A thank you and A couple of questions. (1 Viewer)

[Jason Ly]

Howdy all,
Having been lurking around this forum for a couple of months I figured it was about time to thank you all for the wonderful site and info you folks provide on a daily basis.
The reason I found this site in the first place that after purchasing my first dvd player (Pioneer C-503)last year I found that my dozen year old system was really getting long in the tooth.(Technics SA-GX303 reciever, the matching technics 5 cd turntable-style changer/replaced by the pioneer when it died last year after 11 YEARS of service :frowning: RIP/ and a pair of JBL LX-20 Bookshelf speakers) Well, armed with the knowledge of the HTF and a brand new BB card with way too many zeros of available credit I finally took the plunge.
The system I am very happy to have now includes:
Yamaha HTR-5490 (open box special)
(2) JBL N38 three-way floor standing speakers
JBL N-Center channel
JBL PB-10 (also open box, the wife loves specials )
and the old LX-20 as rears for now.
I will be getting N24 or N26's to replace the old lx-20's soon.
Now on to the good stuff, we just signed the lease on a new bigger apartment a couple of towns over. This is good. However, the cable company does not cable modem service availible there. This is very bad, because after 3 years of high speed net I am very spoiled. The question this brings up is due to the cable company's lack of vision I am considering getting Directv and I am wondering a) if there is a savings on the month to month bill vs. ATT cable?
(Boston Area) and b) what sort of install price am I looking at for a two box setup(either way, the apartment in question has never had any cable tv at all) ? Additional info is that I am looking hard at going to a 16:9 HDTV monitor later in the year and if I should also take this into account when looking at providers?
Once again, Thanks
Jason

 

[Robert_J]

Since you are in an apartment, you need to check a few things out. First you can only install a dish in an exclusive use area like a patio or a fenced in yard area of yours. From this area you need to make sure you have a clear line of site for each satellite you want to aim at. Go to DBS Forums' Dish Pointing page and put in your zip code. Find the pointing coordinates for all of DirecTV's and Echostar's (Dish Network) satellite. Apply the magnetic correction values. Get a $10 compass from Wal-Mart and find each azimuth. Then look up at what-ever angle and make sure you can see the sky. Dish's sats: 61.5 (HD, some locals, foreign), 148 (HD, some locals, foreign), 119 (Main programming, locals), 110 (extended programming, locals). DirecTV's sats: 101 (core programming and locals), 119 (HD, Spanish, new locals), 110 (rumors have HD moving here).
Come back with the satellites you can see and someone here will help you pick out the equipment that suits your needs.
-Robert

 

[Jason Ly]

Robert,

Thanks for the reply to my question. Since we are renting the top two floors of the two family I was going to have the dish mounted off one of the top floor southern exposed windows as there is no real area on the ground for such a thing. When we went to look at the place I noticed that one of the houses down the street has a directv dish mounted on it's side and that I will have a clear line of sight off the top floor pointing in the same direction.

I will not be doing the install myself because as I mentioned in my first post the apartment in question has never had any sort of cable and I don't have the equiptment run the coax through the exterior walls, so I will need a professional install either way.

One other question I thought of since last night is that will I need a 18" x 24" dish to receive hdtv and local stations when I finally get the hdtv or can I just use a 18" round dual LBN dish? The info I have been able to find on the subject has just lead to more confusion on my part, I'm afraid.

Anyway, thanks again.

Jason

 

[Robert_J]

will I need a 18" x 24" dish to receive hdtv and local stations when I finally get the hdtv or can I just use a 18" round dual LBN dish?

While there are many ways to configure a satellite system I'll keep my answers simple unless you want more information. You need the 18x24 dish to get HBO-HD and HDNet with DirecTV. Since you are close to Boston, you can get your locals over satellite but they are SD. To get HD locals you need an antenna. The type of antenna depends on the distance from the broadcast tower and obstructions (like tall buildings and hills) between you and the tower. Try [ULR=www.antennaweb.org]Antenna Web[/url] or Titan TV to get direction and distance to the towers. If you are close, the best antenna will probably be the Radio Shack double bow-tie. If you are far away you may need one of those monsters mounted on a pole above your house.
-Robert