My H20 got an update last night. Does anyone know what problems the update addressed. I am in the SanFrancisco area and the only thing I noticed different was that on channel (KTVU) audio dropouts were constant. Since the update the dropouts are gone. I still have audio sync issues on KTVU and KGO though.

I sent a e-mail to DTV. This update fixed the continuous "Aquiring Program Guide Bug"

From : DIRECTV Customer Service <directvcustomercare@directv.com>
Reply-To : "DIRECTV Customer Service" <directvcustomercare@directv.com>
Sent : Thursday, December 22, 2005 11:57 PM
To : slackrl
Subject : H20 Software Upgrade 0f03 [Incident: 051222-000029]

Dear Mr. Slack,

Thanks for writing. I understand your concern regarding this issue. The H20 0F03 software upgrade fixes the OSD Acquiring Guide Information issue. That is the OSD occurred often or stayed on the screen.

If you have additional questions regarding this issue, please call our technical support center and discuss the problem with one of our technical representatives. To reach them, just call 1-800-531-5000 and select the option for technical assistance.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to DIRECTV.com for the latest news and information about our services.

Sincerely,

Rizaldy
DIRECTV Customer Service

So thats the skinny..

RSlack :)

Thanks to all that replied to my thread.

Arxaw and Anubys, I will try your recommendations for they make the most sense. I have been working so much lately that I have not had any time to get to know my receiver but tomorrow I'll have the time.

Thanks so much to all that offered suggestions and Merry Christmas!

Well, it appears the update has broken Favorites. I tried changing my faves this afternoon and it crashed twice when I was using the ChDn button on the remote to scroll. If I used the down arrow, the channel listing would disappear. Weird.

I just had my install finished and I have three questions:

1. The new dish pole was too big to fit on the metal pole my old dish was placed. After numerous ideas and attempts to fit the dish tightly on the pole I suggested this. Wrap the top of the pole in many layers of tape to thicken the pole. Then install and tighten the dish. This seemed to work with masking tape. Do you think this will last?

2. After the new dish was set up, it was connected initially to my old receiver. I happened to check each transponders signal strength which ranged from 90 to 100. After the receiver was swapped out with the new H20, the signal strengths were 75 to 80. The signal was the exact same, why the different ranges.

3. Is the dish size within the FCC regulation so that Home owners association cannot make you take it down?

1. The new dish pole was too big to fit on the metal pole my old dish was placed. After numerous ideas and attempts to fit the dish tightly on the pole I suggested this. Wrap the top of the pole in many layers of tape to thicken the pole. Then install and tighten the dish. This seemed to work with masking tape. Do you think this will last?
No. Any decent installer would have installed the proper 2" pipe. Weather will deteriorate that setup for certain. If it were me, I'd call the installer and demand it be done right. If they refuse, I'd call D*TV and tell them what happened and demand it be done right (they may comp you something for your troubles).
2. After the new dish was set up, it was connected initially to my old receiver. I happened to check each transponders signal strength which ranged from 90 to 100. After the receiver was swapped out with the new H20, the signal strengths were 75 to 80. The signal was the exact same, why the different ranges.
The H20 signal meter software is different that any other unit to date, and the range you are reporting is perfectly in line with all others who have satisfactory installs. Not to worry. Based on actual singal results, it appears that 75% on the new H20 is equal to about 90% on the older boxes.
3. Is the dish size within the FCC regulation so that Home owners association cannot make you take it down?
It's below the 36" maximum size for that requirement.

Thanks,

For question 1, the two inch pipe was too wide to fit on a ~1 3/4 " pipe and the smaller pipe was the only pipe that would fit into an old metal close line pole that I use as the base. The installer said that no accessaries were available for the larger dish to fit on to the old smaller poles. Anyone have any idea on how to make this work and last?

Thanks,

For question 1, the two inch pipe was too wide to fit on a ~1 3/4 " pipe and the smaller pipe was the only pipe that would fit into an old metal close line pole that I use as the base. The installer said that no accessaries were available for the larger dish to fit on to the old smaller poles. Anyone have any idea on how to make this work and last?
The AT9 dish is supposed to be installed on a 2" pipe (1 7/8" to be exact).

In my case, I had them install a whole new pipe into the ground with 75 lbs of concrete, so its not going anywhere. If you want any hope of the dish staying put for a while, a proper pipe is a must - you may have to consider a new location for a new pipe (maybe near your old location).

Anyone have any idea on how to make this work and last?
Unfortunately, the best solution is to remove the old pole and have them install the proper 2" OD pole.

Unfortunately, it is a small townhouse yard and I do not have room for another pole. The current pole has been in the ground since the 1940's and will not be easy to get out. It was tried many years ago to no avail. They built things well back then. I talked to my dad who agreed with you, but offered this idea. Buy a piece of PVC pipe slightly bigger than the small pole and drill it over the small pole with flush screws. Then put on the larger pole which would now close tightly, What do you think?

Or a 1 7/8" to 2" converter sleeve. Go to a Home Depot with your measurements and you'll find something that will work. I would stay away from the PVC because the new dish is going to put a lot of stress on those screws and weather, wind, may end up hogging out the screw holes in the PVC.

I have 2 issues with my H20. First is the remote won't control my Sony TV and direct tv tech support can't get it working. The second is since the firmware update the other day, in my channel quide it changed the sequence of the local channels and now the analog tv local channel is first so when I manually change to one of the local channels it selects the external antenna analog which isn't receiving anything and I have to push the up channel button on the remote to change to the directtv channel. I haven't been able to figure out how to remove the local analog channels from the quide so they aren't available.
don
I'm getting my local HDTV stations via D*TV (I'm in Chicago). Last week, I had the opposite experience you had. To navigate directly to one of my local HD channels, I'd enter "2", "5", "7" etc. That would bring me to the analog broadcast. Then, I'd have to press <channel up> to get to the HDTV version. Since the upgrade, it takes me directly to the HDTV channel.

-Tom

Can the H20 be used just for Local OTA DTV channels without siging up for D* service??

I took my LG 32LX1D (had the 5th gen tunner built-in) back and got the Panasonic TC-32LX50 with the Digital Stream HD3510PLUS STB. I would really love to be able to use LG's OTA tunner as it was rockin on the TV, I just didn't like the PQ of the LG LCD.

DTV installed my 5LNB dish and H20 today! PQ is impeccable on my Panny TH-42PX50U. Finally the HD I've been coveting for sometime!

The H20 did trigger one update at the top of the first hour it was on, similar to previous reports. The slow response time of the remote inputs is also the same as reported, but I can live with it if the PQ and sound remain superb!

I am in the Chicago market, and in reading quite a bit of this thread noticed that there were Dolby Digital dropouts outs for WBBM 2 and FOX32. Then it seemed like it was resolved.

I can report that I am having the same Dolby Digital dropouts tonight. I'm routing my sound through my home theater receiver via toslink (optical). The Dolby Digital signal works fine on the other locals and other channels. Did anyone in Chicagoland who reported it was fixed, see it have reoccur today?

DTV installed my 5LNB dish and H20 today! PQ is impeccable on my Panny TH-42PX50U. Finally the HD I've been coveting for sometime!

The H20 did trigger one update at the top of the first hour it was on, similar to previous reports. The slow response time of the remote inputs is also the same as reported, but I can live with it if the PQ and sound remain superb!

I am in the Chicago market, and in reading quite a bit of this thread noticed that there were Dolby Digital dropouts outs for WBBM 2 and FOX32. Then it seemed like it was resolved.

I can report that I am having the same Dolby Digital dropouts tonight. I'm routing my sound through my home theater receiver via toslink (optical). The Dolby Digital signal works fine on the other locals and other channels. Did anyone in Chicagoland who reported it was fixed, see it have reoccur today?
Lots of dropouts on Fox (Ice Age) tonight. Pretty much un-listenable in Dolby 5.1

Can the H20 be used just for Local OTA DTV channels without siging up for D* service??

I couldn't get mine to work OTA-only (not connected to D* dish), but after connecting it to the dish and letting the startup wizard walk through setup, it worked fine for OTA. However, others have reported they have used it for OTA only, so YMMV.

Where do you plan to buy one for OTA-only? AFAIK, everyone that sells them requires D* activation and some sort of programming commitment to D*s TotalChoice programming package for 1 or 2 years.

Got my H20 and install yesterday from D* in the Fort Worth area. Install went fine, about 1 1/2 hrs. No real surprises I suppose, thanks to this thread. The only issue I had was that the installer had to mount a new pipe on the roof for the new AT-9 dish (obviously). The problem is that he did not remove the old pipe that was bolted to my rooftop. The reason was that he "did not have anything to fill the holes". It seemed to me that he was totally unprepared for this event. The result is that I have the old 2 foot mounting pole for the old eliptical dish sitting next to the new dish. Did anyone else have this problem? Should I complain or leave the pipe there?

As far as functionality, the H20 PQ is a DEFINITE upgrade to the SIRTS360 Samsung that I had. I notice improvement in the ESPNHD and HDNet channels as well as the out of market HD channels in the 80s. I have a Panny 42" 6UY HD plasma and the colors are much more vibrant and the blacks have much more depth than before on HD channels. Also significant is that my SD channels in the stretch mode look MUCH better than they did before with the Samsung. I am very pleased also with the ease in which you can now try different formatting options to see which one is best for the channel and program being viewed. The ability to skip forward a day or two on the menu guide is a plus as well.

When I select the FOX, NBC, or CBS local channels the receiver goes to the HD channel first, as opposed to what others have noticed on thier H20s. Also I have not noticed a single Dolby Digital dropout. Yet. I even watched an hour of Ice Age last night. The NFL ST comes on this afternoon. We will see.

I don't like the fact that I cannot change the color of the menus or the guide. I also don't like the fact that the resolution pops up for only about 1.2 seconds after changing a channel. And why do we have to press select "All channels" after pressing guide on the remote is beyond me. That should be a user option at best.


The only annoying bug I noticed (after the first software update one hour after install) is caller ID. Does this work for anyone? When I get a call the H20 recognizes there is an incoming call and tells me to call my telephone company to activate caller ID, as if I did not have the feature. Caller ID works fine on my other 2 receivers and on the Samsung the H20 replaced. Has anyone seen or reported this yet?

Try unplugging the receiver for 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, it is a small townhouse yard and I do not have room for another pole. The current pole has been in the ground since the 1940's and will not be easy to get out. It was tried many years ago to no avail. They built things well back then. I talked to my dad who agreed with you, but offered this idea. Buy a piece of PVC pipe slightly bigger than the small pole and drill it over the small pole with flush screws. Then put on the larger pole which would now close tightly, What do you think?
My recommendation is to go find a 2" o.d. fence post and see if it will fit over your current pole. If it does drill a few holes and put bolts thru to hold it in place.

My recommendation is to go find a 2" o.d. fence post and see if it will fit over your current pole. If it does drill a few holes and put bolts thru to hold it in place.
Good suggestion!

I am having DD audio dropouts every 3 or 4 seconds on the Fox HD local DFW version of the Dallas/Carolina football game. They do not happen on the SD commercials, only during the game. Is it just me or anyone else viewing this game having problems? Other HD games I am viewing do not have this problem. I am taking the optical feed out of the H20 and into my Pioneer 1014TX amp.

It's a known issue with DD broadcasts. Hopefully a fix in in the works.

I am having DD audio dropouts every 3 or 4 seconds on the Fox HD local DFW version of the Dallas/Carolina football game. They do not happen on the SD commercials, only during the game. Is it just me or anyone else viewing this game having problems? Other HD games I am viewing do not have this problem. I am taking the optical feed out of the H20 and into my Pioneer 1014TX amp.

Ditto. CBS is working fine today in Chicago.

Anyone else notice that since the latest upgrade, you can't deselect 480p in the RESOLUTIONS section?

Anyone else notice that since the latest upgrade, you can't deselect 480p in the RESOLUTIONS section?

I couldn't deselect it either. I have mine connected via HDMI/DVI.

I tried Component and Composite when using the menu. Doesn't seem to matter. Either way, I couldn't get rid of 480p. Before the upgrade, I had 480i deselected and any 480i programs were converted to 720p -- which was ideal for me. Now, all 480i is converted to 480p -- which is an issue because of how my TV formats anything 480 i or p. Obviously, I could just set the H20 to output 720p only, but I would prefer to have everything Native except 480i, which is not so great on my TV.

I tried Component and Composite when using the menu. Doesn't seem to matter. Either way, I couldn't get rid of 480p. Before the upgrade, I had 480i deselected and any 480i programs were converted to 720p -- which was ideal for me. Now, all 480i is converted to 480p -- which is an issue because of how my TV formats anything 480 i or p. Obviously, I could just set the H20 to output 720p only, but I would prefer to have everything Native except 480i, which is not so great on my TV.


I have the same problem with 480i. That issue, along with the fact that caller ID does not work on this box is not acceptible. I plan to call D* and request a new unit to try again. Has anyone tried that yet?

I am having DD audio dropouts every 3 or 4 seconds on the Fox HD local DFW version of the Dallas/Carolina football game. They do not happen on the SD commercials, only during the game. Is it just me or anyone else viewing this game having problems? Other HD games I am viewing do not have this problem. I am taking the optical feed out of the H20 and into my Pioneer 1014TX amp.

Did you try to unplug the unit for 15 minutes, and does the caller id work now ?

Did you try to unplug the unit for 15 minutes, and does the caller id work now ?

Yes. I unplugged it and reset it several times with no change to the caller ID feature. So I unplugged it overnight for 8 hours or so with no change. It still says for me to "call my telephone company to sign up for caller ID" each time a call comes in. Since no one else seems to have this problem I think the unit is defective. Its amazing how small things like this can be bothersome when they don't work as expected.

I tried Component and Composite when using the menu. Doesn't seem to matter. Either way, I couldn't get rid of 480p. Before the upgrade, I had 480i deselected and any 480i programs were converted to 720p -- which was ideal for me. Now, all 480i is converted to 480p -- which is an issue because of how my TV formats anything 480 i or p. Obviously, I could just set the H20 to output 720p only, but I would prefer to have everything Native except 480i, which is not so great on my TV.

I have the same 480p deselect issue. Not sure if it makes a difference for my Panny yet since the H20 updated upon DTV install Friday. I'd like to be able to deselect to see if it has the same PQ result as it did for you.

Yes. I unplugged it and reset it several times with no change to the caller ID feature. So I unplugged it overnight for 8 hours or so with no change. It still says for me to "call my telephone company to sign up for caller ID" each time a call comes in. Since no one else seems to have this problem I think the unit is defective. Its amazing how small things like this can be bothersome when they don't work as expected.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=50029
Person over there also states that also have a same problem

Ditto. CBS is working fine today in Chicago.
The Dolby Digital on Chicago Fox 32 during the Bears game Christmas day worked correctly.
This is the first time all the Dolby Digital on the D* HD Locals worked correctly on my H20.

Did any one notice a less then expected PQ during the Bears Game? Very noticeable when compared to the ESPN HD Broadcast of the Minnesota game latter in the day.

Paul Macaluso

The Dolby Digital on Chicago Fox 32 during the Bears game Christmas day worked correctly.
This is the first time all the Dolby Digital on the D* HD Locals worked correctly on my H20.

Did any one notice a less then expected PQ during the Bears Game? Very noticeable when compared to the ESPN HD Broadcast of the Minnesota game latter in the day.

Paul Macaluso

The Fox audio yesterday worked correctly here for the Bears game, after not working the day before during the Panther/Cowboy game. Thank goodness as I had 30 family members over my house for Christmas dinner watching thier first HD game ever on my 42" HD plasma and my new H20. Whew. Close call. I would have been embarrassed if DD had dropped out every 5 seconds like it did on Saturday.

Happy Holidays!

I have had an H20 (with a 3 LNB Dish) for 2 weeks now and am still having HDMI issues

firmware is 0F03 (it took this firmware update and it made no difference)

typical problem is runnung HDMI to a Sharp LC-26 LCD: the Sharp displays 1080i for a second, then defaults to a VGA resolution: I can go into the Sharp menu and fix it, but it happens again every time I turn the TV back on

another problem is going thru Gefen HDMI splitters: my Dish 942 works flawlessly through two of these splitters: the H20 will not

I have tried every combination of cables, settings, etc with no improvement: I think the H20 is defective

any ideas? anyone else seeing this?

So nobody else with a roof mounted dish had their old mounting pole left bolted to their roof by the installer? It looks ugly. I am trying to decide if that is enough to call and complain loudly enough to get them back out here and get it removed and ask for free programming. :)

So nobody else with a roof mounted dish had their old mounting pole left bolted to their roof by the installer? It looks ugly. I am trying to decide if that is enough to call and complain loudly enough to get them back out here and get it removed and ask for free programming. :)

My installer said he was going to leave my old mounting bracket in and just remove the dish. However, I think he took it down anyway. I don't remember seeing it left behind. I'll check it out again tonight when I get home.

Took my installer over 3 hours to get everything working. He had to call his boss on site cause he couldn't figure out why no signal on a few transponders. I think he had some of my lines crossed and he had the dish off by 1 degree.

So nobody else with a roof mounted dish had their old mounting pole left bolted to their roof by the installer? It looks ugly. I am trying to decide if that is enough to call and complain loudly enough to get them back out here and get it removed and ask for free programming. :)
Howdy Billt1111,

I have the old existing mount still on my roof.

If you think about the situation. It is best to leave it there. You can always place a new mount on a roof, seal it, silicone it etc.. and it will not leak. Once you remove something like that, it would then become a severe source for leaks.

You really have some nerve saying your going to yell at them to take it down and ask for extra free programming... so what about they come take it down, and you have major water roof leaks? You want them to fix your whole roof? maybe go after mother nature for raining while your at it. <tic>

Unbolt the post from the mount and leave the mount. Less likely to leak that way.

I don't think it should be D*s responsibility to remove it either. Too many sue happy people these days.

I have a H-20 connected to my Mistsubishi 73927 DLP TV. Everything is finally working the way I like it but I can't figure out how to program my DTV remote control. I have followed the advice of the manual and I have gotten the tv to turn on-off and the volume to go up-down but that's all the tv can do from this remote. Do you guys have similar experiences like this?.

With my old DTV sony receive/remote I could choose different inputs from it once I had it programmed to my TV. Really this is the only other thing I would like it to do, to be able to choose the different inputs I have available on my TV. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I finally got around to hooking a phone line up to my H20. It does have the update, and Caller ID is working flawlessly. I wonder if there is only an issue with certain types of CO switches?

[B]Which unit performs better format conversion?

I have the JVC model 52Z575 and get Directv using the new H20 receiver. Here's my question: Would I get a better picture with the H20 receiver set to native mode which would allow the JVC to make any necessary conversion, or setting the receiver to output 720P which should make the H20 do the conversion?

Anyone know the answer or have an opinion? Tks

Even if somebody has your equipment, they don't have your tastes or your eyes. You need to try the different possibilities and see what you like.

So nobody else with a roof mounted dish had their old mounting pole left bolted to their roof by the installer? It looks ugly. I am trying to decide if that is enough to call and complain loudly enough to get them back out here and get it removed and ask for free programming. :)

I had my new dish installed yesterday here in DC... the only thing left from the old dish was the mount.. the pole was taken down. I would definitely get the installer back out there to take the pole down... as for the free programming bit.. good luck.

I finally got around to hooking a phone line up to my H20. It does have the update, and Caller ID is working flawlessly. I wonder if there is only an issue with certain types of CO switches?

What are CO Switches ?

I am returning my H20 and am going to wait a while until I try another

the HDMI problems I reported made it unacceptable and I l prefer the guide of my HD200/HD300's

What are CO Switches ?

CO means "Central Office," implying that the phone switch at the serving central office to a home having caller ID problems may do something different with caller ID than another switch at another CO. Its a nice idea but I have 4 other satellite receivers and 5 phones in my house that do not have a problem with the same switch at the same CO. Plus the H20 caller ID comes and goes. It might log a call or two after a "reset all" and then not work at all for the next 20 calls. :(

Connecting H20 through a Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi w/HDMI
I tried to connect to the AVR with the HDMI cable, but when I did the picture would flicker on for a few seconds and then the screen would "go blue" and the receiver's HDMI light would go out (losing linkage I think with the H20). The picture would come back intermittently and then go back out and it appears that the H20 would re-boot itself.

Reconnected the H20 with component cable through the '74 and it passed through just fine. By the way, the AVR is connected to a Panny 900 projector via a 25' HDMI cable up through the ceiling mounted projector.

As I read through this thread, I saw the "reboot" problem and I reflected on my HDMI experience. It seemed the HDMI cable was causing the H20 to reboot when connected through the Pioneer receiver.

Anyhow, has anyone successfully connected the H20 through the Pioneer AVR via HDMI? If not the Pioneer, any AVR? Is this an HDMI "handshake" issue or is it a bug that can be fixed in the H20 firmware? I guess I am obsessing a little, as the H20 works wonderfully through the component inputs through the Pioneer, but I wanted to use the one wire HDMI cable.

Thanks.
Jim

Has anyone who activated an H20 with existing 3LNB dish experienced the loss of any NYC HD feeds (Ch. 80, 82, 86, 88)? I'm thinking about "replacing" my 5-year-old built in RCA DTC100 with a "free" H20, but it wouldn't be worth it if any of those channels were lost in the process.

Has anyone who activated an H20 with existing 3LNB dish experienced the loss of any NYC HD feeds (Ch. 80, 82, 86, 88)?

Yes.

My "service" address is a grandfathered "white area" address that qualified for DNS and HD-DNS in the past because no OTA could be received at the address and no LIL channels were available until recently. My online account always said "TotalChoicePlus -NO LOCALS"

When I called to activate the H20, the DNS channels disappeared. After a total of TWO HOURS on the phone, they finally decided they could not figure out how to reactivate DNS at my service address because LIL is now available there. So, they turned on LIL and added HD-DNS channels (at no charge) as part of the HD package. I can't get LIL because our market requires a second dish aimed at 72.5° and there are major trees in the way of that sat.

Bottom line, I got HD-DNS reactivated and my bill is actually $3 a month cheaper now, since they're billing me for LIL instead of DNS. And they offered me 6 months free Showtime without asking, because they said I had been very patient with them.

So if you do lose HD-DNS, be prepared to stay on the phone a *long* time to get the channels back. YMMV.....

Thanks for the reply and the helpful info. Considering all the effort that was involved in getting all the NY HD feeds authorized, I'm not sure if it's worth the risk just to get an H20 to play around with.

Has anyone in Chicagoland lost NY HD feeds when activating an H20 with an existing dish?

Its a nice idea but I have 4 other satellite receivers and 5 phones in my house that do not have a problem with the same switch at the same CO.

What I was saying is that the H20 may be more "sensitive" to certain switches if they are borderline on the Bellcore CID specs. I had an old ZyXel modem which had caller ID, and it acted the same way. Turns out it didn't play well with 5AESS switches. A firmware update fixed this.

Connecting H20 through a Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi w/HDMI
I tried to connect to the AVR with the HDMI cable, but when I did the picture would flicker on for a few seconds and then the screen would "go blue" and the receiver's HDMI light would go out (losing linkage I think with the H20). The picture would come back intermittently and then go back out and it appears that the H20 would re-boot itself.

Reconnected the H20 with component cable through the '74 and it passed through just fine. By the way, the AVR is connected to a Panny 900 projector via a 25' HDMI cable up through the ceiling mounted projector.

As I read through this thread, I saw the "reboot" problem and I reflected on my HDMI experience. It seemed the HDMI cable was causing the H20 to reboot when connected through the Pioneer receiver.

Anyhow, has anyone successfully connected the H20 through the Pioneer AVR via HDMI? If not the Pioneer, any AVR? Is this an HDMI "handshake" issue or is it a bug that can be fixed in the H20 firmware? I guess I am obsessing a little, as the H20 works wonderfully through the component inputs through the Pioneer, but I wanted to use the one wire HDMI cable.

Thanks.
Jim
Hi Jim.
We use Pioneer Receiver 59TXI but run the video from the H20 to a Gefen 4x1 HDMI to DVI convertor and then on to the projector we are using a 30 foot DVI cable. We have a Yamaha 2500 DVD player and the H20. Audio to the receiver from the DVD is from an iLink connection and we use an optical connection from the H20. With this set up we have had no interconnect issues other then slow response to to remote control commands.

I would suggest you bypass the Pioneer for any video feed and go directly to the projector with a DVI cable or through a switch box that converts HDMI to DVI. Good luck.

Paul Macaluso

bce4, there is a local SF DBS thread at the link below, and the audio problem is being worked on as until just a few days ago there was no audio at all on KTVU.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6768763#post6768763
San Francisco, CA - DBS - AVS Forum

Hey, similiar problem here in VA, but on the non-local HD stations. My audio at times is like watching a dubbed movie. For example, was just watching the blue angels show (neat by the way) and the audio of the people talking was completely out of wack. Last week I had my local TV shop come out and test the TV etc, and all is well there. They told me it was the HD signal. Any thoughts? I am using the H20 and component out to my TV. I tried resetting the box, and calling tech support, with no luck.

Hey, similiar problem here in VA, but on the non-local HD stations. My audio at times is like watching a dubbed movie. For example, was just watching the blue angels show (neat by the way) and the audio of the people talking was completely out of wack. Last week I had my local TV shop come out and test the TV etc, and all is well there. They told me it was the HD signal. Any thoughts? I am using the H20 and component out to my TV. I tried resetting the box, and calling tech support, with no luck.
The only thing I can suggest is to repeatedly contact DirecTV about the problem until it is fixed. Try and get beyond the first level CSR and to someone in the technical department, ideally to someone at the NOC in Colorado, but I'm not sure how much luck anyone will have doing that.

Personally, I'm a little perplexed that DirecTV would have initiated this rollout without issues like this squared away. Granted we are only seeing from folks who post here but it seems as if these problems would have to be more widespread.

If the folks in Detroit have had all their problems fixed then it bodes well for the rest of the country.

I would just continue to call.

[B]Which unit performs better format conversion?

I have the JVC model 52Z575 and get Directv using the new H20 receiver. Here's my question: Would I get a better picture with the H20 receiver set to native mode which would allow the JVC to make any necessary conversion, or setting the receiver to output 720P which should make the H20 do the conversion?

Anyone know the answer or have an opinion? Tks
i have the same set, its scaler is excellent. but you should use your eyes though.

I just got my parents connected up with a new H20. The OTA reception is extraordinary - and they live in an area very prone to multipath UHF problems.

But I have noticed a slight distortion of the picture on SD channels - in the form of a slight side-to-side squeeze. It 's small, maybe 2-4%, but my eye notices these things. It's as if the picture is being stretched in height.

This occurs when Format is set to Pillar-box, of course (which should give no distortion). And it happens regardless of HDMI or component output, and does not change with resolution either (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i). I can sometimes also notice a black bar on the left side of the SD picture window, adjacent to the gray pillar.

Anyone else observe this??!!!

(For reference, the TV is a Panny plasma).

I also have a Panny plasma (commercial unit). And zero problems like yours. On the commercial unit a person can adjust picture in a number of ways...side to side and..up, down. You can also expand the picture if you believe it to be squeezed. I believe this 'picture position' control is not available on the consumer units.

I also have the Panny plasma commercial unit connected with HDMI and do not notice any distortion on SD programming at all. However my preference is to stretch the SD image, use native resolution, and black bars, so I did not try pillar box for very long.

I've had my H20 about a month now. Once previously, the receiver quit sending out any video and had to be rebooted to get a picture. During the loss of video, audio was still present. Now, today, this has happened twice. Both times, the audio continued to work. I normally view the component outputs so this last time, I checked the other video outputs and they too showed only a black screen. A reboot fixed the problem.

My mother in law is staying with us and likes to watch OTA channel 63-1. I think all of these loss of video occurrences happened while viewing this channel. So, I don't know whether it is the receiver or the channel. Once the video is lost, I have verified that changing to another channel does no good.

Is anyone else having this type of problem with the H20? I'm hoping it has something to do with the channel but need to determine whether it is the channel or the box before the 90 day warranty is up.

Jeff

... My mother in law is staying with us and likes to watch OTA channel 63-1. I think all of these loss of video occurrences happened while viewing this channel...

Have you checked that channel's signal strength?

I would say, check signal strength across all stations. If you are more than 35 miles from transmitters you will need a very good directional antenna to be sure of a strong signal. And you will need it aimed directly at the incoming digital signal.

The Fox audio yesterday worked correctly here for the Bears game, after not working the day before during the Panther/Cowboy game. Thank goodness as I had 30 family members over my house for Christmas dinner watching thier first HD game ever on my 42" HD plasma and my new H20. Whew. Close call. I would have been embarrassed if DD had dropped out every 5 seconds like it did on Saturday.

My audio is still bad for the local HD stations (Detroit area). Even after receiving upgrades, restarting the receiver, etc. I hope they get this fixed soon. It is choppy and cuts out every 5 seconds or so. I am using an optical cable going directly from the H20 to my Sony surround stereo (not to the TV). Anybody else in Detroit still having this problem?

That's what I plan on doing with the optical output is go into my Sony receiver. My 60XBR950 Sony unit has DVI input so I have to get a HDMI to DVI cable. I'm in the Boston area.

Has anyone successfully added an H20 to their setup using a ReplayTV unit to drive channel changes via IR? Wonderful D* does not indicate who the manufacturer is of the H20 nor do they give out any information that says the H20 is compatible via IR by using IR codes like XYZ brand. Anyone solved this problem or know who the actual manufacturer is to get the IR codes working?

Has anyone successfully added an H20 to their setup using a ReplayTV unit to drive channel changes via IR? Wonderful D* does not indicate who the manufacturer is of the H20 nor do they give out any information that says the H20 is compatible via IR by using IR codes like XYZ brand. Anyone solved this problem or know who the actual manufacturer is to get the IR codes working?
If your H20 is a 600 model...it is made by LG

RSlack :)

If your H20 is a 600 model...it is made by LG

RSlack :)


Thanks RSlack! Mine is a model 600.

So, unfortunately, LG is not a listed vendor in my Replay 5040 under the IR codes. :(

If anyone knows how to get the H-20 600 programmed in a Replay 5040 to change the H-20 600s channels it would be of great interest to many I am sure.

Thanks RSlack! Mine is a model 600.

So, unfortunately, LG is not a listed vendor in my Replay 5040 under the IR codes. :(

If anyone knows how to get the H-20 600 programmed in a Replay 5040 to change the H-20 600s channels it would be of great interest to many I am sure.

redbone: Have you tried Replay's web page tech support, or e-mailed them..
just to see what they have to say...maybe there a code upgrade/update

Hope this will help

RSlack :)

Has anyone successfully added an H20 to their setup using a ReplayTV unit to drive channel changes via IR?

I am using it with my Replay and it's working like a charm. I assume you have a network capable Replay? If so, go to the ReplayTV forum and there is a thread about adding codes to the ReplayTV. However, you will need to install DVArchive and WiRNS to accomplish this. The codes file for the H10/D10 will also work for the H20.

Has anybody been able to program their H20 remote to run the volume and power of their LG LCD? I have the 23LX1RV and the remote does not operate it despite following the programming instructions provided by the H20 guide. Thanks!

Anyone know if the new 5 LNB dish works with old receivers(old HD tivos)? Installer told my friend that it doesn't work with the old stuff.

It better be because not all my TV's are HD and going to be getting the H20.

You can connect other boxes to the 5LNB dish and receive existing MPEG2 HD/SD channels, but right now the only box that will receive the new MPEG4 HD channels using that dish is the H20.

I thought so, the installer told my friend that the 5lnb will not work with his HD tivo. He was an existing customer with just SD services. He wanted to switch to a HD tivo with the 5LNB dish, but the installer told him the 5lnb will only work with the new recievers, so he would then install the older 3lnb dish only. He would only install the 5lnb if he wanted the H20 not the HD tivo.

Bottom line, the larger 5LNB dish has no advantage if you don't have an MPEG4 capable receiver.

Well at least the 32" Sony and the 60" Sony will be all set. The H20's are replacing two Sony units. SATHD100and SATHD300.

I also have a Panny plasma (commercial unit). And zero problems like yours. On the commercial unit a person can adjust picture in a number of ways...side to side and..up, down. You can also expand the picture if you believe it to be squeezed. I believe this 'picture position' control is not available on the consumer units.

Right. There is no adjustment on the consumer plasmas.

But the problem is still coming from the H20! The image window (that within the gray pillar bars) is the correct size. But the picture INSIDE that window is stretched in height. I was watching DirecTV-SD basketball last night, and the players looked another 6" taller!

The stretching problem does NOT occur with digital-SD local channels, and changing resolution or input type (HDMI vs. component) does not make any difference. And, of course, HD widescreen programs look fine.

I can't believe other people wouldn't notice this! Maybe my parent's H20 has a unique problem. ??

GeraldC: In pillar mode my picture is correct. In 'crop' mode it fills the screen but some of the image falls outside the screen area. I can correct this on the Panny plasma itself. In fact, I may go this way. There seems to be zero distortion (or very little) to my eyes in this mode. I have live CNBC now and the picture is fine in 'pillar' (and in crop).

Here's a screen pic of an ESPN-SD football game. You will not be able to tell from this particular pic that the vertical aspect is squeezed, but notice where the Score box (upper left) is in relation to the left side - FAR AWAY!

I think the aspect appearance is being distorted because the overscan is not even on all four sides.

It seems that the H20 is generating an image with virtually no overscan on the left and right sides. In fact, you can also see a slight vertical black stripe on the left side, just adjacent to the gray pillar. This is the end of the raster. In fact, I think that D* applies more compression to the extreme overscan areas (to save a little more bandwidth), and you can just barely make out the increased MPEG blockiness on the far left and right.

The overscan at top and bottom is "normal", so the overall picture therefore seems to be squeezed left to right. Comments?

http://members.cox.net/gncameron/temp003.jpg

The score box is well inside the 4:3 safe title area so that TVs with bad overscan can still see the thing.

I have the H20 and don't see any noticeable aspect ratio distortion on SD channels on my TV . I did have distortion on a TS-160 I used to use. It made the image slightly too wide from side to side on SD broadcasts.

I have a commercial Panny plasma where adjustments can be made right and left, up and down, etc. In 'normal' on the Panny, everything seems centered and ok with the h20 receiver. I use the 'pillar' mode for the most part. Of course, the image can be centered between the 2 gray (or black) side bars.

In picture above, I can see where your gray bars are bend very slight on the right and quite a bit on the left. Those side bars, on my display, are straight up and down. Also, at bottom of screen, it looks as if the screen may not be showing exactly what it is suppose to. The word 'Pacific' is cut off and there seems to be a partial (top to bottom) word below. Also, there seems to be slight ghosting just inside the side gray bars. These areas should all be 'clean'.

The word 'Pacific' is cut off and there seems to be a partial (top to bottom) word below.

I think the scores scroll up, so he took the pic in the middle of a scroll.

Does the H20 output HDMI and Component video (with optical audio) at the same time?
Could I have two HDTV's hooked up with one receiver (showing same channel)?

also,

Does the remote work with RF and IR at the same time?
Could I use an aftermarket remote for IR in the room with the receiver and the RF remote in the room without the receiver?

In the past, I have had equipment where the output mode was selectable and it only provided one output, or the remote function was selectable RF or IR, but not both.

Thanks in advance

In picture above, I can see where your gray bars are bend very slight on the right and quite a bit on the left.
They are actually OK. The bending you see in the pic is keystoning from not holding the digicam exactly at screen level!

Also, at bottom of screen, it looks as if the screen may not be showing exactly what it is suppose to. The word 'Pacific' is cut off and there seems to be a partial (top to bottom) word below.
And that is another digicam artifact! The culprit in this case is slow shutter speed, which caused a slight blur when the title was rolling.

Also, there seems to be slight ghosting just inside the side gray bars. These areas should all be 'clean'.
Now that is real. This is what I referred to as compression blockiness.

The score box is well inside the 4:3 safe title area so that TVs with bad overscan can still see the thing.
Right. My concern is that I am seeing the entire scan area on the left and right, so the score box appears WAY inside the image window (horizontally). We all would prefer minimal overscan, but whatever it is needs to be consistent on all four sides of the image.

I am using it with my Replay and it's working like a charm. I assume you have a network capable Replay? If so, go to the ReplayTV forum and there is a thread about adding codes to the ReplayTV. However, you will need to install DVArchive and WiRNS to accomplish this. The codes file for the H10/D10 will also work for the H20.


Hi Dervari, thanks, I have now ran across that thread and looks promising. Just knowing you got it working is enough to now know I can get it to work. Thanks! I only have DVarchive3.0 running and the thread seems to indicate, I think, that you can do what you need to do with just DVarchive and don't also need WiRNs. Does that sound right? Did you have to use both? Can you send a link to the exact thread # that you used for the step by step if it exists? Thanks again!

Does the H20 output HDMI and Component video (with optical audio) at the same time?
Could I have two HDTV's hooked up with one receiver (showing same channel)?

also,

Does the remote work with RF and IR at the same time?
Could I use an aftermarket remote for IR in the room with the receiver and the RF remote in the room without the receiver?

In the past, I have had equipment where the output mode was selectable and it only provided one output, or the remote function was selectable RF or IR, but not both.

Thanks in advance
The H20 does output HDMI and component at the same time. I'm not sure about the audio, mine is in the bedroom with no optical-audio equipped receiver. I would think it does, just basing that guess on the fact that the HR10-250 does. But yes, it will output to more than one display.
I tried an experiment with the remote, based on this same question on another forum. In short, no, the H20 only operates in RF or IR mode, not together at the same time based on my experiment. I set mine up to operate in RF. I also have a Harmony remote (for the wife ;) ) set up for the H20 which would not operate it while in RF mode. :(

I only have DVarchive3.0 running and the thread seems to indicate, I think, that you can do what you need to do with just DVarchive and don't also need WiRNs. Does that sound right? Did you have to use both? Can you send a link to the exact thread # that you used for the step by step if it exists? Thanks again!

I already had WiRNS running, so I used it. There is a boot disk you can use that will do the same thing.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=267352&page=7&pp=30

Check msg 184

Thanks,

For question 1, the two inch pipe was too wide to fit on a ~1 3/4 " pipe and the smaller pipe was the only pipe that would fit into an old metal close line pole that I use as the base. The installer said that no accessaries were available for the larger dish to fit on to the old smaller poles. Anyone have any idea on how to make this work and last?

Would this SuperDish Adaptor work? I got two different answers from the solid signal.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=SKY1101

Got my H20 installed yesterday, looks great =)

I have a nit-picky thing when using the guide though...when I try using the HDTV guide filter the ABC local channels are not listed (channel 86 or 87). All the other available HD channels show on that guide show up but that. Anyone else have the same issue?

Have you checked that channel's signal strength?

The signal strength is low relative to the other channels I receive. Perhaps such a low signal strength over a long period of time gets the receiver confused. After a reboot, it continues to display the video of that channel fine for a day or so before losing all video on all channels again. Nevertheless, although I don't understand what is causing the problem, I do believe it is something related to the specific channel and not something more generically associated with the H20 since I never have the problem when viewing any other channels.

Thanks.

Jeff

The signal strength is low relative to the other channels I receive. Perhaps such a low signal strength over a long period of time gets the receiver confused. I had a Hughes E86 that would lock up on a particular weak channel, so it's possible the H20 is doing the same thing. You'd think by now they would have fixed problems like this in new boxes.

You might try removing the channel from the off-air channels list and all favorites lists to see if that helps.

I picked up the HT10 form Circuit City on Saturday because thats the only HD receiver they had and i wanted to get one with my new Sony 30HS420 and Sony upconversion DVD player. I didn't really know much about the receiver or the fact there were two models and this was the older one at the time because i didn't do my research first. Do you think its worth it to get the H20 and take back this new H10 i just bought? I've already got the H10 activated and up and running but if the H20 is better i'll probably just take it back. CC doesn't have any H20s instore so i'll have to order it online. I called to see if DirecTV could just bring me out one when they come out and install my new 3 LNB satellite this Wednesday but the guy said he couldn't guarantee whether it would be the H10 or H20 and i didn't want another H10. What do you guys think? Anyone had both the H10 and H20 and can compare the two?

Also, about the $200 rebate on this receiver. Since you have to sign up for the HD channels for $10.99 to get the rebate online with the 2 year committment can you cancel the the HD channels after you cash your rebate check since you get the first 3 months free of the HD programming? I like the receiver but i'm not sure i want to pay an extra $11/month for the HD programming at this time because there isn't that much offered that i'm really interested in.

burningrave101: Overall, I would rate the h20 better than the h10. It picks up OTA stations very well and the video on the h20 is first-rate. Downside is the speed and the menus. Go for the h20 over the h10 at little or no extra cost.

It's pretty late in the game to get obsolescent products like the H10 and the 3 LNB dish. Why not just start with the H20 receiver and 5LNB AT9 dish? You'll be switching to these anyway in the near future, the exact date depending on where you are located.

I picked up the HT10 form Circuit City on Saturday because thats the only HD receiver they had and i wanted to get one with my new Sony 30HS420 and Sony upconversion DVD player. I didn't really know much about the receiver or the fact there were two models and this was the older one at the time because i didn't do my research first. Do you think its worth it to get the H20 and take back this new H10 i just bought? I've already got the H10 activated and up and running but if the H20 is better i'll probably just take it back. CC doesn't have any H20s instore so i'll have to order it online. I called to see if DirecTV could just bring me out one when they come out and install my new 3 LNB satellite this Wednesday but the guy said he couldn't guarantee whether it would be the H10 or H20 and i didn't want another H10. What do you guys think? Anyone had both the H10 and H20 and can compare the two?

Also, about the $200 rebate on this receiver. Since you have to sign up for the HD channels for $10.99 to get the rebate online with the 2 year committment can you cancel the the HD channels after you cash your rebate check since you get the first 3 months free of the HD programming? I like the receiver but i'm not sure i want to pay an extra $11/month for the HD programming at this time because there isn't that much offered that i'm really interested in.

Burninggrave: I agree with Richard. Dump the H10 ASAP and get the H20. I've had both, and to be honest, the H10 is crap IMHO. The H20 is far better in terms of PQ.

It's pretty late in the game to get obsolescent products like the H10 and the 3 LNB dish. Why not just start with the H20 receiver and 5LNB AT9 dish? You'll be switching to these anyway in the near future, the exact date depending on where you are located.

How would i go about getting the 5 LNB dish? How much does it cost in comparison to the 3 LNB? Will DirecTV let me choose which one i want?

It seems to depend on where you are located and the CSR that answers your call. You should call Customer Retention (800-824-9081) for best results. Refer to the MPEG4 Conversion thread first to get an idea of the deals that others are getting. Many have received free upgrades to the H20 and AT9, but others have been quoted $49 or $99.

I'm sorry if this has been answered before, but I am not sure, so please bear with me.

This receiver currently has a $200 MIR and it's $200, so it's essentially free. I am pretty sure it requires 2 year activation agreement, but I am not sure if you have to upgrade to HD package. I currently am non HD directv subscriber. I really only want the receiver so I can get local OTA channels. Judging by antennaweb I should be able to get almost all the local channels in HD, so I really want to, but my TV does not have a built in ATSC tuner. So basically my question is whether I have to upgrade to HD package or not to get the rebate.

If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated. I apologise if this is the wrong section, but it pertains to this specific receiver so I put it here.

You only have to agree to activate the box and keep Total Choice for 24 months. You also have to subscribe to the HD package, but you do not have to keep it for 24 months. I would keep it at least until you get your rebate check, then go to directv.com and delete it in the "Add Programming" option.

Are the LG "-600" H20 receivers the only ones with the 5th generation chip in them? Or do the other manufacturers also use the LG 5th generation chip.

I'm trying to decide whether to go with receiver provided by D* and risk not getting LG, or to buy from a retailer or dealer and go through the mail-in rebate BS. I am current subscriber scheduled for full install with new antenna and new H20 receiver for only $15.00. Is there really a big difference in the receivers?

All the national HD work fine as well as all SD feeds including Chicago locals. I have 0 signal strength on satellite 103. Normal readings on all other satellites. I presume one of the LNB's on my new 5 LNB dish must have failed. Any one got any other ideas? D* is coming out Thursday-- After the next two BCS Bowls.

Paul M

I had my H-20 installed on 12/30/05. Initially I could receive the local PBS OTA channels fine. Then a few days ago, I could not receive them any more. I hooked up a large outdoor type antenna today and for a short period of time could receive the channels again, then kaput, no more reception. My TV does not have a HD tuner, so that it not an option, but I can receive the SDTV signal fine with the antenna I have.

I guess my question is this: How strong of a signal is needed by the H-20 to receive the HD transmissions? Should a signal that provides a relatively good SDTV picture be strong enough to receive the HD signals? And, has anyone had any probems with the sensitivity of the OTA tuner in the H-20?

I am starting to believe that the OTA tuner is marginal.

Thanks

I am starting to believe that the OTA tuner is marginal.

You are kidding right. LG has the best OTA tuner out there.

You misunderstood my meaning. To clarify my statement.

I am begining to believe that the OTA tuner IN MY H-20 RECEIVER is marginal.

Moderator edited thread

Had mine for a couple weeks now. Overall, I think it's a pretty nice unit. Haven't seen the caller id work properly yet, and dont like the fact you have to press a button twice to just get the normal guide up...but I can live with those.

Good picture quality


though, still waiting for them to fix the damn SYNC problem with Fox DD.

Check out your signal strength on the h20. On that particular receiver, the numbers should be 90-100 if you have a good antenna, relatively good line of sight, some height, and the transmitters are within 35 miles of your home. It is quite important to have your antenna pointed directly at the transmiitter. 5-10 degrees off can make a difference. You will lose a station, from time to time, if numbers are below 80. The h20 is, probably, the best OTA tuner there is.

You misunderstood my meaning. To clarify my statement.

I am begining to believe that the OTA tuner IN MY H-20 RECEIVER is marginal. So my friend, from now on if you don't have anything to contribute... please don't comment.

My friend, the h20 600 "HAS THE LG TUNER".

To Richard Korsgren: Thanks for your input. The transmitter is a Maryland Public TV local transmitter with low power output, but it is located less than 1 km from my house in a direct line of sight. When the receiver is receiving the channel, the signal meter reads 100%,,, but even with that strength, I get audio dropouts & pixelation.

???

The transmitter is a Maryland Public TV local transmitter with low power output, but it is located less than 1 km from my house in a direct line of sight. When the receiver is receiving the channel, the signal meter reads 100%,,, but even with that strength, I get audio dropouts & pixelation.

???

I have used the H-20 at two locations very successfully. One is 4-5 miles from all the transmitters and the other location has a transmitter 60 miles away.
If you are getting 100% strength and still seeing breakups it may be getting overpowered. Using a smaller antenna or an attenuater may resolve your issue. Digital broadcasts can suffer from either too much or too little signal.

I have used the H-20 at two locations very successfully. One is 4-5 miles from all the transmitters and the other location has a transmitter 60 miles away.
If you are getting 100% strength and still seeing breakups it may be getting overpowered. Using a smaller antenna or an attenuater may resolve your issue. Digital broadcasts can suffer from either too much or too little signal.

100% correct. Overloading the ATSC tuner is just as bad as a weak signal. Multi-path can cause the signal to break-up.

-Robert

I have used the H-20 at two locations very successfully. One is 4-5 miles from all the transmitters and the other location has a transmitter 60 miles away.
If you are getting 100% strength and still seeing breakups it may be getting overpowered. Using a smaller antenna or an attenuater may resolve your issue. Digital broadcasts can suffer from either too much or too little signal.

You post is well taken and I have just tried attenuating the signal to signal levels of 70 - 100 and I have the same results. i.e. pixelation & audio drop outs.

Thanks

Masq: What the guys say above is true. What type of antenna?. If antenna is directional try arming it 10-15 degrees away from a direct line to transmitter. Also, at less than a mile, try a much simpler antenna. Seems to me, about anything would work at less than a mile.

The mystery deepens!

Is there really a big difference in the receivers?Depends on the signal quality and strength of each desired channel at your location. Here my old built-in DTC100 does just as well on every HD OTA channel as my Sony HD300. At a relative's house 1.5 miles away, multipath wreaks havoc with two of the HD channels. We look forward to getting an H20-600 for that location.

Anyone know the remote code for Vizio HD50 when using this HD20 remote.
Thanks,

I'm going to be building a stand/center for our projection TV with shelves above for our components. We're going to be buying an H20, although my wife has spoken of buying the DVR model. I was going to build 2 levels of shelves above it and wanted them both enclosed for a neater appearance. Would it be better to leave the top shelf open for ventilation for the DTV receiver, particularly if we ended up with the DVR?

I apologize if including the DVR takes this somewhat off topic. :)

Question on satellites:

Got new MPEG 4 setup yesterday and 3 H20's. I get signals on 103, 101, 119, and 110 okay and receive HD channels and HD OTA as well.

I do not get any signals, just N/A on both 99 sat's. Is that to be expected? Is the 99 sat the HD sat feed for locals?

I'm getting all my channels, but was wondering if this is a 5 sat dish, why only 4 with signals?

Thanks

Because the 99 Sat isn't active yet. :)

Satellite 99 is not yet available from D*, It is reserved for additional future broadcasting.
Satellite 103 is out on my new system which knocks out all the local HD's I suspect a bad LNB. Will report after repair scheduled for Thursday.

Paul M

Because the 99 Sat isn't active yet. :)

Thanks. That means I'm getting everything I'm supposed to for now. Great! The technical help at DTV didn't know that.

I don't think Spaceway 2 has reached its final orbital position at 102.8 W yet.
Unc....
Spaceway2 will be at 99.2 degrees, I believe.....

All the national HD work fine as well as all SD feeds including Chicago locals. I have 0 signal strength on satellite 103. Normal readings on all other satellites. I presume one of the LNB's on my new 5 LNB dish must have failed. Any one got any other ideas? D* is coming out Thursday-- After the next two BCS Bowls.

Paul M

I have no problem receiving a very strong signal (93-95) for the 103 sat for my Chicago locals.

I do get a little wave of microblocks/pixelation along with 5.1 audio drop-out, every 5-6 seconds on the local HD channels only.

Am I correct to understand that this is not an isolated problem with my reception, and is a "widely" known problem that D** is working on?

... Would it be better to leave the top shelf open for ventilation for the DTV receiver...Definitely.

These things generate heat that needs to dissipate. Always put your D* receiver in an open space and "top of the stack" so it can breathe. Otherwise, it may eventually start acting weird or even die from heat stress.

Unc....
Spaceway2 will be at 99.2 degrees, I believe.....You are correct. Thanks.

I do get a little wave of microblocks/pixelation along with 5.1 audio drop-out, every 5-6 seconds on the local HD channels only.

Am I correct to understand that this is not an isolated problem with my reception, and is a "widely" known problem that D** is working on?That is correct. Such reports are rampant.

The Chicago D* Dolby Digital drop out occurs on CBS 2 and FOX 32 NBC 5 and ABC 7 have worked correctly over the last month. Both FOX and CBS work correctly only part of the time. The FOX broadcast of Green Bay Seattle game was a mess PQ OK but the audio was out of sync and very intermittent.

My problem with the Chicago locals going out Monday -- Satellite 103 is showing 0 signal strength -- must be related to an antenna problem which D* will attempt to repair Thursday.

Paul M

Today, my H-20 is working much better. Dropouts are very minimal and seem to be on only one subchannel. I am lost as to what my problem is. Is it the receiver? The transmission? EMI/RFI? Duhhhh.

Definitely.

These things generate heat that needs to dissipate. Always put your D* receiver in an open space and "top of the stack" so it can breathe. Otherwise, it may eventually start acting weird or even die from heat stress.

Thanks. I've always been a form follows function sort, my wife will just have to deal with the sight. :)

Got a question about the H20--in order to get an event (recurring) scheduled on a given day of the week, I have to specify 1 day later. When I review the list of scheduled events the day is correct, but if I review the autotune info. for the event the day appears as scheduled day -1. One kicker--this behavior only occurs for a pm event--am events don't exhibit this 1 day shift--also events that are scheduled every day don't exhibit the 1 day shift. Has anyone else noticed this behavior?? Previous to my recent upgrade, I had the H10 and it too had some strange behavior in the scheduler, but nothing like the H20--appears to me to be a SW glitch--current SW version is 0f03.

This whacko P.M. time shift was a known quirk with the LG-made Hughes, Zenith, and Sony previous generation HD receivers, too. It seems to follow the time differential between the U.S. and South Korea. As long as you know how, and more importantly, just KNOW, to deal with it, it's not really an issue. (Wait 'till daylight savings time returns - my previous Hughes HTL HD's clock would dutifully advance an hour on the first Sunday in April - but the recurring program timings would retrogress by an hour, too! I suspect the same thing will happen with my H20 purchased and installed yesterday.) By the way, for those suffering from inoperative caller ID, buried on page 68 of what passes for an owner's guide, these units may not work with certain wireless phone jacks if that's pertinent.

On a lighter note, when I called to activate, I casually remarked that it was too bad the free three-month HD package wasn't available to existing customers. The "Sweet-Thang" asked me to hold for a moment. When she came back on line she told me she was authorized to extend it to me (I had been subbing it for over a year) and throw three months of Showtime in, too. Free MPEG-4 receiver, and three months comp'd premium programming. Is this any way to run a business? (You bet it is!)

I didn't realize the problem was endemic to LG receivers--my H10's had a quirk in the Scheduler where when you reached the max. # of scheduled events and deleted one to make room for another you would have to reset the box before it would update the count of scheduled events. If you didn't reset the box, the on-screen displays would lead you to believe that you had room for another event, but when you went to set-up it would tell you that it didn't have room for another--reset the box, and there was room. However, my H10's didn't have this 1 day offset problem.

I would have assumed that the scheduling SW would have ported from the H10, but apparently not. I would think that glitches like this one would be readily ID'd during Beta testing, but apparently not. I would also think it would be easy to fix, so I'm hoping they fix it.

After reading the posts in this thread i decided to make the leap and get myself a new H20 hd receiver. I ran down to CC and picked one up to replace my anceint hughes E86.

What i like most about the new H20 is that my sony KDL-V40XBR1 bravia LCD will now work in all the native 4801,480p,720p and 1080i resolutions it was designed to receive. The h20 makes my new LCD look even better.

Watching the Texas/USC game i finally got to see ABC's 720p resolution in it's native format. The picture was the absolute best i have ever seen anywhere on any set.

This receiver is far superior to my previous e86 in picture quality in both SD and HD. I like the fact it outputs in HD and 480i at the same time which allows me to record the 480i while viewing the original HD content. I do not like the guide and hopefully it will be upgraded soon. Overall it however is a big improvement in video/audio quality.

This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway. Is this H20 made by Hughes?

rowdy2005,
Doesn't that sony convert everything to 1366 x 768? If so, you might try 720p or 1080i (instead of native output) on the H20 and compare PQ. It might look better than native and the channel changes may be faster.

FWIW, the Hughes E86 had about the worst PQ of any D* HD receiver. SD was awful.

shakyblack,
Supposedly, there is more than 1 manufacturer.
If the H20 model number ends in 600, it is made by LG for DirecTV. The H20-600s are the only ones I've seen so far.

I tried turning off the native resolutions in the h20 and forced it to only look for 1080i or 720p but it looked better with both on. You may be right about the poor quality of the hughes sd picture but this h20 outputs a nice 480i picture. By the way im letting the sony do my 4.3 picture stretching and in it's wide zoom mode it looks pretty good. Not sure about the 1366 x 768 but whatever it has the best picture i've seen. I did side by side comparisions of all of the lcds out there and the sony wins hands down. Changing to the h20 made the picture even better. My h20 is the 600 series.

THe H20 too Warm....as Hughes-86.I'm worry if H20 keep warm up ... and then weak sign' cause loose OTA channels like Hughes-86...
I hope I'm wrong,....

My e86 ran HOT. I used to keep a little fan blowing across the top of it or else my OTA locals would break up and lose signal. The h20 doesn't seem to have that problem. I have no need for the fan thus far with the h20 and the OTA reception is flawless so far with no break ups or drop outs as the e86 did occasionally.

THe H20 too Warm....as Hughes-86.I'm worry if H20 keep warm up ... and then weak sign' cau se loose OTA channels like Hughes-86...
I hope I'm wrong,....

I've noticed the same thing, so for now Lego's to the rescure...!!!
That right..I put one standard sized lego block under each rubber footing on the H20
this raise the H20 3/4" and it really cooled it down.

Will be look for something more permanent, if anyone comes acrosss anything....post here...Thanks in advance.

RSlack :) :D

I've noticed the same thing, so for now Lego's to the rescure...!!!
That right..I put one standard sized lego block under each rubber footing on the H20
this raise the H20 3/4" and it really cooled it down.

Will be look for something more permanent, if anyone comes acrosss anything....post here...Thanks in advance.

RSlack :) :D

My local hardware store sells black rubber stoppers for jars; they look like old-fashioned laboratory jar stoppers. They come in various heights, diameters, the rubber is soft enough to stay put and you can even stack them if necessary. I found them in the store section that has little drawers for nuts, bolts, etc., and have used them successfully to provide air circulation between my electronics.

Hope this helps.

Dana

Does anyone know if the H20 can tune unencrypeted QAM hd?? My cable provider broadcasts local HD feeds this way and I can't get anything via OTA. I searched this thread and didn't see any info..

thanks!
Mark

DirecTV receivers do not have QAM cable tuners. And the H20 won't even tune analog cable or analog OTA - it will only receive DirecTV and OTA 8VSB.

Ok, thanks!

Hey guys I'm getting my D-TV HD setup next week I wanted to make sure I have everthing I need before They get here to install the system. D-TV wouldn't tell me which Receiver I would get but its the one that's got the $200 rebate which I'm pretty sure is the H20. Okay anyway is the new dish and the receiver all I need to get my hd channels in the Bakersfield area. ;)

Hey guys I'm getting my D-TV HD setup next week I wanted to make sure I have everthing I need before They get here to install the system. D-TV wouldn't tell me which Receiver I would get but its the one that's got the $200 rebate which I'm pretty sure is the H20. Okay anyway is the new dish and the receiver all I need to get my hd channels in the Bakersfield area. ;)
The rebate is for all D* HD receivers. Bakersfield hasn't been turned on for MPEG4 HD locals yet. The only way to get them is OTA which you should be able to do with any receiver.

After reading the posts here, it seems most people overwhelmingly likes the H20 PQ, but I'm having a different experience. I have an H10 (mfg code 200) which I think has a great HD Sat PQ (using HDMI). D* just replace my SAT HD200 with an H20 (mfg code 600). By most accounts here, I should love the H20 PQ. My impression is that the H10 PQ is much sharper, brighter and defined than the H20 when connected to the same Sony LCD with HDMI. I live in Los Angeles so don't think I need the H20 it's mpeg4 (please tell me if I'm wrong) - I receive the 4 network HD channels by sat with the H10 along with the rest of D*'s HD programming. Has anyone else done a head to head comparison of the H10 and H20. I don't know if I should insist that D* replace the H20 with an H10 or ship me another H20.

My local hardware store sells black rubber stoppers for jars; they look like old-fashioned laboratory jar stoppers. They come in various heights, diameters, the rubber is soft enough to stay put and you can even stack them if necessary. I found them in the store section that has little drawers for nuts, bolts, etc., and have used them successfully to provide air circulation between my electronics.

Hope this helps.

Dana

Thanks Dana ....
I will check the local Hardware store..!!!!
:)

Just activated a H20 receiver. It takes 4-5 seconds to change channels. I had a H10 for 3 days and did it did the same. DTV is sending out a tech today, I cant believe that 2 boxes are bad. I have service coming in diplexed and use HDMI connection. I forced thru new upgrade 3 times yesterday. Any ideas? My Sam 160 takes 2 seconds to switch channels.
Thanks

Just activated a H20 receiver. It takes 4-5 seconds to change channels. I had a H10 for 3 days and did it did the same. DTV is sending out a tech today, I cant believe that 2 boxes are bad. I have service coming in diplexed and use HDMI connection. I forced thru new upgrade 3 times yesterday. Any ideas? My Sam 160 takes 2 seconds to switch channels.
Thanks

My H20 takes about 3 or 4 seconds to change channels. However that is because I selected the 'Native' option, meaning that it switches outputs between 480p, 720p, and 1080i, which causes my plasma to switch as well. That is my choice. I think it makes a slight difference in PQ but its hard to do an A/B comparison. I can get the channel change time down to 1 - 2 seconds if I 'lock' the output of the H20 at 1080i or 720p. In either case, the unit is NOT defective.

I've noticed the same thing, so for now Lego's to the rescure...!!!
That right..I put one standard sized lego block under each rubber footing on the H20
this raise the H20 3/4" and it really cooled it down.

Will be look for something more permanent, if anyone comes acrosss anything....post here...Thanks in advance.

RSlack :) :D

I use a different method to control heat. We have lots of 14" ceramic floor tiles left over from replacing our floor. I stacked two of those under my H20. They are each only about 1/4" thick. What that does is act as a sink to draw heat out of the H20 and dissipate it over a large area. It also eliminates hot spots underneath the receiver. I never have any problems with any of my 4 receivers with this method. I suppose raising the unit to increase air flow under the chassis would be an additional benefit, but I have never had to.

After reading the posts here, it seems most people overwhelmingly likes the H20 PQ, but I'm having a different experience. I have an H10 (mfg code 200) which I think has a great HD Sat PQ (using HDMI). D* just replace my SAT HD200 with an H20 (mfg code 600). By most accounts here, I should love the H20 PQ. My impression is that the H10 PQ is much sharper, brighter and defined than the H20 when connected to the same Sony LCD with HDMI. I live in Los Angeles so don't think I need the H20 it's mpeg4 (please tell me if I'm wrong) - I receive the 4 network HD channels by sat with the H10 along with the rest of D*'s HD programming. Has anyone else done a head to head comparison of the H10 and H20. I don't know if I should insist that D* replace the H20 with an H10 or ship me another H20.

Hi Lahome,I unfortunately share your same opinion on the PQ of my H20. I replaced my Toshiba with the H20 just about a week ago & from the first moment i tuned to an HD program I noticed that the PQ was not up to par compared to the toshiba. I've posted a couple threads regarding this same question, but it seems that most people find the PQ to be better then their previous reciever.
Now, does that mean that we received defective receivers or that our old receivers were really better???
I purchased my H20 online from a co. in CA (HOME ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK
dba eclubdirectv
DIRECTV DEALER 11857)
I'm connecting it to a 52" Toshiba DLP using HDMI, & also tried Monster Component Vid cables, no dif.[/INDENT]

Altho weak on speed and menus, the video (and audio) can not be faulted. I have compared the video, directly, with the Zenith HF520 (one of the best ever) and the video overall, seemed slightly better. As a OTA receiver, the h20 is top notch; perhaps the best OTA to date.
As a total receiver, the h20, probably, ranks slightly below the Zenith HD520, especially if built-quality is considered. The h20 had to be built down to a price, of course. Bottom line..a very good receiver. And getting 2 completely free is a real bargain.

Set your H20's output to the native resolution of your display (preferably using the HDMI output, with an HDMI-DVI converter if necessary). If you're unsure what that your display's native resolution is, dig out your display's owner's manual. Most DLP and LCD rear projection sets more than a year old have a native display of 720p. Though they can accept higher resolution signals, they still have to convert it down to the native resolution for viewing. (conversion = PQ degradation - the actual amount of degradation varying according to the quality of the conversion circuitry)

Somebody missed the boat on the IR codesets. I have a 2 yr old Yamaha RX-V3300 and I cannot use any of the codes to program the H20 remote. Anyone had any luck or know of any work-arounds?

I did find a manual for the remote online (CP24) and it has more codes than the on-screen offering with the H20 setup but still cannot get it to work.

I have plenty of universal remotes but the wife likes to use the simple one from the kitchen.

Dave

Note: Today, Saturday, I have the pro game on ABC and getting audio dropsouts quite often. They laast for a fraction of a second and the video remains rock-steady. And the signal strength in 90's, about same as always. Weather is normall. The antenna, as always, right on the transmitter. Anyone else having a problem?

Note: Today, Saturday, I have the pro game on ABC and getting audio dropsouts quite often. They laast for a fraction of a second and the video remains rock-steady. And the signal strength in 90's, about same as always. Weather is normall. The antenna, as always, right on the transmitter. Anyone else having a problem?
What market are you located? In Chicago we are having only minor audio issues during this game but for some reason it is not in Dolby?

Paul M

icm2006: Am getting the game from ABC, Lansing. a quick dropout every 5-10 minutes, no big deal but somewhat annoying. As I said Video and signal remain very strong.

I havent got the h2o yet but OTA its only in DD 2.0 720p and thats via optical out from my Sony SATHD300

The above noted audio dropouts only from the game itself. I heard no dropouts when they switch to digital (no HD) for network and local commercials.

I'm watching the game here in the San Fran market via KGO, and I'm getting multiple audio dropouts via digital connection and occasional streaks of pixelation. When I switch audio output on the H20 to analog, the dropouts cease. The audio dropouts occur whether during the game or during commercials.

Yes, there are dropouts, no doubt. All my other HD (OTA) stations are coming in with zero dropouts, as usual. Anyway, a good game so far! Go Tampa!

Yep, same problem for me in L.A. It manifests as a sort of stutter, most notably when the ABC commentators are talking during game breaks.

[INDENT]... I replaced my Toshiba with the H20 just about a week ago & from the first moment i tuned to an HD program I noticed that the PQ was not up to par compared to the toshiba...

... I'm connecting it to a 52" Toshiba DLP using HDMI, & also tried Monster Component Vid cables, no dif.

Are you saying you had a Toshiba D* HD receiver? If so, did you connect it to your TV the same way as you did the H20?

FWIW, "Monster" cables are a waste of money for you - but cream profit for the retailer.

IMHO ABC is by far worse about this than my other local HDs.

I noticed the same as others earlier (Skins/Bucs game) from the New York HD feed: audio dropouts and occasional streaking. Haven't even been watching my local OTA feed b/c it is typically worse and don't want to chance it during a big game. It happens frequently with ABC, but more so from my local OTA station.

--Carl

Does a mythtv channel changing script exist for the H20? Or is there another recommended method? I'm currently flawlessly changing channels on the D10 with directv.pl but am about to make the hd leap.

Has anyone got a 2nd RC24 remote programmed to work RF? I have two TVs hooked up to the H20 and am now carrying the remote from room to room. I was about to buy a 2nd RC24 remote, but I have read on the DirecTV forum that someone was having difficulty trying to set up the 2nd remote RF. The gentleman has tried several means but with no luck.

Has anyone got a 2nd RC24 remote programmed to work RF? I have two TVs hooked up to the H20 and am now carrying the remote from room to room. I was about to buy a 2nd RC24 remote, but I have read on the DirecTV forum that someone was having difficulty trying to set up the 2nd remote RF. The gentleman has tried several means but with no luck.
I have 3 RC24 remotes programmed thru RF. Be careful not to purchase a RC23 remote, its is not RF capable.

I have 3 RC24 remotes programmed thru RF. Be careful not to purchase a RC23 remote, its is not RF capable.


How did you program the remotes to work with one H20? Do you know the code to enter?

Is there a way to get the H20 receiver to receive OTA without a satellite dish connected? Currently I have a new H20 hooked up and it gets part way through setup and stops when it cannot determine the OTA channels for my zip code. It appears the receiver is looking for this information from the satellite instead of just scanning for local channels. I noticed in an earlier post that someone got their system to work by hooking up a dish. He also referred to other people who were able to get OTA without a dish. Is there an override where I can skip the setup routine and just use regular menus to add channels? I'm looking to use this unit as just an OTA receiver for now.

Thanks,
Steve

From what I've read on other satellite forums, DirecTV has decided not to allow OTA-only with this or any future receivers.

Altho weak on speed and menus, the video (and audio) can not be faulted. I have compared the video, directly, with the Zenith HF520 (one of the best ever) and the video overall, seemed slightly better. As a OTA receiver, the h20 is top notch; perhaps the best OTA to date.
As a total receiver, the h20, probably, ranks slightly below the Zenith HD520, especially if built-quality is considered. The h20 had to be built down to a price, of course. Bottom line..a very good receiver. And getting 2 completely free is a real bargain.

I know it has been said here below but I wanted to say it again. The H20 is a great OTA receiver. I had tried to install a 10' boom antenna in my attic with a CM 7777 RF amp with my old Samsung 360 receiver and could only pull in one local ATSC channel. I had given up on OTA HD locals, which is why I went with the H20 and the MPEG4 HD locals. However local ABC BELO refuses to sign a contract with D* for HD LiL so I had to view the Rose Bowl and yesterday's NFL playoff games in SD on ABC. Out of desperation I decided to try the same OTA test setup with the H20 as I did with the Samsung 360. This time I received every ATSC channel broadcast in the DFW area with at least 50% signal strength or better. I am now convinced.

Arxaw, thanks for the response. I saw in your post 516 you said you were able to get OTA once you hooked up the satellite dish. Did OTA work without subscribing?

Thanks,
Steve

Edit: I tried an experiment. I hooked up my old antenna that looks at 110 and 119 satellites and it did pick up transponders from 119. But, the receiver seems to be looking for basic information from 101.

How did you program the remotes to work with one H20? Do you know the code to enter?

When you go into the setup menu there is a selection for remote. You have to set the receiver for RF first. then in the remote setup process you will be given a code to enter in the remote. It is unique to that receiver so you can have multiple RF remotes in the same house. Go through the same process again for the second remote.

I setup the new H20 for my parents and my opinion this is not a great receiver. It is like a step backward. This reminds me of the old RCA receivers I had back when I purchased D* 11 years ago.

Here are issues I have experienced:
Slow Guide - My old Sony and Mitsubishi SATs were faster
Freezing (unable to access channels) - I have had to reset it twice
Unable to get to the guide directly without going through the category menu (really stinks)
Unreliable and I mean unreliable power buttons. Never know if it will turn on or off the TV or the Sat. It supposed to turn both on or both off. Mine will periodically do one or the other.
Lost its favorite channels once

I am actually considering going back to one of my old reliable units even if it means losing the HD to satisfy the family. I can always get out of a problem, but my parents don't understand the technology enough to figure it out and end up waiting for me to come over to fix the problem. If D* is going to sell something it needs to work and be simple to use.

I really wish they would make a basic remote for people that are not technical savvy with limited functionality such as on, off, mute, vol up/down and change up/down. Nothing fancy. At one time, some of the VCR manufactures used to supply a secondary remote with basic features.

Unfortunately, since D* does not have competition in the receiver market we probably will not see much improvement and less variety.

My signal strength, on my newly installed H20, averages in the low 60s. Does anyone else have this problem?

My patience with DirecTV is wearing thin as my old H10 had a problem with resetting itself whenever it wanted to. That was the reason for trying the H20. DirecTV said the H10 has a compatibility problem with my Samsung 50 " DLP Tv. Does this make sense to anyone?

Thanks in advance for any help because DirecTV has been absolutely useless on both these issues but they always gladly accept my $123/month. Which may come to an abrupt end if I can't get any answers to my poor service.

Best regards,
Ken

My signal strength, on my newly installed H20, averages in the low 60s. Does anyone else have this problem?

My patience with DirecTV is wearing thin as my old H10 had a problem with resetting itself whenever it wanted to. That was the reason for trying the H20. DirecTV said the H10 has a compatibility problem with my Samsung 50 " DLP Tv. Does this make sense to anyone?

Thanks in advance for any help because DirecTV has been absolutely useless on both these issues but they always gladly accept my $123/month. Which may come to an abrupt end if I can't get any answers to my poor service.

Best regards,
Ken
Correct, the H20 does give lower signal strength reading vs. the H10, but overall the H20 is a far better receiver. Plus, all three satellites and transponders will naturally give varied signal strengths.

That being said you still may need to have your dish signal peaked and the entire circuit looked at to be sure all connectors are compression, not crimped or screw on connectors.

You should also get some compensation from DIRECTV.

-Robert

I use a different method to control heat. We have lots of 14" ceramic floor tiles left over from replacing our floor. I stacked two of those under my H20. They are each only about 1/4" thick. What that does is act as a sink to draw heat out of the H20 and dissipate it over a large area. It also eliminates hot spots underneath the receiver. I never have any problems with any of my 4 receivers with this method. I suppose raising the unit to increase air flow under the chassis would be an additional benefit, but I have never had to.
Thank s!
I just happen to have some 12" tile left over from our floor upgrade....
I will look in to this as I noticed the H20's hottest spot is it's underside.
Which was why I raised it.. It was setting on top of my DVD Player and begain to heat up the DVD Player.

RSlack :cool:

Are you saying you had a Toshiba D* HD receiver? If so, did you connect it to your TV the same way as you did the H20?

FWIW, "Monster" cables are a waste of money for you - but cream profit for the retailer.

I hooked up the toshiba using the same Component vid cables as I used on the Toshiba & noticed the PQ was noticably inferior. The Toshiba doesn't have an HDMI, so i can't compare it that way, but the PQ on the H20 using the HDMI compared to the CMPT was minimal.
I'm returning my H20 for a replacement, hopefully the new one will be the difference.

I'll post my results.

Arxaw, thanks for the response. I saw in your post 516 you said you were able to get OTA once you hooked up the satellite dish. Did OTA work without subscribing?

I have sub'd to D* since 1995.

I was in a hurry to get the H20 working, but IIRC, OTA wouldn't work for me until I called and activated the box. However, it *might* work for OTA-only if it could see the 101, but I have doubts. You'd have to try it to find out.

My signal strength, on my newly installed H20, averages in the low 60s. Does anyone else have this problem?


It's not a problem, the ss meter on the H20 just shows lower numbers than previous boxes. It also shows lower readings on OTA channels with antenna, but OTA reception is the best of any receiver I've had.

Are you having dropouts on certain D* channels?

I have a Panasonic 37 inch plasma. Should I set resolution at 1080i,720P or native?
I have it at native. I connect via HDMI. As I stated earlier,channel changing takes 5 seconds or sometimes more. Receiver also runs VERY HOT.
Thanks

Connecting H20 through a Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi w/HDMI
I tried to connect to the AVR with the HDMI cable, but when I did the picture would flicker on for a few seconds and then the screen would "go blue" and the receiver's HDMI light would go out (losing linkage I think with the H20). The picture would come back intermittently and then go back out and it appears that the H20 would re-boot itself.

Reconnected the H20 with component cable through the '74 and it passed through just fine. By the way, the AVR is connected to a Panny 900 projector via a 25' HDMI cable up through the ceiling mounted projector.

As I read through this thread, I saw the "reboot" problem and I reflected on my HDMI experience. It seemed the HDMI cable was causing the H20 to reboot when connected through the Pioneer receiver.

Anyhow, has anyone successfully connected the H20 through the Pioneer AVR via HDMI? If not the Pioneer, any AVR? Is this an HDMI "handshake" issue or is it a bug that can be fixed in the H20 firmware? I guess I am obsessing a little, as the H20 works wonderfully through the component inputs through the Pioneer, but I wanted to use the one wire HDMI cable.

Thanks.
Jim

I am having the same problem with my H20 connected to my Sony STR-DA7100ES. The H20 keeps rebooting. When I connect it directly to my TV no problems. I called Sony and they had not heard of this problem. I guess I need to talk to D* next, since I am not the only one with the problem.

... It is like a step backward.

Here are issues I have experienced:
Slow Guide - My old Sony and Mitsubishi SATs were faster
Freezing (unable to access channels) - I have had to reset it twice
Unable to get to the guide directly without going through the category menu (really stinks)
Unreliable and I mean unreliable power buttons. Never know if it will turn on or off the TV or the Sat. It supposed to turn both on or both off. Mine will periodically do one or the other.
Lost its favorite channels once

This box could use some improvement, especially the sluggishness and bad GUI.

GUIDE should take you to a pre-selected GUIDE, with one button click.

The initial freezing may have been to downloading of updates. Mine froze initially and also lost favorite lists, but it hasn't locked up after it got the updates and it has remembered all my fav chs.

I've had absolutely no problem with the remote's power on/off buttons for either the STB or my TV. And if the TV is turned off with the TV remote, it doesn't confuse the H20 as to what's on or off. There have been problems with certain brands & models of TVs though....

barakas,

If the toshiba STB was an E86 clone, you should notice PQ improvement on both HD & SD with the H20. Sounds like you got a def box.

I have a Panasonic 37 inch plasma. Should I set resolution at 1080i,720P or native?If your plasma is HDTV, try enabling 1080i or 720p, instead of native, and use the one that looks the best. If it's only an EDTV (480p), set the resolution to 480p.

Channel change speed should also improve when you disable native.

I really hope it's that simple, & it may be. The New reciever was shipped cross country in it's manufacturers box only, they didn't double box it or add any extra packing material.
I requested a double box, but i don't expect it to arrive packed any different.

My signal strength, on my newly installed H20, averages in the low 60s. Does anyone else have this problem?

My patience with DirecTV is wearing thin as my old H10 had a problem with resetting itself whenever it wanted to. That was the reason for trying the H20. DirecTV said the H10 has a compatibility problem with my Samsung 50 " DLP Tv. Does this make sense to anyone?

Thanks in advance for any help because DirecTV has been absolutely useless on both these issues but they always gladly accept my $123/month. Which may come to an abrupt end if I can't get any answers to my poor service.

Best regards,
Ken
I think you should give retention a call and review you problems with them.

I agree, call and ask for retention if you're not satisfied. If your monthly bill is that high they will usually try to work something out.

When you go into the setup menu there is a selection for remote. You have to set the receiver for RF first. then in the remote setup process you will be given a code to enter in the remote. It is unique to that receiver so you can have multiple RF remotes in the same house. Go through the same process again for the second remote.

Thanks, it is exactly how I thought it should work, but the Gentleman on the DirecTV forum said it did not work for him. I will go ahead and get another remote and hopefully I will not have any trouble. At least for now the H20 RF capability works very well with the original remote.

i live in NYC. Can i get local HD channels directly from the satellite (not OTA)? Also, if i get it for free after rebate at Best buy, do i have to sign a contract at the store, or do i buy the receiver only and then call Directv..how/who would install the new satellite dish?

i live in NYC. Can i get local HD channels directly from the satellite (not OTA)? Also, if i get it for free after rebate at Best buy, do i have to sign a contract at the store, or do i buy the receiver only and then call Directv..how/who would install the new satellite dish?
Yes you can get the big four over sat in NYC. Yes I think you will have to sign a contract at BB. It gets thrown away when you activate with D*. The dish will be installed by a local installer that D* sets up.

From my experience, the signal strength numbers should fall between 90 and 100 on OTA for excellent reception. On Satelite the numbers read about 20 points lower than other receivers. Thus, 70 to 80 should give you good reception. Of course, individual transponders will vary beyond these numbers. A reading of 60 is too low. Seems as tho Directv could have went along with the normal numbers of other past receivers. Afterall, these signal strength numbers are only relative and not absolute. They should have made 90 as a very good 'normal' reading.
And they should have worked a little more on the total package. Of course, the video and audio are first-rate and among the best ever. In other words, they got the hard part right but the H20 suffers on the 'minor' things. Let us hope, the next receiver is better if making it easy for the consumer to operate. And UP the speed!

This box could use some improvement, especially the sluggishness and bad GUI.

GUIDE should take you to a pre-selected GUIDE, with one button click.

If there is a way, please let me know. I have to press the guide once to get me in the category view and a second to get to the guide.

The initial freezing may have been to downloading of updates. Mine froze initially and also lost favorite lists, but it hasn't locked up after it got the updates and it has remembered all my fav chs.

I checked history and mine didn't say anything about downloading updates. Yes, mine did freeze onetime while it was downloading and I agree with your comment that it can happen.

I've had absolutely no problem with the remote's power on/off buttons for either the STB or my TV. And if the TV is turned off with the TV remote, it doesn't confuse the H20 as to what's on or off. There have been problems with certain brands & models of TVs though....

Well, I must have one of those TV's since it happens multiple times a day. Most of the time the Sat turns off or on without the TV responding. It is a Diamond Mitsubishi rear projection tv.

I'm using HDMI. It's perfect. I have no issues.

To load new software:
Hit reset button on the front near access card. When Hello screen comes on push 0,2,4,6,8 on remote. Softeware will begin to load

H20 Bug

When setting up favorites to select. receiver does not list all choices. I have had 2 that had this bug. DTV is aware of it. Way around is to punch in the next channel and the list comes back

H20 Bug

When setting up favorites to select. receiver does not list all choices. I have had 2 that had this bug. DTV is aware of it. Way around is to punch in the next channel and the list comes back

Initially, mine did that same thing (and I used the same workaround). But SW updates seemed to have fixed that bug, at least for my H20.

Originally Posted by arxaw
"GUIDE should take you to a pre-selected GUIDE, with one button click."If there is a way, please let me know. I have to press the guide once to get me in the category view and a second to get to the guide.

There isn't a way.

That's what I was trying to say, but I guess I wasn't too clear - sorry. I should've said that pressing the guide button should take you to a pre-selected guide, but it doesn't.

The GUI is awful.

I have 2 H20 boxes from D* send as as replacements for my old SAT H200. Both H20's are mfg 600 (LG?) but one is make in Korea and one is made in China. Does anyone know if both boxes are LG, if they both have the same chips, and are the version LG box?

I have 2 H20 boxes from D* send as as replacements for my old SAT H200. Both H20's are mfg 600 (LG?) but one is make in Korea and one is made in China. Does anyone know if both boxes are LG, if they both have the same chips, and are the version LG box?

Where did you look to see the country of manufacture?

Got my 5lnb dish and 2 H20s installed today NY market. both receivers are manufacturer 600, both made in China.

Went to CC tonight for other items, but went to D* display, all of the H20s there were manufacturer 600, made in Korea.

Howdy, everyone. Brand new here, but have used DirecTV since 1995. I just purchased the H20 and 5LNB dish. So far, I still just have an old analog TV, doing some homework on exactly what I want for HDTV. But, this receiver's image on this old TV is amazingly better than what I had before, so I can be patient.

I have a "hack" question about the remote. First off, I love the remote. None of my earlier remotes would work all three of the devices I needed to be controlled, that is, the TV, satellite, and audio amp, via just a single remote. This H20 remote does. With just this one device, I have been able to get rid of three remotes. So, I'm esctatic on that.

But, of course, I want more. I don't use the TV's audio at all. No way. I use the audio coming from the H20, going through the Sony amp. Such a nice sound.

However, I want to be able to re-assign the volume control selector to always control the Sony, even when the slide switch is all the way to the left, at the satellite position. Otherwise, to adjust the volume, I have to slide the slide switch over to the AV position.

So, if there is a little tweak here, I would love to know it.

Yeah, I know---fat chance!

Where did you look to see the country of manufacture?
Bill,
The "made in" country is printed on the D* label on the outside of the box which also has the mfgr code. I'd sure appreciate any help sorting out which box I should keep. Thanks

Both of my Chinese made H20-600's seem to be performing as expected, absolutly
no problems.

H20 Bug

When setting up favorites to select. receiver does not list all choices. I have had 2 that had this bug. DTV is aware of it. Way around is to punch in the next channel and the list comes back
You have probably eliminated some of the OTA local channels in the guide. The ones that you do not recieve in your area. This makes the custom favorites list act this way. I was the first one to explain this to tech support as a bug. I returned my first unit. When I set up the second unit I went through all of the guides to look for a problem, none found. Only after deleting the OTA locals and rechecking my changes in steps did I see what created the problem. Try to restore your local OTA stations and then delete them in the custom guide instead. Who knows why they give you two places to do the same thing.

I got the 5LNB + H20 receiver setup installed yesterday. I am located in Winchester, Virginia... which falls under the Washington, D.C. market. I have some questions regarding how this thing should've been set up, as I believe that the guy who did the install was a complete jerk-off and didn't know what the hell he was doing. The dish itself is mounted on my deck, there are no obstructions whatsoever, 100% clear view of the sky.

I had an existing 3LNB dish install which was taken down. This clown, instead of running new cable, cut the existing dual coax cable and spliced them to new cable running out of the new 5LNB dish. He left two additional cables, with no terminations, hanging out of it. I'm assuming these are for the two satellites that aren't online yet. Basically, it looks like crap. The existing line was supposed to have been buried, but they never sent someone out to do it even though I requested it, and this guy didn't do it either. He also left the box for the new equipment and the old dish laying on my lawn. My bad for not going outside and checking everything... but I still want to find this guy and strangle him with some of the cable he left lying around.

Is this how these guys are supposed to be setting this thing up? I only use one receiver, but it just seems odd that there are 2 wires not being used at all... because when the Sats come online, won't that mean I will have to have them come back out and connect them?

Some additional comments:

Picture quality wise, the SD channels by and large seem to have been improved a great deal. HD looks as good as with my previous H10 receiver, however there are some issues with the HD locals. I do not get the "national" feeds at all for the locals, so I'm not able to use them as a comparison.

NBC is the main problem. While the picture is generally MUCH better on the MPEG4 feed than MPEG2, there are alot of combing artifacts on display for the SD content. The only show that was in HD last night was Law and Order: SVU, and that looked fantastic... I'm also getting the audio dropouts others have reported, usually after they come back from a commercial break. In some cases, it took a good 10-20 seconds for the audio to come back online. While in the show, the audio seems to stutter a bit every so often.

CBS, ABC, and FOX all appear to be ok. While watching Commander in Chief, there were some video glitches, but by and large it looked great, with no audio problems. CBS and FOX have yet to show any issues yet.

Menus and channel changes are slower than the H10, but I can deal with that. My biggest complaint is that I lost the Hi-Res guide of the H10, which looked much nicer and was easier to navigate since I could see more of the programming blocks. I also have the issue with the favorites, where when I press the "Guide" button, I have to choose the filter first instead of it just going directly to the programming guide.

Signal strength appears to suck, at least that's what the test indicates. I don't know which transponders are critical to the programming I am receiving, but most are in the 50-60 range, with some in the 20's and 30's. The guy didn't even check the signal when he set it up, just that he could get a picture.

New technology... gotta love it.

Kai

I just read one of the post above mine, I have d-tv coming out the install the 5LBN and H20 (I hope) and was wondering if there is anything I need to make sure they do while their doing the install. I will be there and from the last post I need to watch them to make sure they do the right thing but I'm pretty new to this HDTV stuff so I'm asking you guys. Thanks... ;)

This clown, instead of running new cable, cut the existing dual coax cable and spliced them to new cable running out of the new 5LNB dish. He left two additional cables, with no terminations, hanging out of it. . . .Is this how these guys are supposed to be setting this thing up? I only use one receiver, but it just seems odd that there are 2 wires not being used at all...Signal strength appears to suck, at least that's what the test indicates. I don't know which transponders are critical to the programming I am receiving, but most are in the 50-60 range, with some in the 20's and 30's. The guy didn't even check the signal when he set it up, just that he could get a picture. KaiYou are OK on the cabling. Each of the 4 cables from the dish is complete in itself and carries signal from all 5 satellites. Your H20 only requires one cable from the dish. The other 3 lines are available for future receivers or DVR's that you might acquire.

Your signal readings sound pretty low, even for the H20. Your dish may need a little tweaking, to minimize rain fade if nothing else.

nutz,

call directv and report your sloppy installation.

signal strength typically shows lower on the H20 than on previous receivers. 70s for good signal strength are the norm for my area with this box, where older receivers would show 80s to high 90s.

what sat and transponders are in the 20s? some transponders on the 119° are spot beams and you shouldn't show high signal strengths on spot beams aimed at other cities.

... I want to be able to re-assign the volume control selector to always control the Sony, even when the slide switch is all the way to the left, at the satellite position...That's possible using the onscreen remote control setup.

RTFM. Info on page 33.

You are OK on the cabling. Each of the 4 cables from the dish is complete in itself and carries signal from all 5 satellites. Your H20 only requires one cable from the dish. The other 3 lines are available for future receivers or DVR's that you might acquire.

Your signal readings sound pretty low, even for the H20. Your dish may need a little tweaking, to minimize rain fade if nothing else.

Thanks, I'll bring it up with the guy they're sending out to complete/repair the install on Saturday. I will not be using a 2nd tuner at all, so if only one wire is needed, then that's what I will request he use.

Kai

nutz,

call directv and report your sloppy installation.

signal strength typically shows lower on the H20 than on previous receivers. 70s for good signal strength are the norm for my area with this box, where older receivers would show 80s to high 90s.

what sat and transponders are in the 20s? some transponders on the 119° are spot beams and you shouldn't show high signal strengths on spot beams aimed at other cities.
Already done. I'm not at home right now, but when I get off work I'll do another test and report back what I'm getting.

Kai

You are 100% correct. I had a tech out at my house for 3 hours and he put in a new 3 LNB dish,replaced wiring and screwed up my older HDTV. This required a 2nd tech to come out and fix the 1st one's mess. First tech was so bad that the 2nd one had 2 undo the diplexing and run a separate line for OTA channels to 1st tv.
I had 2 problems with 1st receiver ,setting up favorites and slow channel changing. All that had to be done was to take receiver out of native mode and add back OTA channels. 5 hours lost plus DTV had to send me a new unnecessary H20 and they had to pay shipping costs both ways.
What a nightmare of 5 hours. Fix should have taken 5 minutes.

Thanks, I'll bring it up with the guy they're sending out to complete/repair the install on Saturday. I will not be using a 2nd tuner at all, so if only one wire is needed, then that's what I will request he use.

Kai

If you ever want to upgrade to an HD DVR, you will need a second line at least, and another for an OTA antenna. You may not plan on any of that now, but it would be easier to drop those cables now, especially if they're buried.

Yah, the guy that did this was a complete turd. Normally, I wouldn't care that much... as I could just as easily redo the wiring myself, but why should I have to? That, and the fact that out here in Jerkwater U.S.A. just trying to find RJ6 connectors that are suitable for outdoor use is an adventure full of mystery and intrigue, that ultimately leads to miserable failure.

Funny thing is, 2 years ago I had a single LNB dish setup when I finally ditched Adelphia's sorry crap... the dude came to the house with his WIFE, who helped him set up the system in the middle of a pretty good snowfall, shouting signal readings to him while he adjusted. I never had a single problem with the picture or the sound... through all kinds of weather.

On the 3LNB and now the 5LNB installs... I wasn't so lucky. :mad: If this guy comes out to fix this and tries to screw me around, you're gonna be seeing me in cuffs on DC10.

Kai

If you ever want to upgrade to an HD DVR, you will need a second line at least, and another for an OTA antenna. You may not plan on any of that now, but it would be easier to drop those cables now, especially if they're buried.
I have an HTPC that will be handling whatever light recording duties I may require. I've never been much of a recorder, but I can see your point since I guess you just never know.

Right now, I'm just going to focus on getting this thing in the HOA's good graces and getting a good signal. I understand that this is all new and as such will have some quirks, so I'm willing to give it time to mature.

However... if I'm looking at motion combing when I'm trying to watch The Office 6 months than now, then pardon the expression, but "Wayne Brady's gonna have to choke a bitch."

Kai

By the way, I just spoke with DTV level 2 support and they agreed to give me a free upgrade to 5 LNB and a free HD MPEG 4 DVR for all of my troubles. Dont be afraid to ask for relief when installers screw up and waste your time

Okay if my area (Bakersfield) doens't have MPEG4 HD locals yet should I get the new 5LNB sat. or just stick with my 3LNB. Its all a free upgrade 5LNB Sat. and H20 receiver. Do I really need a new Sat. right now or should I do it for in the future? Also I'm only getting one new receiver so will the new sat. effect my the picture on my tube TV and old reciver? :confused:
Right now I'm really happy with my service and I would hate for an upgrade to mess everything up.

That's possible using the onscreen remote control setup.

RTFM. Info on page 33.

RTFM.......... Always a nice and convenient answer:

What I am trying to do is get the controller to pass the volume controller from the DBS to the A1, the instructions are there except for a real mess below. I select ''stereo'', then SONY.

Instruction #4:
4) Once you find your code, you must program VOL/MUTE........ To program this mode only, enter 993 then press VOL down.

There are other instructions, but they are nicely covered by an instruction box with DONE and CODE SEARCH. The instructions are literally behind the box. Can't move it. Nothing. But, it is saying "...for all something, enter some number code, then press SELECT.

But, I did try the 993 code, and the instructions for the volume down. But, the volume control still insists on controlling the TV, not my stereo.

I have RTFM (quote) repeatedly, and the onscreen instructions, but I can't resolve this. It is a minor issue, but it would be nice to get it to work.

If there is any other "RTFM" that I need to follow, please share. I really am trying to get this to work.

RTFM.......... Always a nice and convenient answer:

What I am trying to do is get the controller to pass the volume controller from the DBS to the A1, the instructions are there except for a real mess below. I select ''stereo'', then SONY.

Instruction #4:
4) Once you find your code, you must program VOL/MUTE........ To program this mode only, enter 993 then press VOL down.

There are other instructions, but they are nicely covered by an instruction box with DONE and CODE SEARCH. The instructions are literally behind the box. Can't move it. Nothing. But, it is saying "...for all something, enter some number code, then press SELECT.

But, I did try the 993 code, and the instructions for the volume down. But, the volume control still insists on controlling the TV, not my stereo.

I have RTFM (quote) repeatedly, and the onscreen instructions, but I can't resolve this. It is a minor issue, but it would be nice to get it to work.

If there is any other "RTFM" that I need to follow, please share. I really am trying to get this to work.
I had the same issue. The manual and screen are very confusing. I called DTV tech support and a tech talked me through it. They have a script that they read to help you through programing the remote. They await your call!

Okay if my area (Bakersfield) doens't have MPEG4 HD locals yet should I get the new 5LNB sat. or just stick with my 3LNB. Its all a free upgrade 5LNB Sat. and H20 receiver. Do I really need a new Sat. right now or should I do it for in the future? Also I'm only getting one new receiver so will the new sat. effect my the picture on my tube TV and old reciver? :confused:
Right now I'm really happy with my service and I would hate for an upgrade to mess everything up.


anybody????

I am in pretty much the same situation, except that the four MPEG4 HD locals (for which I have no use due to excellent OTA) are active here. My system is working fine, and my various receivers have none of the problems that we are hearing about in the H20. I am interested in the upcoming HR20 MPEG4 DVR, but there is no real incentive to install the AT9 dish until national HD channels that are unavailable via MPEG2 begin to appear on the Ka/MPEG4 setup.

My question....Will the H20 pick up local OTA SD/HD? I read it will only pick up local HD via OTA....I would assume this is not true. Please let me know as I am waiting for (2)- H20's and dish to be installed on 1/24/06 @ $60. My TS360 has a great picture, but freezes every other day, sometimes twice a day and the H10's SD PQ is horrible. Please let me know about local digital channels because we have quite a few of them, plus we get local digital weather "on demand" via ota.

By the way, I have read that the H20's PQ is very good in SD/HD....any comments on this is also appreciated.

How does the sd on the H20 compare to the HDTivo that is currently offered?

Please let me know about local digital channels because we have quite a few of them, plus we get local digital weather "on demand" via ota..If you live in one of the areas where HD LIL has been activated, you will be able to get the "Big 4" (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) via MPEG4.

The H 20 only picks up digital OTA,no analog can be scanned!!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Have they done any software upgrades of the H20 yet? They fixed the guide speed problem on the H10s a few months back, so there may be a similar fix for the H20.

Anyone with an H20 using HDMI? They botched the picture on the H10 HDMI port and I'm curious to see if the problem followed to the H20.

I am using the H20 with HDMI and I am having some picture problems. I am getting like digital looking boxes on the screen that are different shades of color. Really shows up on black. I am going to try and hook up component tonight and see if that helps.

...Will the H20 pick up local OTA SD/HD?...It will receive local OTA (8VSB) digital HD & SD channels. It will not receive OTA (NTSC) analog channels.

My question....Will the H20 pick up local OTA SD/HD? I read it will only pick up local HD via OTA....I would assume this is not true. Please let me know as I am waiting for (2)- H20's and dish to be installed on 1/24/06 @ $60. My TS360 has a great picture, but freezes every other day, sometimes twice a day and the H10's SD PQ is horrible. Please let me know about local digital channels because we have quite a few of them, plus we get local digital weather "on demand" via ota.

By the way, I have read that the H20's PQ is very good in SD/HD....any comments on this is also appreciated.
The H20 will pick up OTA digital. Should not matter if it is SD or HD. The H-20 will not pick up analog OTA.

The H 20 only picks up digital OTA,no analog can be scanned!!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

No...Actually that's great news, because in the Philadelphia area there are about 25 local SD digital stations and I "delete" the analog stations anyway. As long as I can get SD/HD local OTA (Digital) then that's great.

How is SD PQ? Compared to the TS360?

I am using the H20 with HDMI and I am having some picture problems. I am getting like digital looking boxes on the screen that are different shades of color. Really shows up on black. I am going to try and hook up component tonight and see if that helps.

Look forward to your results.

...How is SD PQ? Compared to the TS360?
YMMV, depending on your TV and how it's connected, but for me there's a noticeable improvement in the H20's SD PQ compared to the TS-360 I briefly owned.

I have the Ts 160. I watch SD thru the VGA cable along with HD and I do not see a big difference in picture quality. The H20 moves at snail's speed thru the guide as compared to the Samsung.

can someone clarify the "slowness" of the user interface? Do you press a menu button and it takes like 2 seconds to respond on the tv? How long does it take to switch channels?

Just picked up H20. My friend and directv install his ota and oval dish last weekend. Does anyone what kind of ota they used. We cannot see the roof without a very tall ladder. Just wondering what they used. He lives in Sacramento CA

Also how to you update H20 firmware?

They tend to use Winegard Sensor antennas. The firmware will update automatically, it comes down over the stream from the dish.

can someone clarify the "slowness" of the user interface? Do you press a menu button and it takes like 2 seconds to respond on the tv? How long does it take to switch channels?


3-4 seconds to switch channels. Guide changing pages is a little quicker, but not much. My Samsung 160 flies thru the guide changing pages. DTV really cheapened their HD units. Why didn't they come out with a higher end model and charge more?
Not everyone drives a Chevy?
If you want a BMW, you pay for it. I am sure that many people would pay more for more receiver

Just picked up H20. My friend and directv install his ota and oval dish last weekend. Does anyone what kind of ota they used. We cannot see the roof without a very tall ladder. Just wondering what they used. He lives in Sacramento CA

Also how to you update H20 firmware?


Open drawer where access card goes. Push red reset button.
When hello screen appears on tv push 0,2,4,6,8 on remote. new software OFO3 will load

is this dish for the new ku/ka (at9) mpeg-4 can you tell me the company came out? I live in lincoln ca and can not get my dish to get sat 101

The 101 or the 103?

101 not 103

I had the same issue. The manual and screen are very confusing. I called DTV tech support and a tech talked me through it. They have a script that they read to help you through programing the remote. They await your call!

Ok, I did the phone call. The tech guy listened patiently and with a sense of humor (!!!) said that he could have my volume control on the remote working my stereo while the slide switch was on DirecTV within 30 seconds.

I think he was pretty close:


Slide switch to AV1 (stereo is programmed here)
Cover or block the infrared sensor (Ah ha!!!!)
Press MUTE and SELECT
Press 993 then SELECT button
Slide the switch back to DirecTV
Test volume. It should now control the stereo's volume, rather than the monitor's volume.


Works boringly great. RTFM, indeed! None of this is in the manual, or written properly in the on-screen instructions.

Strange, is there something blocking your view of the sky or is the installer just having problems aiming?

no tree my old (3) lnb dish is work is fine

I tried to read through this entire thread so pardon me if I missed it but do we have any specific info of when the next set of HD local cities will be available? I'm near Seattle and understand we're in the next group. I want to swap my H10 for an H20/5 lnb dish with free install so I want to find out when my group will be available so I can contact DirecTV for the new equipment/installation. Thanks!

Both of my Chinese made H20-600's seem to be performing as expected, absolutly
no problems.

My Korean manufactured H20-600 has a problem with caller ID, i.e. it knows a call is coming in but cannot read the modem tones. I get an error that tells me to have my telephone company activate caller ID service. Otherwise my H20 has the same great PQ, the same great OTA receiver, and the same occasional Fox DD audio dropouts as everyone else. Luckily when the DD audio problems happen I switch over to OTA Fox digital channel and it goes away.

My Korean manufactured H20-600 has a problem with caller ID, i.e. it knows a call is coming in but cannot read the modem tones. I get an error that tells me to have my telephone company activate caller ID service.

I see the same caller ID problem occasionally. I have 5 H-20's and it seems to occur randomly. I intend to do some comparisons to see if the same call looks the same on all receivers but haven't gotten to it yet.

Can any recommend a great ota antennae? My antennae color should be YELLOW. I live near SAC.

I've had that particular caller ID problem a few times. When it happened, it was always an incoming call from a cell phone. Didn't happen on all cell phone calls, just some. Might be just a coincidence.

no tree my old (3) lnb dish is work is fine

Then the new one should work in the same location, your old dish gets the 101, 110 and 119 sats. The two new sats are flanking the 101 at the 99 and 103 positions.

Thanks, it is exactly how I thought it should work, but the Gentleman on the DirecTV forum said it did not work for him. I will go ahead and get another remote and hopefully I will not have any trouble. At least for now the H20 RF capability works very well with the original remote.

My second remote arrived today so I programmed it for one of my receivers. It does work but it is a little tricky. Being male, I didn't bother to read the directions but got it working after several attempts.
The important elements are to reset the receiver and original remote to IR, then go to the RF setup and program both remotes while the instructions are on the screen. However, don't hit the select button for the second time (done) until you have programmed both remotes. I got into a situation where neither remote would work so I reset them and everything was back to IR mode. Third attempt worked like a charm.
Good luck.