Direct TV

[Capt Chad]

There is an open outlet on the Direct TV dish by our slip. I have Direct TV at the house.

I called Direct TV to add a receiver to our account. The only way to do it was to have a technician come out and hook up the box.

I don't want to waste a workday waiting on some guy to come onto my boat and plug a freaking box in.

If I buy a box somewhere else can I set it up? Not sure how all that works. Just hate to kill a day waiting on them to plug in some wires and I have seen their receivers for sale elsewhere.

 

[Genesis]

No; there is an access card you need to have active on your account for it to work. If you can get them to activate a card on your account then it SHOULD work if you put it in a box and the receiver is pointed in the right direction -- but -- without the card the receiver itself is worthless, as the card contains the encryption key necessary.

 

[doc g]

so what would keep someone from from taking the card from the "home" RCVR and putting it in the "boat" RCVR?????...Pat

 

[Fastinated]

That's what I would do.. My parents RV and they just take the whole box with them.

 

[csnider]

We had an extra box in our home in Missouri that we took to our boat in FL. We can watch TV
either place with same service, however when we are in FL for an extended time we call to have our local channels changed to FL....just takes a few minutes over the phone, no big deal. But we were already paying for the receiver. You could always carry a receiver back and forth...bit of a PITA.

 

[Capt Chad]

Situation resolved.

Little girl that answered the phone after 15minutes said they had to be professionally installed. There was no way for her to delete the install from the purchase on her screen.

Went online to their website and ordered the basic box for $69.00. Tax and shipping bring it up around 90 bucks. Adds $6 to the monthly bill for adding a TV.

 

[Fanfare]

The card is specific to the DirecTv receiver. Won't work with another receiver even if it is registered to you. So two cards for two receivers.

I have had good luck with HD (High Defination) Tivos with DirecTv. I got mine from www.weaknees.com who modify them to have as much as a 2 gigabyte hard drive. This is 302 hours of HD, or 2641 hrs of SD. Once you put programs on the hard drive you can take the Tivo with you, plug it in to a TV and use it like a jukebox for movies. I have an HD antenna at home, an older SD antenna on the boat. I was able to self-install my unit at home without too much trouble although I had to buy an HD antenna to get the best reception. On the boat we can get SD for most channels although I expect these will decrease in the future.

 

[Genesis]

Yep -- the card is "married" to the serial number of the box; the two form part of the keying for the encryption. This used to be hackable (years ago) but has gotten MUCH harder and is very illegal in any event. But if you have a legitimately purchased box and card sub that's turned on physically moving it will work.

 

[Victor_Chat]

I've never had a problem doing a self activation when getting a new or replacement unit.

Also when I wanted to put a receiver on the boat, I called DirecTV. I explained what I wanted and the rep told me that she was going to set me as a "move". A tech came out installed the dish on the dock, up on the roof, they gave me a new DVR (leased unit) hooked it all up and set up the new DVR as a new room, called "Boat". After that was completed I called DirecTV and did an address change back to our original. The rep was good enough to note the account what should happen as well. And it was all free.

 

[Angela]

I have NEVER had to have a DirecTV tech come out to do an install. I ordered my service over the phone, and the equipment was FedEx'ed to me at the marina. I installed it, called the 800 number to activate the card, and was all done. I guess it depends on who you get on the other end of the phone.

 

[JLR]

Same experience as Ang. I have 5 Direct TV boxes on board at a cost of $6 per, per month.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

EXACTLY Ang...
But I did have the tech come out the first time, let him install the dish, wiring and aim the unit... He spent about 30 mins with me, showing me how to aim the dish when I moved the boat... (which was worth the wait on him).....
In the 14 yrs since then, I have done all the needed work...