I am looking for the discrete power commands for the DirecTV H10.

The D10 discretes do not work with the H10, and neither do the RCA or Samsung codes (the OEM providers of the unit).

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

My suggestion is to call DirecTV support and tell them to send you a different brand HD receiver. Although the others are being discontinued, they apparently have replacement stock of RCA, Hughes, and Samsung...though I would not recommend the Samsung, for reasons that are stated below.

I recently tried to use several of the H10 receivers and had a multitude of problems - including the lack of a functional discrete power command, incompatibility of the Dolby Digital audio output with certain surround processors (some Adcom and other units), as well as compatibility with the component video outputs with component inputs on certain older equipment (for example, DWIN transcanner, even though the component outputs on a Sony DVD player work just fine.)

The discrete power commands are apparently supposed to work on the H10 remote like they do on the D10...which seems to require that one select a TV code first; however, despite trying various code combinations on the remote, I could never get the discrete power to work. I called DirecTV and they sent an identical replacement...which had identical problems...with the audio, video, and remote.

Regarding the audio problem, the Dolby Digital outputs only provided a useable signal on channels with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with the processor I was using...other channels were mute on the digital outputs. (Analog RCA outputs were OK.) After repeated contact and hours of telephone conversation with higher levels of tech support, one upper-level tech finally acknowledged that there were known problems with the H10, including compatibility, and offered to send out an RCA DTC210 as a replacement.

The RCA DTC210 arrived and works flawlessly...it has discrete power (using the standard RCA command sets with the addition of a few HD functions), the digital audio works perfectly on ALL channels, the component video outputs present no compatibility problem with the DWIN or anything else I've tried it on. The unit has composite, component, S, RGB/VGA, and DVI video outputs and a lot of other useful features. The only thing it doesn't have is HDMI.

Unfortunately, this unit has supposedly been discontinued, due to DirecTV's new policy of becoming the sole source of equipment for DirecTV. I'm in the process of stocking up on these to have until DirecTV gets their problems resolved with the H10. What a shame...RCA finally gets it right, and DirecTV steps in. By the way, my understanding is that the H10 is manufactured only by Samsung, though RCA does provide certain other models. This makes some sense, as the Samsung HD receivers (160 and 360) had numerous problems, including similar digital audio problems.

One especially disappointing aspect of all this was the way the DirecTV tech support staff initially tried to BS me about the problem, telling me "that was the way it was supposed to work". One tech, after conferring with her supervisor, came back and said that the supervisor wanted to know if the analog RCA audio worked. When she relayed "Yes", he told her to tell me to "use the RCA jacks for audio on those channels" instead of the digital audio outputs. When I responded "Tell your supervisor that's a stupid suggestion! We didn't buy an HD receiver so we could use the analog audio." she laughed and said she agreed but "had to tell me what the supervisor told her to tell me." After much perseverance, I finally got escalated to a level at which they acknowledged the problem and provided a solution. Having installed hundreds of systems that used the digital audio outputs on a DSS receiver, I knew better...but I wonder how many naive consumers are not getting what they paid for, and are simply doing as they have been told by DirecTV support...to disconnect their digital audio, etc.

Is there any other suitable replacement for the H10. My directv dealer already knows about the problem and had made arrangements for getting his hands on as many DTC210's as he can. But he is still unable to find a replacement when the DTC210's run out in a couple of months.

That's a great question. My understanding is that there will be no DirecTV HD receivers other than those that are branded DirecTV...and it appears that they will be offering only one model in each product category (basic, basic DVR, HD, HD DVR).

Right now, there are still a few Hughes HTL-HD units around in addition to the RCA DTC210. The Hughes is an older model than the RCA, and lacks some of the RCA's features, but generally works very well. I have one in my own system that has worked just fine for the past year or more.

This equipment situation with DirecTV is very disappointing, and the lack of an alternative is why some of the discontinued HD receivers are bringing a premium price...I just saw a Sony SAT HD-300 go for $995 on eBay.

Don't rush out too fast looking for older HD satellite receivers because by spring 2006 when all the upgrades and new satellites start working none of the old HD dishes or HDreceivers currrently available will work for HDTV. Theyare changing their format to MPEG4 and all the older ones and current ones use MPEG3.

I have run every code for the H10 and did not find anything not already on the factory remote.

Just wanted to see if there was any new news on the discretes for the H10. Listen folks if we as professionals are going to offer DirecTV it looks like we are going to have to get used to the H10 so any help would be great.

I am still searching for the discrete power codes for the DirecTV H10. Has anyone had any luck coming up with them?

I would definitely appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks!

The mpeg4 will only be used for the Hi Def local channels that you now have to use a terrestrial antenna to receive. So don't panic and start scrapping the old receivers just yet

The H-10 now has discrete power with the new 4.33 firmware.

Whom did you receive the firmware upgrade from?

What the hell is the Matter with Direct TV? Don't they realize that there is a whole industry in the custom market that uses those products and they come out with a HD receiver without discreets!!

What about the on and off buttons located at the top right of the factory remote? Can they be learned?

The upgrade to 4.33 software update works like a charm. The D10 discretes worked on the H10 after the upgrade.

To update your software, go into the menu, and force a reset. Enter 02468, and you will force it to perform a software upgrade. Note that you will need to run through the installation menus again, as anything you set previously will now be defaulted.