Should I switch to DirecTV???

[dvd_maniac]

Thinking about switching from Cable to DirecTV...

How is the quality of DirecTV been lately?
I currectly have Charter cable and most channels are still analog with not so great PQ.

Recommendations anyone?

[hchucky]

When I originally started with SageTV I had cable. I made the move to DTV because of the poor and inconsistent quality of cable. With the dish the quality is much better and it is consistent across all channels.

HC

[bcjenkins]

I have 4 boxes on D* and it is great. Added expense for serial tuning is pricey. You need comports and PatersonTech serial adapters.

B

[sportera]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I have 4 boxes on D* and it is great. Added expense for serial tuning is pricey. You need comports and PatersonTech serial adapters.

B

I'll second the above and add "pain in the a--" to it. Getting the right Serial to USB converters to work with the Paterson Tech adapters is hit and miss if you don't go with the recommended ones. And it can be a very trying experience getting it to work with Directv HD receivers. I got serial control to work on my 2 HD20-700 receivers but could not get it to work on a HD20-600 I purchased off ebay.

In addition, you will lose HD recording through a HDHomeRun if you have one and have to settle for S-Video connections between receivers and HTPC. Not all that bad but I miss getting and recording HD directly to HTPC from HDHomeRun device.

All in all though, I hated cable tech support and the reduced local and HD channel lineup (I also had Charter). Had it not been for the terrible support and reduced channel lineup, I'd still be with them.

But now all is good with Directv except for an occasional blackout during a heavy rainstorm.

If I were you, I would definitely do your research on this forum and weigh the total costs to make the move before doing so. If you are going with multiple HD receivers then you'll have to add the $47 per Patersontech device plus the serial to USB cable adapters(if you do not have free serial ports on you HTPC). Forget using IR control. It is way too slow and I could not get it working with multiple H20 receivers.

Good luck!

[dvd_maniac]

I control my current STBs with the USB-UIRT. Are you saying that it is too slow and won't function right that way and that I have to get the adapter?
Also, I do not currently record in HD so I wouldn't lose anything there...

[Jesse]

Hi,

If you get your locals OTA, or if D* still offers the locals on older stb's in your market, then I would go for some of the older serial capable D* stb's from ebay. I picked up two sony SATB50's for $10.01. They work great with the old sagetv Diretv .dll file.

If OTA is not possible and D* does not offer the locals on the older stb's then you could keep an eye out for the D10-100 stb. It has the later style program guide (which will receive the locals for sure) and has serial control via an RJ-11 jack.

HTH

Jesse

[AngelofDeth]

Originally Posted by sportera

If I were you, I would definitely do your research on this forum and weigh the total costs to make the move before doing so. If you are going with multiple HD receivers then you'll have to add the $47 per Patersontech device plus the serial to USB cable adapters(if you do not have free serial ports on you HTPC). Forget using IR control. It is way too slow and I could not get it working with multiple H20 receivers.

Good luck!

Can you not use something like a pci or pci express 4 port serial port adapter? Seems that would be more cost effective than a usb adapter for $50 per port... I only have 2 tuners so that hasn't been an issue yet, as my motherboard has two on board serial ports.

[bcjenkins]

Actually I thought the issue was more about what box you have and are trying to control. I didn't do a ton of research but everything I read pointed me to Paterson for my D11s.


B

[Apap]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

I control my current STBs with the USB-UIRT. Are you saying that it is too slow and won't function right that way and that I have to get the adapter?
Also, I do not currently record in HD so I wouldn't lose anything there...

I am currently controlling 2 Directv STBs with the USB-UIRT with very little problems. The real improvement was changing it to output 4 digits rather than 3 for channel changes because occasionally the STB would not wake up and see the first digit but always caught the second one and so on. Now if it misses the first digit(always a zero) it gets the rest of them. I also have a D20 HD STB that is not connected to the HTPC at all. You can definitely tell that the HD channels are HD lite. They are a little noisy, but you can only tell if you stand close to the TV and study it. From 8 feet away it looks just fine.

I just wish(along with many others) that there was some relatively inexpensive way to capture that HD signal and record it.

Apap

[sportera]

Originally Posted by AngelofDeth

Can you not use something like a pci or pci express 4 port serial port adapter? Seems that would be more cost effective than a usb adapter for $50 per port... I only have 2 tuners so that hasn't been an issue yet, as my motherboard has two on board serial ports.

This is what I wanted to do all along, i.e., add a 4 port serial card. Unfortunately I moved to a MicroATX motherboard and have no PCI slots left.

As for those responding that USB-UIRT works fine with no problems, I'd question whether or not you have ever tested serial STB control. On both my new HTPC as well as my old HTPC I've never gotten USB-UIRT channel control to work fast enough to satisfy me and family (we surf channels alot). And I did try it with 4 digit setup. My guess is it is like driving the interstate vs back roads to work every day. If you've never taken the interstate, then you'd never notice the difference.

And don't take the above as an insult. Just an observation and my own opinion after going through two HTPC's, switching from cable to DTV, switching from MCE to Sage, and replacing countless video boards, hard disks (seems like I always need more space), memory, and other devices. I gave up on IR STB control with cable and went direct coax from HTPC to wall and later added HDHomerun for QAM access to digital HD channels, plus picking up need local HD channels through OTA (located in attic with signal booster).

[dagar]

My issue with serial is the reliability <period>. We don't surf with Sage ... what's surfing anyway so that helps. I like not having to bounce everything due to random acts of bad programming just for the channel changing ... that's what I have Windows for

@DVD_Maniac --> I switched from Cox Digital to D* and have better SD PQ as a result. Made the switch 3 years ago and have no intention of switching to any other provider.

[phelme]

I have both an H20-600 & H20-700. The 700 I can reliably blast from an MCE IR box (using HIP), putting the bug about 1.5" away from the IR port on the surface of the unit. The 600 on the other hand is a PITA. I probably miss 1 out of 7 shows with it. Not sure exactly what the deal is, I've moved the bug around, tried both 3 & 4 digit blasting, varied between digit send times etc. Apparently the IR sensor is sunk deep into box or something and might be the cause. Next thing I'll try is putting the bug on a stick in front of the box and get some poke-in-the-eye insurance.

I use to have an old RCA DTC-100 that never had a problem with IR blasting with the bug right on the sensor, but now with the MPEG4 change coming I had to upgrade to H20's.