HDTV and the Wired House

I made the plunge. I probably did the average amount of research, mostly on the web with a few visits to major electronic stores. Physical requirements insisted less then 46" and a matte finish to reduce the glare. So a 40"-42" LCD seemed to be the right answer. Next I had to sort through and analyze the various inputs/outputs, contrast, picture modes, etc, and which of these would really make a difference to me watching the current crop of TV shows. (HGTV and DIY are the primary stations to watch these days.) So, with "Black Friday" pricing I made the move to purchase this one. I also invested in the store warranty, something I'm normally against. However cool these new boxes may be, they are not as reliable as the good old CRT and the extra cost seems like a good insurance policy to me.

So I bring this beautiful box home and hook it up to the standard source. Yuck. I had a better picture with the ten year old CRT. Obviously I need to upgrade to HD programming, so I called Dish Network and worked out a deal. This will require new receivers for the HD capable sets in the house. The questions is: How? Can the existing coax boxes in the basement (which feed signals to the four corners of the house) simply be removed and replaced with the new HD receivers?


No, the answer is no. The HD receiver must be close to the HDTV. This is an immutable law of physics. So a new schematic is necessary. We also needed an additional dish and some extra cable. The good news is that I won't have to purchase the two extra UHF remote controls I had before. (A side benefit is that the non HDTVs will also get a reception enhancement, though not as great as 1080P.)

The technician was pretty good when he saw the wiring box, at least he didn't throw up his hands and run out the door. I also called the company that had done the wiring, just to be sure I had backup if the afore mentioned scenario had occured. He started by adding the new dish, pointed more Easterly, just below the existing one. The only new cables came from that dish into the basement and terminated in the switchbox. Next the HD-DVR was positioned near the new TV in the living room. The other HD receiver went upstairs in my Mother-In-law's room. Now the really cool thing is that both recievers can use the existing coax to feed the #2 TV on the network. No new holes or cable runs were required to go from TV1 to TV2. Finally, he asked for my HDMI cable. Huh? So, he hooked up the composite video and showed me how to change the inputs on the TV once I had the new cable in hand. (My daughter was already at Walmart Christmas shopping when I put in the request to bring two HDMI cables home.)

The picture is awesome.