REPLACING STD SONY SAT-A4 BOX ('99)

[scoop8]

Hello, all,

I have a Sony SAT-A4 Std Box from '99 and will be replacing it with a DTV Model D11 Std Box next week. My Sony box no longer receives the "700" series channels, ie, std Sunday Tkt, MLB EI, CI. I have used the std box primarily for the XM music channels routed to the rooms in the house that don't have my HD Boxes installed. I don't often watch TV with this box but I noticed a while back that it no longer receives the 700 channels. The receiver displays a message something like "This receiver No Longer Receives these Stations".

I called DTV late this week and was told that they are currently running a free Std Box replacement offer. The timing was good for me to replace the old Sony box.

My question is regarding my original Std Sony (white-color) dual LNB dish on the roof. I don't know the model # of the dish but I bought it in '99 along with the Sony SAT-A4 Box. Will my existing Sony dish work with the new Std D11 Box? I'm hoping that the answer is "yes". Corrrect me here, but do the std DTV channels and the Guide Menu all reside on D101? Will that mean that my old dish will be plug & play?

OT question: Since my old Sony box is an RF Remote capable box, it looks like I'm going to need an IR Extender when I install the new Std D11 box. I google'd the D11 and the R65 remote that comes with it, and they are IR only units.

I've tried an off-brand IR Extender from a 'net store a year ago and it didn't work. If I recall, some here have had good results with the Radio Shack 15-1950 IR Extender. My RF sig won't need to travel much more than ~35 ft thru an open door in the house.

Can anyone recommend a reliable IR Extender?

 

[boba]

First is there a problem with the Sony A4? The D11 isn't going to pick up the MPEG4 channels either. Both should pick up the audio channels if that is what the main use of the receiver is. Any wireless IR extender is going to work by changing the IR signal to UHF and then receiving the UHF and converting it back to IR to change functions on the receiver. This process has several points for interference to cause problems and each setup is different so you really need to try one and see how it acts in your setup.

The white Sony dish is completely usable with Directv 101 signals. The problem comes with failure of the LNB. If I am right it is held onto a thin arm by 2 small screws and is no longer available except as used parts. But the good thing is Sony quality, until it fails you don't need to do anything. When it fails you need to replace the entire dish.

 

[stonecold]

Boba the A4 falls under what is known as the Legacy MPG Swap. It has nothing to do with Mpeg4 but memory on the reciver to hold guide data. Ones that are affected are early 1-4th gen boxes we striped most of the ppv and all the 700 channels so there would still be room for the other channels.

scoop8 yes guide info et ais still on 101 only some locals and hd are on other birds.

 

[scoop8]

Stone,

Thanks for the info! So, the "legacy" MPG issue is the reason that my SAT-A4 box doesn't receive the 700 series channels?

That means that my existing Sony ('99) dish will work with the replacement D11 std box?

 

[stonecold]

Yeah the old 101 with the twin lnbf work just fine. there just sending you a d11/d12

 

[boba]

Under the Legacy MPG Swap are they switching owned for leased receivers or are the replacements still owned?

 

[stonecold]

Under the Legacy MPG Swap are they switching owned for leased receivers or are the replacements still owned?

My understanding it is owned for lease but there is not a real reason to fight over the owned status of some d11 box.

 

[scoop8]

Here's what my CSR told me about the swap:

I'm getting the D11 free due to the current free-swap promo.

There will be no leasing fee for the D11.

There will be no 2-yr contract extension due to the swap-out.

When I talked with the CSR, I asked those questions twice to make sure about the info.

The only thing that I'll need to do is to find a reliable IR Extender for the box. I wish that all DTV boxes had the RF Remote option built in them.

Stone, I've never set up a DTV box before since I've had an installer do my 2 previous installations over the years. It looks like it will be easy from reading the D11 manual, My old Std dish is still working with my SAT-A4 so I guess all I will need to do is to go thru the D11 setup prompts.

 

[stonecold]

Here's what my CSR told me about the swap:

I'm getting the D11 free due to the current free-swap promo.

There will be no leasing fee for the D11.

There will be no 2-yr contract extension due to the swap-out.

When I talked with the CSR, I asked those questions twice to make sure about the info.

The only thing that I'll need to do is to find a reliable IR Extender for the box. I wish that all DTV boxes had the RF Remote option built in them.

Stone, I've never set up a DTV box before since I've had an installer do my 2 previous installations over the years. It looks like it will be easy from reading the D11 manual, My old Std dish is still working with my SAT-A4 so I guess all I will need to do is to go thru the D11 setup prompts.

Yeah just tell it you have a single and you will be fine. I think the d11 also has a auto detech but i maybe wrong I tend not to do tech support for the boxes only fix people bills./

 

[scoop8]

Yeah just tell it you have a single and you will be fine. I think the d11 also has a auto detech but i maybe wrong I tend not to do tech support for the boxes only fix people bills./

Stone,

Thanks for the help! Up and running. The D11 Manual did mention that it has "Autodetect" but maybe it wasn't activated in the box or something else. When I was at the setup screen, it asked me to select my dish type. I wasn't certain but I selected the single 18" dish type and it worked. I'm getting all of the "700" channels and my locals in Dallas. I checked a few others (ESPN, CNN, etc). All ok.

The only thing I wasn't sure of was the dish-selection type. There were about 18 choices from the pull-down menu, and there was more than 1 choice for an 18" dish. Some were for the 18" dish at 72.5 Deg, etc. I guess I picked the right one.