[John Wilson]

Hello. I'm a D* newbie so sorry if this is too basic for this forum. My son works for a AV installation company and he acquired a HR-250 along with an elliptical dish with a 3-LNB and a 4 way multiswitch. It is missing a power cord for the receiver as well as a remote. Its unclear as to whether or not the receiver works as I don't have a cord or remote or even an installed dish.

Here's what i would like to know:

1. Where can I get a power cord and a remote at reasonbable prices. I have other TiVos but no D* buttons on the remotes

2. Is there a way to check out the functionality of the HR-250 without a dish installed? It also came with a D* card but I doubt its activated.

3. I would like to use this at a lake home that only has an SD-TV at this time. I'm really only interested in a "basic" package of 40 channels including local channels from a major city 100 away (Twin Cities, MN) in SD but with TiVo recording capability. What can I expect to pay to activate the card as I will be installing this myself with my son's help?

4. How many cable(RG-6) runs should I plan on from the receiver to the dish/multiswitch?

Thanks for the help/suggestions. Since this is a budget setup, I'd like to keep my monthly payment to D* as low as possible

 

[litzdog911]

1. You should be able to find a compatible power cord at Radio Shack, but they might need to special order it for you. Most current Universal Remotes have Tivo code sets that will work fine with the HR10-250. Your current Tivo remotes might even work.

2. Once you can power it up, just connect to a TV. You should see it boot up and begin searching for a satellite signal. You can cancel out of that process and should get to the main Tivo Menu and Now Playing List, especially if the Tivo was previously activated and wasn't reformatted.

3. DirecTV might let you activate it with its old Access Card. Worst case they'll send you a new one for ~$20. That's provided the Tivo was deactived from the prior owner's account with no outstand billing balance due.

4. Two. Then you can use both tuners.

 

[captain_video]

Any Tivo remote will work except for the series 1 Sony models. There are lots of inexpensive universal remotes available that have the Tivo codes. If you look on ebay you can find all kinds of replacement Tivo remotes. The silver remote that is branded for Thomson UK series 1 SA Tivos works perectly fine with the HR10-250 and is usually less than $10 plus shipping. Power cords are standard polarized cords available at RatShack and other places for about $2 or less.

You can operate it without a dish connected but you'll get nag messages and searching for satellite signal messages when tuned to any DTV channel. If you have an OTA antenna or a set of rabbit ears then you can check out the ATSC tuners. You can definitely navigate through the menus and screens without anything feeding the receiver. You can actually navigate through the menus using the front panel buttons and you won't even need a remote, although it's definitely better to have a remote for normal operation but you can at least check it out without a remote.

A new card will cost you $20 from DirecTV. There are no other activation fees required. You'll need two RG-6 cable runs from the dish to the receiver in order to use both tuners.

 

[Arcady]

The power cord is the same as a Playstation 2 cord. You can get one at GameStop for $5 or less. Or look on eBay.

 

[rjnerd]

They are standard electric razor cords. shouldn't be that hard to find.

 

[IOTP]

eBay is a beautiful thing.

:up:

 

[HiDefGator]

Why would you waste your money? You can get a brand new dvr and dish installed for less than you will pay to "try" to fix that one.

 

[John Wilson]

Thanks for you responses. I was able to find a power cord and an old TiVo remote. I powered up the HR10 and it works fine. The account is CLOSED so I called 1-800-DIRECTV. Big Mistake. They want to charge me $29.95 ( sat service, install and two receivers) + $6.00(TiVo service). I already have all of the equipment and will install myself. I just want to activate the access card and get TiVo service. I was given a phone number 1-800-323-1994 for Retail Service but I can't seem to make it through to a live person without being disconnected. It asks me for an account phone number and D* account number but i don't have those yet. I'm not even installed yet

I would just like to find out how much D* will charge me for their 40-channel tier plus tiVo service.

Any suggestions on how to make this happen? I'd rather not get this all installed and then find out that I have to pay the same as someone who is leasing their equipment.

Thanks in advance

 

[captain_video]

If you do not currently have a DirecTV account then you cannot activate any used hardware. DirecTV requires that you must have new receivers or DVRs when activating a new account. Once you have the account setup then you may add whatever used equipment you like. The DirecTV package prices are listed on the DirecTV website. FYI - the monthly fees are the same whether you own or lease the equipment. You just pay a mirroring fee instead of the leasing fee for each receiver which is $4.99 apiece over and above the program package cost plus whatever extras you've included (HBO, DVR fee, etc.).