Direct TV Antenna Questions

[stan]

Interesting discussion. Because one 'advantage' of Bell Express Vu here (Eastern Canada) is said to be the ability to take your 'receiver' out to the weekend/summer cottage or even in the RV, where there is a second dish installed (often available used for around $50 ) and hook up to an older style TV in order to watch some desired show/event. Often no phone line at all! In fact could be generator or solar powered!

It's said that BEV don't care where the signal is being received by that same customer as long as they are paying! Not sure about this but heard some discussion about someon getting a second receiver (again often available used) and using the same account for both the home and the week-end cottage rceivers! Logic seems to be that family is unlikley to be in both locations at the same time; so doesn't matter from where they watch?

We tried BEV for a while (at home) and never hooked up the phone line; once one had received the 'card' from BEV and installed it following some rather complicated instructions, it worked!

[Oren]

'Course I did. You wrote: "Thanks for any other tips in helping me get this to work. I want to go up there next weekend, and if I need anything else I would like to know now."

My mistake was typing LBN instead of LNB.

I'll assume you are not a native of Georgia??! Where do you live near "Etlanna"?

[Oren]

No ladder work. Less susceptible to high winds.

Spray dish with kitchen PAM. Snow never really sticks.

[salty]

Oh, but they can. When the unit is activated, they know the coordinates where you are located in relation to one, or even all of the satellites. Part of the initialization setup is a scan of all available satellites and their signal strength. That can easily be part of the setup data. This is the computer age, Mark. The receiver could easily be designed to reject service if it detects the satellites are not in the correct relative positions, based on signal strength and triangulation.

They charge substantially more to do that, in order to encourage you to keep that phone line connected.

[Malcolm Hoar]

I had DirectTV installed a few months ago.

Initially the technician wanted to hook up a phone line. That turned out to be hassle. He tried a wireless bridge thingy but that didn't work. At this point he said "Fuck it, you don't need that anyway". As for PPV, we don't use that. Neither of my receivers has *ever* been connected to a phone line. Heck, I know folks who are cellular only and don't even have POTS in their homes.

Next he wanted to run TWO sets of coax from the dish to at least one of the receivers. That was a hassle and he called in to get authorization for a Plan B. Plan B simply involved a power brick in-line of the single coax between the dish and a receiver. That provides power to the LNB.

So, my conclusions are:

1. You can work with a single coax.
2. The LNB needs power.
3. Standard receivers do not supply that power.
4. You probably need the power brick thingy.
5. You don't need a phone connection and although Corporate may like one, they don't enforce it.

[mm]

For shame. You must be kill-filed for that.

[George]

Thats a standard installation. There is only one connector on the receiver if it is single tuner.

Yes

They all do

Likely not

They enforce it by requiring you to order premium stuff on their web site.

[salty]

No power brick or phone line here. The receiver supplies the small amount of power needed through the coax.

[Chuck]

The guy that installed my Directv service, last week, stated that a "dish tv" dish will not work with Directv service. The LNB's are matched to the freq. of the Satellite

[Ed Pawlowski]

It is a sign of losing one's mental faculties. He should be nominated for review by the Death Panels that are thinning the herd.

[George]

DTV and Dishnetwork both use the same frequencies on the satellite downlinks. Some dishes will work and some won't but it isn't due to different frequencies. I had a Dishnetwork system working for years using a DTV dish.

[Congoleum Breckenridge]

Try: alt.dbs.directv

[salty]

What does that have to do with anything in this thread?

[Chuck]

Original question did not say the dish was a Directv dish. Said he got it at a yard sale. Also if the op has HD service, that requires a different dish.

[salty]

He described the dish well enough that it told us that it was completely suitable for Directv and was specifically not equipped for for HD.