Getting Direct TV For 1st Time - Questions (1 Viewer)

[Alex S]

I'm getting Direct TV this Saturday.
We tried getting Dish but we have some trees in the backyard that were in the way of the satellite.
The installer told me to try Direct TV. He said their satellite was higher.

We're getting 3 receivers.

I have a few questions if someone could please help me:

Do they use the existing cables from cable tv ?
I have to keep basic cable for another tv plus my cable modem for my computer.
My concern is if they use the cable for Direct TV and I have a splitter going to 2 tvs, one getting direct and one not. Is that a problem ?
I also have the same situation in my basement. I have a cable wire getting split, one goes to the cable modem and one goes to a tv. I'm putting direct tv on the tv but I need basic cable for the modem.

2 of my tv's just have a vcr so the setup should be easy but
I'm concerned about my home theater setup.
I have my dvd player, reciever and vcr with cable tv.
Is it complicated to hook up Direct Tv to a home theater system ?

Thanks.

 

[EricRWem]

No. The DTV box is just like a VCR or a DVD player. The cable will come from the wall into the DTV box. From there, you will connect the box to your TV exactly like you would a DVD player or VCR. It's exactly the same!

Then you should have a coax or optical output for digital sound to your receiver.

 

[Alex S]

Eric, thanks for the help.

Right now all I have is cable tv throughout the house.
The cable gets split in one spot, one cable going into my tv room and one going into my basement.

The cable that goes into my tv room gets split again and goes to 2 seperate tvs. One tv is geting Direct tv and one isn't. The one that isn't is going to keep basic cable.
The tv that is keeping cable will use the existing cable.
So I'm assuming from your reply that they will have to run another cable next to that one for the tv that is getting Direct tv right ?

The cable that goes into the basement also gets split, one for a tv and one for the cable modem. I need to keep the existing cable for the cable modem not the tv. The tv in the basement is getting Direct tv, so again I assume they will run another cable for Direct tv next to the existing cable already there right ?

 

[Robert_J]

Based on all of the splits, I'm with Eric. Make sure they run new coax for the satellite. Cable and DirecTV can be combined onto a single cable in most cases. Combining DirecTV and cable internet seldom works.

That means you are on the east side of the country. On the west coast, it's the opposite. I hope you don't want to upgrade to HD any time soon. DirecTV uses the same satellite locations as Dish for most of their HD channels. Though in the future, that may change.

-Robert

 

[Alex S]

Robert,

When you say "make sure they run new coax for the satellite" and "cable and satellite can be combined onto a single cable" what do you mean ?

Eric said "You can't have cable and DTV signals coming through at the same time through one cable. No way!"

I would rahter use the existing cable if I good so there would be less wires but I don't want it to effect the picture quality.

Should I insist on all new cable for the 3 tv's getting Direct TV ?
Will they try to use the existing cable to make it easier for them ?

I'm in NY.
I have no plans for HD in the near future anyway.

 

[EricRWem]

Can't be done over one cable. No way!

One cable will be dedicated to your cable company, the other has to be dedicated to the DirecTV. There's no way around it.

You can split those signals from that original cable as many times as you want, from that point on, and you will have more degradation with each split that you do. But you absolutely MUST have seperate, core/main cables for each service. MUST!

I'm assuming you are running coax cable from the wall to whatever TV for your cable service right? This will not change.

All DTV is going to do is going to add to your present setup.

DTV is going to come into the house and they're going install this thing from top to bottom. They carry all the cable and everthing you will need. You tell them what rooms it's going into, and they'll take it from there.

Again, they will install the dish, run that dedicated cable from the dish through the wall, attic, whatever, etc. to however many receivers you have for DTV in the house. (I'm oversimplifying this just for the sake of brevity, but is rather simple for the most part. For them. )

Quite simple. This will be completely independent and unrelated to your cable service.

They'll do whatever it takes to install that successfully. They do this all the time - it's a piece of cake to them. But if you tell them you want to share the same coax cable for both the DTV and cable, the guy is likely to look at you like you grew a third eye.

 

[Alex S]

Thanks Eric.

I'm new to Direct TV, I've always had cable.

Yes, I have cable running from the wall to each tv.
Right now I have one splitter for the tv room and one splitter for the basement.

Once they install Direct TV I will remove each splitter and connenct the cable tv cables together rather than keep the splitters attached.

 

[Brandon:W]

Keep in mind, if you're going to be using a DVR (for DirecTV, it's a TiVo box) you will want to have two seperate cables for the DVR. You can get by with just one, but when you connect two, you can record two different channels at the same time - or record one channel and watch another - or record two channels while watching something previously recorded. You will need at least a dual LNB dish for that (which you may already be getting with your system).

And, if I'm not mistaken, if you are running a three room system, like you mentioned - you will need a triple LNB dish to be able to watch a different channel on each of those receivers at the same time.

Brandon

 

[John Alvarez]

I don't want to hijack this thread but....I'm looking to move into Direct from cable also. Does the picture get bad in crappy weather?

 

[Brandon:W]

I've had DirecTV for the past 4 months, and I have yet to see any degradation in the picture due to the weather.

But I live in Texas - not much bad weather here.

Brandon

 

[Alex S]

Brandon I'm not getting a DVR and I'm assuming they are installing a triple LNB dish since I am getting 3 seperate receivers.

 

[EricRWem]

John- When I lived in Florida and we had a bad thunderstorm, my picture would freeze and/or cut out, so yes, the risk is there. They haven't figured out a way to really perfect that. I'm not sure they can...

 

[Brandon:W]

Alex,

I wouldn't assume you're getting a triple LNB dish. They could just setup a single LNB dish with a multiswitch - but you won't be able to watch different channels at the same time on the receivers.

Someone let me know if I'm wrong on this.

You may want to check and see what they are giving you. If not, you may have to pay maybe $20-30 extra for the triple LNB dish.

Just make sure you check it out after it's all installed...

Brandon

 

[Alex S]

Brandon,

I just called them and they said I'm getting a mulit-switch which enables me to get 3 different channels at the
same time. Does this sound right ?
I asked the cs rep several times if I would be able to watch 3 different shows at once and they said yes.

Is there any other a way of verifying it ?
Should I ask for a supervisor ?

Alex


Alex

 

[Brandon:W]

OK, I stand corrected. You just need the triple LNB for local channels (in some areas) and HD signals. Sorry about that.

BTW, the DVR is really a nice addition. You'll never watch TV the same again...

Brandon

 

[Robert_J]

Trust me, that's what a multi-switch is for.

Rain fade is a problem but it's not as bad as the cable company makes it out to be. My longest outage has been about 15 minutes in the eight years I've had a satellite system. There are ways to lessen the effects of rain. Fine tune the aiming of your dish. Get a larger dish. There is a 24" model that replaces the 18". There is a GainMaster dish that replaces the Phase III multi-sat dish. Each is large but still under the FCC OTARD limits.

-Robert

 

[Alex S]

Thanks guys for all your help.

I have just one more question if you don't mind.

Currently on my home theater tv the cable is split before the tv. One splitted cable goes directly to the tv the other goes into the vcr.

I want to hook it up the same way if possible.
Currently when I turn on the tv cable is on.
If I change the input to input1 that's my dvd player.
If I change the input to input2 that's my vcr.
If I press input again cable comes back on.

What should the hook be with Direct tv to get my setup the same as it is now with cable ?

When they install Direct tv should they put the splitter before or after the satellite receiver.

Thanks.

 

[StephenHa]

I'm a directv installer, right now I'm doing installs to homes that the cable tv is out from bad weather, if installed correctly, the storm would need to be very bad to interfere. you can use the same lines for cable and sattellite the device to use would be a diplexer (I would prefer new lines since your using the internet) many cable companies charge the same for internet as they do for internet and basic cable check into that before cancelling anything. Make sure you are happy with the install, if your not don't sign the guys paperwork and make him fix it (also keep in mind a basic install is a hole through the side of the house no plate) NEVER use a splitter on a sat line it will ruin the receiver and lnb, you can split the signal after the receiver with no problems

 

[Robert_J]

Is that so you can record one show via the VCR while watching another show? Can't do that with DirecTV without two receiver or the DirecTivo.

-Robert

 

[Alex S]

StephenHA wrote:


StephenHa,

Currently I have cable tv.
The cable going to my big tv is split before the tv.
One cable coming out of the splitter goes directly to the tv, the other one goes to the vcr.

How should the Direct TV wiring be set up for this tv/vcr ?
Can a vcr record from a satellite ?

Thank you.