45STV Gen 1 or 2

[ocgrant]

How do I tell the difference? What more does Gen 2 offer? Is it just the controller or is it the dish unit also?

[Chris - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello ocgrant,

The Gen 1 was our first Satellite TV system on the market. You can tell a Gen 1 by its ACU. The ACU is gray with a black front and three buttons. The Gen 2 has a all black ACU with 5 buttons on the front. For the US market the Gen 1 is Direct TV service only. The Gen 2 had the added compatiblity for the Dish MIM which alowed you to also have Dish network as a second option.

The other way to tell the difference is the part #. There were two versions of the Gen 1 The E93002 and the E93013.
The gen 2 part number has a -2 at the end (E93013-2).

To sum this up Gen 1 is Direct TV only. Gen 2 is Direct TV or Dish with the optional MIM box (A42195).

Chris,

[ocgrant]

Ok so I have Gen 1. Which means no HD correct? If I buy a Gen 2 box will it work with my dish unit? I can only get HD with Gen 2 and Dish Network correct?

[Chris - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello ocgrant,

Up until recently your Gen 1 system could only receive sd programming from DirecTV. Your antenna is a KU band antenna which will only track DirecTVs satellite DTV101. DirecTV has decommissioned some of its satellites along with its sd service. To accomplish this it has moved programming to DTV101 and removed some programming. We do have a part # for the receiver (H24) that can be ordered through Raymarine dealers that will give you DirecTV programming. The part # is A42218.

As this is currently a running change I can say you can get programming through DTV, some channels may be HD. I do not have a channel list from them and would recommend contacting their support for an exact channel list.

A DirecTV H24 reciever retails for around $199 US.

A new 45 STV system with MIM box will be around $4729 US not including the required Dish network receivers.

Gen 2 boxes will not work with the Gen 1 antennas. The Gen 1 is limited to DirecTV only. To get Dish service the entire satellite TV system will need to be replaced.

Chris,

[ocgrant]

Thank you Chris. This answers a lot of the unknown... I have 2 of those receivers currently connected and was sure I was getting a lot of channels in HD. I will call direct TV and get a list if I can. They are so difficult to deal with.