# Deciding on SD receiver



## Holihan50 (Jul 7, 2010)

I have two older SD receivers that I can now choose from to use in my RV. I don't want to lease a new SD receiver from DTV so I am asking for an opinion on which of the following legacy receivers would be best for me to use (best features considering age of receiver). Either an RCA DRD435RH or an Hughes HIRD-B2? Both are owned by me and can be activated as I have already checked with DTV.


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## my1423 (May 16, 2009)

For rv use the older units have some over the newer d1X. Fast to get sat signal, fast bootup. Easier to put in your zip to get sat angles, better menus ect for moving around. 

For what you have.
The RCA DRD435RH is faster on channel change, newer and a rid unit. First rid! Not sure if it gets all the sports guide channels like a d series unit but might. Read they have failure problems. RUN HOT!! 
The Hughes HIRD-B2 is MUCH older has turbo tune, mini guide, changeable colors, and some other options the rca does not, also it does not get all the channels, like nfl sunday ticket. If you dont subscribe to any sports packages then you will not have this issue. Those units are rock solid for dependability but they are 12+ years old. 

I prefer the huges e or gaeboa models. WAY Faster. If you need a card pick up a gaeboa receiver on ebay for 15$. Way better unit then both you have and is NOT RID. All owned! Fastest unit i have ever used.

Were the units on your account before? If not you will need a card for 20$. If they were on then just add it and check it out. If you dont like it turn it off and turn the other on. Really easy. 

If you need a card i would do the rca. Once its up and going you can insert the card into the hughes and call the 1800 and refresh service by saying ext 722 on the automated system. It will activate in the old non rid. Then you can see witch you like. To go back just swap and call again. You cannot do this if you do the hughes as the active card. Its a non rid and the rca unit will not be active so it will just say you call 711 to activate or many other errors when you put the hughes card in it.


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## Holihan50 (Jul 7, 2010)

Thank you for the in depth reply.. You told me what I needed to know BUT now I have another question... From what you have said, the Hughes unit will not be able to receive my subscription to NFL Sunday ticket because it has no RID (I assume receiver ID number) but the RCA does.. Will the RCA be able to receive the NFL Sunday ticket?? That is my primary reason for using DTV in the RV... Thank you


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Keep in mind that activating the additional unit on your account will result in a $5 a month charge. If it is leased, it is called a "lease fee". If it is owned, it is called an "additional receiver fee". So there is absolutely no financial advantage to using an older owned unit.

A major advantage of having an owned receiver is that you can activate and de-activate it as desired, and do not have to return it to DirecTV when de-activated. With a leased receiver, when you deactivate it you typically have to return it to DirecTV.

I don't think any of the older receivers will support Sunday Ticket.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

If the receiver has an APG (advanced prog guide), it WILL work on NST - RID# has nothing to do with it...


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Holihan50 said:


> I have two older SD receivers that I can now choose from to use in my RV. I don't want to lease a new SD receiver from DTV so I am asking for an opinion on which of the following legacy receivers would be best for me to use (best features considering age of receiver). Either an RCA DRD435RH or an Hughes HIRD-B2? Both are owned by me and can be activated as I have already checked with DTV.


Well, this is an interesting question.

The HUGHES uses the old program guide (38 hours of guide data and you have to wait while each 6 hour block loads). The old program guide receivers didn't have enough memory for all the current channels DirecTV offers so they "cut" a bunch of the channels even if they are in your package. Most of them are sports subscription channels in the 700 range. A few Sonic Tap channels are also unavailable. But the receiver works great and rarely gives any trouble. You can also power it down and then power it up and it reboots in less than a minute.

Meanwhile, the RCA has the "advanced program guide" which does offer all the channels DirecTV currently offers in your package. BUT I've discovered that the older RCA receivers don't have enough memory to store all the program guide info so every now and then you will have to reset your receiver because it will stop updating it's program guide. Also, when you power down the RCA and then power it back up, it needs to load guide data from scratch which takes 24 hours to completely populate the guide.

Since you will be using this receiver in an RV, I would recommend the HUGHES if you can put up with the channels you won't get in your package due to the guide restrictions.

I still have my original HUGHES receiver (from 2000!) active on my account in my computer room where I use it exclusively to listen to the Sonic Tap (music) channels. It still works great. When I power it up, it is online in just 45 seconds.


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