# DirecTV MPEG4 Detroit - Update



## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

Please note the information below applies only to the Detroit area.

- The new H20 MPEG4 receiver is now available at select BestBuy and ABC Warehouse. It's in very short supply at this time.

- Price is $200, with a $200 mail in rebate.

- The new MPEG4 dish is only available from DirecTV and it must be installed by them. Current price is $49, but this may change to free, stay tuned.

- You can also order over the phone, ask for the Installation Department. 

- A two year commitment is required for the deal. Not sure if you can just pay $249, without commitment.

- At least ABC WXYZ-DT, CBS WWJ-DT, FOX WJBK-DT, NBC WDIV-DT are supposed to be up today, no confirmation as yet.

- Current H20's are made by Humax. Future like STB's will also be made by LG, with the touted 5th gen ATSC tuner.


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## dgordo (Aug 29, 2004)

Have you been upgraded yet Ken?


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Ken H said:


> - Price is $200, with a $200 mail in rebate.


Just so I am clear -- this is $200 and THEN the $200 rebate -- so free after rebate, right? Not $200 after/with/including the $200 rebate (i.e. $400 and then $200 after rebate)?

Also, is this new subscribers only or existings too? Can anyone walk in and buy it for $200? And then I assume the rebate requires your subscriber info?

Thanks!

- John...


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Oh -- one last thing (sorry, newbie to DirecTV -- current Dish person actually and thinking about switching). Is the H20 a DVR or no?

If I'm in Detroit and want HD and DVR -- should I wait for some upcoming new customer deal or is now the time? Thanks.

- John...


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## greywolf (Jul 13, 2005)

Present D* receivers are D for SD no recorder, R for SD with recorder, H for HD no recorder, and HR for HD with recorder. The new HR with Ka band and Mpeg4 capability won't be out until at least the late first quarter '06 and maybe not until summer. Estimates vary.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Ok -- thanks for the info. I guess I better wait and see. I just SO wanted to see Lost in HD. heh.

- John...


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## Poochie (Jun 8, 2004)

I just got the HD Tivo, and I can say that Lost looks fantastic - the exterior island scenes are unbelievable. The picture looks equally good on the DirecTV ABCW channel and the OTA 7-1 local ABC channel.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Oh sure -- just TEASE me. 

- John...


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Anyone know the hard drive size of the new MPEG4 HD-DVR's? Sure hope its at least 250 gigs (or higher) like the HD-Tivos. I saw a Sony HD recorder for 999.99 the other day with a 500 gig HD.


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

jgoggan said:


> Just so I am clear -- this is $200 and THEN the $200 rebate -- so free after rebate, right?


Right, but for now the dish and install are $49.


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

dgordo said:


> Have you been upgraded yet Ken?


Sorry, can't comment.


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

theratpatrol said:


> Anyone know the hard drive size of the new MPEG4 HD-DVR's?


Nope.


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

Update:
- MPEG4 HD locals for Detroit will not be available until 11/1, and this date is tentative. 
- Hardware, the new AT9 dish (5 LNB) in particular, is in very short supply.
- The dish install is much more elaborate, and probably will require a professional with meter in most cases.


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## lghoffman (Apr 2, 2003)

Since I am in the Metro Detroit area, I called yesterday and after bouncing around a bit in CSR-land I placed an order to get and upgraded dish and HD receiver. So we'll see how short the supply is and how well the installer handles the new dish. 

More to come...


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

I was fortunate enough to be invited to observe a new H20 MPEG4 HDTV receiver / AT9 5 LNB dish DirecTV install today.

The install went really well, and was done by Joe of Michigan Microtech, who gets my sincere complements on the professionalism of his work and attitude. The dish was installed on a shingled roof using the recommended monopole support. He used the Birddog signal meter and the alignment took less than a half hour. 

The H20 took a few minutes to find the 4 sat locations currently active; 101, 110, 119 & the new 103 sat, which has the MPEG4 HD channels. First you let it find the sats and local OTA HD channels, call to activate the receiver, and the MPEG4 channels show up in the guide.

A subscriber with local SD channels, OTA HD & MPEG4 HD will show 3 (or more depending on OTA subchannels) different listings for each of the 4 MPEG4 HD channels available in Detroit at this time; ABC WXYZ, CBS WWJ, FOX WJBK, NBC WDIV. 

Here is the guide example for the local ABC station:
Ch 7 DT7 - SD ABC WXYZ Detroit, via DirecTV
Ch 7 WXYZ - HD ABC WXYZ Detroit, via DirecTV
Ch 7-1 WXYZ-DT - HD ABC WXYZ Detroit, via antenna
Ch 7-2, WXYZ-DT - SD ABC WXYZ Detroit, via antenna (Weather Radar)
Ch 7-3 WXYZ-DT - SD ABC WXYZ Detroit, via antenna (Tower Cam)

As noted, all 4 MPEG4 channels have a severe audio sync problem at this time. A very brief evaluation showed image quality on upconverted program material looking like OTA, to the three of us watching.

Of interest is the fact this subscriber did not lose the FOX O&O & CBS O&O New York HDTV DNS feeds which he was receiving prior to activating the H20, and also has an HD TiVo that is active. This of course may be subject to change.

The H20 looks and feels like the H10 in most, if not all, aspects of its operation.

All in all, everything went pretty much as planned, and now it's a matter of DirecTV getting the audio issue corrected.

One disappointment is that the 3 other Detroit local HD channels, PBS, The WB & UPN, are not available in MPEG4 HD from DirecTV at this time. This of course may also be subject to change.


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## lghoffman (Apr 2, 2003)

So what is the audio sync problem and does it make the channels unwatchable? I am in line to get the install done.

Thanks


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

lghoffman said:


> So what is the audio sync problem and does it make the channels unwatchable? I am in line to get the install done.
> 
> Thanks


The audio is delayed from the video, by more than a second. It makes it unwatchable for me. It's only a temporary issue, only affecting the 4 MPEG4 Detroit local HD channels.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

How about some screen shots of the guides and menus?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

lghoffman said:


> So what is the audio sync problem and does it make the channels unwatchable? I am in line to get the install done.
> 
> Thanks


It was reported on another site that someone that has this new box and had the audio sync issue had a new software download to the box and the sync problem went away.


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## lghoffman (Apr 2, 2003)

Thanks for the clarification on the audio sync. Hopefully, I won't run into this.


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## Ken H (Nov 24, 2004)

Audio is fixed.


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## DB Cooper (Jul 17, 2005)

Solid signal has these for sale now. But, in short supply, presently back ordered.

However, they have a tutorial video on the site to how to install this bad boy!


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## DB Cooper (Jul 17, 2005)

It also looks like you don't need the Birddog to set it up :hurah: . That should save some money for other things.


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## DB Cooper (Jul 17, 2005)

Worked fine for me last night. Just maybe alot of guys are trying to take alook at it.


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## DB Cooper (Jul 17, 2005)

Just checked, all worked fine for me. Are you clicking on the picture?


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

DB Cooper said:


> Just checked, all worked fine for me. Are you clicking on the picture?


Yes, but the first 2 had it were you could click on the words or the picture. I'll keep trying. Thanks.

Yeah, I think theres alot of traffic on this site right now.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

DB Cooper said:


> Solid signal has these for sale now. But, in short supply, presently back ordered.
> 
> However, they have a tutorial video on the site to how to install this bad boy!


The videos look pretty cool.

Ok, so theres going to be 3 new Ka sats at 99 and 103, and the others will remain Ku, correct? Will the other sats all be converted over to Ka sats in the future? What will happen to 101? Hope the picture quality gets better.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Wow, no diplexing the OTA signal with the new dish, and you must use compression connections. That sucks.

Is it true that with the new dish you will only need only cable run per box, even with the dual tuner DVR's?


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

I don't know if anyone else has noticed...but if you search for the DTV H20 on Circuit City's website it shows out of stock for most markets, but if you put in a washington dc area zip code, it shows in stock for all of those stores. It seems that Circuit City is getting the new boxes into people's hands in that market.


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## aaronwt (Aug 14, 2003)

theratpatrol said:


> Wow, no diplexing the OTA signal with the new dish, and you must use compression connections. That sucks.
> 
> Is it true that with the new dish you will only need only cable run per box, even with the dual tuner DVR's?


Why do they have to be compression connections?


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## DB Cooper (Jul 17, 2005)

aaronwt said:


> Why do they have to be compression connections?


Less signal loss through the connector.


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## greywolf (Jul 13, 2005)

I don't believe that for a second. They may be a little physically stronger than a crimp connection, but I can't imagine a measurable loss difference if both are made properly.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

greywolf said:


> I don't believe that for a second. They may be a little physically stronger than a crimp connection, but I can't imagine a measurable loss difference if both are made properly.


I think they also want you to use them because they are a little bit more weather proof (they prevent moisture and water from getting in) then the crimp on ones. Thats just my guess.


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## aaronwt (Aug 14, 2003)

greywolf said:


> I don't believe that for a second. They may be a little physically stronger than a crimp connection, but I can't imagine a measurable loss difference if both are made properly.


Yes, any difference in loss would be minuscule. I replaced all the compression connectors the MASTEC tech put on when they botched my install 4 years ago. I used the crimp on type. There was no visible difference in signal strength and everything is still working as perfectly as it was 4 years ago. I trust my wok, but MASTEC already proved to me that they were incompetent. I will never have someone from MASTEC near my equipment again.


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## viper36 (Nov 23, 2003)

Does anyone outside Detroit have the H20? If so what HD you receive? My market is quite a way down the list but I was considering getting the H20 for the for rest of the HD content.


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## rrbhokies (May 10, 2004)

linger said:


> I don't know if anyone else has noticed...but if you search for the DTV H20 on Circuit City's website it shows out of stock for most markets, but if you put in a washington dc area zip code, it shows in stock for all of those stores. It seems that Circuit City is getting the new boxes into people's hands in that market.


Looks like it's in-stock throughout Northern Virginia via Circuit City. So what happens if I buy this and hook it up now? It won't work with the existing dish, right? How do I get a new dish installed?

Also, I thought Directv was going to offer rebates to essentially give these away or is that only with the new DVRs?


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## Stevies3 (Jul 22, 2004)

What cities or towns are going mpeg4 after Detroit? Steven


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

rrbhokies said:


> Looks like it's in-stock throughout Northern Virginia via Circuit City. So what happens if I buy this and hook it up now? It won't work with the existing dish, right? How do I get a new dish installed?
> 
> Also, I thought Directv was going to offer rebates to essentially give these away or is that only with the new DVRs?


It should work with the old dish...just can't get the new channels. DirecTV is supposed to be offering a good price to convert from the old HD receivers to the new ones, but I just bought another HDTV so I am going to need another box. I just bought an H20 tonight from Circuit City's website and I am going to pick it up tomorrow and have it activated...I'll let you know how it works. I am also going to hit up the guys there to see if they know when DC is going MPEG4 and if they carry the new dish yet.


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

Does anyone know where we can buy the New Dish? or the new R15 DVR?


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

So here is the deal with the H20 in the Washington DC market. I bought one today at Circuit City and have it activated (I'm still using a 3 LNB dish). It almost immediately downloaded an update that took about a half an hour to download and 15 mintures to install. After that, when I finnally was able to get into it, I noticed that ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS were all listed twice in the program guid (i.e. NBC was listed twice as channel 4). I then noticed that one of each of those channels showed programs in HD. But when I go to the HD channel, nothing comes in (I guess thats is because I don't have the new dish yet), but I don't get a message saying to purchase the channel or no signal or anything like that, it is just a plain, black screen. Otherwise, the H20 is basically identical to the H10, but almost seems slower in the setup menu, but that could be my imagination.


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## deraz (Sep 25, 2004)

linger said:


> works. I am also going to hit up the guys there to see if they know when DC is going MPEG4 and if they carry the new dish yet.


I'm also in N.VA... I know this is a stupid question, but did they know anything?


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

No...they played dumb when I asked about local high def. The sales person at Circuit City said that he has been researching this conversion, and he spoke very intelligently about it. He said that he talked to a DirecTV rep in the store who told him it was going to start before the end of the year (in the DC market). According to the rep, it is done in order of longest subscriber to newest. He said that something will be mailed to your house and if you are interested, you have to call DirecTV to get it set up.

When I called to activate my H20, I pretened to have already received that letter but the CSR at DirecTV had no clue what I was talking about. So then I went ahead with the activation of my H20 and asked about getting waivers for HD broadcast channels. After about 10 minutest of arguing with the CSR, she said that she would submit my waivers for HD broadcast channels. Last night I turned on my H20 and I have CBS and FOX from NY.


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## rrbhokies (May 10, 2004)

linger said:


> So here is the deal with the H20 in the Washington DC market. I bought one today at Circuit City and have it activated


If you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for it, and is there any kind of rebate on it? My understanding was that Directv was going to start heavily subsidizing their new units. The old HD receiver was still $199. Just wondering.


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## linger (Nov 5, 2005)

I paid $200 for it. But the reason why I did that because I bought a 2nd HDTV, so I needed to buy a new receiver reguardless of what was happening with this conversion. I am still hoping that DirecTV will offer me "a deal" to switch my old Sony HD200 to the new H20 and to switch my dish.


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