# List of currently supported receivers?



## neworder71 (Mar 10, 2008)

I couldn't find a list of currently supported receivers. I know you need an MPEG4 unit but I have no idea if these are. I see them sold (and bought) currently on ebay.

RCA DRD435RH
Sony Sat-B65

Any value in them?

Thanks


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

"Supported" for what? All DirecTV Receivers still work just fine. But some older Receivers can't "see" anything but the 101ºW satellite, or just the 101/110/119º satellites. Only the newer MPEG4 Receivers can "see" the 99 and 103º satellites.

What are you want to do? Just sell your old equipment? Not much value in those.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Very, very little value anymore.

Most pre-DirecTV-branded receivers don't have enough memory to handle the current channel listing and guide data, so certain groups of channels have to be deleted in order for these receivers to function. So, DirecTV recently stopped activating these older receivers, and will upgrade existing ones to a free leased D11/D12.

Of course, none of them are MPEG4 capable, which means no HD. In order to get HD, you need a DirecTV H2x or HR2x.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

BattleZone said:


> Most pre-DirecTV-branded receivers don't have enough memory to handle the current channel listing and guide data, so certain groups of channels have to be deleted in order for these receivers to function. So, DirecTV recently stopped activating these older receivers, and will upgrade existing ones to a free leased D11/D12.


That's not true. You can activate ANY old DirecTV receiver if you are persistent enough. Transferring your call to the access card department usually works since CSR's sometimes don't know how to activate receivers that don't have a RID (receiver ID).

Upgrading your old legacy receiver will also lock you into a 2 year programming commitment which is often conveniently omitted from the discussion on a phone call to a CSR.


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## Satelliteracer (Dec 6, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> That's not true. You can activate ANY old DirecTV receiver if you are persistent enough. Transferring your call to the access card department usually works since CSR's sometimes don't know how to activate receivers that don't have a RID (receiver ID).
> 
> Upgrading your old legacy receiver will also lock you into a 2 year programming commitment which is often conveniently omitted from the discussion on a phone call to a CSR.


Yes, you are correct but not for long. Soon, those older receivers will not be allowed to reactivate.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Satelliteracer said:


> Yes, you are correct but not for long. Soon, those older receivers will not be allowed to reactivate.


*CRAP!* I have some DirecTiVo's I keep in storage in case one goes bad...

~Alan


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## Satelliteracer (Dec 6, 2006)

Alan Gordon said:


> *CRAP!* I have some DirecTiVo's I keep in storage in case one goes bad...
> 
> ~Alan


Those wont' be affected, I'm talking about the really really old ones. The receivers not using an Advanced Programming Guide.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Satelliteracer said:


> Those wont' be affected, I'm talking about the really really old ones. The receivers not using an Advanced Programming Guide.


WHEW! Good to know...

Thanks for the clarification! 

~Alan


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## bubbagscotch (Nov 1, 2009)

So what's a time frame when some of these older receivers will not be able to carry any more channels? Or when will the conversion be from mpeg-2 to mpeg-4? I'd like to know when that will probably be changing, any guesses?


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Many of those older receivers are *already* unable to handle all of the existing channels, so, for example, the premium sports packages are no longer available on those receivers, along with a few other low-use channels. Those old receivers simply can't handle the amount of channels that are available today.

As far as the conversion to all MPEG4, I would not expect to see that conversion start for a couple of years. DirecTV is going to let people pay to upgrade to HD, which will cover a chunk of those costs, for a couple more years. Once the number of SD receivers in service drops below a certain threshold, DirecTV will announce a plan to force-upgrade all remaining receivers, but I estimate that to be 3-4 years away still.

It's looking like by the end of this year, we may see new customers being installed with a whole-home DVR with small client boxes at remote TVs, all networked via coax.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Satelliteracer said:


> Those wont' be affected, I'm talking about the really really old ones. The receivers not using an Advanced Programming Guide.


Let me say, Satelliteracer is right. This could happen any time, it's something that's been discussed for well over a year. There are a lot of pre-D10 receiver models that are now over 5 years old and the question of whether or not to support them seems less and less important.


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## ziggy29 (Nov 18, 2004)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Let me say, Satelliteracer is right. This could happen any time, it's something that's been discussed for well over a year. There are a lot of pre-D10 receiver models that are now over 5 years old and the question of whether or not to support them seems less and less important.


True. I had an old DSR704 (DirecTiVo from 2003) have problems last week and the CSR didn't have me try many things before offering me a replacement box (an R15). I'm used to being asked to try a lot more things in troubleshooting calls.

I suspect they may see these calls as an opportunity to get these ancient boxes out of service, and thus don't try as hard to "fix" the problem as they would have if it were a current, MPEG-4 compatible box that had the problem.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Let me say, Satelliteracer is right. This could happen any time, it's something that's been discussed for well over a year. There are a lot of pre-D10 receiver models that are now over 5 years old and the question of whether or not to support them seems less and less important.


Well, I'm going to find out next month.

I have an OLD Hughes receiver and am planning on reactivating it just to hook it up to my stereo so I can listen to the Sonic Tap channels AND get a CONTINUOUS song title/artist listing without having to get an HR2x/R22...


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## ziggy29 (Nov 18, 2004)

In reality, the more pertinent question is what they are still shipping. 

As I indicated, when my old DirecTiVo died a couple weeks ago, they shipped me an R15. Which is unfortunate because it means they are still shipping SD DVRs that don't support everything that an R16 or an R22 supports (such as SWM and/or MRV). It seems kind of cruddy to still be shipping boxes that don't support current features, but I guess I shouldn't complain since this was a free replacement of an older and even more antiquated unit and it didn't trigger a new commitment. Still, it would have been nice to have SWM support here since it's in a bedroom with only one cable (for satellite) coming into the room.


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## CJTE (Sep 18, 2007)

Satelliteracer said:


> Yes, you are correct but not for long. Soon, those older receivers will not be allowed to reactivate.


Can you (or anyone for that matter), be a little more specific on 'will not be allowed to reactivate'?

If I decided to put my RCA (DRD222RD) in my garage, what kind of issue would I be facing (hypothetically)?
Am I going to be forced to upgrade my older receivers? Will this upgrade extend my commitment? Does the protection plan factor into this?


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

I have a Sony SAT A2 and a B2 if anyone is interested.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

jdspencer said:


> I have a Sony SAT A2 and a B2 if anyone is interested.


Actually, my in-laws just had their receivers replaced. I believe they had Sony A2's. They noticed they did not have as many PPV channels available as we did. When they called up DirecTV about it, they were replaced with D12's at no cost.

- Merg


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

CJTE said:


> Can you (or anyone for that matter), be a little more specific on 'will not be allowed to reactivate'?
> 
> If I decided to put my RCA (DRD222RD) in my garage, what kind of issue would I be facing (hypothetically)?
> Am I going to be forced to upgrade my older receivers? Will this upgrade extend my commitment? Does the protection plan factor into this?


When I activated my RCA DRD430 last September, I had guide issues. I could see what was playing for the next hour or two, but nothing farther than that (I think that's about as much of the guide as I was able to see). For some reason, I seem to remember reading a trick on the forums where you could put those receivers on channel 200 or 201 or something like that over night and it would populate more of the guide data. Since it was a throw down receiver for my father in law during his visit, it wasn't that big of a deal. I've since added another HD receiver and now my R15 is the throw down receiver that gets activated/deactivated when company comes to town.

The only thing I'm not sure of is if my RCA guide issue was related to the new 3 lnb dish that was installed when I moved. I don't remember having guide issues like that when I had my 5lnb dish. Granted, the RCA was in a spare room and I only looked at the immediate guide when I would turn it on. I sure do miss the fact that it booted up in about 10 seconds compared to my dvr's that take 10 minutes.


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

ThomasM said:


> Well, I'm going to find out next month.
> 
> I have an OLD Hughes receiver and am planning on reactivating it just to hook it up to my stereo so I can listen to the Sonic Tap channels AND get a CONTINUOUS song title/artist listing without having to get an HR2x/R22...


I have an R15 and the XM channels PAD Data or Artist/song info displays correctly. If I press more info it stays on the screen. Of course since Sonic Tap replaces XM in the next month (PISSED!!) That info may display differently.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

xmguy said:


> I have an R15 and the XM channels PAD Data or Artist/song info displays correctly. If I press more info it stays on the screen. Of course since Sonic Tap replaces XM in the next month (PISSED!!) That info may display differently.


After 5 minutes of inactivity on an R15 the screen saver kicks in. And it is just a DirecTV logo-even if tuned to a music channel unlike the HR2x/R22 series whose screen saver changes into the song title/artist when tuned to a music channel.

The title/artist display will look exactly the same with Sonic Tap. Just tune to one of the EXISTING Sonic Tap channels (turn the volume down if you don't like Spanish music) and see for yourself.

The old Hughes receiver doesn't HAVE a screen saver. When tuned to a music channel, the title, artist, etc. continuously is displayed on the bottom of the screen in white letters with a blue background. And since it actually scrolls, it does function as a screen saver of sorts. Very nice.

PS: I hooked up my old RCA DRD450RGA just to see what it would do. It worked fine displaying channel 100 and the Sports Guide. It wouldn't display the subscription sports channels (I hate sports so couldn't care less). But in 24 hours I had a FULL WEEKS program guide detail-and a lot more info than even the R22 displays since this receiver was designed to display ALL the info that is supplied by TMS.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

ThomasM said:


> The old Hughes receiver doesn't HAVE a screen saver. When tuned to a music channel, the title, artist, etc. continuously is displayed on the bottom of the screen in white letters with a blue background. And since it actually scrolls, it does function as a screen saver of sorts. Very nice.


One of several reasons why I STILL have my Hughes HAH activated...  
I still think it had, & still has, one of the best EPG's around.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

dishrich said:


> One of several reasons why I STILL have my Hughes HAH activated...
> I still think it had, & still has, one of the best EPG's around.


Well, guess what? After listening for a couple days, I decided that I liked Sonic Tap (DMX) so much I hauled out my ancient Hughes HIRD-E2 (my first DirecTV receiver from 2000) and had it re-activated. And guess what #2? They activated it with it's same old access card (no new card + $20 fee).

Of course, being a member of DBSTALK.COM (and hearing how regular CSR's have no idea how to activate a non-RID receiver), I immediately requested to be transferred to the ACCESS CARD DEPARTMENT to accomplish this. Finally, I asked what my commitment date was and sure enough, it didn't magically change to 2 more years (as it shouldn't when activating a non-leased receiver).

As I type, I'm enjoying Sonic Tap from my ancient legacy Hughes!!!


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

ThomasM said:


> ...had it re-activated. And guess what #2? They activated it with it's same old access card (no new card + $20 fee).


They should have - as long as it's a current AC, & as long as it was originally on YOUR account, there shouldn't have been an issue anyway & NO need for you to buy a new AC anyway.
And IIRC, when you remove a receiver from your account, it's not really "removed", but "deactivated", but remaining on your account in D*'s billing system. So, it's much easier to reactivate an existing card than a brand new card & receiver.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

At this point any receiver that has been made for DirecTV is still supported. Older recievers do not get all the guide data though. From a post Satelliteracer made earlier they will be discontinuing the ability to activate receivers without RID numbers at some point in the future.

Access cards only need to be changed if they have a picture of a satellite on them or a football player.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Shades228 said:


> At this point any receiver that has been made for DirecTV is still supported. Older recievers do not get all the guide data though. From a post Satelliteracer made earlier they will be discontinuing the ability to activate receivers without RID numbers at some point in the future.
> 
> Access cards only need to be changed if they have a picture of a satellite on them or a football player.


Gee, if we had an actual date the older receivers wouldn't be supported, wouldn't it be fun to activate all our old legacy equipment just before that and then get a load of free D12's? 

To be more technical regarding access cards, DirecTV referred to the generation of access cards by "level". The ones with the satellite picture or the football player were "level 3" cards (which were the ones that caused all the furor when hackers were able to get free service). DirecTV introduced the "level 4" cards in 2003 and mailed them to every subscriber. They appear to be "hack proof" since DirecTV stopped suing anyone who bought a smart card reader/reprogrammer on the web...


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## Avder (Feb 6, 2010)

So, Ive got a couple of questions here. I've got DirecTV in 3 rooms right now. HR21-700 in my living room and a pair of D12-500's in the bedrooms. The other day my neighbor and I were downstairs digging around the storage room (we live in a duplex and the storage room is kind of a common area), and we came across a pair of old Philips DSX 5500 receivers that belonged to the landlord from when she still lived here. So I called her up and she didn't even know she still had them, and basically said I could do whatever I wanted with them.

So my questions are as follows:
-Is the DSX5500 Still supported?
-If yes, does it offer functionality and PQ comparable with the D12?
-If no, what functionality does it lack or how worse is its picture?
-Since I lease the D12's, could I save $10 a month by deactivating the D12s and activating these? (provided they actually work...theyve been down there for a year or two)
-And if I could do all of the above and not be a fool for sending the D12s back, is there any way DirecTV would let me pull the cards out of the D12s and put them into the DSX5500's? Neither one of them has an access card currently.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

Avder:
1. Yes, those old Philips receiver are still supported, provided you don't have SWM dish.
2. PQ should be comparable. But they don't have enough Guide Data memory (RAM) to handle all of DirecTV channels anymore, so some channels are not shown on these old Receivers. 
3. No, you would still pay the monthly fee. With owned equipment it's called a "mirroring fee" instead of lease fee, but it's the same amount of money.
4. Access cards are not transferable across Receivers. You would need new access cards. DirecTV will sent you new cards for ~$20 ea.


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## Avder (Feb 6, 2010)

litzdog911 said:


> Avder:
> 2. PQ should be comparable. But they don't have enough Guide Data memory (RAM) to handle all of DirecTV channels anymore, so some channels are not shown on these old Receivers.
> 3. No, you would still pay the monthly fee. With owned equipment it's called a "mirroring fee" instead of lease fee, but it's the same amount of money.


Which channels wouldnt show up? If its PPV and specialty sports channels it wouldnt be a problem as I only watch my center ice stuff in the living room in HD.

And whats the thing behind the mirroring fee? Is that just some bogus un-fee to make sure I'm still paying as much as I would with leased recievers?

So with all that anyway I suppose my best options are to either see if I can get $5 for em on ebay or keep them around if I ever want SD in another room?

Also I was looking at getting a decent SWM later this year, not the directv ones, but the commercial ones that have legacy ports and allow OTA diplexing, I assume the legacy ports on that switch would allow these to work? But would I need legacy ports for the D12's, or are they SWM compatible?


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