What is best way to get HD to two TVs?

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AndrewKulin

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Santa brought us a 32-inch LCD over Christmas to replace the 27-inch CRT located in our basement Family Room. This room is used mainly by our kids (Wii, kid DVDs, TV channels like Discovery, BBC Kids, etc.) though with a proper TV down there I may be more inclined to go down now and use it.

We currently rent a Bell 9200 HD PVR (rental since Oct 2005 - no longer under contract or subject to early termination charge). The ground floor Family Room HT System is on HD and the Basement Family Room TV is on SD. I would like both TVs to receive HD signal.

So to bring the new TV on-line with HD what are my options?


  • Keep the 9200 and add a second HD receiver for the basement TV
  • Upgrade the 9200 to a 9242 and add a second HD receiver for the basement TV
  • with the downstairs unit, I don't think we would get PVR as I find the kids have learned to use the PVR functions and I keep finding 10's of episodes of Pokemon being recorded yet never watched
  • Wait for these newer receivers to come out in mid-January (:rolleyes:)

Last bit of background information is that we had some raccoon activity in our attic last winter and just spent close to $4K re-insulating it with blown in insulation so I don't want anyone futzing around in our attic running wires for a second dish and packing down the new insulation. So can this all be done using the existing dish that services the 9200?

Lastly what kind of fees could I reasonably expect to incur, such as installation fees? The TV came with one of those HDTV starter kits with discounts for installations from Bell.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
If you decide to take the rental route and go ahead with that solution it will cost you a lot...

100$ for the rental certificate of the 9242 charged immediatly on a credit card
100$ for the rental certificate of the 2nd HD receiver charged inmmediatly on a credit card
*Both charges will be credited on your BELLTV BILL after you activated the units*

Since it's a rental you have to have a professional installation (even if it's just an upgrade!)
I belive they charge 75$ for the first tuner and 50$ for the second tuner +
50$ for the other HD (if it's a 6141) and another 50$ for the second tuner (if the second unit is also a 9242)
I'm not 100% sure about the installation charges, i'm sure there is an agent on the site who could probabley correct me if i'm wrong

If you decide to buy you could find some 9242 on the internet (for example on Kijiji) at around 400$. If you buy you have the option to install it yourself. You can find 6141 for 150$-200$. I saw some 6100 being advertised as low as 100$! Make sure with BellTV that the owner called to mention he is selling the unit BEFORE you purchase to avoid being stuck with a unit that they won't be able to activate
 
If you want two HD televisions, and watch both at the same time (different content), then you need at least two HD receivers. One 9242 won't do it. I would suggest waiting for the 6131 on the second television - you can always make it a single tuner HD PVR later, and keep the 9200 on the upstairs television for HD and PVR.

Assuming you have an SW44 switch in the mix somewhere, you would need one additional RG6 from that switch to the new 6131 receiver. How that happens depends on your current cable layout.

-Mike
 
Pretty sure that you are only charged the $100 once for the Rental Certificate.

Your existing Dish will feed dozens of receivers, so that is not a problem, it is just as scrooloose says, it depends on the way the cables run right now.

I would also go along with the idea of a 6131 as the second receiver, as to Rental or purchase, that would be difficult to say, but at $199 (think that is the price) for the reciever I would buy. Installation should also be pretty easy for a DIY too, just run a line from the SW44 (hopefully there is one) to the new location. Although you will have a line that exists from the 9200 to that location so you might just need to get the new line to that point and hook it to the line running downstairs.
 
And if I do not have an SW44 which appears to be the case can one be had somehow? (both lines from the dish run outside the house, into the basement and back up into my family room, each line connecting to the 9200 unit directly (one with a power inserter)
 
Yes, it is up there on the dish meaning I would have to run a line from the roof down the outside wall and then drill a hole through my foundation to get it inside the basement. That is more DIY than I am willing to tackle so I'll let Bell do that for me.

So it appears that my plan going forward will be:

- since I rent the 9200 PVR at $20/month I may as well upgrade to the 9242 at the same price, not willing to spend $600 on it in event technology changes drastically in 1-2 year future
- buy a 9131 if it really is coming out mid-January (or is that wishful thinking???) and have Bell do the install/upgrade at the same time, hopefully at no charge if this HDTV starter kit I have with the new TV can do anything for me in that regard.

Thanks,

Andrew
 
I'm pretty sure that he would have to pay the rental certificate twice if he upgrades his 9200 AND add another receiver...maybe a BellTV agent could confirm that

If you choose to rent there would always be a tech fee, even if you already have the connections in place

You can also call BellTV and threathen to disconnect your service saying you bought another HDTV and you don't want to spend 300$ on another HD box + install fee. They will most probably offer the rental of a 9242 or a 6141 for a year or two free of charge (you will have to pay the rental certificate still, but it's credited on your next bill)
 
Andrew ....Maybe two 6131 and an EHD? one wire each or you need to pull a third wire from the sw44 next to the other two where they enter the foundation as the PVR needs two. An installer can usually do this easy for you with the free install you get with a 9242 free rental for a year from the retention dept. Forget the TV starter kit.
 
If you have enough coax in the wall or the ability to run it between the two HDTVs then you can have the 9200 feed both HDTVs. However they will both share the TV1 output. That's what I used to do until the HDMI port on my 9200 crapped out. I'd have the TV that's right beside the 9200 connected via HDMI/DVI and then I used the component HD outputs through the walls to the other HDTV in the basement.

Worked well that way for years. But for the record, I also had a 6100 connected to the basement HDTV (for the added flexibility).
 
if this is the case why get another HD box when you can just use the 2nd tuner on your 9200. that way you just have one box and you can set your programs to record when the kids are not around. with the 2nd tuner as well you still able to watch any HD programming and will have no effect on the 1st tuner
 
I have 2 tvs in my house setup with bell and renting both recievers. I want to buy the new pvr ready reciever for a 3rd tv. How much is the cost to get another line in for the 3rd reciever if im buying the receiver?
 
do you not know how to create your own topic? by asking a question in another persons thread is not really fair for the person who originally created this thread to get some awnsers
 
ok i figured sense you can still view the HD channels on the 2nd tuner that all HDTV capabilities would be there too
 
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