I recently moved into a house with a finished basement that has a single line of R59 cable running to it. I have a Dtv dvr installed there right now and it works fine. Other than the dual tuner capability that is lost with having a single line, is there a problem for me to upgrade to HD on the older cable line? Will the PQ suffer? I really don't want to cut up my wall to install new line.

thanx

Do you mean DirecTV? DTV here means digital TV and D* means DirecTV. PQ is not involved. Loss of picture is. If the line is good enough to hold a picture without breaking up, it's as good as it needs to be. RG59 has much higher loss at higher frequencies. The new D* HD Ka band channels use a higher frequency. If you don't already receive them, they could present a problem.

The HD service uses more bandwidth than the SD service. As greywolf alluded to, the RG59's not cut out to handle the higher-bandwidth signals of the HD service. You'll need an RG-6 cable or two.

Oh, and TRUST ME that dual-tuner capability is worth it. Watching one program while recording another, once you experience it, is something you'll want to keep.

thanks for the info, I have DirecTv with a 2 line RG6 connected dvr in the living room that is all set. But my new 52" Aquos is in the basement with only a single R59 connected to that dvr. So bottom line is no RG6 = no HD? And if the HD service was provided by Time Warner Cable it would still need RG6 I assume?

It isn't a hard cutoff. It will depend on the length of the cable and the quality of dish aim, maybe even the weather. All copper duo shielded RG6 is the spec but RG59 can work if the run is short enough. CATV uses a lower frequency so RG59 will hold up better. CATV cable spec has been for quad shielded RG6 for a while now though.

As greywolf indicated there is no hard cut off. The loss per unit length of RG-59 is higher than RG-6. The increased loss becomes more and more of a problem as the cable gets longer. I certainly would not cut up your wall without trying it first. It quite possibly will work just fine if it is not too long.

Obviously, it will differ in each unique situation, but from my experience you're probably going to have to go with the RG-6. I tried a 50 foot RJ-59 run directly from my multiswitch and it didn't work. The only way to find out for sure though, as previously mentioned, is to try it before going into the walls.

you might be able to pull new rg6 with the old 59, if you are lucky

I'm currently using R59 throughout my house. I have had no problem so far getting all of the new HD channels. I'd give it a try before ripping a hole in the wall. Just my opinion.

Tom