Questions before calling VE to get service

[deniro]

Ok, I've been trying to wrap my brain around all the little details and want to make sure I'm clued in before calling VE about getting DirecTV. I know they should be very helpful, I just would like to make sure I'm clued in to reality...

Ok, I'm moving very soon and will be going from cable to satellite. My new house is 'wired for satellite', I assume meaning an entry point in the side of the house means it runs separate RG6 to all outlets. I currently have one HD TV and plan on getting an HD projector in the future, so want HD now. I would also like an SD DVR, as HD is a little pricy at the moment.

So, it looks like the following is what I need:
satellite dish that VE gives with the HD box
R10 DVR, comes with up to 2 SD boxes also (only need 1)
1 x H10 receiver for HD tv
(in the future buy another H10 for the projector)

I will need to run a second RG6 from the satellite to the DVR for a second input, correct?
The installation person will mount the antenna on a pole (don't have to have it on the house?), and run 3 RG6 to the entry point on the house.

Now, if the main tv my wife and I use is the HD TV, which requires the HD box, then we can't use the DVR receiver on it, correct? The secondary tv would be upstairs in the bedroom, so unless I temporarily swap them then that seems to make the DVR/HD combo kind of a pain unless I spend lots on the HD DVR.

What do I do about getting local HD? The info is confusing, but it sounds like I will probably not get any HD for networks from DirecTV (in Richmond, VA area). So I would need a separate OTA antenna for that, but how does it combine with the DirecTV? Do I need to run yet another cable to any HD TV for OTA signals?


Sorry for all the questions. I've been up all day and browsing threads takes time to find the ones that say much about my questions. Hopefully there is an easy answer, and I'm just new to this and that's my problem. Thanks for any help with this.

 

[charper1]

Make darn sure that H10 is NOT manufactured by Samsung! Try to get anything other than Samsung or Samsung internals.

LG LSS-3200A
Sony SAT-300
Hughes HTL-HD
RCA DTC-210

Go to antennaweb.org to get some great info on OTA. You can look at my signature for some make/model ideas; I love my Winegard.

 

[Hogarth]

You will need one line of RG-6 to the H-10.
You will need two lines of RG-6 to any DirecTiVo (R-10, older ones, HR10-250).

I would strongly advise having the installer mount it on the house.
It will be much less volatile if you have adverse conditions for some reason.

All OTA receivers have a coax port for an antenna connection.
If you mount the antenna outside, then yes, you'd want to have the installer run another line.
If you're close enough ( < 30 mi ) to your broadcasters, an indoor antenna would probably do you OK. As charper said, check antennaweb.org to see if they're close.

Welcome aboard.

 

[deniro]

Thanks for the info so far....
Is the H10 that places sell manufactured by different companies, so I would want to find out the specific manufacturer before buying it?

As far as mounting, what is the 'normal' mounting setup? I don't want it on a pole if it is not as good for stability or something, but would it be at the bottom corner of the roof or something? Let's say the front of my house is roughly facing south, then the right side corner could be where the dish is?

As fas as the DVR, it looks like the SD DVR acts as an SD receiver also. So then it wouldn't really help if my main tv was HD and needed an HD receiver. I would need to put the SD DVR as the SD receiver on my secondary tv in the bedroom. Unless I wanted to temporarily swap the SD box to use with the HD tv to watch something recorded.
Boy, that was confusing. Did it make sense?

 

[deezoneezo]

In response to dish location question. The dish does not NEED to go on the south side, the installer will probably put it as close to internal wiring and a ground source as possible. The satellite is pretty high up an unless your roof is extremely pitched usually it can be mounted anywhere, dependent on trees etc for line of sight.

 

[deniro]

Well, I guess we'll see what an installer thinks based on my specific situation.

Another question regarding the number of coax lines to each tv. It seems like I will need 3 lines minimum going to my main tv - 1 for DVR, 1 for HD receiver, and 1 for OTA signal. I haven't seen much about combining the OTA HD signal with the DirecTV line coming in to leave it on one line. Then if I want to run 2 lines to the DVR that would make 4 lines total.

I guess there is a big difference between how something like cable tv is run to the house and how DirecTV is. With cable, it's like the line coming into the house has all channels, so it can be split in the house and allow you to run 1 coax to a tv, then it could be split for picture-in-pitcure or a separate box for recording or whatever.
With satellite, it's like you only get the channel you are watching sent down the coax, which is why you need separate coaxes for a single tv. You can't split it and send both lines to a dvr to record and watch. This also means that to use the picture-in-picture feature of my tv (which I don't really use, just an example) I would need 1 lines and 2 receivers.
Is this how it works, and why you need so many lines going to each tv when cable tv only needs 1 coax?

Again, I hope I am making sense. I will order this next week, but am curious about the whole satellite thing since it is new.

 

[TYORK]

If i were you i would have a Multi-switch put on the outside of the house or where the cable comes in at . then it would send you Satellite and antenna through the same coax and you can get them on all of your recievers. then all they would have to do is place diplexer behind you reciever and split your antenna and sat signal.

Yes cable you can split as many times as you wish. But sat. requires 1 coax for each receiver at least then you can split it off if you want to go to as many tv as you want but the down side it that ever tv has to watch the same thing unlike cable you can watch different stuff.

 

[ScottChez]

Ask how much shipping is.