That was not a nice way to welcome a new member. :mad:

Why does post count matter to some of you?

Why do you think everyone is a spy and trying to scam you?

DRMCMTR, I have even been accused by several members several times as being a spy so don't get to upset (I need no proof from you).

I know of several AVS Forum Members that have got boxes from them.
DigitalStar is not like MaxMedia/ConvertMy.TV

DigitalStar will eventually ship the product but is not good at responses now as they look backlogged with orders.
Probably because they are the cheapest for a lot of the converters they sell.
In the beginning when sales were slow they were good at both.

MaxMedia/ConvertMy.TV was ONLY good at responses.

Look at FreeDTVShop mosquito has said that he does not have the time he use to for responses because of order volume.

A lot of stores are empty and these shops are filling in the gap for expiring coupons.

are you kidding, blah blah blah. when i get it I'll believe it. for the record i hope this place is ok and i get my box but when you have other posters start saying they can't find a paper trail and we have been down this road before it sends of singles.

5;42 and still nothing from dish

has anyone got their dtvpal from cheadigitalconverters.com yet?

I ordered from the Dish website on Friday and today, on the Customer Service "My Account at a Glance" page for my account number, it says under "My Equipment":
Primary Receiver: TR-40

On the "Manage My Equipment" page it says:
Receiver#1: DTVPal

interesting.

(BTW, haven't received it yet, but UPS never comes here until late in the day.)

has anyone got their dtvpal from cheadigitalconverters.com yet?
Just to let you all know...I ordered from CDC & believe I was #168...many boxes later, I ordered the 2nd one (I pulled the trigger and then made sure they were on the approved gov't. list). I was # 186 on the 2nd order...Both UPS confirm delivery on July 3rd.

I ordered 1 on Sunday from this company. I received an email confirming the order. I had previously registered with them before I made the order so I can see the status on the order. I logged in and this is what it said in their website:

Order Number dC-CC-xxxxxxxxxx
Status: Awating Shipment To Customer
Date: 6/30/2008

Payment Information

Transaction Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Payment Method: CreditCardPayment

I tried calling them but I get the same message as everyone else. I'm really starting to get worried here. :eek:

I checked and they did cash in the government coupon.

I got a box from them about a month ago I was a bit worried took about a week to go from processing to ship .. and that was when they were faster.

They are extremely slow from what i have readon earlier posts about these folks, but the people eventually did get their boxes.


John.

tuesday july 1 8;34 pm and still haven't gotten a thing from dish

has anyone got their dtvpal from cheadigitalconverters.com yet?

My CDC order will be delivered by UPS tomorrow (7/2).

I ordered from the Dish website on Friday and today, on the Customer Service "My Account at a Glance" page for my account number, it says under "My Equipment":
Primary Receiver: TR-40

On the "Manage My Equipment" page it says:
Receiver#1: DTVPal

interesting.

(BTW, haven't received it yet, but UPS never comes here until late in the day.)


are you talking the dtvpal.com web site because i don't see any customer service stuff

I was going to order DTVPal, and saw my coupon cannot use. I was trying to order DTVpal yesterday, but I did not click submit. Now I can't use my coupon...

I was going to order DTVPal, and saw my coupon cannot use. I was trying to order DTVpal yesterday, but I did not click submit. Now I can't use my coupon...

With what company? Are you saying you filled out coupon info but never click submit? But now it is used?

Did you check the NTIA website to see if it was used?

Just to let you all know...I ordered from CDC & believe I was #168...many boxes later, I ordered the 2nd one (I pulled the trigger and then made sure they were on the approved gov't. list). I was # 186 on the 2nd order...Both UPS confirm delivery on July 3rd.

What day did you place order? Thanks

Can you let us know when you get it? Just want to know if the product comes new and undamaged. ect

What day did you place order? Thanks

Can you let us know when you get it? Just want to know if the product comes new and undamaged. ect

My DTVPal from CDC arrived via UPS this afternoon to San Jose, CA. CDC packages the DTVPal packaging in a second brown box and it arrived new and undamaged. My order number was also below #170.

With what company? Are you saying you filled out coupon info but never click submit? But now it is used?

Did you check the NTIA website to see if it was used?

I think it was at CDC, where you click redeem your government coupon to see the final price, then I click continue, then it take you to the final confirm page, but I did not click confirm to order it. And today I was going to place order at CDC, and can't use the coupon then I went to NTIA website to check and it say my coupon is been used.

I emailed CDC about this, just wait to see what happened....

My DTVPal from CDC arrived via UPS this afternoon to San Jose, CA. CDC packages the DTVPal packaging in a second brown box and it arrived new and undamaged. My order number was also below #170.

There were two original order dates. The dates were June 24 or 25th? Then the second BATCH was June 26th

Can I ask which day you placed the order. First or second batch?

Still haven't got mine. And my number is not too far from you.

Thanks for the info that the boxes came in good condition

I think it was at CDC, where you click redeem your government coupon to see the final price, then I click continue, then it take you to the final confirm page, but I did not click confirm to order it. And today I was going to place order at CDC, and can't use the coupon then I went to NTIA website to check and it say my coupon is been used.

I emailed CDC about this, just wait to see what happened....

Don't wait for e-mail. On the main page there is a CONTACT phone number. Rene will answer the phone. He is nice and should fix your problem right away.

Seems if you e-mail from the main website you get an answer, but if you just e-mail through your e-mail system it seems he does not get it?

I am guessing the computer automatically charged your coupons even though you didn't buy the box.

What day did you place order? Thanks

Can you let us know when you get it? Just want to know if the product comes new and undamaged. ect
I ordered both boxes on June 24th...I am patiently waiting for the 3rd or perhaps they arrive tomorrow...I'll let you know.

Don't wait for e-mail. On the main page there is a CONTACT phone number. Rene will answer the phone. He is nice and should fix your problem right away.

Seems if you e-mail from the main website you get an answer, but if you just e-mail through your e-mail system it seems he does not get it?

I am guessing the computer automatically charged your coupons even though you didn't buy the box.

Oh ok Thanks, are they still operating since its night time right now?

Oh ok Thanks, are they still operating since its night time right now?
They are Pacific time. In CA

Try tomorrow. OF course you can always try now. I doubt it though

I ordered both boxes on June 24th...I am patiently waiting for the 3rd or perhaps they arrive tomorrow...I'll let you know.

Ok I am second batch that is why I didn't get it yet. How dare you get your order before me

Not that it's a critical issue, but I wonder if the star (*) button will act as backspace in the search feature.

Just to let you all know...I ordered from CDC & believe I was #168...many boxes later, I ordered the 2nd one (I pulled the trigger and then made sure they were on the approved gov't. list). I was # 186 on the 2nd order...Both UPS confirm delivery on July 3rd.

That really kind of bugs me. I'm near Order #200 and I was told (and posted here) that I should expect shipment (not delivery) this Wednesday. No UPS verification yet, so I guess after Order #186 they must have taken a few days off on shipping orders. I accept that supply does dictate when the boxes ship but it seems like there were number of "late comers" that were able to get shipments sent out or picked up before some of us in Batch 1.

There were two original order dates. The dates were June 24 or 25th? Then the second BATCH was June 26th

Can I ask which day you placed the order. First or second batch?

Still haven't got mine. And my number is not too far from you.

Thanks for the info that the boxes came in good condition

I placed my order on the 24th (first batch).

There was only one DISH receiver (a 1000) that couldn't be configured for an alternate address. Some were 1-7, some 1-15, some 1-31. You would have no trouble controlling the DTVPal with its fixed address one and not interact with a DISH receiver set to some other address.... Some of the Harmony, etc remotes are aware of the other addresses without having to "learn" buttons too. You could have trouble using a generic universal remote though when the DISH receiver isn't address 1 - they are usually only "address 1" capable.

That's useful info; thanks. Unfortunately:

1. I have a model 301 receiver which presumably can be set to a different address, but I don't see instructions for doing so anywhere in the manual. I suspect other DISH subscribers are similarly in the dark about this feature.

2. My original DISH remote broke some years ago (they're not particularly rugged) and I've used universal remotes ever since, so I'd still have the problem unless I bought a rather expensive new DISH remote (or an incredibly expensive Harmony universal remote!) The DTVPal's EPG and timers are nice and familiar, but at some point a new DVDR with an ATSC tuner starts to look like the better deal.

I agree that the pass-through button on the remote is pointless. It behaves the same as hitting power, except for the 10 second countdown of RU Sure?

Edit: I now get why the remote has the pass-through button. I had a 10PM Event, and PT button would NOT do anything since the event was coming up. I hit the power button, but then the event did NOT fire and turn it on. Tried a 10:15PM event instead and used PT button. Pass-Through and power off are the same for WATCHING, but different for Events. Looks like the LED has to be On (in Pass-Through) for events. But still, when 10:15 came around, all I had was audio - no video. Maybe I'm not doing something right, but Events weren't my reason for this unit, and the wife has tired of watching the blue screen waiting for a timer.

I guess what's most disappointing is that they almost got it right! All they had to do was leave the A/V jacks live when you hit the pass-thru button, and it'd work just like a VCR:

1. With the DTVPal off, you'd get nothing on the A/V jacks (of course) and pass-thru on the RF;

2. With the DTVPal on, you'd get the station the DTVPal was tuned to on both the A/V jacks and the RF; but

3. You could hit the "pass-thru" button and get pass-thru on the RF but still get your DTV stations on the A/V jacks! That means you could hook the A/V jacks to a VCR/DVDR and record DTV stations while watching a different analog station (or, with a second CECB, a different DTV station)!

To be fair, no one else seems to have figured pass-thru out either. But the DTVPal came so close! As Maxwell Smart says, "missed it by that much!"

WARNING:

Just in case anyone's feeling desperate enough to order from Solid Signal - DON'T.

I got burned bigtime by them and lost my coupon. I ordered from them early last Wednesday, and my coupon was to expire the 27th. They confirmed the order by e-mail right after I placed it, and then yesterday I got another e-mail saying my card was expired. I don't think they even got around to entering it until yesterday.

C***s*****s.

WARNING:

Just in case anyone's feeling desperate enough to order from Solid Signal - DON'T.

I got burned bigtime by them and lost my coupon. I ordered from them early last Wednesday, and my coupon was to expire the 27th. They confirmed the order by e-mail right after I placed it, and then yesterday I got another e-mail saying my card was expired. I don't think they even got around to entering it until yesterday.

C***s*****s.

Rammi, I would call them tomorrow and raise a HUGE STINK! The least they can do is honor the deal by eating the $40!

are you talking the dtvpal.com web site because i don't see any customer service stuff

As I found out in this forum, the dtvpal.com site is really a dishnetwork page "under the covers". If you go to the dishnetwork customer care page (https://customersupport.dishnetwork.com/customercare/prepLogon.do), under the "New to Dish Network" section, you can use the Account Number from your DTVPal.com confirmation page and Register a user ID, then view details of your account.

I didn't get anything from them today, so I guess I didn't get 2nd-Day Air service, or it wasn't shipped promptly (or both, more likely). As others have pointed out all their material (web site, CSRs) says ground shipping. Oh well, what's the rush. I have digital OTA through my HDHomeRun already.

Rammi, I would call them tomorrow and raise a HUGE STINK! The least they can do is honor the deal by eating the $40!Yeah, maybe I will, now that I've had time to cool down a bit. They said in the e-mail they cancelled the order, so I was mainly concerned at first that they didn't at least charge my credit card, especially at the full price. I knew that the coupon was gone no matter what I could say or do.

I did try calling them as soon as I heard, but they had me on hold already for like 3 minutes, and said it could take up to 20 minutes, and I had to go out somewhere right then.

In the phone message they left right after they e-mailed me, they said they "weren't responsible for my coupon expiring if it did", so they were already on the defensive and trying to cover their ass.

I think it was at CDC, where you click redeem your government coupon to see the final price, then I click continue, then it take you to the final confirm page, but I did not click confirm to order it. And today I was going to place order at CDC, and can't use the coupon then I went to NTIA website to check and it say my coupon is been used.

I emailed CDC about this, just wait to see what happened....LiuD looks like your coupon can become deactivated even by Dish Network :eek:
My brother called the DISH network phone number to try to finish his order. He talked to a DISH CSR. The DISH CSR found my brother's name and address in their computer but no order information. The DISH CSR was able to successfully input the card information for my brother's one card but the other card showed up as used. The DISH CSR speculates that when the government server crashed during my brother's web order, it charged the card but DISH was unable to place the order in their system.

The DISH CSR told my brother that it has been a long frustrating night. He claims that when the DISH computers try to verify the converter card information, the government site often fails with a server error.

Perhaps, a lot of the problem are due to the government computer verification rather than DISH problems.

The DISH CSR told my brother that he will need to contact the government site to get his coupon reactivated.
Hopefully, this will work (http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/140652-dtvpal-digital-analog-converter-now-available-2.html#post1425081).

WOW - I can't believe this guy paid $18.68 for his order :mad:
All I have to say is I am mad that we all didn't get a price like this.
The two boxes that I mentioned in my previous post arrived today. My account still shows that I was charged $59.99 twice for the two boxes and I also have two $59.99 credits on my account as well. The CSR must have applied the credits as payment by using the coupons.

STATE TAXES 0.78
06/26 06/26 DTVPAL EQUIPMENT CHARGE 59.99
06/26 06/26 DTVPAL EQUIPMENT CHARGE 59.99
06/26 06/26 SHIPPING AND HANDLING 8.95
06/26 06/26 SHIPPING AND HANDLING 8.95
06/26 06/25 DTVPAL EQUIPMENT CHARGE -59.99
06/26 06/25 DTVPAL EQUIPMENT CHARGE -59.99

So I paid $18.68 for two boxes including shipping and taxes.
This is the deal everyone should be getting considering the way Dish promoted the coverter box (Free after coupon). (http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/140652-dtvpal-digital-analog-converter-now-available-3.html#post1430797)

That sucks that a few have lost their coupons due to gov't computers or slow processing by vendors, but one would imagine there are enough friends/family/coworkers/neighbors who have cable/sat and don't give a hoot about OTA DTV who are willing to give you their coupons. Of course, you lose several weeks and have to bother people, but it's not like the transition is going to happen in the next few days. I suppose if you needed 20 coupons and have already hit up everyone you know it would be a problem.

Also, $18.68 for two is still high... it should be available locally for tax only... and the $40 shouldn't be taxed anyway (like a few states listed in that other tax thread)... but maybe the TR40 will be available locally for $40 plus tax some time in two or three months.

....but one would imagine there are enough friends/family/coworkers/neighbors who have cable/sat and don't give a hoot about OTA DTV who are willing to give you their coupons.I only wish that were the case for me, but it isn't.

I placed my order on the 24th (first batch).

Thanks for info. BTW what you think of the box?

In the phone message Solid Signal left right after they e-mailed me, they said they "weren't responsible for my coupon expiring if it did", so they were already on the defensive and trying to cover their ass.I was going to say that the would place the blame on possible NTIA server maintenance (if it was happening around that time).

However, looking at there site I noticed this• Government $40 Coupon Eligible Converter Box (CECB)
- If You Are Using a Government Issued Coupon - Your Order Must Be Placed 3 Business Days Prior To Coupon Expiration DateI don't have a change detection running for any pages on their site so don't know if it is new or not.

You would think they could change there order validation to determine if the coupon will expire before the required 3 business days and deny the order.

Then they shouldn't have e-mailed me saying the order was accepted, and the site shouldn't have said "pending" everytime I checked in.

Also, they took the "pre-order" notice off of the DTVPal page as soon as everyone else was listing it for sale, and made you think it was actually in stock (which I don't think it even was, from what was said in the phone call).

I think most everyone here even assumed it was in stock or at least that they were accepting the coupons right then, according to the way it was worded on the site. It was always stated clearly before that that they weren't accepting the coupons on pre-order - but like I said, they took the "pre-order" wordage off the moment everyone else started selling it.

Then they shouldn't have e-mailed me saying the order was accepted, and the site shouldn't have said "pending" everytime I checked in.

Also, they took the "pre-order" notice off of the DTVPal page as soon as everyone else was listing it for sale, and made you think it was actually in stock (which I don't think it even was, from what was said in the phone call).

I think most everyone here even assumed it was in stock or at least that they were accepting the coupons right then, according to the way it was worded on the site. It was always stated clearly before that that they weren't accepting the coupons on pre-order - but like I said, they took the "pre-order" wordage off the moment everyone else started selling it.

Why would you pay $80 from Solid Signal anyway? I would of called Dish direct

I doubt Solid Signal will ever get anything from the NTIA concerning this.
If you ask me Rammitinski I think the NTIA should give Solid Signal an Alert.

I also would not be supprised if the 3 day notice is new on Solid Signal and was not there when you ordered.
Google Cache only shows the 29th and the notice was there.

You should add a notice to avoid Solid Signal in you signature.

Dish Network was telling people before they started selling that they would accept expired coupons.

You should try talking to Kevin Hutchison who is the DTVPal Contact.
I just found this retailer - manufacture contact list (https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_manufacturers.cfm) today ;)

I don't know how useful this list is for a consumer like us as we are not retailers but I have talked to some of these contacts before when I was researching boxes.

Yeah, that sounds like it's worth a shot - considering I've been a Dish customer for 3 1/2 years.

How reliable is this source? And what have people's experiences with Kloth Satellite been? Has anybody received a DTVPal from them?

I placed a DTVPal order with Kloth Satellite last Wednesday evening, had asked for a shipment notification, and was told it shipped Saturday, and it arrived Monday (I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday or Wednesday). I'm happy I held out for the DTVPal, given the VCR timers, analog pass through, and enhanced program guide and happy with ordering from Kloth,

I had a coupon expiring the day Kloth Satellite (the eBay vendor) first offered the DTVPal (the first day it was available anywhere as far as I know), and I didn't notice availability until ~9pm his time. I submitted the order & payment and followed up with a phone call (because my coupon was expiring in hours). He answered the phone and processed my coupon right away to keep it from expiring. It took him a few days to get out from his backlog of orders (fine with me), but he did what he needed to do urgently (process the coupon to prevent it from expiring). His shipping price seemed reasonable as most of it went to actual shipping ($7 of $10).

John

Sorry about your bad news, Rammitinski. SS has had the 3 day window requirement posted for some time, but it would be easy to click on the order button without seeing it, since it falls below the ordering frame. Maybe SS will honor the price without coupon, otherwise find a friend while Batch 1 is still open to all - and then you may find a $40 dtvpal/TR-40 locally.

ETA: but better idea there to try Dish, because they have told at least one person in the last week that they would honor expired coupons.

1. I have a model 301 receiver which presumably can be set to a different address, but I don't see instructions for doing so anywhere in the manual. I suspect other DISH subscribers are similarly in the dark about this feature.

2. My original DISH remote broke some years ago (they're not particularly rugged) and I've used universal remotes ever since, so I'd still have the problem unless I bought a rather expensive new DISH remote (or an incredibly expensive Harmony universal remote!) The DTVPal's EPG and timers are nice and familiar, but at some point a new DVDR with an ATSC tuner starts to look like the better deal.

An eBay search for "dish remote" had a USED 5.3 for $3 BIN plus $4 shipping. Or 4 6.0 remotes for $15 BIN. Not outrageous.

The Remote guide (or sometimes the manual) are available by clicking on the remote at http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/content/tech/remotehome.shtml and describe how to change the Remote to a different address. Should also be in Troubleshooting as Addressing the Receiver. If you get a DISH receiver to the System Info screen, pressing the Record button on the remote will change the Receiver to match whatever address that remote is set to use. That will stop other universal remotes from working if they only generate address 1 though.

Actually, a 5.2 / 5.3 would work well for you in that Sat mode could control the receiver (address 2-15), and Aux mode could control the DTVPal on address 1.

I got a box from them about a month ago I was a bit worried took about a week to go from processing to ship .. and that was when they were faster.

They are extremely slow from what i have readon earlier posts about these folks, but the people eventually did get their boxes.


John.

Thanks John I just pray that they ship it before the analog signal is turned off. :D

Anyone wondering about digitalstar.com,
I ordered 2 converter boxes from them on 6/17. Received them on 7/1. A little slow but the company does deliver.

As I found out in this forum, the dtvpal.com site is really a dishnetwork page "under the covers". If you go to the dishnetwork customer care page (https://customersupport.dishnetwork.com/customercare/prepLogon.do), under the "New to Dish Network" section, you can use the Account Number from your DTVPal.com confirmation page and Register a user ID, then view details of your account.

I didn't get anything from them today, so I guess I didn't get 2nd-Day Air service, or it wasn't shipped promptly (or both, more likely). As others have pointed out all their material (web site, CSRs) says ground shipping. Oh well, what's the rush. I have digital OTA through my HDHomeRun already.

all i get is my order number isn't 16 digital long and i tried 5 times.

The CM7000 thread says Frys Electronics is now an approved vendor. At last. They are a great candidate for getting in the dtvpal or the Sling stepchild. They are waaaaay late and last I was there had replaced the CM with GE, but for the Dish/E*/Sling box, there's hope. I hate that place, but one thing they know, they can push product.

Anyone wondering about digitalstar.com,
I ordered 2 converter boxes from them on 6/17. Received them on 7/1. A little slow but the company does deliver.

3 post and 2 on digitalstar.com, very suspicious

3 post and 2 on digitalstar.com, very suspicious

You make me laugh. Keep up the drama. Even if I don't get my box it will have been worth watching (reading) this soap opera. No soap advertisements but it is undeniably entertaining. :rolleyes:

all i get is my order number isn't 16 digital long and i tried 5 times.
At some point, I assume you will actually break down and call the number on DTVPal.com or 800.333.3474 and ask a DISH CSR for Tracking number? That's the only way to find out your status - they don't send you email with a tracking number.

1. I have a model 301 receiver which presumably can be set to a different address, but I don't see instructions for doing so anywhere in the manual. I suspect other DISH subscribers are similarly in the dark about this feature.

I've experimented some more, and I think your 301 receiver will ALWAYS respond to the DTVPal remote, no matter what address you set the receiver to. The DTVPal remote's power button operates my 508 receiver, eventhough it is set to address 7. But it doesn't have any effect on a 942/622/722 receiver (EVEN if they are set to use address one). I experimented when an 811 user reported in ADE newsgroup that his DTVPal controlled his 811.

The remote they "borrowed" for the DTVPal
http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/content/tech/remotes/1.5_dedi.shtml
was really odd in that there was no way to change its address. It generated Address ZERO codes. Most older DISH receivers respond to their configured address and also respond to address zero. The DTVPal responds to either address 1 or address 0. A 5.2 UHF Pro would still let you control the 301 as address 2 in Sat and DTVPal as address 1 in Aux, but the DTVPal remote itself will always power on/off your 301, no matter what address you change it to. You would need filters or something to block the IR from the DTVPal remote to prevent it from controlling your 301.

Dish just called me (caller ID = 866-668-8047), following up on my call before the ordering web site went live. Told the telephone representative that I had decided NOT to buy the DTVPal when Dish's price went from $40 to $60 plus shipping.

I'm holding out for a local retailer to offer the DTVPal. So far no luck but I did talk to a Rat Shack manager in Austin who said there would be a meeting mid-July and that DTVPal distribution would be discussed then. Fortunately, I have till mid-Sept to make a decision.

3 post and 2 on digitalstar.com, very suspicious

Order from them if you want, don't if you don't. I was just trying to be helpful.
Sorry if I just joined your forum and don't post alot. I also have a life!!

just got the dtvpal from dish denver call center, bastards! all they did was paste a shipping label on the dtvpal box and sent it that way. no outside package or padding what so ever, the box is all banged up. the bottom of the box could have come apart and lost it's contents, for god sakes this is how you send electronice through the mail, don't think so.

How reliable is this source? And what have people's experiences with Kloth Satellite been? Has anybody received a DTVPal from them?

Yes I received two.

My boxes came packed very neatly and well protected. I got them from that suspicious place, whats there name, oh yea digitalstar.com.

all i get is my order number isn't 16 digital long and i tried 5 times.

If you don't have the 16-digit account number from your order, you can't access it using the customer care site. Try calling the 800 number as bhenley suggests.

just got the dtvpal from dish Denver call center, bastards! all they did was paste a shipping label on the dtvpal box and sent it that way. no outside package or padding what so ever, the box is all banged up. the bottom of the box could have come apart and lost it's contents, for god sakes this is how you send electronics through the mail, don't think so.Very suspicious - Mr. Soap Opera

You never even asked if others had any package protection with there Dish Network boxes like foam peanuts or bubble wrap.

Edit: This just in all Dish Network DTVPal boxes are shipped like this.
If you shipped two they will not be together and also like above according to A guy who read the manual

All your posts appear to be negative towards Dish Network

You must either be a Channel Master Spy (You got one of those boxes and didn't complain as much), or a MaxMedia Spy
(you keep bringing them up and they are still on the list of unavailable boxes)

I have had enough of these childish spy games and don't find them entertaining, they need to stop.

My 2 DTV Pal's from Kloth Satellite arrived in today's mail in a flat rate priority mail box. Whew!

Very suspicious - Mr. Soap Opera

You never even asked if others had any package protection with there Dish Network boxes like foam peanuts or bubble wrap.

Edit: This just in all Dish Network DTVPal boxes are shipped like this.
If you shipped two they will not be together and also like above according to A guy who read the manual

All your posts appear to be negative towards Dish Network

You must either be a Channel Master Spy (You got one of those boxes and didn't complain as much), or a MaxMedia Spy
(you keep bringing them up and they are still on the list of unavailable boxes)

I have had enough of these childish spy games and don't find them entertaining, they need to stop.

Very suspicious that you find me Very suspicious.......

I placed a DTVPal order with Kloth Satellite last Wednesday evening, had asked for a shipment notification, and was told it shipped Saturday, and it arrived Monday (I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday or Wednesday). I'm happy I held out for the DTVPal, given the VCR timers, analog pass through, and enhanced program guide and happy with ordering from Kloth,

I had a coupon expiring the day Kloth Satellite (the eBay vendor) first offered the DTVPal (the first day it was available anywhere as far as I know), and I didn't notice availability until ~9pm his time. I submitted the order & payment and followed up with a phone call (because my coupon was expiring in hours). He answered the phone and processed my coupon right away to keep it from expiring. It took him a few days to get out from his backlog of orders (fine with me), but he did what he needed to do urgently (process the coupon to prevent it from expiring). His shipping price seemed reasonable as most of it went to actual shipping ($7 of $10).

John
Thanks for all the feedback about Kloth Satellite! I just ordered from their EBay store (they're selling DTVPals again as of today), and found it to be a quick and relatively painless process. Now we'll see how fast they ship...

just got the dtvpal from dish

Whew! Glad you finally got your shipment! Now you can start complaining about the box! :D

Thanks for all the feedback about Kloth Satellite! I just ordered from their EBay store (they're selling DTVPals again as of today), and found it to be a quick and relatively painless process. Now we'll see how fast they ship...Thanks for the update on Kloth, I will have to update the link in my EPG/price list.
It also looks like I will have to update there prices (they raised shipping for additional boxes by 50¢)

I have also added Data Action who is selling the DTVPal.

97 available at KLOTH SATELLITE LLC at the moment.

They have a better explaination of redeeming your $40 coupon up today.

Because of the CECB program I understand why Buy it Now is $20 (ebay doesn't get a cut)... Yet I'm disappointed there isn't a Buy it Now for $60 if someone wanted to pay with out coupon.

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! It'll make your brain hurt and might cause ebay related problems.

Yet I'm disappointed there isn't a Buy it Now for $60 if someone wanted to pay with out coupon.


Actually, there is. Read further down in the page. He will bill you via Paypal.

Actually, there is. Read further down in the page. He will bill you via Paypal.

Yes, just as he did for me, and it was shipped out promptly.No problems with Kloth for me.

Actually, there is. Read further down in the page. He will bill you via Paypal.

Sorry. Re-read the listing... didn't see any explicit mention of how to conduct a non-coupon purchase at $60.

It is implied you could pay "full price" I'll grate you that... but it doesn't layout how.

I'm not suggesting there is a problem, just that it now clarifies the coupon use... but doesn't layout paying without. Kind of like a "CDC" issue where we complained about design/layout of it's site and DTVPAL page. Things are working OK... but could be better. That is all.

At a little after 3PM Central my sub #200 order from "CDC" placed on 6/24/08 was updated to "Shipped" status.

"CDC" and UPS both sent me notification.

The package hasn't been picked up/scanned yet by UPS but they currently estimate a 7/9/08 delivery date. Dang the weekend and Independence Day. :)

I just called CDC about my coupon, and told me to call them on Monday and then match the coupon number to finish the order. Also I put my coupon number on DTVpal.com also to see the price, but I did not input the right 3 digits that is on the back of the coupon. I click order on DTVPal, but I did not confirm. I think the coupon has been used at CDC, since it enter the real number and click redeem my government coupon.

Called the 1-888-DTV-2009 and try to ask them which company charged the coupon, and they say they can't check it... But I think pretty sure its CDC, since I entered the wrong number at DTVPal.com

I just called CDC about my coupon, and told me to call them on Monday and then match the coupon number to finish the order. Also I put my coupon number on DTVpal.com also to see the price, but I did not input the right 3 digits that is on the back of the coupon. I click order on DTVPal, but I did not confirm. I think the coupon has been used at CDC, since it enter the real number and click redeem my government coupon.

Is there anyway that I can find the info on which company used my coupon from the government site/phone.

Don't think there is... if you use the automated site/phone.

The DTVpal site has/had an auto tally feature that didn't require adding the CECB coupons... But that doesn't matter if you did enter the #s in... You mentioned putting in the wrong 3 digit # for your coupon. I'm not sure if that is an added or backup security feature. Not sure if it required to make the transaction.

Regardless I hope it all works out OK.

Aww Crap..uses same remote codes as my Dish 6000.

Don't see any way to change the Pal's remote address either..I can see problems if they sell these to existing dish customers.

Don't think there is... if you use the automated site/phone.

The DTVpal site has/had an auto tally feature that didn't require adding the CECB coupons... But that doesn't matter if you did enter the #s in... You mentioned putting in the wrong 3 digit # for your coupon. I'm not sure if that is an added or backup security feature. Not sure if it required to make the transaction.

Regardless I hope it all works out OK.

There is pending at my credit card account, I think that's from DTVPal site...
I hope everything will be fine.

Aww Crap..uses same remote codes as my Dish 6000.

Don't see any way to change the Pal's remote address either..I can see problems if they sell these to existing dish customers.

Try this:

Just change the remote address for one receiver and one remote, press the System Info button on the front panel, Press and hold the SAT button (about six seconds) until all mode key backlights come on, then release. ,Use the number pad buttons to enter a number from 1 to 15. (a number other than one in this case), The light will blink off after each digit is entered and then return to a steady light. Press the POUND (#) button. If the code entered is valid for the remote, the SAT mode light flashes three times.Press the Record button. Note:The number in the Remote Address field on your TV screen should match the one you input.

I had hoped to get a DTVPal from a local retailer this week, but now they're backing off, saying Dish won't ship them that fast because not enough units...

Soooo...I guess I'll burn the coupon that I have expiring in 2 weeks on an online retailer. I have been following this thread since its beginning, but have trouble keeping straight what has appeared in the last 3 days about RECEIPT time and condition/packaging of the unit...so here are a few notes I made in paging back about 150 posts:

dtvpal.com (might as well start at the source): at least 1 unit received Monday, no comment about condition. ANY SUBSEQUENT RECEIPTS? AND PACKAGING?

cheapdigitalconverters: 1 arrived well packed 7/1, others scheduled for delivery 7/2,3,9 ANY OTHERS RECEIVED?

digitalstar.com: at least 1 received (I didn't note when) and well packaged...ANY OTHERS RECEIVED?

Kloth Satellite (ebay seller) - positive things said about seller, at least 2 have already received units...COMMENTS ABOUT CONDITION? (I guess no news is good news)

PURCHASES FROM ANY OTHER ON-LINE RETAILERS ALREADY RECEIVED?

a couple of responses for each retailer would enrich our knowledge about who's ok or not

(note I have not included Solid S, because of Ramm's experience, but feel free to add those, too)

Thanks!!!

Try this:.

Thanks, 6000 remote now only controls 6000.. but dtv pal still controls 6000.

Is there a method like this for dtv pal?

Dish Network - puts a label on the box - no special packaging or bundling.
If you order two they were both have individual labels.
They say 2nd day air but it has been UPS ground.

Kloth Satellite - They are in a flat-rate USPS Priority Mail box.
Actual shipping charges to him are: $7.00 for one box (charges $10.00)
$12.40 for two boxes (charges $14.50)
He ships with USPS Insurance and that is included in the total.

CheapDigitalConverters - I don't remember and don't want to look

DigitalStar - I don't remember and don't want to look

Data Action - I never seen a report

DishStore.net - did not take coupons and had 25 to sell

Thanks, 6000 remote now only controls 6000.. but dtv pal still controls 6000.

Is there a method like this for dtv pal?

No, there is no Record button on the DTVPal remote.:D

Actually, the problem is much deeper. The DTVPal remote's Power button will toggle the 6000 on and off no matter what address you change the 6000 to be. It does the same to my 508 setup on Address 7. The DTVPal remote generates Address ZERO codes, not Address 1. The DTVPal receiver can be controlled by a remote sending either Address 1 or Address 0 codes. The older DISH receivers are controlled by whatever address they are configured to use (appear in Sys Info) and Address 0. 942/622/722 doesn't respond to Address 0 IR like older units, and even when they are set to Address 1, the DTVPal remote won't control them.

You could use any DISH remote other than the DTVPal (aka 1.5 IR Dedicated) set to Address one and it would only control the DTVPal and not the 6000, but there is no way to prevent the DTVPal remote from operating your 6000 (or my 508).

Dish Network - puts a label on the box - no special packaging or bundling.
If you order two they were both have individual labels.
They say 2nd day air but it has been UPS ground.


That isn't at all true about ground. UPS tracking shows it as 2nd day air as does the UPS label on the box. I've not seen anybody (excluding you) say theirs arrived UPS Ground. I got mine on Monday from CO to CA. I'd still be waiting for ground. Just entering 1Z... from the label should show UPS thought it was 2nd day.

Actually, the problem is much deeper. there is no way to prevent the DTVPal remote from operating your 6000 (or my 508).

Did I mention I have a dish 811 too?? :) I thought so, thanks for the help.

I like this unit, tho not as sensitive as the Zenith 900/901, and the pal does not easily support multiple audio pids. (I run 3 NWS audios with WX radar)

the BEST EPG of any thus far., and a decent remote too! cool:

Thanks to this forum, I found Data-Action.com / Infon Chen in sales.

They have DTVPals in stock as of "now" and only charge actual shipping costs, compared to Dish $54 for 6 and Kloth for $33. No tax out of Texas.

Thus, my order for 6:
6 for $359.94
Ship 18.00
Less coupons 240.00
Total due $137.94

That's only $22.99 each - not bad in this market!

Has to be processed by email/phone rather than web page for >2 units.
He even called me to make sure I knew how to order them correctly.

Seems fine so far - will advise later. Hope someone else can use this info.

Jim

Update July 3 12:35
All 6 units shipped DHL just now - really fast service!

Update July10 11:28
DHL transfered shipment to the USPO who will deliver Friday. DHL do not deliver to rural areas, but give to PO to complete the job!! Was only 4 days to get here in any case.

My rating for this vendor appears on the thread "CECB Online shopping experience"

I received a DTVPal today from Kloth Satellite and it was not in another box, just a label on factory fox. It did arrive in good condition and in working order. No complaints by me.

That isn't at all true about ground. UPS tracking shows it as 2nd day air as does the UPS label on the box. I've not seen anybody (excluding you) say theirs arrived UPS Ground. I got mine on Monday from CO to CA. I'd still be waiting for ground. Just entering 1Z... from the label should show UPS thought it was 2nd day.I never ordered directly from Dish Network.
I just read about it on both the AVS Forum and SatelliteGuys.US

I don't remember if they were just orders in Colorado as they would not need 2nd day air and just use Ground Shipping but would be charged the same.

I received a DTVPal today from Kloth Satellite and it was not in another box, just a label on factory fox. It did arrive in good condition and in working order. No complaints by me.trp2525 had told me about his order of two DTVPal's with Kloth being in a box.

Looks like Dish Network is not the only one trying to save shipping costs.

just got the dtvpal from dish denver call center, bastards! all they did was paste a shipping label on the dtvpal box and sent it that way. no outside package or padding what so ever, the box is all banged up. the bottom of the box could have come apart and lost it's contents, for god sakes this is how you send electronice through the mail, don't think so.I think somebody from Dish has been reading your posts and is just having a little fun at your expense. Be sure not to disappoint them.

Thanks to this forum, I found Data-Action.com / Infon Chen in sales.

They have DTVPals in stock as of "now" and only charge actual shipping costs, compared to Dish $54 for 6 and Kloth for $33. No tax out of Texas.

Thus, my order for 6:
6 for $359.94
Ship 18.00
Less coupons 240.00
Total due $137.94

That's only $22.99 each - not bad in this market!
Not a bad deal at all. This is probably the second best deal on DTVPal's I have seen.
The best deal on these boxes would have been this one
bsexton @ SatelliteGuys.US who paid $18.68 for his two boxes.

Question for people who got their box from Cheapdigitalconverters.com

How long did it take you to get your UPS shipping tracking info after you got the confirmation that the boxes have been shipped

Many said there was two e-mails. 1 Stating the box was shipped and second was UPS info. How long after you got the shipped e-mail did you get the UPS e-mail

thanks

I'm sorry if this question has already been answered. I know everyone wants the dtvpal so they can use it with their VCRs. Can you also use the dtvpal with your dvd recorder (without a digital tuner) to record programs? I assumed yes but no one seems to mention anything about their dvd recorders...only VCRs

thanks in advance

Received E-Mail from CDC stating order shipped at 2:12 PM on 7/2/08 and notification from UPS at 4:14 PM on 7/2/08. Placed order 6/24/08-order # 197. Sceduled delivery 7/9/08. Sounds like a good site!

DigitalStar sends you a conformation email of you order but their web site gives you no way of checking order status using order number or sale number, extremely suspicious. Doesn't look hard to fool the government because i see a lot of suspicious name electronic stores on their site accepting coupons

i just checked the tracking number on my dtvpals label with the UPS site and it said delivered. Mailed 28 and arrived in jersey 01 and my door 02. three days from CO to NJ that is a pretty slow plane.

Can you also use the dtvpal with your dvd recorder (without a digital tuner) to record programs? I assumed yes but no one seems to mention anything about their dvd recorders...only VCRs
sure you can - if it has an analog tuner, just feed to channel 3 or 4; if not, rca to your composite line input (actually, I guess this would be better in any case, because it should provide stereo whenever the original program being broadcast is better than mono...)

Thanks to this forum, I found Data-Action.com / Infon Chen in sales.

They have DTVPals in stock as of "now" and only charge actual shipping costs, compared to Dish $54 for 6 and Kloth for $33. No tax out of Texas.

Thus, my order for 6:
6 for $359.94
Ship 18.00
Less coupons 240.00
Total due $137.94

That's only $22.99 each - not bad in this market!

Has to be processed by email/phone rather than web page for >2 units.
He even called me to make sure I knew how to order them correctly.

Seems fine so far - will advise later. Hope someone else can use this info.

Jim

It's not as great of a deal if you just buy 1 converter box though...ends up being $30 for one cause of $10 shipping :/ but still cheaper than the other places :) let us know when you receive them!

sure you can - if it has an analog tuner, just feed to channel 3 or 4; if not, rca to your composite line input (actually, I guess this would be better in any case, because it should provide stereo whenever the original program being broadcast is better than mono...)

and if the tv doesn't have composite line plugs.......

Received E-Mail from CDC stating order shipped at 2:12 PM on 7/2/08 and notification from UPS at 4:14 PM on 7/2/08. Placed order 6/24/08-order # 197. Sceduled delivery 7/9/08. Sounds like a good site!

Maybe because I got the notice after 5 pm that UPS is closed? Maybe tomorrow?

and if the tv doesn't have composite line plugs.......

not to worry...my tv isn't that old! although I do have another tv w/o composite plugs...

Received E-Mail from CDC stating order shipped at 2:12 PM on 7/2/08 and notification from UPS at 4:14 PM on 7/2/08. Placed order 6/24/08-order # 197. Sceduled delivery 7/9/08. Sounds like a good site!

can i ask what state your in? why so long delivery? 7 days?

can i ask what state your in? why so long delivery? 6 days?

July 2 to July 9 would be 7 days, but only 4 business days.

i just checked the tracking number on my dtvpals label with the UPS site and it said delivered. Mailed 28 and arrived in jersey 01 and my door 02. three days from CO to NJ that is a pretty slow plane.
Why not post the UPS tracking number?
Mine is 1Z 80X 436 02 4933 4176
Mine doesn't say "Mailed" anywhere, and happens to not have any reference to the weekend which isn't part of the two business days. It got to my local UPS at 7PM on Friday the 27th from the first day you could order, Thursday the 26th about mid-day. If you View Package Progress, what is the 1st Departure scan timestamp? Does your tracking info not say Service: 2ND DAY AIR like everybody else's?

My question is how far away he is from CDC. Trying to judge when I will get mine. I never got UPS tracking only CDC saying shipped

An eBay search for "dish remote" had a USED 5.3 for $3 BIN plus $4 shipping. Or 4 6.0 remotes for $15 BIN. Not outrageous.

Thanks. I hadn't even thought about eBay - duh!

When the remote failed I naturally checked with Dish for the replacement, and naturally they wanted more than the cost of a decent universal remote - so I went with the universal instead. That's where I got the idea Dish remotes were expensive.

The Remote guide (or sometimes the manual) are available by clicking on the remote at http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/content/tech/remotehome.shtml and describe how to change the Remote to a different address. Should also be in Troubleshooting as Addressing the Receiver. If you get a DISH receiver to the System Info screen, pressing the Record button on the remote will change the Receiver to match whatever address that remote is set to use. That will stop other universal remotes from working if they only generate address 1 though.

Thanks again. Good God there a lot of remotes at the Dish site! I don't even remember which model came with the 301 originally. I think it was one of the 1.5 models, but I guess it doesn't really matter: I could just pick up any cheap one on eBay, then get the programming info from that Web site.

Actually, a 5.2 / 5.3 would work well for you in that Sat mode could control the receiver (address 2-15), and Aux mode could control the DTVPal on address 1.

My question is how far away he is from CDC. Trying to judge when I will get mine. I never got UPS tracking only CDC saying shipped

Since they are in California you can go to the UPS Map Page
http://www.ups.com/maps?loc=en_US&WT.svl=SubNav
and you can use 90001 as a zip code. You will see that most of the US is 4 or 5 business days.

My question is how far away he is from CDC. Trying to judge when I will get mine. I never got UPS tracking only CDC saying shipped
I'll get back to you tomorrow on ordering and UPS Confirmation timeline...I checked and both boxes are in San Antonio, Texas...45 minutes away! So CDC's delivery date of June 3rd in right on track. It will be interesting to see which box arrives first...#168 or #186.

My question is how far away he is from CDC. Trying to judge when I will get mine. I never got UPS tracking only CDC saying shippedTry using this form lexus2108 to calculate estimated shipping time
https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_US

I forget what office CDC is using to ship the boxes from
Santa Maria, CA 93458 or Los Angeles, CA 90022

Testing with my zip code in Colorado
If they mailed today (July 2nd) it should arrive July 8, 2008 using UPS Ground

If they mail (July 7th) it should arrive July 10, 2008 using UPS Ground

So some time next week.

sure you can - if it has an analog tuner, just feed to channel 3 or 4; if not, rca to your composite line input (actually, I guess this would be better in any case, because it should provide stereo whenever the original program being broadcast is better than mono...)

and if the tv doesn't have composite line plugs.......

If your TV has neither RF or composite jacks, I think it's time for a new TV...

I've experimented some more, and I think your 301 receiver will ALWAYS respond to the DTVPal remote, no matter what address you set the receiver to. The DTVPal remote's power button operates my 508 receiver, eventhough it is set to address 7. But it doesn't have any effect on a 942/622/722 receiver (EVEN if they are set to use address one). I experimented when an 811 user reported in ADE newsgroup that his DTVPal controlled his 811.

Gosh that takes me back - completely OT but waaay back in the '80's I used Atari home computer equipment that handled their printers like that. Atari's first printers all responded as printer 1; later Atari got smart and added a second address to their newer printers. Each model had its own address, but for compatibility with the older computers & software, they all responded as printer 1 as well!

The remote they "borrowed" for the DTVPal
http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/content/tech/remotes/1.5_dedi.shtml
was really odd in that there was no way to change its address. It generated Address ZERO codes. Most older DISH receivers respond to their configured address and also respond to address zero. The DTVPal responds to either address 1 or address 0. A 5.2 UHF Pro would still let you control the 301 as address 2 in Sat and DTVPal as address 1 in Aux, but the DTVPal remote itself will always power on/off your 301, no matter what address you change it to. You would need filters or something to block the IR from the DTVPal remote to prevent it from controlling your 301.

So it sounds like it'll still work - I just have to use the Dish remote I get at eBay and not the DTVPal remote. Thanks yet again.

I wonder if a learning universal remote can learn the address 1 and address 2 codes? Of course I'd have to teach it every single button (definitely for address 2, maybe for address 1 also) but that would let me overcome any problems if, say, I got a Dish remote that didn't work my TV.

Ordered mine on 6-26 from dtvpal arrived today 7-2 with just a shipping label on the dtvpal box.

I checked and both boxes are in San Antonio, Texas...45 minutes away! So CDC's delivery date of June 3rd in right on track.If they promised you June 3, they're about a month late.  If they promised you July 3 and you made a typo, nevermind.

Received E-Mail from CDC stating order shipped at 2:12 PM on 7/2/08 and notification from UPS at 4:14 PM on 7/2/08. Placed order 6/24/08-order # 197. Sceduled delivery 7/9/08. Sounds like a good site!

Howdy Neighbor! I'm just ahead of you and my e-mails arrived at 3:08pm "CDC" and 3:11pm UPS (Central Time). So if you're Mountain Time "CDC" is doing alright. Odd about the UPS "lag".

Ordered mine on 6-26 from dtvpal arrived today 7-2 with just a shipping label on the dtvpal box.

Man we ordered on same date. I should of placed order through dish. paid extra but have the box. Guess you get what you pay for

If your TV has neither RF or composite jacks, I think it's time for a new TV...

Or you get a cheap 300 ohm wire to 75 ohm F connector adapter... Which you might already have collected over the years.

Lets be honest. There ARE old TV Sets out there that have been working just fine in their current config... Some of them are going to require some extra adapters/wiring that most of the CECBs aren't going to provide in the box. There might be a few that will detail in the manual what you might need. I hope so because I'd hate for a nice old Grandpa to go in looking for an adapter and walking out with a $1000 HDTV he doesn't want/need.

DigitalStar sends you a conformation email of you order but their web site gives you no way of checking order status using order number or sale number, extremely suspicious. Doesn't look hard to fool the government because i see a lot of suspicious name electronic stores on their site accepting coupons

i just checked the tracking number on my dtvpals label with the UPS site and it said delivered. Mailed 28 and arrived in jersey 01 and my door 02. three days from CO to NJ that is a pretty slow plane.

I have not heard anything credible, just your wild speculation, to indicate there is anything dishonest about DigitalStar.com.

I have not seen any evidence that it is not just a small business with systems scaled for small order volume. Those types of systems can easily be overwhelmed. Considering how many major corporations have had there databases hacked, I do not find it suspicious at all that a small business would not expose its customer database to attack. In fact, I would feel better that they do not. It would be silly for a small business to set up sophisticated, and expensive, systems that will only be used for a few months.

You believed you played it safe by ordering from a big guy. That did stop them from using shipping methods that you whined about.

There is always always some risk in ordering on the internet. It is up to the individual to assess that risk and make their own decision.

I got my 2 units from CDC in perfect condition today. I ordered on 6/24, I got both emails on 6/25, and got my package in 5 business days to KS.

I hooked 1 up to a TV and it works really well. I'm impressed with the functionality and user configurable options. It is clearer than cable or std OTA TV. I'm glad I held out for the DTVPal.

Also, don't hesitate to order from CheapDigitalConverters.com. It is a legit operation.

Talked to the ups man that delivered my dtvpal he said the louisville ky ups hub had a very large volume of these from dish.He had 40 something on his truck to deliver today.He said he was glad they came in a small box.

Or you get a cheap 300 ohm wire to 75 ohm F connector adapter... Which you might already have collected over the years.

Whoops, I shouldn't have said RF. The joke I was trying to make was if your TV has no inputs at all, it's time for a new one.

Whoops, I shouldn't have said RF. The joke I was trying to make was if your TV has no inputs at all, it's time for a new one.

Actually, you were OK. Both 75 ohm coax and 300 ohm twin lead provide RF signals.

Or you get a cheap 300 ohm wire to 75 ohm F connector adapter... Which you might already have collected over the years.

Lets be honest. There ARE old TV Sets out there that have been working just fine in their current config... Some of them are going to require some extra adapters/wiring that most of the CECBs aren't going to provide in the box. There might be a few that will detail in the manual what you might need. I hope so because I'd hate for a nice old Grandpa to go in looking for an adapter and walking out with a $1000 HDTV he doesn't want/need.

lets not forget that some will need to be buying new antennas as well...the ones that came with the TV if its old enough...or even the el cheapo ones that you bought at Wal-Mart 15 years ago...while fine with an analog signal, might not pick up much of anything when the switch is flipped and theres no more analog. Grandpa didnt mind having his picture a little fuzzy at times...but what does he do when a storm comes through and instead of fuzzy...he gets no reception at all for the night.

sure would be nice if the ones who mandated this change thought about that a little more. This is why a "free" converter would have been ideal...because (as you said) people who are buying these boxes have older tv's that work just fine and would have kept on working just fine if they werent forced to switch...but now (some) have to buy cables and new antennas...neither of which is offset by any coupon. :(

DigitalStar sends you a conformation email of you order but their web site gives you no way of checking order status using order number or sale number, extremely suspicious. Doesn't look hard to fool the government because i see a lot of suspicious name electronic stores on their site accepting coupons

...


The "no way of checking order status" statement above is not correct, in general. There is a link at the top of the main digitalstar.com page, "My Orders". If, and only if, you are on the same computer and running the same web browser as when you placed your order, clicking that link will take you to a page where your order number is shown. You can click on the order number and it will take you to another page where the order status and shipping information (your name, address, etc.) are shown. Your order number is stored as a cookie in your browser cache, it seems. True, there is no way I can find where you can type in your order number to get status.

My order shows "awaiting shipment to customer"; I only placed my order earlier this week. Based on prior posts it seems I won't get the box in the mail (I think their site says they ship USPS Priority) for a couple of weeks. My credit card charge appeared today.

Of course, this info will no doubt be disregarded as "suspicious", since I have only a tiny number of posts. Oh well, time to start typing! :p

--Gary

Hello , One coupon expired and I got a Magnavox with the other. I ended up buying a panasonic vcr/dvd recorder with digital tuner because my old vcr was shot. I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.? Is there a work around?:(

Hello , One coupon expired and I got a Magnavox with the other. I ended up buying a panasonic vcr/dvd recorder with digital tuner because my old vcr was shot. I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.? Is there a work around?:(

I am a little surprised at a VCR that won't record from the tuner, but just out of curiosity, I'm sure you have a reason for wanting to record to tape and that makes this unit frustrating, but why do you want to do it? Maybe to give a copy to friends who don't have a DVD player?

(Ordinarily a DVD recording will have superior quality to an ordinary tape recording, which why I ask)

The "no way of checking order status" statement above is not correct, in general. There is a link at the top of the main digitalstar.com page, "My Orders". If, and only if, you are on the same computer and running the same web browser as when you placed your order, clicking that link will take you to a page where your order number is shown. You can click on the order number and it will take you to another page where the order status and shipping information (your name, address, etc.) are shown. Your order number is stored as a cookie in your browser cache, it seems. True, there is no way I can find where you can type in your order number to get status.

My order shows "awaiting shipment to customer"; I only placed my order earlier this week. Based on prior posts it seems I won't get the box in the mail (I think their site says they ship USPS Priority) for a couple of weeks. My credit card charge appeared today.

Of course, this info will no doubt be disregarded as "suspicious", since I have only a tiny number of posts. Oh well, time to start typing! :p

--Gary

my cookies are wiped after every session so this practice of only being able to check order status with a saved cookie in the browser is highly suspicious as well you keep defending them.

Based on prior posts it seems I won't get the box in the mail (I think their site says they ship USPS Priority) for a couple of weeks. My credit card charge appeared today.

and this isn't a red flag to you.....over the top SUSPICIOUS!!!

[QUOTE=kenavs;14211080]I have not heard anything credible, just your wild speculation, to indicate there is anything dishonest about DigitalStar.com.
QUOTE]

that is my point, I have not heard anything credible to indicate there is anything honest about DigitalStar.com, just that their paper trail leads to a dead end. i haven't hear anything but they burnt my coupon and i guess credit card i'll check that tomorrow.

I was sure that I understood the analog/digital transition...until now. I just heard about this DTVPal this morning and now I am confused. I am not a Dish customer, but my parents are...

I am a cable customer. So, as long as I have a digital receiver for each TV with an analog tuner...I'll be fine.

I was under the impression that if my parents have a Dish receiver for each of their analog TV's in the house...they will be fine. Is this not correct? Will they need a converter as well?

They have four analog TV's
- They have one 625 DVR which works for two of those TV's
- They have two 311's for the remaining TV's

Can anyone clarify this for me? Thank you!

I was sure that I understood the analog/digital transition...until now. I just heard about this DTVPal this morning and now I am confused. I am not a Dish customer, but my parents are...

I am a cable customer. So, as long as I have a digital receiver for each TV with an analog tuner...I'll be fine.

I was under the impression that if my parents have a Dish receiver for each of their analog TV's in the house...they will be fine. Is this not correct? Will they need a converter as well?

They have four analog TV's
- They have one 625 DR which works for two of those TV's
- They have two 311's for the remaining TV's

Can anyone clarify this for me? Thank you!

it's not the TVs but the over the air broadcasting that is changing from analog to digital. cable and dish subscribers have nothing to change since they do everything for you. you need a digital converter box if you watch broadcast TV that you need a antenna to pick up and are using a analog TV. I'm guessing the word DISH that's confusing you, they just made a digital analog decoder box the dtvpal for broadcast over the air digital reception. the cable single unless it's a high definition is analog and will stay that way for some time. if you needed a decoder for cable they will rent you one and let you know if one is needed, your fine the way you are and so are your parents.

I am a cable customer. So, as long as I have a digital receiver for each TV with an analog tuner...I'll be fine.

I was under the impression that if my parents have a Dish receiver for each of their analog TV's in the house...they will be fine. Is this not correct? Will they need a converter as well?

They have four analog TV's
- They have one 625 DVR which works for two of those TV's
- They have two 311's for the remaining TV's

Can anyone clarify this for me? Thank you!

Your parents are all set. You only need a converter box if the TV is receiving it signals via an OTA antenna and the TV has no digital tuner.

it's not the TVs but the over the air broadcasting that is changing from analog to digital. cable and dish subscribers have nothing to change since they do everything for you. you need a digital converter box if you watch broadcast TV that you need a antenna to pick up and are using a analog TV. I'm guessing the word DISH that's confusing you, they just made a digital analog decoder box the dtvpal for broadcast over the air digital reception.

Yes, I understand that this is concerning OTA broadcast TV...which is why I was confused by DISH's involvement. This doesn't affect those customers who have locals provided by DISH. If they don't offer them in a particular area...and that customer has an antenna hooked up via the connection on the back of their DISH receiver...doesn't that receiver already have a digital tuner to convert the signal for the analog TV? Is this just being done as another source of revenue and not by necessity?

Your parents are all set. You only need a converter box if the TV is receiving it signals via an OTA antenna and the TV has no digital tuner.

Ok, that's what I thought. I also thought however that even the 311's have a connection for an antenna on the back. I thought that all of the receivers allowed for this. If you have a digital receiver (I'm assuming that all DISH receivers are digital and they may not be) why would you also need this DTVPal? Just connect your OTA antenna to your reciever and move on. I'm not trying to be difficult. I guess I just don't see the connection. Why would DISH be in the business of selling a product that their customers don't even need?

Yes, I understand that this is concerning OTA broadcast TV...which is why I was confused by DISH's involvement. This doesn't affect those customers who have locals provided by DISH. If they don't offer them in a particular area...and that customer has an antenna hooked up via the connection on the back of their DISH receiver...doesn't that receiver already have a digital tuner to convert the signal for the analog TV? Is this just being done as another source of revenue and not by necessity?

since i never been a subscriber to dish i really can't answer that. i remember people saying the local channels are broadcast differently than dish content, i don't know and guess you would have to check with them on that.

Ok, that's what I thought. I also thought however that even the 311's have a connection for an antenna on the back. I thought that all of the receivers allowed for this. If you have a digital receiver (I'm assuming that all DISH receivers are digital and they may not be) why would you also need this DTVPal? Just connect your OTA antenna to your reciever and move on. I'm not trying to be difficult. I guess I just don't see the connection. Why would DISH be in the business of selling a product that their customers don't even need?

Some of your DISH (Non-DTVPal) specific questions are probably directed to threads that can address the OTA Digital/Analog abilities of the specific Receiver.

However, if the DISH Receiver (with OTA hookup) isn't getting all the available local OTA "digital" channels NOW it's likely you'll need to make arrangements like have DISH update/upgrade the receiver unit or you get a CECB (likely not a DTVPAL since it's remote might conflict with the DISH Receiver) to take over from the DISH Receiver.

I don't see it being hard to believe that any company might branch out and "get a piece of the pie" if they wanted to do it. Coca-Cola and Pepsi could have released a CECB. I'm sure we've all seen some "oddly" branded items from companies that aren't known for product X...

Now I am concerned about the DISH remote control conflict problem. I have a DISH 622 receiver, and I think it has both UHF and IR remote controls. The IR is used in the room for TV1 and I actually have several TV2s connected, each with its own UHF remote control. I suspect that the potential conflict would be in the room where the receiver is located using IR remote. I actually was hoping to use a DTV Pal in that same room on my computer monitor that has a PIP (picture in picture) NTSC tuner. I think it may be possible to get an additional UHF remote control for DISH and configure it for TV1. However, maybe the simplest thing is to just select a different brand. I think I originally became interested in the TR-40 because of the price and features, but now the price is a non-issue and it seems that some of the features may be questionable for me. Can anybody suggest the next best CECB in both price and features? Is it the RCA or the Magnavox?

Originally Posted by dagger666
DigitalStar sends you a conformation email of you order but their web site gives you no way of checking order status using order number or sale number, extremely suspicious. Doesn't look hard to fool the government because i see a lot of suspicious name electronic stores on their site accepting coupons.

dagger666's statement about Digitalstar.com is simply uninformed and incorrect.

It is actually very easy to check your order status without even being registered.

From Digitalstar.com home page click the "My orders" link at the top.
Then all of your previous orders that were stored in a cookie show.
Then click the order number (which is a link)
Then your order status shows, including all the details from the order.

If your PC is set to delete (or not accept) cookies (because you may have suspicions about them)
you may have to register before ordering so that the order is tied to an account.
Then log in to check your order status.

I did not register, so that is speculation.
Beeper

The Twister Group

http://www.thetwistergroup.com/product/159365%20H29170.html

just raised their price for the Sling 159365/TR40 from $39.12 to $43.12. S&H is unknown - the 159365 is still not available.

The Buy.com

http://www.buy.com/prod/digital-to-analog-converter-wi/q/loc/111/207886355.html

price is holding at $48.99 including S&H. Also "temporarily sold out".

Ok, that's what I thought. I also thought however that even the 311's have a connection for an antenna on the back. I thought that all of the receivers allowed for this. If you have a digital receiver (I'm assuming that all DISH receivers are digital and they may not be) why would you also need this DTVPal?
The 625 and 311 do NOT have an ATSC tuner for OTA digital signals. The only DISH receivers with an ATSC tuner are their HD receivers, not SD. On my 508, there is an antenna in signal but the receiver doesn't do anything with it. When the unit is off, it passes that signal through to its "TV Out" connection. When turned on, "TV Out" is a channel 3 or 4 version of the satellite channel. Pressing TV Video button on the remote puts the 508 into "Pass-Though" mode, like when it is off. If your folks can watch local channels from DISH, nothing needs to happen. If DISH doesn't carry locals (or all the locals) in your DMA and they use an antenna signal to get them, you do need some ATSC tuner in Feb.

Now I am concerned about the DISH remote control conflict problem. I have a DISH 622 receiver, and I think it has both UHF and IR remote controls. The IR is used in the room for TV1 and I actually have several TV2s connected, each with its own UHF remote control. I suspect that the potential conflict would be in the room where the receiver is located using IR remote.
Even if I configure my 622/722 to use Address one, the DTV Pal remote has NO effect on it at all (standing right in front of it at TV1). ViP receivers don't seem to respond to Address zero like the older receivers do. Shouldn't be a problem with them side by side and using the DTVPal remote. If you are using the 5.3 IR remote that came with the 622, you don't even need the DTVPal remote if you are willing to give up what is in Aux now (A/V receiver?) as it can be setup as address 1 and control the DTVPal.

The Twister Group

http://www.thetwistergroup.com/product/159365%20H29170.html

just raised their price for the Sling 159365/TR40 from $39.12 to $43.12. S&H is unknown - the 159365 is still not available.

The Buy.com

http://www.buy.com/prod/digital-to-analog-converter-wi/q/loc/111/207886355.html

price is holding at $48.99 including S&H. Also "temporarily sold out".

Is there a difference between the Sling box & the DTVPal?? If so, what is it?

Thanks, Dan

On my 508, there is an antenna in signal but the receiver doesn't do anything with it. When the unit is off, it passes that signal through to its "TV Out" connection. When turned on, "TV Out" is a channel 3 or 4 version of the satellite channel.

Man I feel dumb. If DISH just has a "pass-though" feature (I thought it might have some built in VCR/DVR channel tuner type setup)... Then yes you'll want to request some coupons and look for a CECB that you can integrate into that setup. As mentioned the DTVPAL might have some remote conflicts with a DISH Receiver so be aware.

I ended up buying a panasonic vcr/dvd recorder with digital tuner because my old vcr was shot. I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.? Is there a work around?:(

Sounds like a design decision to me. A stupid one! Probably to save a few bucks. The designers probably thought, "Why would anyone want to record to VHS when they could record to DVD?"

I doubt that there is any work around. I've seen VCR/DVD combos like that, and I suspect that your VCR is probably, in fact, just a video cassette player rather than a video cassette recorder. The idea is to let you play your old VHS tapes and even copy them to DVD if you like, but not to create new VHS recordings.

However, if it turns out that your VCR is indeed a recorder, then you could probably connect a digital to analog converter like the DTVPal to the line input for the VCR and record programs that way.

I am a little surprised at a VCR that won't record from the tuner, but just out of curiosity, I'm sure you have a reason for wanting to record to tape and that makes this unit frustrating, but why do you want to do it? Maybe to give a copy to friends who don't have a DVD player? (Ordinarily a DVD recording will have superior quality to an ordinary tape recording, which why I ask)

In my opinion, there is a very good reason to record to VHS rather than DVD...time. Most VCRs will record up to 6 hours on a single VHS tape with very good albeit analog quality. Meanwhile, you are hard pressed to record more than 2 hours to a typical DVD with the same level of quality. To record 6 hours to a single DVD would typically give you very poor quality. Of course, there are some machines that are better than others, but in general, this has been my experience.

Hello , One coupon expired and I got a Magnavox with the other. I ended up buying a panasonic vcr/dvd recorder with digital tuner because my old vcr was shot. I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.? Is there a work around?:(

All current DVD, VCR and even the Philips DVR (with hard drive) recorders have ATSC tuners for OTA digital (HD)signals yet they cannot record in HD. They record in SD. If your recorder is not recording at all then it is broken. Read your manual. This is why we are waiting for the TR-50 that promises true HD recording for OTA broadcast.

Edit: Maybe Rick313 is correct that they make a VCR-DVD combo that the VCR does not record?? That is retarded and I have never seen one but it may be true.

I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.?
How would they sell you the latest and greatest TV/Recorder/Player if everything you recorded on tape looked as good as a commercial pre-recorded movie ?
Is there a work around?:(
Maybe. The boxes usually indicate that VCR recording is from line input only. You might be able to loop the "line out" back to the "line in" and hit record. Monitor the output from the RF or hook up another device, like a camcorder, instead of the loop-back, and see if the line out from the digital tuner blanks when you hit record. You can usually record with a VCR without putting the unit into "VCR" mode. (TV/VTR switch) You need it in TV mode for it to work, so after putting it into record, you might have to press the TV/VTR button to put it back into TV if it switches to VCR.

You might also need to check and see if the VCR can do a timer recording from the line input as well as the analog tuner. It should because that would be the method of recording from a set-top-box, either a cable/satellite box or even a digital converter box.

Now I am concerned about the DISH remote control conflict problem. I have a DISH 622 receiver, and I think it has both UHF and IR remote controls. The IR is used in the room for TV1 and I actually have several TV2s connected, each with its own UHF remote control. I suspect that the potential conflict would be in the room where the receiver is located using IR remote. I actually was hoping to use a DTV Pal in that same room on my computer monitor that has a PIP (picture in picture) NTSC tuner. I think it may be possible to get an additional UHF remote control for DISH and configure it for TV1. However, maybe the simplest thing is to just select a different brand. I think I originally became interested in the TR-40 because of the price and features, but now the price is a non-issue and it seems that some of the features may be questionable for me. Can anybody suggest the next best CECB in both price and features? Is it the RCA or the Magnavox?

Even if I configure my 622/722 to use Address one, the DTV Pal remote has NO effect on it at all (standing right in front of it at TV1). ViP receivers don't seem to respond to Address zero like the older receivers do. Shouldn't be a problem with them side by side and using the DTVPal remote. If you are using the 5.3 IR remote that came with the 622, you don't even need the DTVPal remote if you are willing to give up what is in Aux now (A/V receiver?) as it can be setup as address 1 and control the DTVPal.

Thanks for the confirmation that the DTVpal remote will NOT conflict with the VIP 6/722. My brother and I are both wanting a DTVpal to keep legacy VCRs working. I have the 622 and he has the 722.

Whew, I got worried there for a second.

Is there a difference between the Sling box & the DTVPal?? If so, what is it?

Thanks, Dan

as i know the sling box is for transmitting your cable over the INTERNET so you can watch your cable in NY on your computer in PA to say. dtvpal is just for over the air digital TV.

dagger666's statement about Digitalstar.com is simply uninformed and incorrect.

It is actually very easy to check your order status without even being registered.

From Digitalstar.com home page click the "My orders" link at the top.
Then all of your previous orders that were stored in a cookie show.
Then click the order number (which is a link)
Then your order status shows, including all the details from the order.

If your PC is set to delete (or not accept) cookies (because you may have suspicions about them)
you may have to register before ordering so that the order is tied to an account.
Then log in to check your order status.

I did not register, so that is speculation.
Beeper

dagger666's statement about Digitalstar.com is correct, read it again.

dagger666,

So after all your "suspicious" comments about digitalstar.com you said something about they burnt your coupon and you'll check your credit card tomorrow so you apparently trusted them enough to order from them. So why don't you just sit back and relax and wait for your box(es) and see if they come through (which they will). If they don't, then make your remarks, if they do, then I think you owe it to the people of this board a statement that your remarks about this company were just premature negative comments based on no actual fact on your part.

Thanks for the confirmation that the DTVpal remote will NOT conflict with the VIP 6/722. My brother and I are both wanting a DTVpal to keep legacy VCRs working. I have the 622 and he has the 722.

But you can both be recording OTA digital channels to the 622/722 (while you record two other sat channels) and later record from their hard drive to VCR. Once you have 55 hours of HD or 350 hours of SD recording capacity (more if you add an external USB drive), I don't see much need for a VCR. Me not being able to see doesn't mean there isn't a need, but when I want to record something I use a DVD recorder for things already on the DISH hard drive. More work than some M-F event to make the recording automatically?? Not important, just curious.

Is there a difference between the Sling box & the DTVPal?? If so, what is it?

Thanks, Dan

depends on the model of the Sling Box as to if it has one input or multiple and if it has a tuner for cable, i don't think there is any for OTA tuning

Sling Box purpose is to transfer, via internet, video from the Sling box, what ever you have connected it to as source, to your computer which is internet connected and has the Sling Player installed.

dtvpal is only a tuner for dtv

Is there a difference between the Sling box & the DTVPal?? If so, what is it?

Thanks, Dan

I think people are getting confused when you say Sling box vs. SlingMedia TR-40, which was once on the CECB approved list, along with Echostar TR-40, still on the CECB approved list. We didn't hear about the existence of the second box until the announcement that the dtvpal would be $60, rather than $40. This came as a complete surprise, without details. But there have been a couple isolated comments reported from retailers: "stripped down" and "August 8." Dish made such a mess of the dtvpal release, I'm expecting nothing official. Best guess, August 8 targeted release, changed in some way.

My speculation is that however they designed the g-link connection overheated the box, hence the redesign with external power supply, raising the cost. I'm guessing the $40 box will be the old big box without the g-link feature. I think it was twistergroup that had the old box photo. So already a price increase for pre-sale, that sounds familiar. :rolleyes:

dagger666,

So after all your "suspicious" comments about digitalstar.com you said something about they burnt your coupon and you'll check your credit card tomorrow so you apparently trusted them enough to order from them. So why don't you just sit back and relax and wait for your box(es) and see if they come through (which they will). If they don't, then make your remarks, if they do, then I think you owe it to the people of this board a statement that your remarks about this company were just premature negative comments based on no actual fact on your part.

if you followed my post i ordered then tried to follow their paper trail which tunred up a dead end and as others said they were also suspicious about this company. If they send me a brand new wroking box i will be more than happy to report that on here but until they do i'll remain suspicious.

In my opinion, there is a very good reason to record to VHS rather than DVD...time. Most VCRs will record up to 6 hours on a single VHS tape with very good albeit analog quality. Meanwhile, you are hard pressed to record more than 2 hours to a typical DVD with the same level of quality. To record 6 hours to a single DVD would typically give you very poor quality. Of course, there are some machines that are better than others, but in general, this has been my experience.


My two Philips HardDrive/DVD recorders do an EXCELLENT job at the six hour setting. TOTALLY viewable results. (Even the EIGHT hour setting one of them has isn't that bad, but I'd only watch it on a portable with a small screen. Still, even a 13 inch screen produces a "pretty much viewable" picture.)

All current DVD, VCR and even the Philips DVR (with hard drive) recorders have ATSC tuners for OTA digital (HD)signals yet they cannot record in HD. They record in SD. If your recorder is not recording at all then it is broken...

The person with the non-recording VHS drive didn't say he was trying to record in HD. He said he was trying to record off the digital tuner....

The digital tuner obviously downconverts to SD, since it only has a regular DVD writing drive, not a blu-ray (and certainly not an HD-DVD drive).

as i know the sling box is for transmitting your cable over the INTERNET so you can watch your cable in NY on your computer in PA to say. dtvpal is just for over the air digital TV.



Dagger...

Sling is involved with Echostar where the DTVPal is concerned. Might even end up having their own branded version of the thing.

When the question was asked, "Sling box" meant not "Slingbox" but rather "box by Sling".

It was already established that Sling will be selling "our little friend with the timer" as well.

i tell you what is suspicious BigMikey273, your constant defense of them using excuses, 'THEY ARE A SMALL ELECTRONIC COMPANY' 'THEY ARE CHANGING LOCATIONS WHY ADDRESS CAN'T BE FOUND' 'THERE COMPUTER SYSTEM IS OVER WHELMED' ' THEY ARE TO SMALL FOR SOFTWARE THAN WOULD CHECK ORDERS BY ORDER NUMBER' all sounds very familiar type excuseses from another on line dealer we all know.

I live in Missouri and the 4th is involved'

The person with the non-recording VHS drive didn't say he was trying to record in HD. He said he was trying to record off the digital tuner....

The digital tuner obviously downconverts to SD, since it only has a regular DVD writing drive, not a blu-ray (and certainly not an HD-DVD drive).

The point I was trying to make is that the fact that it was a digital tuner should not prevent a VCR from recording--just that it would be SD vs HD. From their post I was not sure they knew that. And as I noted afterward, either they compromised the VCR (which is hard to understand why) by not allowing it to record or it is broken.

I live in Missouri and the 4th is involved'

suspicious

My speculation is that however they designed the g-link connection overheated the box, hence the redesign with external power supply, raising the cost. I'm guessing the $40 box will be the old big box without the g-link feature. I think it was twistergroup that had the old box photo. So already a price increase for pre-sale, that sounds familiar. :rolleyes:

From the DTVpal manual (link available in a previous post) the G-Link is actually the IR-blaster that comes with a TVGOS device. My own speculation is that the "G-link" feature software support to turn-off the scheduler in the DTVpal, and just let the TVGOS device do its own scheduling. The manual goes into more detail, even describing what zip code to set your device to....

can i ask what state your in? why so long delivery? 7 days?
Well, considering one day is a holiday and two days are on the weekend, that "7 days" is actually only 4.

i just order one of them this morning, a friend down in Florida gave me his 2 coupons because he has comcast and will never switch back to ota TV. the shipping charge isn't that big of a deal when you look at gas being close to 5.00 gallon.

just checked and dish has redeemed the coupon for the dtvpal i ordered from them last week. the coupon used to buy the maxmedia box comes back as being used so what does that say about them giving us them back.

Is this the post which documents your purchase from DigitalStar? (You were responding to a comment about DigitalStar, but that does not guarantee that the "i just order one" had to be from DigitalStar. You had been posting about your Dish order.)
Did you just place the DigitalStar order on Monday 6/30/2008?
Your whining started the very next day!
You live on the east coast. With the 4th involved, if you get it any time next week, most rational people would consider it reasonable service.

Is this the post which documents your purchase from DigitalStar? (You were responding to a comment about DigitalStar, but that does not guarantee that the "i just order one" had to be from DigitalStar. You had been posting about your Dish order.)
Did you just place the DigitalStar order on Monday 6/30/2008?
Your whining started the very next day!
You live on the east coast. With the 4th involved, if you get it any time next week, most rational people would consider it reasonable service.

part was dish other digitalstar which i still haven't gotten, what a surprise

if you followed my post i ordered then tried to follow their paper trail which tunred up a dead end and as others said they were also suspicious about this company. If they send me a brand new wroking box i will be more than happy to report that on here but until they do i'll remain suspicious.

Don't quit your day job to go to work as a detective.

If you go to the DigitalStar website you find:
E&E Electronics has been in business for over 25 years selling, installing and maintaining satellite and antenna related equipment. E&E Electronics operates digitalstar.com which specializes in sales of digital converter boxes as well as indoor/outdoor antennas. Digitalstar is a participating retailer in the TV converter box coupon program. We provide fast and secure way to purchase NTIA approved converter box using government coupon.

If you go to the Illinois Secretary of State website and search for the corporation entry:Entity Name E & E ELECTRONICS, INC. File Number 52729211
Status GOODSTANDING
Entity Type CORPORATION Type of Corp DOMESTIC BCA
Incorporation Date (Domestic) 05/11/1982 State ILLINOIS
Agent Name DMITRIY POLYAKOV Agent Change Date 07/11/2007
Agent Street Address 141 REVERE DR President Name & Address ALINA MOGILEVSKY 41 RED OAK LANE HIGHLAND PARK 60035
Agent City NORTHBROOK Secretary Name & Address GREGORY MOGILEVSKY SAME
Agent Zip 60062 Duration Date PERPETUAL
Annual Report Filing Date 05/06/2008 For Year 2008


Just because someone found some website with an inaccurate entry about the company does not prove there is something wrong.

Is this the post which documents your purchase from DigitalStar? (You were responding to a comment about DigitalStar, but that does not guarantee that the "i just order one" had to be from DigitalStar. You had been posting about your Dish order.)
Did you just place the DigitalStar order on Monday 6/30/2008?
Your whining started the very next day!
You live on the east coast. With the 4th involved, if you get it any time next week, most rational people would consider it reasonable service.

part was dish other digitalstar which i still haven't gotten, what a surprise

I take it from your brilliant reply that you did order from DigitalStar on Monday 6/30/2008 and started whining on Tuesday 7/1/2008.

i tell you what is suspicious BigMikey273, your constant defense of them using excuses, 'THEY ARE A SMALL ELECTRONIC COMPANY' 'THEY ARE CHANGING LOCATIONS WHY ADDRESS CAN'T BE FOUND' 'THERE COMPUTER SYSTEM IS OVER WHELMED' ' THEY ARE TO SMALL FOR SOFTWARE THAN WOULD CHECK ORDERS BY ORDER NUMBER' all sounds very familiar type excuseses from another on line dealer we all know.

Please show me the quote(s) in this forum that I made any of those statements. When I ordered my boxes from them it was the first time I'd ever heard of this company. All I did was reply to a request. Someone asked if anyone had ordered and received boxes from them and I made a reply and now I'm an undercover spy. Wow, your household must be crazy!!
NOW BACK UP YOUR STATEMENTS AND SHOW ME AND EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS FORUM THE QUOTES YOU SAY I MADE!!

Gentlemen:

This thread is about "Dish DTVPal / Echostar TR40 digital to analog converter" not the accuracy or credibility of Mr. Dagger666's shipping reports. Could you please bring the discussion back on topic and take this sniping elsewhere.

I'm not interested, and I doubt that many others are interested. Enough already!

Or you get a cheap 300 ohm wire to 75 ohm F connector adapter... Which you might already have collected over the years.

Lets be honest. There ARE old TV Sets out there that have been working just fine in their current config... Some of them are going to require some extra adapters/wiring that most of the CECBs aren't going to provide in the box. There might be a few that will detail in the manual what you might need. I hope so because I'd hate for a nice old Grandpa to go in looking for an adapter and walking out with a $1000 HDTV he doesn't want/need.

and then there are those with a black & white set:rolleyes:

Sorry for the ongoing arguments, I just don't like being accused of making statements I and everyone else that reads this thread knows I didn't make.

Again, Sorry to everyone on this thread.
BigMikey273

I emailed Provantage and got a response: The manufacturer is still not shipping them. They have pushed the date back to early July.

Seems consistent with what others have reported who pre-ordered DTVPals from Provantage. I'm becoming increasingly optimistic, I might get a box after all.

Whidbey, I am waiting to see what happens too -- but I just got the letter in the mail from the Dept. of Commerce saying they were going to reissue coupons because of the the special circumstances. Did you get one of these? Provangage still shows my order in progress. Does this mean there is no chance I can still get my boxes from them?

Whidbey, I am waiting to see what happens too -- but I just got the letter in the mail from the Dept. of Commerce saying they were going to reissue coupons because of the the special circumstances. Did you get one of these? Provangage still shows my order in progress. Does this mean there is no chance I can still get my boxes from them?

Interesting. Last I heard Provantage was hoping to ship on the 9th. Maybe we will get lucky and get the box AND a replacement coupon.:rolleyes:

Thanks dattier for catching that...I did mean July 3rd.

Both boxes arrived today @ 3:16 p.m. CST. Packing is fair...only one side and the bottom contained packing peanuts. No visual damage to either unit ...I will now put it to the test.

Any ideas on A/B testing...What should I report on? What are you guys most interested in? I have a tivax and a channel master that I am borrowing so I can compare it to these.

I will use patch cords...when I used the tivax box thru RF, it gave me very strong colors...Is this what you call color saturation? I'll report back later.

i ordered 2 DTVPALS from Digitalstar on 6-26-08.

Sent them an email this morning containing the copy of there email confirming the sale asking when i whould be receiving the shipment.

Received an email back this afternoon stating my order has been shipped with USPS tracking number.

Six businness days total time so far.

Hi folks, I just received my Pal from Dish (DTVPal.com) via UPS Ground. I ordered on Fri, 6/27 at 1PM PDT. It was in its original product box as usual, but the box is in good shape. I'll be trying it out with my TVGOS VCR later tonight, with a report in the morning. :)

Tracking is as follows:

MENLO PARK,CA, US 07/03/2008 4:44 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
07/03/2008 3:30 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO,CA, US 07/03/2008 12:24 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO,CA, US 07/02/2008 7:51 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SAN PABLO,CA, US 07/02/2008 7:01 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2008 6:28 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SPARKS,NV, US 07/02/2008 2:20 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2008 11:56 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SALT LAKE CITY,UT, US 07/02/2008 2:59 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2008 1:19 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
COMMERCE CITY,CO, US 06/30/2008 11:33 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
06/30/2008 6:11 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 06/30/2008 1:05 A.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Hello , One coupon expired and I got a Magnavox with the other. I ended up buying a panasonic vcr/dvd recorder with digital tuner because my old vcr was shot. I just found out the vcr will not record digital programming. What I do not understand is if the tuner converts digital to analog so it can be viewed on my old tv, why wont the tape record it.? Is there a work around?:(

The Panasonic DMR-EZ47VK can record to the built-in VCR, but only when the tuner is set to an analog channel. It will not record from a digital broadcast. There is no such limitation for recording DVDs.

If you've bought a newer recorder, it's probably the DMR-EZ48VK which from all accounts is very similar to the previous model. You might check the forum to see if anyone else has seen this limitation in the newer model.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1014536

i ordered 2 DTVPALS from Digitalstar on 6-26-08.

Sent them an email this morning containing the copy of there email confirming the sale asking when i whould be receiving the shipment.

Received an email back this afternoon stating my order has been shipped with USPS tracking number.

Six businness days total time so far.

i never received an email about anything being shipped. you would figure they could do that, it's not that big of a deal. lets us know the progress but i;m still suspicious of you being a beginner poster.

the channel master cm-7000 is a really nice box. i did not find it hard at all to setup or get around the menus like others have reported. The remote isn't a problem either but it did only take in about 5 channels off our roof top antenna which is like 30+ years old and $29 radio shack junk.

P.S. Jaromir Jagr isn't a New York Ranger anymore, Sather has moved past him and started to rebuild the team.

Dagger

If You havn't already, this is there email sales@digitalstar.com

With the holiday i would think you should get a response by monday.

The Panasonic DMR-EZ47VK can record to the built-in VCR, but only when the tuner is set to an analog channel. It will not record from a digital broadcast.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1014536

That is a bummer. Bad design.

Guys?

Help me out here with regards to DISH remotes working with the DTVPal.

I have an old TiVo (no digital tuner), and if the digital boxes respond as if they were DISH receivers, there's a chance I can bring my TiVo into the fold where the DTVPal is concerned.

Someone on the TiVo Community forum seems to have gotten their machine (a TiVo meant only for cable and satellite) working with an OverTheAir digital box. They found out what set of Infra Red remote codes the digital box responded to and set up their TiVo to work with a set top box using that set of codes.

They then apparently lied to the TiVo and said they had satellite service, which apparently included OTA digital channels on exactly the same channel numbers they're really on. (Guess some satellite boxes include OTA digital tuners?)

The TiVo now believes it's hooked into satellite with OTAs coming in thru the satellite box. It also believes the digital box is some other type...one that the TiVo knows how to control.

What I'm trying to find out from him is what type of satellite service he has where the OTAs are on the same channel numbers as they really are.

What I need from you guys is what DISH box's remote will control the DTVPal.

If I can tell my TiVo it's using that particular DISH box, and can find a satellite channel lineup for my area that's got the right numbers....

Is there a difference between the Sling box & the DTVPal?? If so, what is it?

Dan,

First, the Sling/Echostar (S/E) converter box is not the same as the "Sling box". I am only referring to the digital to analog TV converter made by a partnership between Sling and Echostar.

No one knows the final configuration of the S/E 159365/TR40 - except Sling, Echostar and Dish. The Twister Group write up APPEARS to be very similar the the DTVPal. But, as with the final pricing of the DTVPal, the final specs of the 159365/TR40 can change.

A Dish spokesman is quoted as saying that Dish purchases the DTVPal from S/E for resale to the public.

Still, we will not know the final configuration of the 159365/TR40 until it is released.

Also, there is SPECULATION the release date is on or around August 8th. But there have been no announcements from S/E.

My take: The Twister Group and Buy.com are both continuing to carry the "159365" on their website. They have also adjusted pricing. That bodes well for the S/E moving from vaporware to a deliverable product.

As for the 159365/TR40 release date non-announcement, I think S/E has a arrangement with Dish. If S/E announced a $39.99 converter box tomorrow, it would significantly affect the sales of the much higher margin $59.99 DTVPal. That would likely hurt both Dish AND Sling/Echostar.

All current DVD, VCR and even the Philips DVR (with hard drive) recorders have ATSC tuners for OTA digital (HD)signals yet they cannot record in HD. They record in SD. If your recorder is not recording at all then it is broken. Read your manual. This is why we are waiting for the TR-50 that promises true HD recording for OTA broadcast.

Edit: Maybe Rick313 is correct that they make a VCR-DVD combo that the VCR does not record?? That is retarded and I have never seen one but it may be true.
A few months ago, I was looking for a DVD/VCR recorder with a digital tuner, but had trouble finding one which would record from the tuner to the VCR. Neither the previous nor the current Panasonic would do this. The only ones I found at the time were made by LG (RC797 & RC897) and Sony (RDRVXD655), but I couldn't find user comments about them. I don't want to go into this any more here, because it's off topic. I've been trying to find a thread that covers DVD/VCR recorders, but haven't found anything current. If anyone can direct me, i'd certainly appreciate the help.

Received E-Mail from CDC stating order shipped at 2:12 PM on 7/2/08 and notification from UPS at 4:14 PM on 7/2/08. Placed order 6/24/08-order # 197. Sceduled delivery 7/9/08. Sounds like a good site!

Howdy Ray,

I ordered just before you on the 24th and also am expecting a 7/9/08 delivery... Lexus and I have been discussing a possibly significant delay between when "CDC" gives us our "shipped" status, UPS gets it's "Billing Info. Received", and when it actually hits the UPS "grid".

With July 4th already messing up delivery times I wouldn't be surprised if we might be a day or so off before UPS catches up. But if you notice when UPS does report your Tracking #'s "Origin/Departure Scans" could you let us know. I'm still in "Billing Info." status even though "CDC" has me in "shipped" status.

Any other past/present "CDC" orders with UPS Tracking #s that would like to share what their average "Shipped"/"Billing Info" vs "Origin/Departure Scan" time lag is I'd appreciate it. Hopefully it's only a day or so normally.

Thanks,

Dave

What I need from you guys is what DISH box's remote will control the DTVPal.


I think most, if not all of them will. The closest match will be the Dish 111 though.

What I'm trying to find out from him is what type of satellite service he has where the OTAs are on the same channel numbers as they really are.

What I need from you guys is what DISH box's remote will control the DTVPal.
I think most, if not all of them will. The closest match will be the Dish 111 though.

There are very few DISH receivers you could pick for the TiVo that wouldn't generate commands that the DTVPal would obey (really old 7x00 DishPlayers come to mind). I'd think you would have the best luck if you told the TiVo that you had a DISH 942 receiver or any ViP receiver (211, 222, 622, 722). Maybe you just select DISH HD Receiver, dunno. TiVo Community would be a better source than me for that part. Those receivers have OTA ATSC tuners where, like on a DTVPal, you enter 01301 to pick channel 13.1. If your TiVo thought you had a ViP 211 and you got OTA channels on it, it would get the OTA schedule for your DMA/zipcode/however you set it up and it would generate the appropriate OTA channel numbers on an IR blaster that would change to that channel. It shouldn't matter that the DTVPal remote itself uses oddball codes. The DTVPal unit would act upon the same codes (address 1) that the TiVo would send to a 211.

Did I miss that there are 2 known admitted BUGs in the DTVpal?

What bugs?

Since a few of you have your DTVPals now, have you tried the analog pass-through feature yet? I have a couple of questions:

1. If the DTVPal is off/standby, is the analog signal passed through unattenuated? (This is a problem with the Philco/Magnavox - you have to leave these boxes on to pass analog signals through, which means you have to disable the 4-hour auto-shutoff.)

2. If the DTVPal is on and you engage analog pass-through with the remote, does it continue to send the converted digital broadcast to the A/V outputs? (If so, it could be daisy-chained to another device, such as a second converter box, without splitters, A/B switches, or the like.)

1: When off, the analog is passed through just fine.
2: When pass-through is enabled, a ten second countdown appears, then the A/V outputs stop sending signal.


Interestingly, if you have a Dish IR remote, it will control the DTV Pal and vice versa, ie the DTV Pal remote controls your satellite TV. I am contemplating a setup where I combine the receiver and DTV Pal output using a reversed Y splitter. That way, as long as the auto shutoff doesn't muck things up, turning on one device with the remote will shut the other one off, and they can share the same TV input. Would make it easier for my wife to keep her sanity.

Did I miss that there are 2 known admitted BUGs in the DTVpal?

What bugs?1. When 4:3 content is sent in a 16:9 transmission, bad VBI is frequently seen along the top of the 4:3 content. (Dish Network has acknowledged this is a known problem.)

2. At least with Software Version F100TCGH-N, the DTVPal does not power itself on when an event timer goes off. (One user reported this is fixed in F101TCGH-N, but Dish Network claims it's a known problem in that version also.)

1. When 4:3 content is sent in a 16:9 transmission, bad VBI is frequently seen along the top of the 4:3 content. (Dish Network has acknowledged this is a known problem.)

2. At least with Software Version F100TCGH-N, the DTVPal does not power itself on when an event timer goes off. (One user reported this is fixed in F101TCGH-N, but Dish Network claims it's a known problem in that version also.)

Hey thanks,

Can you explain in laymen terms "bad VBI is frequently seen along the top of the 4:3 content" What is a VBI? What does it look like on screen?

A few months ago, I was looking for a DVD/VCR recorder with a digital tuner, but had trouble finding one which would record from the tuner to the VCR. Neither the previous nor the current Panasonic would do this. The only ones I found at the time were made by LG (RC797 & RC897) and Sony (RDRVXD655), but I couldn't find user comments about them. I don't want to go into this any more here, because it's off topic. I've been trying to find a thread that covers DVD/VCR recorders, but haven't found anything current. If anyone can direct me, i'd certainly appreciate the help.


......Look under "Video Components" for "DVD recorders"

What is a VBI? What does it look like on screen?It's the data that's transmitted during the vertical retrace interval. It's normally not seen due to overscanning at the top of the crt. If displayed, it appears as a few scan lines of broken and moving white dashes on a black background.

What I'm trying to find out from him is what type of satellite service he has where the OTAs are on the same channel numbers as they really are.I don't know much about Direct, but Dish does - at least the SD versions.

you know i was watching the King of Queens and figured i would flip between the HD and SD channels which is sub 05-02 because not only is the show on these channels at the same time but it's shot in HD. I never know how blurry SD TV was before doing this. I know how great the Giants game look in HD over SD but WOW! This should have been done years ago.

Agent City NORTHBROOK Secretary Name & Address GREGORY MOGILEVSKY SAME, now my suspicions are solid. anyone named George can't be trusted, my brothers name is George and he is worthless.

how many accounts can one person setup on here under different names

Agent Street Address 141 REVERE DR President Name & Address ALINA MOGILEVSKY 41 RED OAK LANE HIGHLAND PARK 60035

This is not the address they advertise on the DigitalStar website. The main issue I was bringing up is their own website advertises an address that is the address of AcoreElectronics of which I called on the phone who said they never heard of them. If a company is using a false address, it's highly suspicious to me and I wouldn't do business without varifying more about them. Also their phone number was linked to 2 other business names when I googled it, so it makes no difference if they have a legit business licence somewhere, the point is locating where and who they are so you can track them down if they don't deliver. What's worse than "vaporware" is "vapor business".

ALINA MOGILEVSKY, very suspicions sounding name

What I'm trying to find out from him is what type of satellite service he has where the OTAs are on the same channel numbers as they really are..DirecTV does that.

ALINA MOGILEVSKY, very suspicions sounding name

Since Mosquito has a message on his site saying that a percentage of the profits will go to support the troops. Maybe this company should have a little message saying that a percentage of the profits will go to feed the elephants?

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/alina-mogilevsky.asp?cycle=08

http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?27990170593

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2789/24167yp8.gif

they charged my credit card $27.45 on 07/01/08

Dan,

First, the Sling/Echostar (S/E) converter box is not the same as the "Sling box". I am only referring to the digital to analog TV converter made by a partnership between Sling and Echostar.

No one knows the final configuration of the S/E 159365/TR40 - except Sling, Echostar and Dish. The Twister Group write up APPEARS to be very similar the the DTVPal. But, as with the final pricing of the DTVPal, the final specs of the 159365/TR40 can change.

A Dish spokesman is quoted as saying that Dish purchases the DTVPal from S/E for resale to the public.

Still, we will not know the final configuration of the 159365/TR40 until it is released.

Also, there is SPECULATION the release date is on or around August 8th. But there have been no announcements from S/E.

My take: The Twister Group and Buy.com are both continuing to carry the "159365" on their website. They have also adjusted pricing. That bodes well for the S/E moving from vaporware to a deliverable product.

As for the 159365/TR40 release date non-announcement, I think S/E has a arrangement with Dish. If S/E announced a $39.99 converter box tomorrow, it would significantly affect the sales of the much higher margin $59.99 DTVPal. That would likely hurt both Dish AND Sling/Echostar.

Oboist1, thanks for the info. I put "159365 digital" into Froogle and came up with quite a few Sling/Echostar converter boxes at $40-45. Most said it was back-ordered but this site "appeared" to have in stock for $40.99. http://www.superduperclub.net/dhechostardtvpal.html

They stated free with coupon but didn't see anyplace to put in a coupon #.

Maybe before Aug 8?

I have been following this for a little while now and I see that people are starting to get their units now. My questions are:

1) Is their any definite word on which (any?) brick and mortar stores carrying these, or is it all still just speculation at this point?

2) Is there definitely going to be another less expensive box later this year or is that all just speculation at this point?

superduperclub.net

Sounds suspicious!

Mogilevsky, lol. Dagger, I presume? A lot of small (aka garage) dealers seem to have been attracted by CECB money, no surprise. I plan to wait for the price cutting big guys, or the fairly reliable free shipping Amazon, if they ever show up.

Superduperclub is known to have really cutrate dvd offerings, and be a bit careless about stating which ones are preorder. I've never ordered from them. IF they have it in stock, they would probably be ok, IF they are cleared to accept coupons. It would be surprising if both of those were true. I didn't see up front shipping costs, my pet peeve with online purchases.

All this dtvpal drama makes me glad I'm riding the caboose on this trip. Event timers not turning on, picture shrinking to 1/10 the size (SatGuys post) while it updates EPG, and their VBI "slip" is showing, hmm beta testers, is all this news to you?

I"ve had my DTVPAL for 2 days now. Here are just a few random things I noticed. Others might have commented on these already...sorry if I'm repeating some things.
1) When a timer event is triggered and it hits the end of that event, the DTVPAL does not turn off like a VCR timer would do. Is it supposed to turn off by itself when the event is done?
2) The program guide downloads only a little over 24 hours for any given channel...some have more some less. I'm guessing this is either dictated either by the memory capacity of the DTVPAL or the information sent out by each station. Does anyone know what determines how much guide information is sent out?
3) The next item has nothing really to do with the DTVPAL functionality, but I was wondering if someone could shed some light on it. I have a high def television (LG LCD) with it's own digital tuner and I use a basic antenna with some amplification on it to pull in the OTA signal. Up until I got my DTVPAL, I would sometimes have to reposition my attenna to get some stations to come in...sort of annoying. After I hooked up my DTVPAL to use the same attenna (in other words, the TV and DTVPAL are using the same attenna at the same time), all of a sudden my television's high def signal is coming in much better and I no longer have to move the antenna to pull in some stations. My question is: Could the DTVPAL somehow be boosting the antenna's signal and in turn my digital TV is getting a stronger signal? That is the only explanation I can come up with...in any case, I think I got an added benefit from my DTVPAL that I never expected.

Oboist1, thanks for the info. I put "159365 digital" into Froogle and came up with quite a few Sling/Echostar converter boxes at $40-45. Most said it was back-ordered but this site "appeared" to have in stock for $40.99. http://www.superduperclub.net/dhechostardtvpal.html

They stated free with coupon but didn't see anyplace to put in a coupon #.

Maybe before Aug 8?
There is a box for entering a coupon # on the checkout page. Would be interesting for someone with a coupon to click all the way through and see if this site is really selling the DTVPal for 40.99.

1. When 4:3 content is sent in a 16:9 transmission, bad VBI is frequently seen along the top of the 4:3 content. (Dish Network has acknowledged this is a known problem.)

2. At least with Software Version F100TCGH-N, the DTVPal does not power itself on when an event timer goes off. (One user reported this is fixed in F101TCGH-N, but Dish Network claims it's a known problem in that version also.)

How are software version updates done to the DTVPAL? Or are we stuck with the software version that came with our DTVPAL?

My DTVPal was ordered and shipped directly from Dish, via UPS ground, taking 5 calendar days to arrive (including Sat/Sun). No extra packaging, just origianl box, but delivered in perfect condition (the box was).

I have trouble with the local PBS digital channel not being received on the DTVPal, even though several of my older-generation DTVs and HD DirecTiVo's all tune the channel in fine, even with the exact same antenna connection.

Also, I am disappointed in the minimal aspect ratio control offered by this unit--it assumes only a 4x3 TV is connected and it does not have a channel-specific memory for aspect ratio. It does, however, switch automatically from any setting to 'Full' when viewing a 4x3 program (broadcast as 4x3 only) and then switch back to the prior setting automatically when tuning in a 16x9 program.

So, with a 4x3 TV, the aspect ratio setting would be 'Normal' to letterbox a 16x9 into the 4x3 TV screen, or 'Zoom' to fill the screen with a 16x9 program (by cropping the sides). In both cases, tuning in a true 4x3 channel will cause the DTVPal to switch automatically to 'Full' and changing to a 16x9 channel will switch automatically back to the prior setting.

I plan to use the DTVPal in front of my hard-drive DVD recorder to record OTA digital programs using the combination of the DTVPal timer and coordinated settings for line input timer recording on the DVD recorder. The DTVPal does allow me to use the 'Full' aspect ratio setting for a 16x9 program, resulting in an anamorphic picture (vertically stretched) that enables widescreen recordings on my DVD recorder. I have not tried the DTVPal/DVD recorder combination yet, but it looks like it should work fine.

Re PSIP guide info, the stations vary here in how far their program guide extends into the future. Most are about 24 hours, but some go 2-3 days.

I like the timer features of the DTVPal but I like the better reception capabilities and full aspect ratio control of my Insignia (BestBuy) unit. Like any other choices of consumer electronic devices, there is not a single model that combines all of my needs and desired features.

all dtvpal sales are final says dish site

all dtvpal sales are final says dish site

How the hell can sales be final if the box turns out to be defective?

Man I would never buy Dish satellite after this fiasco

Superduperclub is known to have really cutrate dvd offerings, and be a bit careless about stating which ones are preorder. I've never ordered from them. IF they have it in stock, they would probably be ok, IF they are cleared to accept coupons. It would be surprising if both of those were true. I didn't see up front shipping costs, my pet peeve with online purchases.


You apparently can click Apply on the dropdown Shipping choices on the Billing and Shipping page (checkout) and the prices are updated. Requires a Zipcode to figure out CA sales tax.

Digital-to-Analog TV Converter $40.99 1
Subtotal: $40.99
Shipping: $14.88
Tax: $3.38
Total: $59.25
That's Std mail, Priority Mail is
Shipping: $17.88

If shipping had been reasonable, I would have been willing to toast a coupon to see what results. The Coupon/Promo code isn't for Govt coupon though - both spent and available card numbers are "invalid" in the Promo field.

I didn't see them on the 7/2/08 participating retailer spreadsheet, either.

1) When a timer event is triggered and it hits the end of that event, the DTVPAL does not turn off like a VCR timer would do. Is it supposed to turn off by itself when the event is done?
2) The program guide downloads only a little over 24 hours for any given channel...some have more some less. I'm guessing this is either dictated either by the memory capacity of the DTVPAL or the information sent out by each station. Does anyone know what determines how much guide information is sent out?
3) The next item has nothing really to do with the DTVPAL functionality, but I was wondering if someone could shed some light on it. I have a high def television (LG LCD) with it's own digital tuner and I use a basic antenna with some amplification on it to pull in the OTA signal. Up until I got my DTVPAL, I would sometimes have to reposition my attenna to get some stations to come in...sort of annoying. After I hooked up my DTVPAL to use the same attenna (in other words, the TV and DTVPAL are using the same attenna at the same time), all of a sudden my television's high def signal is coming in much better and I no longer have to move the antenna to pull in some stations. My question is: Could the DTVPAL somehow be boosting the antenna's signal and in turn my digital TV is getting a stronger signal? That is the only explanation I can come up with...in any case, I think I got an added benefit from my DTVPAL that I never expected.

1) You don't WANT it to turn itself off. If it is OFF, it won't turn ON for the next Event!!

2) I have one station that goes out the full 7 days, a couple are 2 days or more, but the others are less than 24 hours.

3) TOO much amp. Just running the signal through a splitter (cuts signal in half) would do what connecting to the DTVPal did for you. WAG would be OTA signal reflections (multipath) are amplified to confuse the tuner. What happens when you remove the amp entirely, or connect with some attenuator? Although the signal is lower, it might be able to lock on a channel. Another thing that sometimes helps is to point the antenna not quite at the source.

Sorry for the ongoing arguments, I just don't like being accused of making statements I and everyone else that reads this thread knows I didn't make.

Again, Sorry to everyone on this thread.
BigMikey273

If someone is making false accusations about you, you have every right to stand up for yourself on this forum... no apology is needed.

Why let someone splash untrue statements about yourself and your credibility? You're apology is not needed for doing what is right. If you're being falsely accused, I stand with you.

We'll see if dagger666 proves to be a lier or harbinger of truth. ;)

Now, back on topic... I just pulled the trigger and bought my unit off eBay yesterday. About two hours after I made my order, I checked to see if the card had been processed and it was, so now I have a small wait. Looks like my eBay transaction went smoothly.

Dennis

At least with Software Version F100TCGH-N, the DTVPal does not power itself on when an event timer goes off. (One user reported this is fixed in F101TCGH-N, but Dish Network claims it's a known problem in that version also.)

I have had two DTVPals since Monday and I have set 17 timers and neither box has missed one. It does not matter if the boxes are off or left on. All the timers are recurring (Monday thru Friday) but I have tried single (one time) timers and they have fired correctly too. My DTVPals are connected to DVD recorders with hard drives and I have reviewed every recorded event to make sure the right event was properly recorded. The DTVPal kicks on just before the event (the power led comes on and it is on the channel that is was left on) and then a countdown timer starts and after the countdown it switches to the programed channel for that timer.

I verified my software. It is FT100TCGH-N and the bootstrap version is 1812TCGH.

The only problem I've had so far is that one box locked up once when I changed from one channel to another. It showed half a picture from the first channel and half from the one I switched to and no sound. A power reset fixed that problem and it hasn't happened again.

ALINA MOGILEVSKY, very suspicions sounding name

The worms just keep dangling. :rolleyes: :D
Dennis

Ordered 2 from Dish by phone on 6/26.
They arrived via UPS on 7/2.
Software Version F101TCGH-N
1) Setup on old RCA TV w/Guide+
A) Can't get the Guide+ to work no matter what I try.
It appears to work via the instructions, but never downloads the listing.
2) Setup on Sony Wega KV-34HS510
A) For now, it is just another devise to use for viewing content.

General obsevations/frustrations:
1) Noticed same VBI glitch as everyone else.
2) Same for the timer not shuting down the unit at end of an event.
3) Both of mine also seem to have the image shifted a few pixels to the left..not much, just a bit.
4) Bit of a disappointment that it will not recognized the format recieved and adjust accordingly.
5) Volume is significantly lower than both sets normal output.
6) The darned Guide+ thing...no help on either DTVPal or TVGOS sites.
7) They turn themselves on and off at random times (anybody else notice this?)
A) Might this be some sort of updating feature??

General feelings...the good(?):
1) I like the compact size.
2) They pull in staions very well (about 50+ miles from broadcasters).
3) Setup wizard is good.
4) Plenty of options (even if they may be buried in the menus).
5) Pass-though is nice.
6) Mmmmmm...looking for others ;)

Just my 2 cents worth.

Ordered 2 from Dish by phone on 6/26.
They arrived via UPS on 7/2.

7) They turn themselves on and off at random times (anybody else notice this?)

Could you elaborate some more on this behavior? Are you certain it isn't a combo of power source events (cut power or a loose connection) and/or event and sleep timers causing the unit to appear to be powering up/sleeping at odd times...

I have had two DTVPals since Monday and I have set 17 timers and neither box has missed one. It does not matter if the boxes are off or left on. All the timers are recurring (Monday thru Friday) but I have tried single (one time) timers and they have fired correctly too.
On and Off is more than the LED. If you don't have any timers until later tonight, can you set one for 30 minutes out (one time or daily didn't seem to matter to me) for some other channel, then use the remote OFF and come back in 30 minutes to check? For me, that kind of "off" never comes back on. In that kind of off, the DTVPal only uses 1W of power instead of 5W. If instead of "remote off" before the timer, I do the 10 second Pass-Thru (4W), the timer will trigger and AV jacks get Audio, no Video and coax gets nothing (channel 4 from antenna). If the unit is "off" from the default 4 hours of no remote action, I'm pretty sure it does come "on", but the 4 hour delay to see test results is a killer!

Maybe I have a bad unit, but I've got nothing to compare it to except other guys. When an Event doesn't work for me, Remote On gets me the channel it was previously on, not the channel the Event would have changed to. Even when the Event triggers and does Audio only of the Event channel, pressing Power on the remote brings up Audio and Video, but not of the Event channel - whatever had been previously selected.

I think the 4 hour inactivity "off" could but part of ProsPops random off.

My DTVPal was ordered and shipped directly from Dish, via UPS ground, taking 5 calendar days to arrive (including Sat/Sun). No extra packaging, just origianl box, but delivered in perfect condition (the box was).

I have trouble with the local PBS digital channel not being received on the DTVPal, even though several of my older-generation DTVs and HD DirecTiVo's all tune the channel in fine, even with the exact same antenna connection.

Also, I am disappointed in the minimal aspect ratio control offered by this unit--it assumes only a 4x3 TV is connected and it does not have a channel-specific memory for aspect ratio. It does, however, switch automatically from any setting to 'Full' when viewing a 4x3 program (broadcast as 4x3 only) and then switch back to the prior setting automatically when tuning in a 16x9 program.

So, with a 4x3 TV, the aspect ratio setting would be 'Normal' to letterbox a 16x9 into the 4x3 TV screen, or 'Zoom' to fill the screen with a 16x9 program (by cropping the sides). In both cases, tuning in a true 4x3 channel will cause the DTVPal to switch automatically to 'Full' and changing to a 16x9 channel will switch automatically back to the prior setting.

I plan to use the DTVPal in front of my hard-drive DVD recorder to record OTA digital programs using the combination of the DTVPal timer and coordinated settings for line input timer recording on the DVD recorder. The DTVPal does allow me to use the 'Full' aspect ratio setting for a 16x9 program, resulting in an anamorphic picture (vertically stretched) that enables widescreen recordings on my DVD recorder. I have not tried the DTVPal/DVD recorder combination yet, but it looks like it should work fine.

Re PSIP guide info, the stations vary here in how far their program guide extends into the future. Most are about 24 hours, but some go 2-3 days.

I like the timer features of the DTVPal but I like the better reception capabilities and full aspect ratio control of my Insignia (BestBuy) unit. Like any other choices of consumer electronic devices, there is not a single model that coombines all of my needs and desired features.

I have read that others are having trouble picking up the local PBS stations. I have the Pal and the Zenith 901 and neither will pick up 13.1. Have a dish sat 622 that does pick up the pbs channel 13 just fine.

What channel is your pbs on?

Thanks,
Henry

With my Zenith, PBS (strong signal) is the only channel that hesitates before picture comes on. No hesitation if I skip past and don't stop to tune the channel in. I wondered if it had something to with multi-channel EPG, if it carries that.

Dan,
...My take: The Twister Group and Buy.com are both continuing to carry the "159365" on their website. They have also adjusted pricing. That bodes well for the S/E moving from vaporware to a deliverable product...


Where have you been? People are already getting and using their DTVPal units. Orders are being filled, shipped, and delivered as we speak by a variety of sellers.

Using the term "vaporware" at this point isn't in any way appropriate.

1. When 4:3 content is sent in a 16:9 transmission, bad VBI is frequently seen along the top of the 4:3 content. (Dish Network has acknowledged this is a known problem.)

2. At least with Software Version F100TCGH-N, the DTVPal does not power itself on when an event timer goes off. (One user reported this is fixed in F101TCGH-N, but Dish Network claims it's a known problem in that version also.)
DISH network only said (according to a poster) that it is a known problem. They did NOT say that it is a known problem in software version F101TCGH-N.

Using the term "vaporware" at this point isn't in any way appropriate.

How about a Rushed to market product with some glitches? Is that appropriate?:rolleyes:

Since Mosquito has a message on his site saying that a percentage of the profits will go to support the troops. Maybe this company should have a little message saying that a percentage of the profits will go to feed the elephants?Gotta fund that world imperialism somehow.

Since people are starting to post more about this unit's performance now, I'd say it's probably about time to merge it with the other, performance thread.

Where have you been? People are already getting and using their DTVPal units. Orders are being filled, shipped, and delivered as we speak by a variety of sellers.

Using the term "vaporware" at this point isn't in any way appropriate.

Is oboist1 commenting about the TR-40 or the DVPAL?

Agent Street Address 141 REVERE DR President Name & Address ALINA MOGILEVSKY 41 RED OAK LANE HIGHLAND PARK 60035

And, Secretary: Gregory Mogilevsky in another message

In the State of Ohio the Agent can be anyone including a lawyer, accountant or whoever the company wants as an agent. The 41 RED OAK LANE HIGHLAND PARK 60035, might be the residence of the owner.

I think it best to check with the Better Business Bureau. Or check with the State of Illinois and see if they have any records of problems.

Furthermore, if you do have any problems you can contact the State of Illinois to file a complaint. After all they are a register corporation with the State of Illinois

Gregory Mogilevsky, age 61 and his wife age 54, live in Highland, IL. They have a daughter Jane age 33, who shares the same address along with an address near Fort Myers, Florida.

According to Wikipedia: Alina is a mainly Eastern-European, female given name.

The name Mogilevsky can be from Eastern Europe (Poland) or the bordering area of Russia.

Some place in this thread someone was comparing Gregory to his brother George. I think you might be getting so confused in your investigation that you are twisting names.

I could do further research on these people, but I think it might not accomplish anything of value.

Do you think these kinds of discussions might be clouding up the thread and confusing those with little knowledge and are looking more for information about the CECB's?

Now, I'm going to go order mine from another source on the 4th of July, with someone who claims the have several in stock at the going rate of $60 minus $40 for my coupon. When I have the box in hand I will report back on the success of it.

Good Luck with your decisions, orders and shipments.

Will I able to use my coupon to order at CDC or DTVPal site the day before my coupon is expired?

gastrof, the 159365 oboist referred to is the original SlingMedia distributed TR40, that $40 box that suddenly was not the dtvpal after all, or so the CEO said. Echostar TR-40 is on the CECB approved list but not available. Until the status changes, it is vaporware at least as far as coupon redemption is concerned.

Will I able to use my coupon to order at CDC or DTVPal site the day before my coupon is expired?

You may want to call your order in. It could take a few days to processes an
Internet order.

DISH network only said (according to a poster) that it is a known problem. They did NOT say that it is a known problem in software version F101TCGH-N.When I told the Dish Network representative (a supervisor) that there was a report that the problem does not exist in F101TCGH-N, he was quick to say that it was a known problem in BOTH F100TCGH-N and F101TCGH-N according to the list of known / documented problems that he had received from their engineers. He also said the problem would be corrected, but had no idea when or how that would be accomplished.

7) They turn themselves on and off at random times (anybody else notice this?)Yes. Sometimes it turns itself on for just a few minutes, other times it stays on for several hours before turning itself off. That's with no timers set and for no apparent reason.

The Panasonic DMR-EZ47VK can record to the built-in VCR, but only when the tuner is set to an analog channel. It will not record from a digital broadcast. There is no such limitation for recording DVDs.

If you've bought a newer recorder, it's probably the DMR-EZ48VK which from all accounts is very similar to the previous model. You might check the forum to see if anyone else has seen this limitation in the newer model.


As a Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK owner, I can tell you that it cannot record DTV to VHS either. You may read my posting on the EZ48 thread for details.

Can't record DTV to VHS (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14221738#post14221738)

Could you elaborate some more on this behavior? Are you certain it isn't a combo of power source events (cut power or a loose connection) and/or event and sleep timers causing the unit to appear to be powering up/sleeping at odd times...That's certainly not the case here. I have the DTVPal and my TiVo powered though a UPS.

How about a Rushed to market product with some glitches? Is that appropriate?:rolleyes:

This is why I hate being an early adopter of any electronic product these days, especially products that are heavily dependent upon software. The coupon program, unfortunately, sort of forced the issue--resulting in the return/exchange of several identically branded Zenith converters on this end.

I'd love to have the DTV Pal box, but plan to wait awhile to give them time to iron out the problems. If it's still around by the end of the year, and nothing better comes along, I may make the purchase then, though it will have to be without a government coupon.

I have read that others are having trouble picking up the local PBS stations. I have the Pal and the Zenith 901 and neither will pick up 13.1. Have a dish sat 622 that does pick up the pbs channel 13 just fine.

What channel is your pbs on?

Thanks,
Henry

on long island ny a person i was talking to in walmart said pbs digital station is broadcasting all the way out at the end of the island not ny city and that is why it's hard to pick up here.

man, all i said digitalstar was suspicious when another said he could not find info on them and how it has steam rolled. i don't know why someone keep defending them when he hasn't gotten his box yet either. i do not want another maxmedia and really hope i get my box. now i haven't hooked up the box i got from dish direct but sending out buggy product is Microsoft move. that is what i asked in another post, what dish meant by all sales final.

How the hell can sales be final if the box turns out to be defective?

Man I would never buy Dish satellite after this fiascoI believe they mean that you cannot return the device for your money back. There is no reason to believe they won't exchange a working box for a defective box.

Neil

How about a Rushed to market product with some glitches? Is that appropriate?Maybe, tho I think the DTVPal's FirmWare is upgradeable. Not sure how that would work...but I took it from this quote at Cheap Digital: "Completely programmable and software update enabled". :cool:

Since people are starting to post more about this unit's performance now, I'd say it's probably about time to merge it with the other, performance thread.

I already asked and the mods said no - cause the other thread is too big. :(

on long island ny a person i was talking to in walmart said pbs digital station is broadcasting all the way out at the end of the island not ny city and that is why it's hard to pick up here.

Not quite - I believe the WLIW PBS transmitter is in Plainview - about 30 miles east of the city.

Could you elaborate some more on this behavior? Are you certain it isn't a combo of power source events (cut power or a loose connection) and/or event and sleep timers causing the unit to appear to be powering up/sleeping at odd times...

It is just as uniquelyme says:

Yes. Sometimes it turns itself on for just a few minutes, other times it stays on for several hours before turning itself off. That's with no timers set and for no apparent reason.

Although I have not seen them on for more than a few minutes (lets say 15 minutes), but I haven't stayed up all night watching either.

And....I forgot my biggest annoyance: both units are not on all the time, only when we watch TV (duh) and almost every time they are powered up they must download the guide information??? Every time...come on Dish!!! Or is this just my DTV P(lease)a(llow)l(imitations)'s that do this?

If you don't have any timers until later tonight, can you set one for 30 minutes out (one time or daily didn't seem to matter to me) for some other channel, then use the remote OFF and come back in 30 minutes to check? For me, that kind of "off" never comes back on. In that kind of off, the DTVPal only uses 1W of power instead of 5W. If instead of "remote off" before the timer, I do the 10 second Pass-Thru (4W), the timer will trigger and AV jacks get Audio, no Video and coax gets nothing (channel 4 from antenna). If the unit is "off" from the default 4 hours of no remote action, I'm pretty sure it does come "on", but the 4 hour delay to see test results is a killer!



I set up a timer to kick off at 5:55 PM (EDT) and turned off the unit from the remote. At 5:53 I noticed that the DVTPal came on and when I switched to the TV input that it was on and the countdown timer was counting down from 2 minutes. When it ran down to zero it switched to the channel that I set up the timer for. I have never had any problem with the unit coming back on to fire additional timers once I turn it off (or even if I leave it on). And for the record I do use the inactivity turnoff function (one uint is set to the 4 hour default, the second unit is set for 6 hours inactivity.

Conferring with some other DTVPal owners from SatelliteGuys (where I am not allowed to post) it seems that the timer problem my be related to timers set from the EPG and then edited. So far, I have only set manual timers but I'll have to try setting some from the EPG. Also, I don't use the "pass-through" function as I have my box connected to the audio/video inputs on my DVD recorder.

all dtvpal sales are final says dish site

This may be like the Magnavox TB100MG9 I bought from Sears.

It was not defective or broken.

It was merely a disappointment and not what I wanted (Klutzy Analog PassThrough) therefore All Sales Final.

I have had two DTVPals since Monday and I have set 17 timers and neither box has missed one. It does not matter if the boxes are off or left on. All the timers are recurring (Monday thru Friday) but I have tried single (one time) timers and they have fired correctly too. My DTVPals are connected to DVD recorders with hard drives and I have reviewed every recorded event to make sure the right event was properly recorded. The DTVPal kicks on just before the event (the power led comes on and it is on the channel that is was left on) and then a countdown timer starts and after the countdown it switches to the programed channel for that timer.

I verified my software. It is FT100TCGH-N and the bootstrap version is 1812TCGH.

The only problem I've had so far is that one box locked up once when I changed from one channel to another. It showed half a picture from the first channel and half from the one I switched to and no sound. A power reset fixed that problem and it hasn't happened again.

Can the timers, Etc... Turn On to record a DTV program then Turn Off to record an Analog TV program then Turn back On to record a DTV program?

Howdy Ray,

I ordered just before you on the 24th and also am expecting a 7/9/08 delivery... Lexus and I have been discussing a possibly significant delay between when "CDC" gives us our "shipped" status, UPS gets it's "Billing Info. Received", and when it actually hits the UPS "grid".

With July 4th already messing up delivery times I wouldn't be surprised if we might be a day or so off before UPS catches up. But if you notice when UPS does report your Tracking #'s "Origin/Departure Scans" could you let us know. I'm still in "Billing Info." status even though "CDC" has me in "shipped" status.

Any other past/present "CDC" orders with UPS Tracking #s that would like to share what their average "Shipped"/"Billing Info" vs "Origin/Departure Scan" time lag is I'd appreciate it. Hopefully it's only a day or so normally.

Thanks,

Dave
Checked UPS site. It showed package in transit to Lenexa KS at 2:30 AM on 7/04 08. From there it goes to Appleton City, MO then to Nevada MO where I live.

And....I forgot my biggest annoyance: both units are not on all the time, only when we watch TV (duh) and almost every time they are powered up they must download the guide information??? Every time...come on Dish!!! Or is this just my DTV P(lease)a(llow)l(imitations)'s that do this?It's not just yours. Mine also goes through downloading guide information every time you turn it on, and I too find it very annoying.

It's becoming clear that the DTVPal was not adequately tested and debugged prior to starting up the production line.

I am assuming there are probably a few more confused AVS Forum readers so...

Just to be clear, my previous post was focused on the Sling-Echostar 159365/TR40, not the DTVPal. Other posters noted the 159365/TR40 is listed on several sites, but apparently it is not available for purchase with a government coupon.

I think the 159365/TR40 will be made available later this year for $39.99 + S&H and applicable state tax. The final 159365/TR40 feature specs will likely be similar to the DTVPal, but they are currently unknown.

It's not just yours. Mine also goes through downloading guide information every time you turn it on, and I too find it very annoying.

Interesting because mine comes right on without downloading the guide unless it has been disconnected from the power.

This just in from rrrrrrobert or A guy who read the manual at SatelliteGuys.US

He has said that his DTVPal did not turn on like Ricks does even though he also has software version F101TCGH-N.

Another interesting fact:An interesting thing happened today. I had been doing my testing each night with the same Mon-Fri timer. When I turned the DTVPal on today, the timer page said "No Timers Set" -- the Mon-Fri timer is gone! It had been set for 6:29-7:01 AM Mon-Fri, at least through late last night. Did the DTVPal think it was "DONE" because it is now after 7:01 Friday? What about Mon-Fri in future weeks?!?!?

Update:I just did a quick test. At about 3:12 I set a ONCE timer for 3:29, completely MANUALLY, NOT through the Guide. I turned the DTVPal off at 3:15. It worked; it turned on at 3:29. So there is hope. We just have to isolate what set-up conditions do work and which don't.

So it looks like the determining factor for the timer might be cause by the following:
* They way it is set - Manually vs through the Guide
* Timer Frequency - Once, Daily, Weekly, or Mon-Fri
* Inactivity Standby Setting - Disable, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 hours
* Date & time that timer was created or last edited
* other timers in the timer list

It would be nice if rrrrrrobert's ban was lifted at the AVS Forum as he said he was going to keep testing combinations to see what works and what doesn't.

I registered with the screen name "rrrrrrobert" which I thought might amuse some people, possibly including "rrrrrroger". Maybe that a bad choice--maybe someone thought I was rrrrrroger with another ID? It should've been obvious that I wasn't. I never got any explanation for the ban, other than the automated false accusation above.

All these bugs seem kind of annoying. Glad I didn't become a beta tester for Disht, will wait for another 3 months when my coupons arrived and see if they fix these early adapter bugs.

That's certainly not the case here. I have the DTVPal and my TiVo powered though a UPS.

That doesn't mean you aren't going to be effected by a loose connection and/ possibly a bad power supply or source. The UPS should provide power to the outlet but have you "verified" that you are getting 110~125volts and have a solid connection at the outlet? You might be ignoring the "simple" problem/fix. A bad power adapter or connection at the CECB could be the cause. Anyone have the DTV PAL apart yet to check for power supply fuses or possible loose connections.

Had somebody that had their Sat Receiver "reset" itself at odd times... He'd accidentally plugged it into a "switched" outlet and it would go on/off when he switched the lights in the living room.

Interesting because mine comes right on without downloading the guide unless it has been disconnected from the power.My DTVPal is powered by a UPS, so it's definitely not losing power.

Conferring with some other DTVPal owners from SatelliteGuys (where I am not allowed to post) it seems that the timer problem my be related to timers set from the EPG and then edited. So far, I have only set manual timers but I'll have to try setting some from the EPG.

Appreciated! I've never done anything except pick random shows from the Guide as timers. I'm not going to be using the unit at all myself, and the 89 year old neighbor won't do Events either way. I figured I might as well redo the Wizard, but that did some strange stuff. Climate conditions cause another station (90-100 miles out) to come into play. One of my existing M-F timers switched to this new channel! I think I'll need to do more testing and run the Wizard again, because it hangs in the Download Guide at about the "o" in stop and never completes now (I left it that way for 30 minutes). Unplug and replug and it does complete Guide - only the Wizard fails (each time).

I can't find any way to fix the clock and it is 11 minutes slow. I assume it uses something from a local channel the same way my analog PBS updates VCRs, etc. It may not be the DTVPal causing the time problem (and few people working today to fix), but if I did want to do Events, its clock is 11 minutes slow, and Guide Events are screwy, I wouldn't be a happy camper.

I'll try some manaully set timers tomorrow.

That doesn't mean you aren't going to be effected by a loose connection and/ possibly a bad power supply or source. The UPS should provide power to the outlet but have you "verified" that you are getting 110~125volts and have a solid connection at the outlet? You might be ignoring the "simple" problem/fix. A bad power adapter or connection at the CECB could be the cause.The DTVPal is plugged into one of the three UPS outlets that provide backup. My TiVo is also plugged into one of these outlets. The UPS is relatively new, so all the outlets have a tight grip on the plug. Output voltage is a measured 120 volts. I can tell if the UPS somehow failed to maintain its output as an optional on-screen clock feature on the TiVo reverts back to off if the power is ever removed. The UPS has never failed to maintain its output. The DTVPal has had an uninterrupted power source since I plugged it in over a week ago.

sounds like the box is getting mixed information and there is yet no offical EPG for the nation. I hope all this changes when the switch over takes place and everyone is on the same field.

The DTVPal is plugged into one of the three UPS outlets that provide backup. My TiVo is also plugged into one of these outlets. The UPS is relatively new, so all the outlets have a tight grip on the plug. Output voltage is a measured 120 volts. I can tell if the UPS somehow failed to maintain its output as an optional on-screen clock feature on the TiVo reverts back to off if the power is ever removed. The UPS has never failed to maintain its output. The DTVPal has had an uninterrupted power source since I plugged it in over a week ago.

OK. So you are confident with the UPS. How about the DTVPAL's external power adapter and the contacts at the box? Those are all "solid" and not loose? If you have a Multi-Meter are you getting the correct voltage off the power adapter? Are the contacts at the box good?

Side note on the DC Power adapter... Anyone got a good "alternative" power supply option in place... If you used the DTVPAL in a "portable" setup... using an automotive 12V DC socket? It has a "proprietary" connector so has anyone "found" the right type for that application?

The DTVPAL pictures and review thread has begun collecting software and bootstrap version info. from various DTVPALs from different vendors... To help narrow down the problem of Event Timer(s) that aren't Powering "ON" the DTVPAL when an event is scheduled.

It's been suggested that software version F100TCGH-N and F101TCGH-N both have this issue but there has been mixed results. It's also been suggested that F101 has been showing up on DTVPALs received from DTVPAL.com while F100 are on "older" units sent to other vendors.

If any of the "CDC" and other non-DTVPAL.com vendors want to post their software/bootstrap version info. please do so on the "review" thread... Maybe here too.

Long-Term it might be good to create a "sticky" where this info. can be Logged in a central location.

Odered dtvpal on ebay through Kloth on june 25.

Almost 10 days now and no word as of yesterday so I send them a note asking for tracking info. They give me a bogus number that does not work.

I followed up and they tell me they'll have to look into it and don't know why the tracking isnt working.

Hmmmm. Anyone else not get their units from Kloth???

Ok, that's what I thought. I also thought however that even the 311's have a connection for an antenna on the back. I thought that all of the receivers allowed for this. If you have a digital receiver (I'm assuming that all DISH receivers are digital and they may not be) why would you also need this DTVPal? Just connect your OTA antenna to your reciever and move on. I'm not trying to be difficult. I guess I just don't see the connection. Why would DISH be in the business of selling a product that their customers don't even need?

When you buy DISH service, you have the option of getting your local channels delivered via DISH's satellites (for an extra $5/month), or getting them via a regular antenna (for free). The antenna connection on the receiver is for the latter option.

The DISH receiver has no OTA tuner; the antenna signal is just passed through if the receiver is turned off (or is on but not in "satellite" mode). It's just like the "analog pass-through" function on CECBs like the DTVPal.

A DISH customer only needs a CECB if they're watching local channels via an antenna (and they have an analog TV). If they're paying DISH to get their local channels via satellite (or they don't care about local channels), the DISH receiver they already have is all they need.

lgodave,

Do you think a new poll thread should be started to keep track of the number of users and where they purchased?

Here are some possible questions for the poll (I will let you create)
I would not list all the vendors as that list will grow and you need to keep it simple.

What software version does your DTVPal have?
* Dish Network (DTVPal.com) F101TCGH-N
* Dish Network (DTVPal.com) F100TCGH-N
* Dish Network with Another Software Version
* non-DTVPAL.com vendor with version F101TCGH-N
* non-DTVPAL.com vendor with version F100TCGH-N
* non-DTVPAL.com vendors with Another Software Version