StarChoice set-up in US

[cdninus]

Hi everyone,

Please help a newbie figure this out!

I am a Canadian living in the U.S. and I really miss hockey and other Canadian programming. I have decided to join many of you and set up StarChoice. I find the StarChoice website a bit confusing though. I have just bought a DSR530 receiver in Canada but the retailer did not stock the dish or LNB so I need to order it from eBay I guess. I am pretty sure I can figure out how to set up the dish myself but how do I set up an account on the StarChoice website without having them ask to send out a technician to set it up for me? The website gives the impression that the only way of setting up service is to have someone come to do it. My parents live in Canada so I want to use their address for billing, thus no need for a broker.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have just bought a DSR530 receiver in Canada but the retailer did not stock the dish or LNB so I need to order it from eBay I guess.

correct. When you buy a SC box from a big box retailer (Future Shop, Best Buy, The Source, etc) they do not supply the dish. When you call for setup they send a tech out to install everything and he has the dish. Ebay works or kusat.com has the dish separate. They're in Montreal.. If you are farther than the border states, get a 75e dish. Its the bigger one (the smaller one is a 60e and works near the border). If you bought the 530 I assume you want HD too....if not, you can get any 30" or larger dish and a KU Band LNB for AnikF1

I am pretty sure I can figure out how to set up the dish myself but how do I set up an account on the StarChoice website without having them ask to send out a technician to set it up for me? The website gives the impression that the only way of setting up service is to have someone come to do it. My parents live in Canada so I want to use their address for billing, thus no need for a broker.

here is the coordinates to aim it
http://www.global-cm.net/CAN/point/CAN.html



just call up SC and tell them you already have a dish setup so no tech is needed. Once its setup using the parents addy, sign up an account online to see the invoice. You can set it up to get no invoice (paperless) and set it up on cc auto pay too

 

[cdninus]

R5000-hd

Thanks so much for your quick reply Iceberg. I was surprised that the retailer didn't sell the dish. I was planning to go for the 75e even though I am only an hour from the border. It looks like a good piece of equipment with the two satellite aiming and the built in multi-switch. I just wanted to be sure I didn't need to say any magic words on the phone.

I am also planning on installing the R5000-HD (nextcomwireless.com) mod for the DSR530 to use my PC for time-shifting (the hard drive on the 530 seems too small to me). Ideally I would like to control both tuners with 2 of them and use SageTV as the programming interface. If anyone has any experience with this set-up (positive or negative) please comment. It will help me determine whether to get both tuners modded right away or just one.

 

[cdninus]

Just to clarify, my reasoning on going with the DSR530 is that it has two tuners built-in. Maybe I would be better off with two DSR505s for the R5000 mod because of reported problems with the DSR530. I wanted the PVR because I can’t imagine watching TV any other way (had TiVo since 2000). I bought the DSR530 for $550 at the Future Shop this week but I can still return it as I am in Canada right now. Any thoughts?

 

[Mr Tony]

If you have a way to record programming via a DVR or something else, I'd personally go with 2 505's....the only drawback is unless you get one of the top packages they charge 4.99 for the 2nd receiver

 

[rukus611]

Starchoice 75cm eliptical with quad lnb's - $90 plus shipping from canada
starchoiceinusa.com.