Hey Neighbor,
I am afraid that I cannot offer any advice on Directv. I have not had satellite or cable in 15 years. I used to be pretty sharp with that stuff but have been away from it long enough that I an antique.
I have heard recently that Directv is "winding down" their service. The story is that they are loosing subscribers at a rate that is going to kill their profitability. They are not going to replace or add any more satellites and will eventually shut down.
I have not done much "fact checking" on this but you may want to look into it before investing too much into your install.
If you loose DTV, there is a great used book store in Richland. :)
Edit: I need to update my profile :) Not on the rainy side anymore. We moved to Dayton.