codeorama Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I just got my direct TV and Tivo combo installed yesterday and love it, those of you that have been reccomending them are dead on. I wanted to ask if anyone had any tips or secrets beyond the normal usage that I might try. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golgo-13 Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Let me ask you something, did you get it in the initial installation package or did you already have directv and you just bought the reciever later. If the latter, then tell me where you picked it up and if you were able to swing a good deal. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Originally posted by codeorama I just got my direct TV and Tivo combo installed yesterday and love it, those of you that have been reccomending them are dead on. I wanted to ask if anyone had any tips or secrets beyond the normal usage that I might try. Thanks Code if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 I want to get DirecTv in the next two weeks but am not sure which direction to go. I'm considering the free three room system with the purchase of Sunday Ticket and Total Premium Choice. Any recommendations? Are most of you recording your games on Tivo and transferring them to DVD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 21, 2003 Author Share Posted August 21, 2003 Originally posted by Golgo-13 Let me ask you something, did you get it in the initial installation package or did you already have directv and you just bought the reciever later. If the latter, then tell me where you picked it up and if you were able to swing a good deal. Thanks. Golgo and Jbooma, I went to www.expertsatallite.com and got the 99.00 tivo special. I got a 2 room setup with installation for 99.00 plus 20 dollars for shipping and handling, I got a mail in rebate for the 20 dollars. I was a first time direct tv customer. I check around with every possible direct tv dealer in my area and the best price I could get was 189.00 for the tivo package. So expertsatallite was by far the best deal. The installers did an awsome job, very professional, more so than cox cable. Cox left wires laying around, the Direct tv guys fastened all the wires and made everything as neat as possible. I was very satisfied. I was never much interested in Tivo before, but I saw the opportunity to get direct tv because my wife wanted tivo, but now, after using a few days, I can honestly say, I can't belive I lived without it. See, I don't watch tv all that much, so it's nice to be able to look in the on screen guide and find shows and things I would like to watch and record them so when I do have free time, it's there for me to see. The other night, I found the Flordia Gators preview on the Sunshine Network, it came on at 2 AM, normally, I would never get to see it, but I tivoed it and now it's ready to be watched when ever. Gridironmike, I would reccomend the tivo to anyone. My boss came over my house and saw it and is now paying 250.00 at best buy to purchase one because he was so impressed. It's a huge plus for the wife or girlfriend as well. I got the football/premium package you are thinking about, there's no better way to go. I get redskins games already, but I enjoy other games as well and now I'll get to pick what I want. If you play fantasy football, that's a huge plus. When I get a dvd burner, I'll probably put some games on DVD as well, but I don't have one yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Code sounds great Do you have t purchase a specific direct tv package or not? I saw on one where you have to get the premium wich is about $90 a month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 21, 2003 Author Share Posted August 21, 2003 jbooma, I got the current special where you pay for the NFL Sunday ticket, which is 59 a month for 4 months. During those 4 months, I get the 85 dollar premium package free for that time, at the end of the 4 months, I can go down to a lower plan if I want. In the past, our Cox Cable bill was 70 a month and we only had HBO. For 85, we get all the HBO's, SHowtimes, Cinemax's, Starz, Encore, TMC, etc... ALL them Movie channels as well as a bunch of other channels that Cox doesn't have like MTV2 which actually shows videos and all the fox sports channels from around the country. It's nuts, I havent been sure what to watch because there's so much that's different. Having the movie channels and Tivo is an awsome combo too, you can record movies that come on at odd times that you normally wouldn't see as well. Tivo also can record 2 chanels at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 So you got a DirecTv receiver with a Tivo built in?? The offer I have seen is either a two or three room system for basically what you said... $59 per month during football season and the Premium package kicks in after four months. They also said at the end of the four months you could downgrade the package to a cheaper price. Initially, $14.95 S & H plus the $59 for Sunday Ticket. $4.99 per extra receiver. Now, I assume this comes with one LNB and three receivers. I've seen dual and triple LNB systems. Why would you need more than one LNB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canyonero! Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Code, moving shows from TiVo to the computer isn't the easiest process in the world. They make it difficult on purpose of course (makes suing them much more difficult). When you do decide to go that route, check out the TiVo Community. They have all the hacks you'll need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 Gridironmike, Yes, the tivo receiver is built together with the direct tv receiver, it works great. www.expertsatellite.com has the same special going right now that I got for 99.00. It's awsome. You need more than one line because Tivo requires 2 so that you can record 2 separate channels at once. The third is for local channels or something like that, i'm not sure of the technical aspect, but it's better to have incase you want HDTV in the future too. Canyonero, That's alot for the link, I appreciate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 Is that a line per LNB? If I just got a two or three room system, I assume I'd be able to watch different channels in each room, just a single line coming in. Two LNBs means two lines coming in (three an three, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Originally posted by gridironmike Is that a line per LNB? If I just got a two or three room system, I assume I'd be able to watch different channels in each room, just a single line coming in. Two LNBs means two lines coming in (three an three, etc.). I'm not going to lie, I'm a tad confused myself. You may want to PM Art, I think he knows a little more about it... But, I have a 2 room system with the Tivo receiver and local channels, I was told I had to get the dish with 3 "things" on it...lol, sorry, but I'm not sure what to call them for sure. But I have a separate box in our bedroom and can use the guide and watch totally separate channels and order different pay per views etc.. from that box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASMTrainer Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I have had NFL Ticket for 4 years now, this season will be my 5th. I just upgraded to the 3 LNB system that allows for the HDTV, the receiver cost me $500.00. It was costly but worth it I think, I mean after buying the HDTV and the amount I payed for that, I figured what's another 500 for the receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASMTrainer Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Originally posted by codeorama I'm not going to lie, I'm a tad confused myself. You may want to PM Art, I think he knows a little more about it... But, I have a 2 room system with the Tivo receiver and local channels, I was told I had to get the dish with 3 "things" on it...lol, sorry, but I'm not sure what to call them for sure. But I have a separate box in our bedroom and can use the guide and watch totally separate channels and order different pay per views etc.. from that box. The 3 LNB's pick up the 3 sat's they have in the sky. They have 3 up there now so they need 3 LNB's to pick them up. The amount of different channels you have going on depends on how many of the actual receivers you have in the house with different cards in them. I have 2 receivers and 2 different cards in them, that way I can watch my Skins on the 60" and the wife can watch the Broncos in the bedroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Skin-n-ny, ok, that makes sense, while they were installing mine, they told me I had to be able to pick up 3 sat's. My neighbor by contrast just has one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASMTrainer Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Glad I could help out code Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 Why do you have to pick up three satellites? I currently have a C-band satellite, and it "turns" across the arc from satellite to satellite (24 transponders (or channels) per satellite). I thought the benefit of digital satellite was the fact that it draws all programming from one satellite and is stationary. So code, do you have three "things"(LNBs) on your satellite dish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 26, 2003 Author Share Posted August 26, 2003 Originally posted by gridironmike Why do you have to pick up three satellites? I currently have a C-band satellite, and it "turns" across the arc from satellite to satellite (24 transponders (or channels) per satellite). I thought the benefit of digital satellite was the fact that it draws all programming from one satellite and is stationary. So code, do you have three "things"(LNBs) on your satellite dish? Yes, I have 3 things on my dish, the installers said I had to pick up all three sat's. Why? I have no clue. I believe that www.directv.com has a FAQ section and it probably explains it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 26, 2003 Author Share Posted August 26, 2003 I just emailed direct tv and asked why the need for 3 sat's, when they answer, I will post it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASMTrainer Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 The 3 sats are for 2 things, if I recall right, the local stations that are going to be offered soon (already are in some markets) and for the HDTV. And yes, you have to have 3 LNB's to pick up the 3 sats but they are very close to each other. The small DirectTV dish can pick up all 3 without having to move it. At least that's what I got from the guy that was installing it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKurp Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 DirecTV has 3 satellites at different positions in the sky. Sat A (101 degrees), Sat B (119 degrees) and Sat C (110 degrees.) Initially, all programming was offered on the Sat A. The initial rollout of local stations was also on Sat A. There's only so much bandwidth on a single satellite so to keep up with demand for local station offerings as well as other programming DirecTv had to launch 2 more satellites. Depending on where you are in the country and which programming you've subscribed to, you may only need to point to Sat A, and you can accomplish this with the round dish. Other subscribers might have a need to access their local channels by pointing to Sat C as well as Sat A. This can be accomplished by adding a Sat C conversion kit to your existing round dish. Theoretically, you could buy and mount a round dish for each satellite. I've read where this will actually give you the best signals for each satellite. However it doesn't look too aesthetically pleasing to have 3 dishes mounted to your house. Thus the oval 3 LNB dish (one LNB points to each of the three satellites: 101, 110, 119). If you want HDTV, you MUST have access to Sat B (HBOHD) and Sat C (the other HDTV programming channels.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 27, 2003 Author Share Posted August 27, 2003 Here's the response direct tv gave me. "Thank you for your question. Most DIRECTV programming is transmitted from our satellites that orbit the earth in one location (101 degrees west longitude). However, we use our extra satellite capacity (in orbit at 119 and 110 degrees west longitude) to provide additional programming. Any multi-satellite DIRECTV System can receive this programming. Multi-satellite DIRECTV Systems have an oval (18- by 24-inch) satellite dish antenna with a multi-satellite capable receiver (set-top box). Our multi-satellite systems come with two Low Noise Blocker (LNB) receptors on the dish. This allows customers to receive DIRECTV programming which is broadcast from two or more of our satellite locations. You must have a multi-satellite system to receive some public service channels, Spanish-language programming via DIRECTV PARA TODOS, Chinese-language programming on Phoenix TV and programming in high definition format, as well as "core" DIRECTV programming. In order to receive DIRECTV PARA TODOS service, you must have a special multi-satellite receiver that has menus in English and Spanish. Additionally, our customers in some parts of the country need multi-satellite DIRECTV equipment to receive their local channels. A third LNB is necessary in a few cities (today just Raleigh-Durham, NC, and Greenville, SC) whose local channels are carried by our satellite in orbit at 110 degrees west longitude. For more information about DIRECTV Systems, please contact a local dealer or retailer of DIRECTV Systems. To find the one nearest you, visit the Dealer Locator feature in our 'How to Get DIRECTV' section of our web site for a list of local DIRECTV System retailers at http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/DealerLocatorServlet Sincerely, Kuljeet DIRECTV Customer Service" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 27, 2003 Author Share Posted August 27, 2003 Kurp has it right on... BTW, I did need a different sat for my local channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 I appreciate all of your help so far. I'll probably have more questions today, so bear with me. First hand experience beats corporate propaganda every time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 27, 2003 Author Share Posted August 27, 2003 Ask anytime... If I don't know the answer, I'm sure someone will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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