Thanks those of you who responded. Here's the hit:
1.
We have DirectTV in one of our small rural libraries.
The service is free only to schools which can not
recieve local television service or have access to
cable. We originally had PrimeStar and when that was
taken over by DirectTV we received the current
service. I know nothing about TiVo as the system is
not available in each classroom, only the library and
we have had it longer than TiVo has been on the
market.
I have found it is difficult to talk with anyone who
at DirectTV who really knows how this works. If you
want, I can secure the phone number from that
building's principal which will connect you with the
right people.
2.
We have a Direct TV service in the library. It's very nice for me to tape
shows off for the teachers and to have to use in library.
The system was free, the updates have been free, there has been no charge
to us for anything. If you want to use it in the classrooms then there
might be so I'm probably not very helpful.
3.
We have DirecTV. We did have to pay the installation cost (about $75) but
the dish and two receivers were free as is the monthly service. They have
a preset package of "channels" available to schools -- probably over 50 - I
haven't counted.
The initial contact was pretty confusing. Person at company kept insisting
I just had to go to the nearest dealer such as Wal-Mart and purchase the
installation/dish. At our nearest Wal-Mart (25 miles), they said cost
would be $13 with free installation. When I contacted our local dealer, he
said the dishes and receivers were free and usually the installation cost
was covered by the payment for monthly service. He made some calls and I
made some calls. We decided to get the dishes free and pay local guy to
install.
You do not have to have a dedicated phone line unless you want to receive
pay for view sports events which we did not. (No, I did not consult the
coaches!)
Without TiVO, you cannot change "channels" with a timer. Old, big
satellite had a receiver that we could program to receive History Channel
at 5 a.m. and Discovery Channel at 7 a.m., etc. With DirecTV, you set the
VCR to tape and it tapes whatever is coming through the receiver at that
time. You do get two receivers. We put both in one of our storage areas
and can tape two programs at the same time on different channels. The only
time it is a problem is if there are several things on in the middle of the
night - we can only tape two. With TiVo, the VCR controls the receiver, I
think, and you should be able to switch satellites somehow.
Also, when the weather is bad, so is the reception. One foggy morning, we
had very poor picture quality. Was told that is normal as signal is
distorted by bad weather. Only sunspots affected the big satellite dish we
had. Always something. Also satellites do not get any local channels, at
least in this area.
We tape a lot from the History Channel and A&E - they have 1 program daily
that is cleared for 2 years use by schools. We also tape from the
Discovery Channel, ESPN2 (math program), and WAM has a great careers series.
Hope this helps.
5.
Hi,
Find a local DirecTV salesman to talk to and pin him down on the Tivo bit.
I think DirecTV would be totally unsatisfactory though..........
They would probably put in only their cheapest equipment, so that all of the
teachers would have to watch the same channel at the same time.
Call your local cable company. They should wire your school for you for free.
Then each teacher is free to select from any of the channels that the cable company
provides in its basic package.
We had that here in the cornfields of Iowa and before and after school, the
teachers would have a variety of channels to select from.
In our case, the installation, the "cable" itself, and the programming were all
free.
In every room, there is a TV, most of which were provided by Channel One.
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