I am sure some or most of you guys already knew this but I got alot from this room...and now its time to share one back,,,,I applied the Sat C LNB....did the installation accordingly....but had a little problem...the xponders on the B side were coming in every other... you know odd vs evens. well according to the instructions i got with the LNB...it said that I was suppose to ignore the 13v input on the SMS-4, and the b and c combined to the 18v in on the SMS-4 would be enough, after doing some digging some things got ruled out..for starters i did achieve the ShowHD, also i ran the LNB B back to the SMS-4 and got all the xponders. so here is what is all comes down to...you need to run the 13v on the SMS-4 because these receivers (DTC-100) is not new enough to understand this type of configuration. Just got to realign the local HD ants and I am in the game.

something to notice.....on the DTC-100......the signal meter page in the menu......it counts the b side from 1-32...all newer HD receivers count from 22-32.

there is no signal meter for the LNB C

119(Sat B) and 110(Sat C) are shown in a combined meter.

JJP

You always needed 13 volts going to the multiswitch. The directions never said to disconnect one of the voltages. One side from the 119 from you post it must be the 18 volt side but I don't recall from memory goes into the combiner along with a jumper from the 110 then back to the 18 volt side of the switch. In other words you always needed 13/18 volts nothing ever changed.

Wow....cable sure is easier

For the average user, yes. That's why most people tend to hire a professional to install multi-sat dishes.

JJP

Easier yes but not even close as far as quality. Plus it's just cool to have a dish. :)

How about...no? When it comes to digital cable, except for the few analog channels, it's very close as far as quality, even better...especially when you have no way of installing a dish. Compared to digital cable, satellite is a slow, pain in the ass, whose signal is affected by bad weather conditions. That reason alone is why my buddy switched from a dish to cable. Given all the problems people have with the DTC-100 receiver and trying to hook it up to their HDTV, give me digital cable anyday. Also...with a 6 camera distributed CCTV system, I can tune the modulated channels in on my cable receiver...1 cable does it all. I do have one question about HD sat though, how do you tune in your local channels in HD? Does it have a tuner built in for that? My brother in law just bought a new RPTV but he's got the misfortune of having AT&T so he's going with directv. He's trying to get all the info he can about how it works and what he'll need.

The DTC-100 will let you have 2 off air antenna's hooked up to it so not a problem. My experience was exactly the opposite of yours. I found digital cable to be slow and buggy when changing channels. Plus all the channels weren't digital I think only the upper ones were. Yes Sat does encounter rain fade but honestly I have only seen it for about an hour a year if you added it up and I am in Florida so we know about rain. I also agree that some installs do require more equipment but I would never go back to cable. I have 5 dishes BTW. :)

whats this about the DTC 200???

I had AT&T digital cable with motorola boxes, and they were absolute crap. They issued new boxes and they were better, but it still wasn't worth it, and still no HDTV. Switched to TWC after doing some fanagling. First box set I had was like the Explorer 2000 from SA. Really shitty boxes but the service was really good. New SA boxes back in April and they're awesome. Channels from 2 to like 80 something ARE analog, and everything after that is digital. I do wish they were digital sometimes, especially my sports channels. Considering the cost of the DTC-100...rumors about it not being available, and the problems I've heard of people having with them, the free HD box I got does a much better job. Except for the analog channels in front, 9 of which are my in-house channels anyways, it just makes more sense than cutting down a couple very large, shade-providing oak trees...or mounting my dish out by my mailbox.

The DTC-200 is suppose to be the next generation HD box from RCA. I don't really know any more then that. The DTC-100 is not being made any more so you have to find someone who has some left. I heard Rat Shack still has them but I don't know for sure. You can always find them on Ebay.

Are you saying you have choices of cable companies in your area? We don't have that in FL. It's either one cable co. or sat. A/V is my hobby so I really don't mind the equipment and tweaks they require. I would say most of the problems with the DTC-100 were when they first came out other then the ongoing issue of no component out. RCA through Directv sent firmware and addressed most of the issues. My Pioneer RPTV has VGA in so the component issue was not a problem for me. As far as my picture quality it may not be the best but I have yet to find one better. I did have the TV ISF'ed. I have never seen a cable picture come close that's why I got rid of it. :)

This message was edited by ECHOSLOB on 09/24/02 09:15.55.