# Directv MPEG2 HD finally goes dark tomorrow.



## ndole (Aug 26, 2009)

> *BLAST FACTS* Important MPEG-2 HD Receiver Update - March 29, 2010
> Mar 29, 2010
> 
> 
> ...


Took long enough!


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

A detail they left out is whether the swap is owned for owned or lease for owned. Some seem pretty committed to owning their equipment.


----------



## ken1403 (Sep 16, 2006)

harsh said:


> A detail they left out is whether the swap is owned for owned or lease for owned. Some seem pretty committed to owning their equipment.


I called D* and was offered a lease upgrade. All of my equipment is owned.
HR20 700
R15
D10 x 2


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

ken1403 said:


> I called D* and was offered a lease upgrade. All of my equipment is owned.
> HR20 700
> R15
> D10 x 2


What do you need to upgrade anyway? You have one HD device and it already gets the new MPEG4's. This only affects the people that still had active MPEG2-only HD boxes...


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

ndole_mbnd said:


> Took long enough!


That it did. I stopped watching those channels after MPEG 4 became operational.


----------



## ndole (Aug 26, 2009)

CCarncross said:


> What do you need to upgrade anyway? You have one HD device and it already gets the new MPEG4's. This only affects the people that still had active MPEG2-only HD boxes...


You might be surprised about how many HD upgrades I've followed up on where the tech was payed to upgrade the ODU and the IRD(s), but only swapped the box. As the customer wasn't aware that there were more than 7 HD channels, it went unnoticed. These are few and far between, but the few systems left out there like this are going to rear their ugly heads here in the next week.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

harsh said:


> A detail they left out is whether the swap is owned for owned or lease for owned. Some seem pretty committed to owning their equipment.


If you've been paying attention, you'd realize that we're already about 2 years into this process. Many have already taken advantage of the swap.


----------



## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

harsh said:


> A detail they left out is whether the swap is owned for owned or lease for owned. Some seem pretty committed to owning their equipment.


When I upgraded my MPEG-2 stuff, they swapped owned for owned.


----------



## dirtyblueshirt (Dec 7, 2008)

I know my Aunt and Uncle up in Livermore will be disappointed... their condo complex uses an older dish (MDU setup) which was capable of the MPEG2 HD channels, but not the MPEG4 channels... last I had checked, they HOA had yet to upgrade the dish...


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

dirtyblueshirt said:


> I know my Aunt and Uncle up in Livermore will be disappointed... their condo complex uses an older dish (MDU setup) which was capable of the MPEG2 HD channels, but not the MPEG4 channels... last I had checked, they HOA had yet to upgrade the dish...


The HOA only had like two years notice. And they lost other channels already, didn't they? Isn't this the second (and final) wave?


----------



## EKrimmer (Mar 21, 2008)

I have a slimline dish and one H21 HDDVR. Just tell me my 3 old Hughes boxes will still work and I'm happy for now...


----------



## Crystal Pepsi Ball (Jun 29, 2004)

tonyd79 said:


> The HOA only had like two years notice. And they lost other channels already, didn't they? Isn't this the second (and final) wave?


Yep. As of 3/31/2010, there will be NO more MPEG2 HD channels. No HD Channels on 110 or 119.


----------



## dirtyblueshirt (Dec 7, 2008)

tonyd79 said:


> The HOA only had like two years notice. And they lost other channels already, didn't they? Isn't this the second (and final) wave?


Yep... definitely plenty of time, their HOA is just slow and doesn't want to spend money... the complex was finished right before the housing crash so there's lots of vacancies and little HOA fees being paid... And I don't think DirecTV upgrades MDU dishes for free, do they?


----------



## d0ug (Mar 22, 2006)

dirtyblueshirt said:


> I know my Aunt and Uncle up in Livermore will be disappointed... their condo complex uses an older dish (MDU setup) which was capable of the MPEG2 HD channels, but not the MPEG4 channels... last I had checked, they HOA had yet to upgrade the dish...


Sounds like they need to take advantage of the FCC's OTARD rules and setup their own dish, then tell the HOA to shove it when they complain.


----------



## d0ug (Mar 22, 2006)

dirtyblueshirt said:


> Yep... definitely plenty of time, their HOA is just slow and doesn't want to spend money... the complex was finished right before the housing crash so there's lots of vacancies and little HOA fees being paid... And I don't think DirecTV upgrades MDU dishes for free, do they?


Im sure they would just swap the dish itself if that's all that were required, im sure the whole MDU setup will likely have to be redone though?

Hell if I was in that situation and just a simple dish swap would fix it, id get my own dish off ebay for $50 and swap the damn thing myself in the middle of the night =P


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

CCarncross said:


> What do you need to upgrade anyway? You have one HD device and it already gets the new MPEG4's. *This only affects the people that still had active MPEG2-only HD boxes*...


Somebody refresh my memory, did DirecTV ever have any other MPEG-2 only HD receivers besides the old Hughes HR10-250 DVR?

Can't remember really ...


----------



## Jon J (Apr 22, 2002)

HoTat2 said:


> Somebody refresh my memory, did DirecTV ever have any other MPEG-2 only HD receivers besides the old Hughes HR10-250 DVR?
> 
> Can't remember really ...


I seem to remember one from Zenith before the HR10-250.


----------



## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

THey had several non-recording HD receivers that came out before the HR10-250 did in 2004. I assume they are all MPEG2 only as I am not sure they even thought about MPEG 4 until after that.


----------



## moghedien (Dec 3, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> Somebody refresh my memory, did DirecTV ever have any other MPEG-2 only HD receivers besides the old Hughes HR10-250 DVR?
> 
> Can't remember really ...


 * DirecTV HR10-250 (HD DVR)
* DirecTV H10
* Hughes HNS HIRD-E86
* Hughes HNS HTL-HD
* Hughes HNS SD-HBH
* LG LSS-3200A
* Mitsubishi SR-HD5
* Panasonic TU-HDS20
* Philips DSHD800
* Proscan PS61000
* RCA DTC-100
* RCA DTC-210
* RCA DTC-210 Supplement
* RCA HD65W20
* RCA HD65W20
* RCA P61300
* Samsung SIR-TS160 (E)
* Samsung SIR-TS360
* Sony HD100
* Sony SAT-HD200
* Sony SAT-HD300
* Toshiba DST-3000
* Toshiba DW65X91
* Zenith DTV1080
* Zenith HD-SAT520


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

moghedien said:


> * DirecTV HR10-250 (HD DVR)
> * DirecTV H10
> * Hughes HNS HIRD-E86
> * Hughes HNS HTL-HD
> ...


Wow, thanks;

My memory is really bad in this area I guess. I'd forgotten all about these other models ...


----------



## Wisegoat (Aug 17, 2006)

moghedien said:


> * DirecTV HR10-250 (HD DVR)
> * DirecTV H10
> * Hughes HNS HIRD-E86
> * Hughes HNS HTL-HD
> ...


Plus a couple of RCA HDTV's with DirecTV receivers built in. Don't know the model numbers.


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

Wisegoat said:


> Plus a couple of RCA HDTV's with DirecTV receivers built in. Don't know the model numbers.


Glad I never invested in one of those.


----------



## moghedien (Dec 3, 2007)

bidger said:


> Glad I never invested in one of those.


http://www.hometheatermag.com/crtdisplays/95/index1.html


----------



## ironfoot995 (Dec 24, 2004)

Yep, we had the Samsung 360 and the HR10, both hooked up to the 50 in. Samsung DLP HDTV. I could watch a program in HD on the 360 and record two other HD programs on the HR10 at the same time.

John


----------



## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

Hey-

What happened to the HD 70's channels.....they were just on a couple minutes ago and now there off....I was in the middle of a recording!


----------



## MartyS (Dec 29, 2006)

codespy said:


> Hey-
> 
> What happened to the HD 70's channels.....they were just on a couple minutes ago and now there off....I was in the middle of a recording!


Well, let's see. For the last 2 years, D* has been telling us that the MPEG 2 channels (the ones in the 70's) are going away.

For the last month, they told us that they would be going away on March 31st.

So, since it's April 1st, they're now gone. Unfortunately, it's not an April's Fool joke.

All those channels have been duplicated in MPEG 4 in the 200's so that's where they are now.


----------



## Jon J (Apr 22, 2002)

bidger said:


> Glad I never invested in one of those.


I bought one of the Zenith receivers and when it died the Protection Plan sent me an HR10-250.


----------



## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

Just got my HR10-250 replaced for free and, according to the CSR, no new 2-year commitment. 

Time to dumb down the HR21 to only one tuner. Hurry up SWiM16!


----------



## Starrbuck (Jun 25, 2004)

Just got off the phone with them. They would not upgrade my HR10-250 for free because I had received a free upgrade to an HR21 in 2008. They offered to send another HD DVR for half price ($99) with free shipping. I protested and got my $10 HD package free for the next year, which will be a total of $120 off. The CSR was very nice but I do not believe his name was really "Ike." ;-)


----------



## Renard (Jun 21, 2007)

So what Directv is going to do with the bandwidth that was used by the MPEG2 channels?


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Starrbuck said:


> Just got off the phone with them. They would not upgrade my HR10-250 for free because I had received a free upgrade to an HR21 in 2008. They offered to send another HD DVR for half price ($99) with free shipping. I protested and got my $10 HD package free for the next year, which will be a total of $120 off. The CSR was very nice but I do not believe his name was really "Ike." ;-)


This is exactly how it should have worked if you have already been given an upgrade for the HR10 once.


----------



## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Renard said:


> So what Directv is going to do with the bandwidth that was used by the MPEG2 channels?


Nobody here knows for sure, they haven't said. But a guess is to use it for moving international programming off a leased satellite that requires a seperate dish.


----------



## ndole (Aug 26, 2009)

RAD said:


> Nobody here knows for sure, they haven't said. But a guess is to use it for moving international programming off a leased satellite that requires a seperate dish.


We can only hope from an installation standpoint. New installs would go much more smoothly by eliminating all of the problems with the 36" 95W ODU. It would also generate some work for our techs to swap out (or reconfigure) all of those ugly behemoths.


----------



## hoyty76 (Oct 17, 2007)

Renard said:


> So what Directv is going to do with the bandwidth that was used by the MPEG2 channels?


Is the satellite space freed up capable of carrying MPEG-4? If not it won't be anymore HD.


----------



## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

hoyty76 said:


> Is the satellite space freed up capable of carrying MPEG-4? If not it won't be anymore HD.


Satellites don't care if it's MPEG2, MPEG4 or whatever. It just echos back to earth whatever one's and zero's is sent up to it.


----------



## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

CCarncross said:


> This is exactly how it should have worked if you have already been given an upgrade for the HR10 once.


He didnt actually say he upgraded for the 10-250 already just that he had upgraded. I am curious to know which he meant. If he had not already been able to get a free upgrade for the 10-250 then in my opinion it dont matter what deal he got 2 years ago he should still get one today. But thats just my opinion.


----------



## Pres16 (Oct 24, 2008)

I read the article about the HDTV with the built-in D* tuner that was posted via the link earlier in this thread.

My favorite part of the article is the last paragraph:

All in all, the F38310 is my pick for an all-purpose HDTV that has everything your family will need for the next 10 years. If you want to futureproof your system for all of the viewing options that are out there, this is the TV to buy. 

Seriously??? Whoever wrote that should be shot!


----------



## hdthebest (Sep 10, 2007)

okay is it me or did the quality of the channels improve....it may be my eyes playing positive tricks but just curious if they gave more bandwith to those existing channels


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

hdthebest said:


> okay is it me or did the quality of the channels improve....it may be my eyes playing positive tricks but just curious if they gave more bandwith to those existing channels


If you mean PQ of HD channels, then it has no impact...The mpeg2s weren't on 99c & 103c sats, which is where HD channels.


----------



## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

wisegoat said:


> plus a couple of rca hdtv's with directv receivers built in. Don't know the model numbers.


rca hd65w20
rca hd65w20
rca p61300


----------



## DennisMileHi (Aug 29, 2007)

Pres16 said:


> I read the article about the HDTV with the built-in D* tuner that was posted via the link earlier in this thread.
> 
> My favorite part of the article is the last paragraph:
> 
> ...


Well, I have owned one of those great CRT 38" TVs since 2002 and it still works great. I got a refurb in 2002 for about $1600 and had only one minor problem covered under warranty.

When the TIVO HR10-250 came out, I quit using the internal RCA DTC-100 ( I think) D* tuner and just hooked up my new (cost me about $700) DVR to the component inputs and continued on. I still use the TV now with a newer D* HR21-700 on component with no problems. Great picture, great black levels. But it is a behemoth weighing in at 216 pounds. I obviously haven't moved it over the years.

So, think about your quote of somebody being shot. I haven't read the article and it probably was mis-guided, but this old TV still carries the load of a very good HD picture!


----------



## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

Really??


codespy said:


> Hey-
> 
> What happened to the HD 70's channels.....they were just on a couple minutes ago and now there off....I was in the middle of a recording!


----------



## nc88keyz (Aug 12, 2007)

Only RCA would do something nighmarish like a built in directv reciever. You would never see that in a sony / mitsubishi product i dont think.

As a former circuit city commissioned salesmen in the 90s I personally can attest that if you were in the stores to buy a high-end tv, if I had anything to do with it and you doubted yourself in the least, I made you the proud owner of an RCA elite marketed product called "ProScan" Not the proscan lcds you know of today but the same crap that came off thompsons manufacturing lines...just a few more bells and whistles

My reward was a 8-10% commission on price of that set. Now if I had to pricematch that set to joes hifi av shop, i got quite a bit less than that. On top of that if you bought the 419.99 ESP plan I got like 64 dollars on that. A couple of those a week, a camcorder here and there, and i got to watch tv for the rest of the pay period rather than helping customers. When tivo came out we could record our favorite shows so that time was even less productive on the sales floor. If you were looking at a 13" tv or 19" I probally pretended like i didnt see you. The best trick was pulling up 3 tvs , having a customer ask which ones were in stock, the circuit city employee read the stock code backwards since that was where the commision amount was displayed right on the computer terminal and selecting the one that payed the most. Sir/Miss. I have this one in stock today...would you like to take it home with you. The same stock code was on the price/sale tag on the displayed product as well. It was really easy to take your money from you. I am older and wiser now 

I am also ashamed of selling 119.99 2head Broksonic VCRs, and selling a 79.99 ESP on that product. Shocking isnt it!





Proscan had an absolutely astonishing track record for repairs. 

About the only good thing about RCA in that decade was that there were factories and jobs in the USA.....as with everything else...Big business moved across the border. God Bless America.

Back on topic. 

I have an HR10-250 that was swapped, and i kept the reciever because we still like the tivo interface. I need to swap it to an HR20-700/100 with OTA but will have to do that through the protection plan. Ironically all of my HR20700s are dying out. Ive replaced 2 in 3 months. 

The HR10250 reboots constantly, locks up if its recording 2 shows, and will fix itself for another couple days if rebooted. The protection plan says...they see it hasnt called in in a very long time and they cant update software without a call for this box. I think i will contact executive relations on this one since they are giving me crap about it. 

RIP Mpeg2 HD - you were the bees knees back in da day!


----------



## ChrisPC (Jun 17, 2003)

The very first time my wife or I ever saw HD was on D* about 11 years ago. We lived in a small town, and the local RCA dealer had just gotten a DTC-100 and Phase III dish. There was only ONE HD channel on D*, Channel 70, HBO. It was mindblowing then, but laughable by today's standards. It was connected to a 4:3 HD CRT that cost almost $2000!


----------



## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

Alebob911 said:


> Really??


4-1-10.


----------



## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

nc88keyz said:


> Only RCA would do something nighmarish like a built in directv reciever. You would never see that in a sony / mitsubishi product i dont think.
> 
> As a former circuit city commissioned salesmen in the 90s I personally can attest that if you were in the stores to buy a high-end tv, if I had anything to do with it and you doubted yourself in the least, I made you the proud owner of an RCA elite marketed product called "ProScan" Not the proscan lcds you know of today but the same crap that came off thompsons manufacturing lines...just a few more bells and whistles
> 
> ...


No whats shocking is that they actually bought it! Don't be ashamed of others lack of intelligence!


----------



## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

codespy said:


> 4-1-10.


 Got Me!


----------



## nc88keyz (Aug 12, 2007)

rca didnt even bother redesigning the gui interface to diffrentiate. Should have been a sign when the rca remotes worked this mysterious hi-end futuristic looking set called ProScan. 

Mind you if you blew too much smoke and the customer returned product you ate the commission as well as screwed your ratios...so we did sell somewhat based on needs. Circuit was in its prime in the early 90s....poor management, expansion plans, and very bad decisions created its darkness and ultimately its demise. 

Where else could you go and make 40+ a year at 19 though without a college degree. It meant something back them. Sadly too many college graduates are working in call centers across america today.


----------



## gadge (Apr 2, 2010)

Crystal Pepsi Ball said:


> Yep. As of 3/31/2010, there will be NO more MPEG2 HD channels. No HD Channels on 110 or 119.


I was hanging onto my HR10-250 for LIFE, and now need to do the equipment swap. Love hearing that owned for owned is an option w/o 2 year commitment. But when I call the CSRs they are lost. Is there a swap # you guys are using?

Next question, I wonder if I can slip in an SL3 Ka LNB where my Phase III "potato" is? The dish size should be comparable between the two, just wonder if the LNB arm has a wide enough opening for the quad LNB output. I've already got multiple wires up there, so do not really need the SWM LNB's extra cost.

Anyone do this yet? TIA!


----------



## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

gadge said:


> I was hanging onto my HR10-250 for LIFE, and now need to do the equipment swap. Love hearing that owned for owned is an option w/o 2 year commitment. But when I call the CSRs they are lost. Is there a swap # you guys are using?
> 
> Next question, I wonder if I can slip in an SL3 Ka LNB where my Phase III "potato" is? The dish size should be comparable between the two, just wonder if the LNB arm has a wide enough opening for the quad LNB output. I've already got multiple wires up there, so do not really need the SWM LNB's extra cost.
> 
> Anyone do this yet? TIA!


Have you tried the 888-763-7772 number that they show on the slide on the old MPEG2 HD channels?

While it's been reported that some folks have gotten the old phase III to work it's not recommend or easy to do. AFAKI DirecTV doesn't charge for the dish/LNB replacement.


----------



## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

RAD said:


> Have you tried the 888-763-7772 number that they show on the slide on the old MPEG2 HD channels?


+1

That's what I used.


----------



## gadge (Apr 2, 2010)

Kansas Zephyr said:


> +1
> 
> That's what I used.


Good point on the barker channel. Forgot they may be using different call centers. Antenna replacement for free is a good idea at home. I have a cabin though too. May try the potato swap there on my own. Didn't see anyone mentioning their attempts at it in any forums here or other sites.

Thanks guys. Let me know of you see any antenna LNB swap info. My searches have come up dry.


----------



## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

RAD said:


> Have you tried the 888-763-7772 number that they show on the slide on the old MPEG2 HD channels?
> 
> While it's been reported that some folks have gotten the old phase III to work it's not recommend or easy to do. AFAKI DirecTV doesn't charge for the dish/LNB replacement.


When you call that number, make sure you mention 'Free HD Swap'.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

gadge said:


> I was hanging onto my HR10-250 for LIFE, and now need to do the equipment swap. Love hearing that owned for owned is an option w/o 2 year commitment. But when I call the CSRs they are lost. Is there a swap # you guys are using?
> 
> Next question, I wonder if I can slip in an SL3 Ka LNB where my Phase III "potato" is?


It has been done with an 5 slot LNB. I'm thinking design exercise as opposed to practical application. If you're going after HD, you really don't want to short the Ka gain.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

hdthebest said:


> okay is it me or did the quality of the channels improve....it may be my eyes playing positive tricks but just curious if they gave more bandwith to those existing channels


If you were watching the 70s before and are now watching the 200s version, then yes I believe the quality is better, but the 200s have been that way for a long time. This is not new.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

nc88keyz said:


> Only RCA would do something nighmarish like a built in directv reciever. You would never see that in a sony / mitsubishi product i dont think.


We'll probably see more and more sets with "built in receivers" pretty soon. Technically speaking it will be RVU, but still ...


----------



## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

If you bought your HR10 or H10 used don't be surprised when it's not free to replace. The person you bought it from probably sold it because it was replaced for free already.


----------



## jes (Apr 21, 2007)

EKrimmer said:


> I have a slimline dish and one H21 HDDVR. Just tell me my 3 old Hughes boxes will still work and I'm happy for now...


If your old Hughes boxes are HD, they will only get HD OTA...


----------



## jes (Apr 21, 2007)

A comment on the "Free HD" upgrades... don't set your standards to high... D* sent me 2 "Free Upgrades" for what used to be one of the high end D* HD receivers, the Sony HD300. What I got to replace my 2 pristine HD300s was 2 shabby looking H20 refurbished boxes w/o cables or RF accessories. If your equipment is hidden in a closet then you probably wouldn't care (except they didn't have the RF remote or ant!)...  I sent them back and "bought" an H23-600 for the 1 location and left the other HD300 in service as an SD box with HD OTA...

... and don't expected your owned equipment to be replaced with owned...


----------



## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

jes said:


> ... and don't expected your owned equipment to be replaced with owned...


I didn't.

FWIW...I got a clean, refurbished HR20-100 for the H10-250. I actually like the look better than the -700, with the concave "select" button, and smooth blue ring, rather than the individual blue LEDs.


----------



## breevesdc (Aug 14, 2007)

I've seen some comments hinting that SD MPEG-2 will not be affected. Just want to confirm that this is true. Are all SD channels still MPEG-2 format?


----------



## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

breevesdc said:


> I've seen some comments hinting that SD MPEG-2 will not be affected. Just want to confirm that this is true. Are all SD channels still MPEG-2 format?


This did not effect SD channels at all. If it did you would have noticed it almost 2 weeks ago when this actually happened.


----------



## breevesdc (Aug 14, 2007)

Thanks for your reply. I am totally on MPEG-4 equipment now. I asked the question because I sold my HR10-250 on Craig's List about 6 weeks ago to someone that intended on using it for SD programming only and didn't care about the MPEG-4/MPEG-2 issue for HD. I just wanted to make sure that they weren't out of luck now (and perhaps being too polite to ask for their money back). If that were the case, I was going to contact them and offer their money back.


----------



## desulliv (Aug 9, 2007)

Kansas Zephyr said:


> I didn't.
> 
> FWIW...I got a clean, refurbished HR20-100 for the H10-250. I actually like the look better than the -700, with the concave "select" button, and smooth blue ring, rather than the individual blue LEDs.


Did you have to give D* the HR10-250?


----------



## bananfish (Aug 13, 2007)

OK, so color me stupid. I haven't been getting my HBO season pass recordings on my HR21 and I finally figured out that the reason is that I have the season passes on channel 70, which went dark on March 31st.

So now I have to transfer over all my HBO season passes, but unless I'm mistaken there's no way to merely change the channel on a season pass. So, for instance, there's no way for me to actually set a new season pass for Big Love - the best I can do is delete my old season pass and set up a Wishlist with "Big Love" as the search term.

Is that right, or is there a way for me to actually set a season pass for Big Love on HBO East (501)?

If it matters, I'm not currently networked and don't have a phone line connected, so I don't think any On Demand programs will show up in the Smart Search.

(P.S. Would it really have been so hard for D* to set up its software to pop up a menu through its messaging system for customers with season passes on channels that were going dark with the option to "change season passes to the current channels?"? But fine, I guess I'm the only one ignorant enough to get bitten by this, and if they did, it didn't take them 2 1/2 weeks to figure out).


----------



## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

bananfish said:


> (P.S. Would it really have been so hard for D* to set up its software to pop up a menu through its messaging system for customers with season passes on channels that were going dark with the option to "change season passes to the current channels?"? But fine, I guess I'm the only one ignorant enough to get bitten by this, and if they did, it didn't take them 2 1/2 weeks to figure out).


Mine came in the TV Mail


----------



## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

desulliv said:


> Did you have to give D* the HR10-250?


No...I may use it later for a SD DVR.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

bananfish said:


> (P.S. Would it really have been so hard for D* to set up its software to pop up a menu through its messaging system for customers with season passes on channels that were going dark with the option to "change season passes to the current channels?"? But fine, I guess I'm the only one ignorant enough to get bitten by this, and if they did, it didn't take them 2 1/2 weeks to figure out).


It doesn't work quite that way. This is pretty much the last time this feature would ever be needed and I'm guessing the choice was made to just tell everyone and let them rearrange their Series Links rather than creating a software feature that will be used once and could potentially cause other kinds of problems.

The MPEG-4 versions of these channels have been the suggested recording channel for something like 24 months prior to the cutoff, it really wasn't a big secret and the MPEG-4 versions have always taken up less space and looked better than the MPEG-2 counterparts anyway.

Sorry for your troubles.


----------



## Rob (Apr 23, 2002)

I got my HR10-250 replaced two years ago fro free. Kept the HR10-250 as an additional reciever. Called last week and got the HR10-250 replaced again for free (paid for shipping). The CSR was having problems becasue I think the system wasn't allowing her the free replacement because I had it already. But she pressed through and did some tricks to get it done. Oh, and no 2 year contract extension and I can keep my HR10-250 (paper weight?).


----------



## bananfish (Aug 13, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> It doesn't work quite that way. This is pretty much the last time this feature would ever be needed and I'm guessing the choice was made to just tell everyone and let them rearrange their Series Links rather than creating a software feature that will be used once and could potentially cause other kinds of problems.


Yeah, I get all that. If I actually had a way to re-create my season passes, I wouldn't have even posted - the real point of my post was to see if anyone had a way for me to do that. As it stands, I literally cannot create a season pass for about 4 of my prior HBO season passes because there aren't any episodes of those shows in the guide data (Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage and Bored to Death). I can create a Wishlist auto-record for shows using the title words (e.g. "Entourage"), but not a genuine Season Pass.

It is only because D*'s software lacks the ability to convert Season Passes to other channels (or to create Season Passes for shows that are not currently in the guide data) that I lamented the lack of a feature that would have offered the user a chance to convert Season Passes from the MPEG-2 channels to MPEG-4 channels.

Completely setting aside the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion/MPEG-2 stations going dark issue, it seems to me that the ability to set a Season Pass for a show that is not currently in the guide data is a feature that D*'s software ought to accommodate. There are often times where I want to set a Season Pass for a show that is between seasons, and it's not very user-friendly that D*'s software doesn't provide that capability. (If someone wants to set up a season pass right now to, for instance, Mad Men, they really ought to be able to do that. They shouldn't have to set up a Wishlist auto-record for "Mad Men" at the risk of getting a lot of Charlie Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer documentaries.)



Doug Brott said:


> The MPEG-4 versions of these channels have been the suggested recording channel for something like 24 months prior to the cutoff, it really wasn't a big secret and the MPEG-4 versions have always taken up less space and looked better than the MPEG-2 counterparts anyway.
> 
> Sorry for your troubles.


Well, it wasn't big trouble - because these are HBO shows that are generally repeated over the course of a week, I was able to record almost all of them later in the week, so I didn't miss anything, just had to scramble.

I'm glad to hear the MPEG-4 versions will look even better. I think the reason I never used the MPEG-4 versions earlier was that because I am on the West Coast, I always had the faint nagging notion that D* might take away HBO East from me, which is what I would have recorded them on to get them as early as possible. So entropy worked on me just to leave them as they were.


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

bananfish said:


> Completely setting aside the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion/MPEG-2 stations going dark issue, it seems to me that the ability to set a Season Pass for a show that is not currently in the guide data is a feature that D*'s software ought to accommodate. There are often times where I want to set a Season Pass for a show that is between seasons, and it's not very user-friendly that D*'s software doesn't provide that capability. (If someone wants to set up a season pass right now to, for instance, Mad Men, they really ought to be able to do that. They shouldn't have to set up a Wishlist auto-record for "Mad Men" at the risk of getting a lot of Charlie Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer documentaries.)


I don't know of anyone's DVR that can do that even though it is a good idea from a user's point of view. From a software point of view, it can be a problem. Without the code that identifies the program in the database, how would you generate a season pass? Without that data, it becomes a wishlist only. One that says I want a show titled "MAD MEN" on AMC.

BTW, there is a way to do that. I am quoting from memory but this should work.

MAD MEN TTITLE CCHAN 254

That will find programs called "MAD MEN" by title (TTITLE) on channel 254 (CCHAN)

I do not remember if you need an AALL in front or not.


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

bananfish said:


> I'm glad to hear the MPEG-4 versions will look even better. I think the reason I never used the MPEG-4 versions earlier was that because I am on the West Coast, I always had the faint nagging notion that D* might take away HBO East from me, which is what I would have recorded them on to get them as early as possible. So entropy worked on me just to leave them as they were.


As long as HBO is on DirecTV, everyone will get both East and West. Or, to be more accurate, as long as East and West are on DirecTV, everyone will get both. They do not seclude parts of the country for east and west national channel feeds. Heck, even local cable companies get both if they get multiple HBO channels.


----------

