HDTV Forum

I seem to get this itch every so often to get on with upgrading from my old standard DirectTV to HDTV.

I understand I will need to get the new antenna with 3 LNBs and a new receiver to replace my R-15. My question is about the wiring coming down. I assume I will need to run a new wire bundle down through the house to the TV. Is that correct?

Another issue is getting a TV cabinet or stand. I view sitting down but have a bar arrangement which is about 40 Degrees offset so have been looking at a swing setup to shift the TV viewing angle. My wife probably could not do it manually so I need to look at a motorized unit. So far I have not found much searching the web.

Would appreciate any comment.

Bob

Actually the new dish has 5 LNBs and gives you 4 separate coax lines. You can double that with a 6x8 multi-switch. If you have less than 4 coax lines now then you can just tie your existing wiring into the new lines from the new dish. But if you only have one line now then you'll want to run at least one more so you can have dual tuner DVR use (if not now in the future).

Replacing my existing one line with new is not a big deal. So do I buy a line that has all I need bundled into one?

You can just unplug the one wire going into your current dish and connect it to the new 5 LNB dish. The installer should handle it no problem. They don't normally allow self-installation of the 5 LNB dishes because it requires much more precision and it also requires a much stronger mounting system. The installer should also be able to run additional wires at no extra charge.

akirby wrote:Actually the new dish has 5 LNBs and gives you 4 separate coax lines. .

Just to understand this one step at a time, is the difference between the 3 LNB and 5LNB is so you can get locals in HDTV? Is this correct? Does the 5 LNB system give something else.

I have no need for multi room.

I live close to my locals in So Cal so I can likely get them over the air,

But, if I go with the full HR-20 DVR I would assume I would not be able to record locals from over the air feed. Is this correct?

bzam wrote: Just to understand this one step at a time, is the difference between the 3 LNB and 5LNB is so you can get locals in HDTV? Is this correct? Does the 5 LNB system give something else.

I have no need for multi room.

I live close to my locals in So Cal so I can likely get them over the air,

But, if I go with the full HR-20 DVR I would assume I would not be able to record locals from over the air feed. Is this correct?

The 5 LNB dish is needed to receive DTV locals but I think you'll also need it to receive any new HD channels going forward (although I'm nto 100% sure about that). The 3 LNB dish will only receive the current HD lineup.

The HR20-700 does have OTA capability and the OTA channels show up right alongside the sat channels and you can record from either one. The advantage to using the mpeg4 sat channels is you don't have to aim the antenna.