there? I really don't want a pole mount. After reading so many people having problems with it, is it really worth it to upgrade now? I have read about people having problems with the dish moving because its so big? The programming freezing and/or just going out? I just want to know if anyone is happy with there new H20 and would love to hear any comments you have about it. I just hope I have a good installer, I have a new 60inch Sony screaming for HD, but I don't really want to deal a lot of the issues I have read about on here and other forums about the upgrade when I can just call Comcast ( which I really don't want to do ).

Thanks in advance for your time and information.

 

[rad]

I've had an AT-9 and H20 in the Chicago area since early December. The dish is roof mounted and so far the only issue I've had with the dish is snow build up during a storm last Friday (the wet/heavy snow that sticks to everything). Signal readings on the KU 101/110/109 slots higher then my old phase III.

The H20 and/or the new MPEG4 channels in Chicago have had some issues. There is a problem when scrolling through your favorites list to edit it the box will reboot. There's also been a problem with audio sync, there was a software upgrade that helped but it looks liek D* also made some changed on their end since it hasn't happened for awhile now. I do notice the occasional video drop/macroblocking, more then what I got on OTA but not enough to say it's not worth it.

You say you don't want to go back to Comcast, but you might just want to rethink that. Since every cable system is different you need to check this out yourself, but our Comcast system has our local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, WGN HD channels plus ESPN-HD, Discovery HD Theater, InHD, InHD2, TNT-HD, Comcast Sportsnet Chicago-HD, HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, Starz-HD and Cinemax-HD. All the latest news on D* adding new national HD channels is wait until 2007. They've also impleted digital simulcast of the analog channels so all channels are digital now. And while you might say so what, the OnDemand feature is kind of neat. This week they had The Fifth Element available as a free movie in HD. We get the Motorola 3412 DVR for $10/month, it's no where near as good as the HR10-250 from D* but that box won't do MPEG4. So before making a 24 month commitment to D* you might just want to give Comcast a shot, there would be some installation charges but if they don't meet your needs then you can cancel and do the D* upgrade. Also check with them, tell them you're a DBS customer now, they might offer you a deal, I get $25/month off for 18 months.

 

[lowe41]

thanks for the info on the roof mount, I really hope I get a good install person because it can't go anywhere but the roof for me. If the HD locals aren't working well, I guess I can always go back to watching SD with the new equipment until the issues are resolved. Can't you??? Its all free equipment and install. I just hope it works well.

 

[rad]

If the HD locals aren't working well, I guess I can always go back to watching SD with the new equipment until the issues are resolved.

Once you've started watching HD it's kind of hard to go back

Yes, the equipment is free but with a 24 month commitment to D*. I was just offering you an alternative that you might want to look at since D* doesn't look like they'll be adding new national HD channels this year (besides CD-USA) and the MPEG4 HD DVR has no announced availability date yet.