Don, it has always sounded like you have a h/w problem with the avx-1.
Its time to call RIchard about it now.

Dave

mrwilson

I have the 9800. I see they have the 9910 now. Just depends how much you want to spend.

Dave

Well I have narrowed my problem down to interference and I need to move my equipment around and get some ferrite chokes on my Firewire cables. I wish firewire as a system was a little more robust.

Alan, even with the avx-1 fix, if one doesnt have a "clean" environment, one still may not have things works as you may be finding. And this has nothing to do with the 169time products.

Dave

Its odd though, because I have probably one of the "noisiest" environments.. I have the AVX-1, JVC, and DTC-100 stacked with another component inbetween all three, so about 6" spacing. No ferrite cores on my firewire cables. I also have a tower speaker about 8" from the equipment, with a 2.4GHz wireless ethernet router on top of the speaker (2 feet max distance from the components) and a 2.4Ghz wireless phone base about 6 feet away.

All of that, and no problems whatsoever, except that darn thunderstorm yesterday! How is the fix for that coming? ;)

If 169time can "fix" that, well, the big boys really better watch out then.
;)

Dave

Originally posted by Alan Gouger


Can anyone else play their tapes in a different machine withot the DTC100.

I think I had one of the earliest AVX's and I always recorded to one Mits and played back with my 30K or my second Mits.

I recorded SIX FEET UNDER from HBO last evening and watched it this morning. It did have the expected audio drop outs after about ten minutes. The drop outs were about 5 seconds each in duration and lasted for about 5 minutes. The rest of the program was perfect.

Why are these audio dropouts expected? Do you have the new firmware update?

Kirby- I had both a 2.4Ghz and a 900 Mhz phone under test back in July and the 2.4 Ghz didn't bother the AVX performance but the 900 Mhz did.
My Linksys with WAP also caused problems during the record. Then I tested during a vacuum cleaner running in the next room and it affected the performance. RF sources that did not affect the performance was the 2.4 Ghz phone and my digital cell phone. I believe Dean Roddy confirmed that his 10base T router near by also affected the AVX when there was network activity. I never did proximity testing of the AVX box with other stuff in the rack. I mounted it adequately far enough away from the start based on Dave's early recommendation.

If everything is clean, from the signal provider to the equipement, it should be perfect. But if anywhere alone this path a glitch happens, you will get on tape.

Dave

Originally posted by XFactor
Why are these audio dropouts expected? Do you have the new firmware update?

I have the new update. I reported on my audio problems in my earlier posts in this thread. I still have my line amp installed.

Where are you getting audio dropouts? I know talking to richard about some of this stuff, the decoder in the JVC is not the greatest.

Dave

Dave,

I was successful as I said yesterday. After watching the Fifth Element and bothe the Sopranos and Six Feet Under on HBO and a quick switch to OTA for taping, all went flawlessly. Absolutely zero audio problems at all.

As you know, for some reason, I have had more trouble with HBO on Sunday nights than taping from most of their movies and had never gotten a clean recording from Sopranos and 6FU back to back. I just set them and let them go. Both perfect.

Thanks,

Jeff

Great Jeff, love to hear the successes!!!

Dave

Question for the group. What if 169time sold the avx-1 s/w where one could use ones own H/w? This would again lower the price 169time had to charge. By the way, I am doing this already. :o)

Dave

Did anyone else have trouble with the Record Now Max software? I toasted 4 CDs before I got a clean copy. I've never had any problems writing CDs or DVDs before with any other software. I think I got read errors on verify for two of them and buffer under runs with two.

I did finally get a good copy and it sure is a big improvement over the older software. I was able to record The Fifth Element. There were two resyncs during the movie which resulted in about a 1 second freeze each time, but other than that everything was fine.

Thanks Dave! Thanks Richard!

Joe Linn

Great Joe.

I didnt have any issues with the s/w for burning. Once I named it correctly.

Keep the reports coming.

Dave

Dave, I would be very interested in a software solution where I could use my own computer. If the operating system was Windows oriented it would even be better than the current Linux OS as it would enable other uses in the HT such as software DVD and game potential. It would be a good option to offer even if the Linux system was kept as I'm sure a lot of forum members have a old or spare computer that probably would meet the hardware requirements of the current AVX-1. It might however also create a trouble shooting nightmare with all the various motherboard and processor combinations that are available now. I'd be willing to take a stab at it if the cost was reasonable.

The process for you do your own computer is it still would be a linux boot CD just like it is now. I did it to work with regular Intel processors if I remember right. I have a P3 600 MHz I am using now.

No drivers for windows that anyone ever did.

This could allow other options also. ;)

Dave

"Question for the group. What if 169time sold the avx-1 s/w where one could use ones own H/w? This would again lower the price 169time had to charge. By the way, I am doing this already. ) "


I haven't tried it but would the current CD boot in a different PC? Seems Richard had made the CD matched somehow in the hardware to prevent people from doing the image burn and bootlegging his CD. I'm sure a CD that would run on any PC would need to have some sort of install process to prevent piracy. What you are doing now, Dave must be a special version of the software, right?

I did try booting my regular PC from the AVX-1 CD. It booted Linux, loaded the AVX-1`software and said "Looking for HDVR." That PC isn't connected to the HD equipment, so I couldn't see if it would actually process signals.

Joe Linn

Originally posted by h2ofun
The process for you do your own computer is it still would be a linux boot CD just like it is now. I did it to work with regular Intel processors if I remember right. I have a P3 600 MHz I am using now.

This makes me wonder if the AVX1 software could run in a virtual linux PC on software such as VMware. If you run it on a P3 600, it should work just fine, only question would be if VMware has added firewire support to the Guest OS or not. This could allow the use of the HTPC to do both AVX1 stuff and HTPC stuff! :D

This could allow other options also. ;)

You **** tease!!! :D What other options?

Joe-

Right you are. I verified what you said by simply unplugging my two hard drives in my Sony Vaio P4 ( it was handy) and the process worked up to the "looking for HDVR" scroll. It booted about 10 times faster than the AVX box. :) For me this may be good news. If I continue to have problems with the AVX box, I have several P3 computers sitting on the shelf that are collecting dust and I could just use one of those. I believe one would need a generic OHCI 1394 card that works with the drivers in the AVX CD.

I may attempt to repair my AVX later today because I like the low profile box design which is convenient for my setup now.

Don, the s/w for the avx-1 thats out there today, can not be used in a different computer. But, RIchard can change that as I have it running is a computer I made. So, he again is trying to figure out how to continue to drive down the price points. Meaning, if one bought this option, there would be NO support for the h/w as you would guess. But a complete supported solution with the avx-1 h/w would still be offered for folks who want that level of support.

I cant say everything I know, but again, as I have said for years, what other company is providing solutions that us customers really want?
(And how many will help someone on a Sunday?)

More to come, trust me. ;)

Dave

I don't mind buying the AVX1 but how do you get a PC to recognize an AVX1 as a tape deck so that you can pull the satellite feed to the hard drive? Heard something about patching the registry but...details? And I've already seen the bit about getting XP to work and recognize it but that's just for OTA right?

Anyone in this thread or on this forum not satisfied with your dealing with 169 or send them money and not get your merchandise.
Please let me know.
Just doing a basic check-up.

Alan, I would be shocked to hear this but if someone is unhappy, I would also go beat on Richard. Luckily, the PM's I am getting is 169time has gone well past the call of duty. (Your sunday support wasnt bad ;0 )

Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
Don, the s/w for the avx-1 thats out there today, can not be used in a different computer. But, RIchard can change that as I have it running is a computer I made. So, he again is trying to figure out how to continue to drive down the price points. Anything that could reduce the cost of entry into the 169time recording system would be welcome. A software solution to (1) replace the avx-1 box and (2) record directly to a PC hard drive would be attractive to someone like me who already owns several HTPC's.

Repaired my AVX computer box today. Yes, I broke the warranty sticker but that expired back in September as I recall. It was an intermittant 1394 card PCI connection that I fixed. Should not happen again as what was causing the problem was quite obvious and has been fixed.

Just reviewed a DF 420 nearly full from HDNet this afternoon recorded with the new b3 software and the recording with the Mits 2000u looked perfect. No lip sync loss or destruction loss and I triggered the program guide several time thoughout the recording test. It did lose the video and audio but when I switched off the program guide the video and audio returned in perfect sync. This was repeated a dozen times. Before with B2 the first time would have caused total picture destruction after a few minutes as well as audio sync issues. I suppose I'll try a few PPV's over the next few days since that also has some value to me now that DirecTV HDPPV seems to figured out how to do DD5.1 according to other reports I have been reading.

I can't check out HD HBO on DirecTV but I do have Showtime HD if I hook up my Sat C LNB again.

Dave- so far, nothing to report in glitches or failures on HDNet. B2 was always solid but not when I needed to look at the program guide.
I also tried to trip it up by channel changing, keeping it connected for playback (which didn't work for playback) but when I connected the AVX again to the Mits it immediately began to work correctly without problems.

I'd say this version of the software appears to be self correcting and very tolerant of HDVR interruptions.

Good to hear it Don.

I started to watch Minority Report in HD on 198 PPV today but it was MAR'd and in Stereo so I didn't buy it. Doh!

Don, great. I have yet to be able to break it yet either.

Whats cool with the avx-1 as the base, more products to come. ;)

Dave

Question, the internet guide for HD-SHO for many programs says "4X3 UPCONV" . I am watching Flatliners, which in their printed guide says 4X3 UPCONV, but appears as OAR and looks really good. In fact, it could be HD.
What is the deal? What is it?

Just finished watching my third movie recorded with B3.
Except for 2, 2 second pauses (for resinc?) it was PERFECT. Very impressed.

Even when audio switched from 2 channel digital before the movie to 5.1 when movie started, there was only a small gap in the audio.

Got the timer with vcr dongle working as well.
Even though it seemed to work even with it connected, I unsoldered the wire inside the Dtc as per Richards instructions, to prevent possible conflicts.

How I did it:
Enter vcr code in Dtc menu (016).
Tune vcr to I-number that is your avx1.
Set timer in Dtc.
Turn vcr off.
The vcr must be off as the Dtc sends a power toggle before the record signal.

For me, the firewire cabling was critical for me to make it work.
If I wired it Jvc to Dtc and Dtc to Avx1, the signal comes in every time after a power on.
The way I originally had it wired, it would only come in 25% of the time after a power off/on.

With wiring this way, when the vcr is turned off, or playing a tape, it seems to disconnect itself from the firewire (monitor on avx1 stops scrolling and says 'waiting for request to transmit').
After turning on or stopping the tape, data scrolls again a picture pops in (everytime so far).

Hope this helps

Cool Judd. Richard hadnt told me he had given instructions to anyone on what wire to unsolder. What a flexible guy!!

Dave

Originally posted by llogan
I don't mind buying the AVX1 but how do you get a PC to recognize an AVX1 as a tape deck so that you can pull the satellite feed to the hard drive? Heard something about patching the registry but...details? And I've already seen the bit about getting XP to work and recognize it but that's just for OTA right?

I'm thinking the same thing. At under $900 (I already have my own DTC-100) the AVX1 has reached the consideration point... *if* I could record to PC. I'm not interested in spending anohter $700 on a DHVS.

Seeing as a HD TiVo will hopefully be out by the end of the year (and Dish HDPVR out sooner) I'm just not up for spending more than $1000, as much as I'd love to have one.

I'm not interested in spending anohter $700 on a DHVS.

On sale for $497 at onecall.com right now, until 4/30/03.

http://ww2.onecall.com/About_00001000_12_222_0_0_jvc_0.htm

If one is interested in getting the 169time board in your dtc100, but you would rather not have to buy the avx-1 since you have a computer you know how to work with already, you may want to write 169time and see where they are at with the product.

Once you have this stuff, other options that you will may be able to expand to are .... ;)

Dave

I think it would be great if we could record to PCs. However, I haven't gotten 169time AVX-1 (not OTA) recordings to play back cleanly on a PC or through the Samsung SIR-T165 (bottom right part of image has garbage and quite a few breakups or slow framerate). The parts that play look awesome so it is like a tease, but just looks like it is not quite there at this point. I think the conversion that is done by the AVX-1 is pretty tuned to the 30k and other D-VHS machines and these other decoders don't seem to handle it well enough.

I'm returning the SIR-T165 that I bought last week since $580 just to make my D-Theater tapes look their best just is too much. I almost ordered DishNetwork today and I may look for a 5000+modulator solution so that I can record and playback with my HTPC.

Since my recordings look so much better on my HT1000 projector by going firewire to the T165 and then DVI to the projector and on my M20 projector by going firewire to the T165 and then RGB to the projector, compared to component from the 30k, I'm hoping that the 40k will have a better decoder than the 30k and that it will handle my current recordings. I haven't tested component through the T165 to component from the 30k yet, but I had heard that the decoder in the T165 was much better than the 30k's decoder. My initial testing makes me think this is the case.

PS: Nowhere above did I indicate that playing back through an HTPC or an SIR-T165 was ever a supported feature for anybody wanting to jump on me for sharing my experience.

--Darin

i have the avx1 new software upgrade.
It's works a lot better than the previous one.
However can anyone tell if they use svhs tapes if they experience
audio / video drop outs?
I recorded "AI" and noticed a audio silence for a few seconds as well as a video freeze
during 3 times in the movie.
I'm using professional SVHS tapes by FUJI.
They are the HS 471.
The Picture comes out excellent as well as the 5.1
audio,that is when the above problems don't occur.
I also noticed that the JVC takes 8 to 10 seconds to finally except the tape
as a DVHS rcording.
The tape will show as a all snow picture & then appear.
I will like to get as much feed back in ref: to this issue & especially
the folks at 169time.

Please help.

Great Product just want to gewt rid of these 2 minor flaws.

"I also noticed that the JVC takes 8 to 10 seconds to finally except the tape
as a DVHS rcording. "

Could be the leader length.

I use SVHS tape all the time, never have any problems with it.

The older software B2 would freeze and then never recover. This new b3 seems to have rare freezes but quickly recovers which I think sums up the main improvement. I've now tried just about all the triggers that would kill a recording with b2 and in all cases the recording with b3 would recover. Also, using the Mits, being careful never to connect the firewire from the AVX and then just hit record is no longer critical as it was with b2.

This may have taken Richard 9 months to figure out but he clearly seems to have a winner here.

I guess it's true that 3rd generation of software they finally get it working. Windows 3.0 finally worked. I suppose Richard will now be adding features and call it b3.3 for good luck! :) Hope it doesn't take him another 9 months. But then again, I'd prefer to see a 6000 1394 product. Time is running out fast on that window of opportunity.

"I also noticed that the JVC takes 8 to 10 seconds to finally except the tape

It takes the JVC that long to determine its a digital recording.


Sounds like the dropouts are from the signal and not the tape.

hello again Don

You mentioned before that the 8 -10 seconds of snow is only on the leader.
If you fast foward the tape a few minutes into the recording,you will notice it as well.
Try ejecting the tape after fast fowarding it a few minutes into the recording then reload it .
It will also take about 10 seconds to the deck to read the Digital signal.
Rarely on occassion it will tell you to insert head cleaner.

Who ever is out there reading this,Please give me your results if you have the JVC deck.

As mentioned I noticed that after recording a few movies that I would get
a audio & video dropout for about 5 seconds.

This would happen sometimes at least twice in the recording.

I also like to ask if I should shut the avx 1down after I record when playing back a movie,or if that may effect this problem?

Also should the fire wire be disconnected from the deck coming from the reciever to avoid any playback problems that may occur(if there is)?

Dave if your out there I like some feedback.

The recordings come out great whenever I don't get the brief Audio?video drop outs.

As you wrote, and has been said, your concern has nothing to do with 169time products. Its how the decks work. To prove to yourself, take off the avx-1 and just record regular OTA. You will find the same thing.

As far as dropouts, you have to remember, unless one was taping, this stuff happens all the time and you would never remember it. If you have a clean signal, and everything is stable, you wont get any problems. But if you change channels, put the menu up, get a glitch in the signal, etc, yet, like anything source I have recorded from, meaning OTA also, you will get a glitch. Digital is never going to be 100% perfect from any company. It just doesnt work that way.

Dave

yrral-

My results are from a Panny or Mits VCR, not a JVC.
Typically, if I start a recording from the full rewound tape, it will not take until about 10-12 seconds into the tape. (leader, I suspect)

Doing what you suggest, FF into the tape and then bringing up the play mode, the first observance, nearly immediately, is a freezing of the existing OTA signal and this lasts for about 1-2 seconds, then the playback of the tape begins. Never saw an 8-10 second delay here except as I stated, in the very beginning of the tape.

No matter where I start the tape from, it takes my tv 5 to 10 seconds of tape to sync. So, whether this is my TV, or the deck, not sure.

Dave

Larry

One thing I am experiencing with my JVC. Playback through the component analog output is perfect. No drop outs or pixelization but playback of the same tape via firewire and I do experience drop outs a few times per movie.
This of course tells me its not the fault of my recording but some kind of interference causing my digital playback to drop out from time to time.

Alan- do you have the RFI totoids on your fire wire at both ends? Easy thing to try as they just snap on. We use them even in our edit suite for exactly the same reason you observed.

Dave- That must be another sensitivity/disadvantage of the JVC VCR. It never takes more than a second or at the most 2 for the picture and sound to pop on after hitting play in the middle of the tape.

You know, there are two different ways VCR's today thread the tape over the drum in stop mode. One is fully engaged and the other is partially engaged. Roger would know better but this may be the reason it takes longer on some VCR's and not others.

Try an experiment and see if the play comes up faster in pause to play mode than it does from stop to play mode.

Dave- That must be another sensitivity/disadvantage of the JVC VCR. It never takes more than a second or at the most 2 for the picture and sound to pop on after hitting play in the middle of the tape.

Doesn't matter where you are in the tape. If you press Stop on an S-VHS tape and Play again it'll always take 8-12 seconds for it 'figure out' that its a digital recording.

Don

I need to pick a few of these up and give it a try. Its really strange, everything use to work perfect but I've added some new equipment and Ive had trouble ever sense. Yes Firewire is very sensitive.

Larry, comment from Richard.

fyi

At this point the dropouts would be due to drop outs originating at the
source, such as rain or poor RF satellite, or something in the recording
machine or media. I don't use S-VHS tapes for this anymore myself, and that
would be the first place to start.

If the dropout happened while watching the original signal, it's in the
source signal.

If the dropout only happened on tape, it is either the tape or the tape
machine.

fyi

Dave

Originally posted by mrwilson
Doesn't matter where you are in the tape. If you press Stop on an S-VHS tape and Play again it'll always take 8-12 seconds for it 'figure out' that its a digital recording.
Yes. I think this is completely "normal" for the 30k with these tapes. If a hole is drilled in the back of the tape so that the machine recognizes it as a DVHS tape then this doesn't happen. Of course, the downside is that there is some risk of shards of plastic if you don't make sure none of them get inside the machine. I prefer to drill the tapes so that I don't have to remember to push the DVHS button before recordings and so that they don't have this startup issue. Especially when guests are over.

--Darin

Hello Dave,
I have a very good signal usally when I record & I have these ferrid things
on both ends of the fire wire on the 4 pin to 4 pin & 4 pin to 6 oin.
I also have these on the power wire entering the avx 1 as well as the jvc & the proscan set top box. I have it on the componet wires entering the JVC as well.

It is true that it takes several seconds for the deck to read the DVHS signal
on a SVHS tape.

I know the signal is good when I record because I can monitor on the HDTV TV I have as I watch on the Video Projector as it's recording.
Another words as I'm recording I'm watching the movie being fed from the Proscan(Pshd105) to the JVC & to the AVX 1 out of the componet from the
JVC which is feed to the projector.

It worked perfect as I was watching it & recording at the same time.

When I play it back I get the brief Audio & Video glitch for a few seconds
2 or 3 times during the course of the movie.

169time has a excellent product & I love it when it works all the way thru.
But when I see this I say "OH what happened now"

This newer version is a greatly improved over
the last one.
Last time I would of said "this is what I paid for"

So dave if I use the DVHS tapes & everything I described here is good such as the signal the Ferrite Chokes,Do you think it will turn out 100%?

If I called you at the 169time phone # can you come to the phone?

Thankyou
I just want to be a little happier.

I dont understand why some people have noise problems and some dont.. Why is it? I mean I would think my environment is quite noisy, and yet I seem to be breaking all the rules and recordings are coming through great. Seems strange to me.

Nope, I dont work for 169time.

YOu can talk to RIchard.

But as Robert has said, do you have the pad in? Are you sure your termination between the lan, switch and dtc100 are good? If not, you wouldnt see this with regular recording.

All I am offering is a lot of folks have tried to jump to the 169time product as the source of there issues in the past and it turned out to be they didnt have a "clean" signal. Not saying this is your case, but its not clear you have spent enough time trying to isolate. (It has taken many of us months to get this better understood. And you see ALan is fighting it now.)

Dave

Kirby, as Robert has posted, signal termination is very important. Just because one doesnt see it watching, doesnt mean it will work cleanly for recording.

Dave

Where can I find Dish 6000's, maybe in quantity, cheap?

;)

Dave

Hello Robert... Can you tell me what you mean by a lan switch & pad in?
I'm not using this in a PC.

The 3 hook ups are
1.The Rca Proscan PSHD-105
2. The JVC HM DH-30000
3. The AVX 1

You can buy the attenuator at radio shack. Robert has posted in this thread recently that this is still good to use. But, ever installation is different. I dont have it and seem fine.

Dave

hello dave,
I bought the attenuator at the same trime i bought the ferrite chokes.
It's being used in the set up.

I have nothing else to offer.

Sorry

dave

Ok How about some rep or some help from the fellows at the 169time Company.

My posts are here can you come up with a solution?
Does Richard ever come on this forum or anyone
from 169 time?

I need some technical answers

Should I disconnect the attenuator?
Should I stop using SVHS tapes?
Why is it when the signal is good & as I'm watching HDTV as I'm
recording that everything is cool?

What do I do?

Please H E L P

Have you tried recording WITHOUT the chokes and/or attenuator in place? I removed a signal amplifier from my configuration and have gotten much better results with the new software. I used to see pixelation several times/hour and now it rarely happens.

The pixelation was limited strictly to recordings, I never noticed this sort of problem on my projector when watching programming directly.

John

"Where can I find Dish 6000's, maybe in quantity, cheap? "

Have you called Dish Depot? There often have deals on pricing and trade ins. Otherwise call Echostar directly. :) :)

yrral-

The absolute best and most accurate information can be had direct from Richard. Go to their web site and you will find a phone number to talk to him at tech support. tell him your problems and let him tell you what to do. This forum is just a bunch of users with our own experiences. Even Dave, while he has better access to Richard than the rest of us (because he lives down the street) is for all forum purposes, another user but who happens to be close to the man and probably has more off the record information on what's happening with 169Time than we do but, no offense, Dave, probably is not as well equipped to help you as is the man himself. I recommend you call him.

Some of your questions are somewhat humorous. Here is what I do when dealing with a problem. I try to eliminate all the unnecessary variables in the process that still produces the problem. eg. should you stop using SVHS tapes? Of course, stop using them. When I do testing here, I use DVHS tape because I don't want that variable to influence the test. I use SVHS tapes when I have the system working perfectly. I even believe that SVHS tapes perform as well and sometimes better than DVHS tape but that is my opinion. I just don't use it when doing testing because SVHS tape has other setup and operational differences that I don't want to be bothered with during testing of other issues.
Just try to simplify your system until you get things working consistently. Then you can afford the luxury of saving money on SVHS tape for your recordings.

Don, this stuff will probably never be "perfect", what ever that means.
But if thats what one expects, HDTV recording is probably not what a person should do. This has to be a hobby. Just my experience.

Dave

Originally posted by Alan Gouger
Larry

One thing I am experiencing with my JVC. Playback through the component analog output is perfect. No drop outs or pixelization but playback of the same tape via firewire and I do experience drop outs a few times per movie.
This of course tells me its not the fault of my recording but some kind of interference causing my digital playback to drop out from time to time.

Make sure you have the 3DNR on during playback. This does make a defferance on the JVC's If it's not lit just push the button to turn it on.

I was spending so much time in the Iraq forum that I didn't notice this new software drop until this morning. I just upgraded and I'm trying it out to see what happens. I'm starting on HBO just for a worst case scenario, no special startup scenario or anything like that. We'll see what happens. Unfortunately, if I start getting good recordings, I'm going to have to go back over the religion thread and admit that at least one miracle has happened.

Dean, long time no hear. I have yet to have a failure on HBO.
So, let us know what you find.

Dave

I did run one tape today, and I checked it an it looked ok. But it was just random junk and I don't have time to sit down and watch it. Unfortunately, there's not much on HBO of interest to tape over the next few days. I might try to get Wild Side tonight, but I doubt it's going to be terribly high quality video. But, it's something I'd be willing to sit down and watch to see if there are any problems. I'm always up for a good HD lesbian scene or two. I'll probably take a whack at A.I. tomorrow, since I never got a good one before. Nothing like HD to really capture all of that noisy grain.

Come on Dean, is that all you are going to say after your comments in the past? ;)

Dave

What? Do you want me to say more things like I used to in the past?

You were honest in the past it had issues. So, what have you found now?
Just it looked ok? Come on, did it work or not?

It took a lot of work for Richard to fix. And no one else seems to have a product. Thought maybe you would say something nice about 169time. ;)


Dave

I only checked in 3 or 4 places, and it looked ok there. But about half of my failed tapes in the past would also (the others would fail completely), and I'd only see the problems when I really sat down to watch. As I said above, I need to catch something that I'm going to be willing to sit down and watch all the way through once I tape it. What I taped today was just a couple hours of random junk on HBO, that I have no desire to watch. I might try to catch Wild Side tonight and watch it tomorrow or something.

Dean,

My experience so far is that the stability does seem to be there and without the voodoo chicken dance on your head to get the AVX and JVC "conditioned" to hopefully get an error free recording. It has been idiot proofed for the most part. I have had to reset my DTC100 to get it to sense the OTA signal after long periods of AVX usage. I have been really pleased but am in the same boat, HBO hasn't had much of interest lately.

Jeff

Dean-

You were so busy posting, you apparently didn't take the time to listen (read).

I told you a week ago over in the Iraq forum what was going on but you never commented. Maybe I should have said that President Bush gets the credit for this new development at 169Time and then you would have taken notice to argue the point. :D

Anyway, glad you finally came back to the USA and are getting something of value from the forum besides a post count tally higher than anyone else. Hey, just kidding you.

Seriously, the new B3 is quite robust. The big thing I have seen is that while you will still see a quick motion glitch (resync) sometimes coupled with a sound hit but not always, I have yet to see any recording destruct like we saw with B2 software. And, I have tried to destroy it using certain procedures like channel changing while recording and program guide display for 3 minutes that would kill a recording in the past. Now, it takes a moment to recover and just continues to record. I believe this is what I call functional! If I can't kill it in another week, I'll vote to call this a release from beta. I have more kill testing to do but so far, not one problem. I will test HD PPV, HDNet, and Showtime HD but not HBO HD here as I don't get it on DirecTV.

Cool Don. Good reasons to try and kill the avx-1 for the next product. ;)

Dave

I told you a week ago over in the Iraq forum what was going on but you never commented. Maybe I should have said that President Bush gets the credit for this new development at 169Time and then you would have taken notice to argue the point


There was so much going on that unless it was in a thread of it's own, it would have been easy to miss. I remember seeing some posts of yours, but they mostly seemed to be about the topics at hand and I didn't read through them closely.

With the Mits doing the recording from B3, I sometimes end up with a completely blank tape. AVX1 said it found everything... Tape showed D-VHS mode, and a "d" as the source, but when I try to play it back - nothing... The Mits keeps flashing the S-VHS and "d" lights like it is searching for a signal on the tape. Don't know if this is happening to anyone else. Maybe a problem with my deck. It is odd... 100% perfect 95% of the time, but 5% of the time I get a blank tape.

Get a JVC ;)

dave

PVR,

I have seen the same behavior from the Mits. while connected to a Samsung SIRT165. It's rare, but occasionally I get a 'blank' tape too. It's probably not the fault of the AVX-1.

-Dylan

Originally posted by dahester
PVR,

I have seen the same behavior from the Mits. while connected to a Samsung SIRT165. It's rare, but occasionally I get a 'blank' tape too. It's probably not the fault of the AVX-1.

-Dylan

Same for me. But it has only occurred while recording ABC out of Tampa.

My latest problem is no time clock indication when I press "info" on the remote. I need to reread the instruction manual, I guess. I have not paniced yet, as the 165 will display the time when to go to the "auto time set menu".

Originally posted by h2ofun
Get a JVC ;)

dave

I have three Mits and love them. The best word to describe them is "workhorse". I record everything including S-VHS on them. No issues ever traced to the Mits.

I live in fear of my one 30K going bad. If (when?) the 30K does give up the ship, I may just discard it. I'm too old to jump through the rings that members have reported JVC demands for a possible fix. Think about it a minute. Here is a product (30K) that in order to receive satisfaction from JVC an owner must contact a specific individual (MEREK) and hope he returns your call.

I have never forgotten Jeff's post reporting 12 out of 13 bad 30K's. And Dave I remember you have had some big time problems. Right? How soon we forget the "JVC TO GIVE FINAL ANSWER IN TWO WEEKS" (to paraphrase) thread.

However, I am sure I will take the plunge and purchase a 40K when available and hope for the best.

I have never forgotten the promises JVC made. But being in a computer business which some of the same type of issues, I understand how difficult some of these to find are. Again, they always treated me fairly when I was working with them, and will continue to offer this support into the future.

Dave

Boy is life good. You guys, and gals, mark this month that the man, Richard Adams, does for HDTV recording, what Mark Cuban did for HD broadcast. Get your money ready!!! ;)


Dave

Are any cable companies still using the HDD200?

Dave

Okay, here is the news.

fyi

Fyi - the GI HDD200 is also known as the HDD201 in Canada but is otherwise identical. This box is used with two at least two 4DTV receivers. One stripped down version is digital only and is sold as a companion to work with an existing analog receiver and is called a "Sidecar." The other is a complete analog and digital receiver. There is also the Canadian StarChoice receiver.

The HDD200 was also used with some cable companies for their original HDTV offerings, but I do not know if any cable companies are still using this one, but the 169time product for the HDD200 would be equally applicable to the version used by cable HDTV. Are any cable companies are still using HDD200?

Both the HDD200 and the BEV 6000 are in legal use in Canada. Because of this 169time would seriously consider working directly with some qualified technicians in Canada for them to install the HDVR in Bell Express View 6000 and Starchoice HDD201 boxes without the need to ship these units into the USA. If these technicians read the AVS forum, 169time could use some help in locating them.

So the point is that the HDD200 / 201 is not only a "4DTV"adapter. It covers several services.

I already have the HDVR installed and mounted in the HDD200 and working fine. It's ready to go.

The HDVR is wired and working in the 6000 as well, and I should have the mounting screws & etc. ready on Friday AM, to finalize that one too.

I would expect to see order forms and announcement about these on the 169time.com web site by Monday, or sooner. The soonest would be Saturday.

FYi

So, now 169time has all three sats covered. Direct TV, Dish network and C band. What other company can say this?


Dave

Dave- That's great news. I suppose that leaves one last small group of people to satisfy in the satellite populous. Those who still want to store on a PC.

Back to the 6000-
Has this option been tested with the OTA-8VSB, and the 8PSK modules?

More FYI

Additional

The adapters for the 6000 and HDD200 operate using the AVX1. Unlike the
DTC100, all recording including OTA with the 6000, are processed by the AVX1
on the way to the deck. Thus, the AVX1 is needed for all recording uses.

There is no provision to play back through the set top box. Playback would
be through the deck or with a firewire TV, or through a STB that allows
playback such as the DTC100 with 169time.com HDVR.

The suggested list price for the adapter, installation, and AVX1 will be the
same as the current price for the DTC100 unit. There will likely be an
introductory sale for these when announced.

The same AVX1 can be used for DTC100, HDD200 and 6000, though currently the
firewire would need to be plugged in to select the particular set top box.

Self install will not offered at first.

Richard


fyi

Dave

Don, I believe the answer is yes, but just wrote RIchard to verify.

Dave

h2ofun,

Can you post or upload a picture of a modified 6000 receiver?

Given Dish Network uses standard DVB and MPEG-2, why is the AVX1 required in addition to the Firewire modification? Forgive my ignorance, as I am not completely clear on what the 169time modification involves.

Given a likely introductory sale, can we expect to pay less for the upgrade than the current $887 for the DirecTV product, or will it be about the same?

I thought he said the price would be the same as direct tv.

I sent your questions to RIchard.

dave

Originally posted by h2ofun


So, now 169time has all three sats covered. Direct TV, Dish network and C band. What other company can say this?


Dave

Excuse me Dave.

DirecTV, DISH Network, C-Band, and ExpressVu, Starchoice, and many cable systems in both the USA and Canada.

Blitzkrieg!:cool:

Sorry, you are right. ;)

Dave

OK, so one needs a firewire added to the 6000. Then it connects to the AVX and VCR for recording. I presume that the AVX would need a different CD to run.

So, it seems that Richard was not able to make the 1394 adapter output recordable Dish Net HDTV without some form of translation just like the DirecTV HDTV signal.

Can anyone answer what is different about the mpeg2 stream from DishNetwork vs. the MPEG2 stream off of an OTA signal? I thought they were the same.

It's all academic anyway even if this 6000 solution is not as elegant as I had hoped.

I'll be waiting for the self install deal to see if I want to save the $$ and do it myself or suffer sending in the 6000 for upgrade. Really depends on my timing and whether Richard needs to do a level of modification that is beyond my skills. The DTC-100, I thought was pretty straight forward and easy for me.

Don, I dont expect him to offer for "awhile" because its extra documentation and support he does not have the time to do.

Dave

I understand. I hope he finds this offering to his prosperity before the competition is released. If it's cheap enough in the basic modification for those who have the hardware then I might be inclined to go for it.

Well now we know:

#1: Richard wasn't just working on the DTC100 AVX-1 fix, but rather multiple stuff at once. (Hence the long delay)
#2: Richard has been very busy!
#3: Richard has done some amazing things!

I too am curious to hear if different AVX1 software will be needed for a 6000... Also why the AVX1 is needed at all on non DTV signals.

(Maybe we will never know).

I wonder if an AVX1 could be used to "watermark" a signal passed through it...

I'm learning from experience that never try to record svhs tapes in the
dvhs mode.
It will mess up the heads in the jvc.
It takes at least 10 seconds to show the signal.
When you record HDTV use only the DVHS tapes ONLY.

If any body found out in their own way let me know.

Don, answer to your question.


> Back to the 6000-
> Has this option been tested with the OTA-8VSB, and the 8PSK modules?

Yes, with both modules plugged in and from the all HDTV sources.


Dave

I have never had "good" Svhs, (or dvhs) tapes, mess up my heads. The only time is messed up the pinch roller is when I have some old svhs tapes that had gone bad.

My TV takes time to sync no matter what type of tape. D is faster, but not zero.

I have taped lots of HD on Fuji S tape, and have had no issues.

And yep, you see why RIchard took so long for the avx-1 update. He had to make sure it worked with a lot of stuff. (Not all of its released yet ;) )

Dave

PVR

At this point, the s/w is the same on avx-1 for dtc100 and 6000.

Dave

More FYI

> > Can you post or upload a picture of a modified 6000 receiver?

Coming shortly. One thing to note is that there are not "plug in firewire
ports" added to the 6000 back panel. Instead, there is one firewire cable
that is pre-installed on the Dish6000 that exists the rear panel for
connection to the deck.


> Given Dish Network uses standard DVB and MPEG-2, why is the AVX1 required in addition to the Firewire modification? Forgive my ignorance, as I am not completely clear on what the 169time modification involves.

The AVX1 is used for the same reason that it is used with the DTC100. More precise information about the inner workings of the 169time products is proprietary. If it was easier, obviously other people would do it. It is a
benefit to users that 169time has designed the AVX1 to be flexible enough
that it meets the needs of 3 different satellite systems, and likely more in
the future.

Regarding price- 169time is certain that this product is the most economical
way to record true digital HDTV from the Dish / BEV 6000 receiver.


fyi


Dave

Congratulations to Richard Adams, and to Dave h20fun for all the positive thinking and cheerleading (even if it is ocasionally OTT).

I think I might sign up after a few initial adopters have posted their results.

;)

Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
Regarding price- 169time is certain that this product is the most economical
way to record true digital HDTV from the Dish / BEV 6000 receiver.


LOL!!! That is easy to say when it is the ONLY way to record digitally from a 6000! ;)

Supply and Demand. I only see one company with the supply.

Dave

I just finished recording a movie.
'"Colladeral Damage"

I just 3 dropouts during the movie after playing it back.
each dropout occurred for about 3 seconds each.

6 1/2 minutes into film 36 minutes into film & about 1 hr.& 36 minutes near end of film.

The dropout was like a audio video freeze frame .

Does anyone know what would cause this.

Should I leave the AVX 1 on & the dtc-100 as i'm playing back?

I did shut both units off when playing back the tape.

By the way the JVC is the vcr I'm using

I currently have the AVX-1 and a modified DTC-100. I could ask Richard, but others might be interested in the answer to this. Do you know if he will give special pricing to those who already have an AVX-1 and just want to get a 6000 modified? I would order DishNetwork with a 6000 which would also get me the HD dish and then get the 6000 modified.

I know it is a long shot, but it seems like the translation that he needs to do for the 6000 is different than for the DTC-100. So, I'm still going to hold out some hope that a recording from this on a 30k and then transferred to an HTPC with DVHSTool will work better in ZoomPlayer than the current stuff. I know it isn't one of the advertised features, but I think there is some chance that it will work.

Also, this release of the 6000 might help me get a cheaper 5000+modulator, so its all good :)

--Darin

Some DonLandis endurance testing results so far-

I decided to do some testing I have not read about this week and am happy to report not one failure.

Test condition-
On 4/22 I booted the new b3 CD.
I began to record using a DF420 tape in continuous mode. spot checking playback to look for problems, also selecting 30 minute and 1 hour programs to view from beginning to end. In essence, I operated the system kind of like a PVR for continuous time shifting of all programs except while viewing playback. I did this for 4 days now without the need to reboot the AVX. Twice, during that time period I lost VCR 1394 connection to the HDVR but simple unplugging the 1394 cable from the back of the VCR for about 2 seconds and reconnecting restored connectivity for playback. For recording, I just connected the 1394 cable from the AVX and hit record. During the record sessions, I randomly checked the program guide on the DTC-100 which didn't bother the AVX at all.

Today, I had a chance to climb up on the roof and reconnect my sat C LNB to get Showtime HD. I am recording my first Showtime HD movie tonight since last Fall from the AVX system. I will report how this goes later. I plan to be switching between CH 543 and 199 while the AVX is recording to see what happens. I also tried to make a switch of my account to HBO HD but DirecTV is being very stubborn and still refusing to allow me to subscribe to HBO. I'll have to make due with Showtime HD for now. All I wanted to do was add HBO and they refused to allow me to add it.

Originally posted by Don Landis
Twice, during that time period I lost VCR 1394 connection to the HDVR but simple unplugging the 1394 cable from the back of the VCR for about 2 seconds and reconnecting restored connectivity for playback.

(Don: assume that happens with Mits DVHS?)

This does seem to happen to me too on rare occasions. I don't know if Richard can do anything about this from the HDVR or AVX1 side, but it is annoying.

(No, Dave - I don't want to get a JVC - even though the price has dropped like a rock)

Very cool stuff!

I went away for Easter break with the family Sunday, before I left I set my pronto remote to change channel and record Flatliners on Tuesday, came back last night to a perfect recording, could never do anything like that before.

Dave:

How about some sort of hint on PVR or recording to Hard Drive, my media room is being over taken with DVHS Tapes.


Lon

Don, why won't they give you HBO? I assume you mean HBO-HD without sub'ing to HBO? Did anyone else get new access cards for DTV?

I've had good luck with B3 and changing channels, bringing up the guide etc. I can't get it to bomb like it used to. I even switched from DTV to OTA while recording. It always recovered.

Photos

http://www.169time.com/E6000_rear_1.jpg

http://www.169time.com/HDD200_rear_1.jpg

Dave

Lon, cant announce things until they are ready to ship. You dont want 169time to go back to how they announced stuff in the beginning do you?

;)

Dave

All I can say is I listen to what "customers" want, pass to RIchard, and based on what size the market we think there is, do them in this order.

But, clearly having the avx-1 working, means he has design time for other stuff. But, when he gets lots of orders, shipments come first.

Dave

mrwilson-

No, They won't let me sub to HBO package period. I don't know and every CSR I called for over a month could not figure it out. I had it up until the 3rd week of August. Then it went blank. I also had Starz. They were able to add Showtime package back then and it is why I have that now. Since this HBO was a redundant subscription as I have it on Dish, I simply gave up arguing with them. I also discussed this with one rep in January at CES. He told me in a rather arrogant manner-" Our policy at DirecTV is to have everyone of you grandfathered in on just the premium packaged to be switched over to our basic channels package, no more premium channels only. I asked, about those with NFLST only and he said we're going to shut them off too unless they add a basic package. So, if you want an answer, I would guess that they are expiring grandfathered pacjkages and forcing people like me and Dan (NFLST only) to add stuff to our package that we don't want. He also said that since I still have an old card, they would probably audit my account and everyone elses when they send the new card.

PVR- broken 1394 connection happens with all 3 of my 1394 always connected systems and needs electronic reset to repair from time to time as follows.
1. Panny system- power cycle the DST50
2. HDVR- unplug and replug in the cable, or power cycle the DTC-100
3. In my edit suite#2 the Sony DSR20 VCR connection to the computer card, reboot the computer.

IMO, 1394 is a fragile transport system that gets easily trashed compared to analog connections.

I have watched a few movies now.
For every movie, there has been 2, 2 second pauses and usually one short instance of pixels and loss of audio.
No problems whatsoever during audio switch from 2 channel to 5.1 (this occurs because I use the dtc timer to record, and the record usually starts a bit before the movie).

All in all, quite acceptable.

I also turn the avx1 off during playback and tune the jvc to a regular tv channel. If I don't, I get many pixallizing type drop outs.
(I also have the pad installed, and use only DVHS tapes).


PS: Dave, one thing that would be a plus for a self install 6000, is for the people living in Canada. The shipping back and forth is absolutely horrendous. Plus the added hassle of customs (Couriers charge us a gross handling fee, plus, collect all the taxes). Also, if it is an american provider, there is the issue of legality (even if subcribed through an american address).

So, when you're talking to Richard, say 'Pretty, pretty, pretty please" :)

Dave- Has Richard researched a through chassis 1394 connector? I would think this to be preferable than the dangle design for the 6000.

All of us should hunt for such a 1394 connector. May be called a bulkhead through chassis connector that probably takes a standard 1394 connection on either side. The other choice would be a simple chassis 1394 connector like he already is using. Personally, I don't care for his current design offering with that cable dangling but if that's the way it is then that's that. I know how stubborn engineers are to design changes. :)

Again, there is only so much time. This is why RIchard is looking for someone in Canada to work with. Have anyone in the business.
He doesnt want to get into the shipping stuff, but is not going to support self install issues now. (I have fully seen all the issues doing this, so please dont say its easy!! )

Dave

judd

What do you mean when you say you have the pad installed regarding the JVC deck?

Thanks!

The pad is on the dtc100 to try and terminate the signal better.
This is independent of any 169time products.

Dave

Yes, it is an attenuation pad inline with the sat cable.
I just posted what was working for me to help others troubleshoot potential problems.

Since the AVX-1 is not compatible with direct firewire transmission to the PC would this mean that the Dish 6000 modification would not allow recording directly to the PC?

David.

Dave, I do know a guy who repairs c-band and dss sat receivers.
I'll give him a call and if he's interested in doing work for Richard, I'll give him Richards phone number.

I will ask

dave

Originally posted by david@pflanzer.com
Since the AVX-1 is not compatible with direct firewire transmission to the PC would this mean that the Dish 6000 modification would not allow recording directly to the PC?

David.

I, too, would be interested in knowing if the 6000 modification permits recording to a hard drive. I am currently saving OTA *.tp and *.ts transport stream files to my hard drive for playback. And then, the next question would be as to playback from a hard drive of content captured through the 6000 modification.

FYI

The feature to support direct communication between the AVX1 and the PC is on the list of high priority software updates for the AVX1.

Playback is not provided through the 6000 or HDD200 built in decoder.

169time's playback offerings include the DTC100 and Integra / Unity Motion
HDVR units, and these require that a received signal be present at the time
of playback.

Some of the other ways to do playback include.
1) A firewire equipped TV
2) A JVC deck's built in decoder
3) A PC that is fast enough to decode HDTV using the main processor and a
non-HDTV video card.
4) A PC equipped with a video card that has a specific HDTV decoder.


Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
Some of the other ways to do playback include.
1) A firewire equipped TV
2) A JVC deck's built in decoder
3) A PC that is fast enough to decode HDTV using the main processor and a
non-HDTV video card.
4) A PC equipped with a video card that has a specific HDTV decoder.
Based upon the postings in this forum, it appears that there are compatibility issues when transport streams captured on D-VHS tape from the avx-1 are converted to PC files using DVHSTool. That makes PC playback options 3 & 4 somewhat problematic. I assume this is an area Richard is looking at.

I find the focus on HTPC compatibility for the avx-1 refreshing. I think the HTPC crowd could represent a significant market for the 169time product, given the flexibility of the PC interface.

I received a tape from someone that used the AVX-1/DTC-100 combo to make an HDNET tape. When I restored it with DVHSTool it gave me frequent glitches with my HiPix.

Unless the new software for the AVX-1 made the transport stream more "compliant" then I have no reason to expect that the Dish 6000 mod would be any different.

bummer,

David.

Again, the avx-1 doesnt support to PC today. So to even talk about it, looks like you need to modify the dvhstool, or wait for 169time to do what ever they will do.

So, why do folks try to make something do a feature it clearly says it DOESNT support, and then complain about it?

Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
The feature to support direct communication between the AVX1 and the PC is on the list of high priority software updates for the AVX1. Dave, I don't think anyone is complaining. I am grateful that you and/or Richard are looking at this issue. If people are giving you feedback, I assume it's to let you know what their current experience has been. The feedback can be used as a starting point for making improvements.

Originally posted by h2ofun
So, why do folks try to make something do a feature it clearly says it DOESNT support, and then complain about it?

I guess it depends on your definition of "complain". It seems like it is close and some of us really want it, so will continue to discuss it. It does seem like a big advantage of the 5000+modulator to me, although the 169time solution also his its own big advantages.

In another thread llogan posted (I don't know him or vouch for this):
And according to 169time, there are people that've got it working with a registry patch but they can't (do to issues of legal liability and so forth) point anyone to those individuals or resources. I honestly don't know what other mods you could make to the registry once you've gotten it to recognize the AVX1 as a JVC tape deck but that's what I was told.
Your post:
Some of the other ways to do playback include.
1) A firewire equipped TV
2) A JVC deck's built in decoder
3) A PC that is fast enough to decode HDTV using the main processor and a
non-HDTV video card.
4) A PC equipped with a video card that has a specific HDTV decoder.

didn't make it obvious that you meant OTA recordings only, even though that has been mentioned elsewhere. Also, you've mentioned that direct connect to the HTPC is something they would like to support in the future. Just want to make sure that people understand that direct connect and getting the files to playback cleanly on an HTPC after transferring from DVHSTool are 2 different tasks. Although, the first one probably requires that the 2nd one work, the 2nd one doesn't require that the first one work. The 2nd one is all I'm really hoping for at some point.

--Darin

Darin, sorry, when someone says the avx-1 stream needs to be more
"compliant", thats complaining. Sorry, thats how I see it.

The 169time web site has ALWAYS stated the avx-1 does not support PC based stuff, ONLY the dtc100 for OTA. (Which can be dish sat with a 5000).

So, just trying to stop some folks from being negative for something it is NOT supported to do. Now, just like 169time did a converter, guess you could write your own converter for the avx-1 stream.

So, I love to hear ideas. PC support for the avx-1 is on the list. But if you want to mess around now, thats your choice. Just like timer, its not supported.

I am happy for what we have.

Dave

Looks like Richard is ready to let me try out the dish 6000 and HD200.
Will let ya know.

dave

There's finally something on HBO to record tonight, Swordfish, which I never managed to get before, so I'll finally get a chance to try out the new software in a realistic scenario. I was going to do A.I. yesterday, but it turned out that my computer clock had drifted about 10 minutes since I last reset it, and I only set a 5 minute warning, so it was already on by the time I got in there. Oh well...

Scooby-Doo (live action) premieres tonight on HBO-HD at 8pm/ET. Not the greatest film but should look very good.

Anyone notice on HBO's new movie promo that they show the SW:AOTC real quick at the end? Hope that shows up in HD!

Mr. Wilson, I saw it too! And Scooby-Doo looked great. Its in the archives! SW:AOTC will be great.

Dave: Is richard planning on, or can he already install a firewire in my new Samsung SIR-TS160? I semi-retired my DTC-100 and olnly use it with the AVX-1. I love the menu and speed of the Samsung. (so does my wife)
Thanks,

SW: AOTC premeires this June on HBO. Fingers crossed for HD.

SW: AOTC?

No samsung that I have heard at the moment.

Dave

Originally posted by tmitchmd
SW: AOTC?

Star Wars: Attack of The Clones

I, for one, am definitely not complaining. I'm just interested if someone's got it working how they did it. I fully understand the AVX1 is not intended to support recording of DirecTV satellite HD to a PC...yet. And I'm not trying to push you guys any faster than you are already. However, this is for me the ONE thing that makes getting the AVX1 moot for now since I already record OTA to my 1.28 terabyte RAID array. I almost signed up with Dish TV just so that I'd have some capability but I gave that up as I have other projects in the hopper demanding my funds.

Hello anyone out there thay can answer my question I would appreciate it.
I wrote a post not so long ago in refrence to recording a movie on HBO.

Any how I own a PSHD 105 a JVC HDTV VCR, & the AVX -1
I am currently using the new software upgrade for the AVX-1.

I recorded "Collarderal Damage" & out of the entire film I noticed when I played it back I got audio/video freeze 3 times for about 3 seconds each.

What is causing this?

Sometimes I play the movie back with the AVX-1 on & the PSHD-105 on,with the firewires still in place.

First of all does all these things have to be on for playback?

The night before I recorded "AI" & it came out 100% perfect.
That movie rus nearly 2 hours.

The day after I recorded AI,I used the same tape to record "Colladeral DamaGE" I did however disconnected the line attenuator.

Does this lattenuator make a diffrence?

Please help Anyone.
Thankyou
Larry from N.J.

I recorded Swordfish tonight. It looks like it went ok. I'll watch it tomorrow night to see what it looks like. But it looks like it's clearly much improved over the previous version. No special startup religious ceremonies or precautions were taken at all.

Originally posted by yrral
I recorded "Collarderal Damage" & out of the entire film I noticed when I played it back I got audio/video freeze 3 times for about 3 seconds each.


I watched Collateral Damage live on HBO (as in when it was broadcast, did not record). There were a number of video and audio dropouts. I called my dad, who also was watching at his house, and he witnessed the same problems. I am thinking the problem with your recording may be on HBOs end and not the unit. Bad data in, bad data out.

Thats the issue with recording. There are SO many things that can make a digital image have glitches, none of which are the avx-1.

This is why I just ask why some want to jump to the conclusion its related to the avx-1, when you have the data that, like in this case, the source was the issue.

So I just offer, unless one has data to prove the source, I wouldnt jump to any conclusions. The avx-1 works off math. Good everything, good recording. Glitches, then glitches. Pretty simple.

Dave

After almost a week of AVX operation with the new b3 software, making continuous recordings and playing back to check I have obseved the following-

Glitches- defined as momentary interruptions of the video flow of frames, looking like a fraction of a second hesitation in the picture that I never observe on the same channel (Showtime HD recordings or from live HDNet).
These are never destructive, just a momentary departure from perfect video.
Frequency- average of 2-3 per hour of recording

Audio hesitations- Defined as a momentary silence in the program.
Frequency- None

DD5.1 to DD2.0 switching on Showtime HD- No issues.

Destruction of the recording process without warning-
Frequency- Once that required a complete power cycle reboot of the AVX to rectify.

Further explanation-
I suspect this to not be b3 related. It appears that because a reset button reboot did not allow the avx to recover to normal operation, that it would fail at the launch of the OHCI1394 driver, I was, again suffering a hardware failure of the 1394 card connection of the PCI bus that I thought was fixed earlier in the week. A power off and on allowed the avx to reboot and run normally again.

Details of the destructive failure were that it occurred about 1 hour 11 minutes into another long recording for no apparent reason. The AVX screen showed the conmputer just locked up with a flashing curser on the screen. This again, I believe, indicates a hardware issue and the reboot indicates the problem at the 1394 card.

I will also add that during the week of testing that:
1. the AVX never was rebooted until a destructive failure happened.
2. The only time it was not recording was when I was playing back the tape to check, which was about a total of 5 hours non -recording time for the week. That's a bunch of recording without failure.
3. Once during a heavy thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon, the AVX and DTC-100 lost signal for about 10 minutes. The recording returned along with the signal when the storm passed, but it left a black screen for that period while the live screen showed the usual "searching for satellite signal" on the display. Just prior to losing the signal there were two cases of pixelation breakup recorded to the DVHS. Bottom line- The AVX and B3 software remained stable through the passage of a thunderstorm.

I have no differences to report between the Showtime HD and the HDNet channels and switched freely between them during the recording session. No issues to report.

If I have time, I will do some PPV-HD's next week from channel 198.

Thanks Don, so in summary, are you saying the avx-1 is pretty good now?

Dave

"so in summary, are you saying the avx-1 is pretty good now?"

Yes, I'd say that it does what it purports to do with near perfect accuracy, at least with my Mits VCR and for Showtime HD and HDNet channels. Can't say for the JVC but then I was always suspicious of the JVC tests on b2 as being questionable as to whether it was a deck issue or an AVX issue. I seemed to have far less problems with the b2 software than others using the JVC did. Of course, I knew what not to do and avoided it, those things we know would fail in the b2 software.

Don, cool

dave

Hello out there. I just did another recording today.
I experienced some more brief 2-3 seconds A/V interruptions.
I recorder "The Santa Claus"

Here is something weird ,like to if anyone experienced this:
I was playing back the recording I had over 30 seconds to a minute of no audio,but just a picture.
I powered off the JVC & powered it back up without ejecting the tape,
& played it back again in the same spot where it happened & audio came back again.
What do you thing is causing this?

This is a brand new JVC deck on rfecorded twice with it.
I also pulled the fire wire out of the front of the JVC after done with the recording,& powered down the AVX.

Does the AVX still continue to feed signal as the vcr is playing back as well
as the Proscan PHSD-105 If they are still powered up?

Does the attenuator make a diffrence?

Is there any particular menu settings in the JVC that will help avoid this?

Maybe just one more software(AVX) upgrade will solve all these issues.

I'm goint to record something else & as I'm making a recording in DVHS I
will also make a recording on a SVHS machine at the same time & review the tapes at the same time when recording is done.

So this way if there is a possibility of a bad sat. signal it should show up on the 2 tapes.

Has anyone tried that yet.

Dave if your there you seem to have a lot of the answers maybe you might know or anyone on this forum for that matter.

All help is appreciated.

This is so close to being 100% that it's like a tease.

Thanks everyone.

I dont see anyway its the avx-1!!! I have used enough now and have not see issues. It doesnt matter that you have a new JVC. I dont believe they did a inventory update. So, when you said you turned off and then replayed and it was fine, welcome to the world of DVHS decks. Plus as Don as said, firewire itself has issues.

So, there is NO data that the avx-1 s/w has any issues other than what is sees, it does. Meaning, if the signal glitches, the avx-1 would record this glitch since this is what was sent. If the JVC decoder goes nuts on playback, I have had to unplug mine many times before.

Nothing that has been described, in my opinion, is the avx-1 s/w.
(Thats not to say there couldnt be something, but so far, it looks perfect)

So, dont know what to say. Again, being honest. If one expects ANY solution from ANY company to be 100% perfect on digital stuff with all the real life corner cases, then one should probably consider just staying with, ....? Who knows, even DVD's have issues.

Dave

Hello Dave
does the avx1 or the dtc-100 have anything to do with playback?
Should I disconnect the firewire going into the deck when I playback?
You mentioned that the JVC decoder may have a Problem,Should I unplug the JVC prior to recording & repower it?

JVC is coming out with a professional DVHS machine,maybe the decoder is more beefed up.

Check out the website at
www.jvc.com

look under professional products,this is not to mention that the new consumer JVC the HM-DH40000 suppose to be out in May then why the price is drooping like crazy.

Maybe JVC is trying to get it out so that they could try to cover up the glitches that the 30000 had.

If you playback with the JVC, I have never had to disconnect the dtc100 or avx-1.

I and 169time has seen the decoder issue with the 30000 since it first came out. Whether they improved via the 40K, only time will tell.

I know the issues arent there if one plays the tape through the dtc100's
decoder.

Dave

so i guess i will leave the dtc 100 powered up when playing back.

i just thought if it's powered up it will still try to send info. & mess up the playback.

should i also leave the avx powered up as well or would that also wouldnt
make a diffrence?

How did you get around the decoder issue with the JVC besides the dtc-100 being powered up during playbacK?

Is there a better VCR I should use for better results?

Can you talk on a land line phone?

If you can leave me a PM with your phone #
I like to talk to you
if that is not asking too much?

Thanks Larry

Larry-

I spoke to the JVC people on the pro version of the 40K. It has a different number of course.

The main purpose of the 40K was a VCR to make copies from a pro version of a HDCAM or D5 or other format HDTV VCR. It has certain capabilities in the ability to add copy protection encryption. It connects directly to the SDI in to 1394 output MPEG2 realtime encoder that sells for $25K Unless you are in the business of creating HDTV DVHS tapes for HDTV distribution to be played back on a JVC 40K, this proversion offers nothing of any advantage over the consumer version. The JVC man I spoke with was very familiar with the 30K and the 40K and the differences between them. Mark Cuban's DVHS duplication facility probably would be interested in this type of equipment.

Quote by Don:
"Glitches- defined as momentary interruptions of the video flow of frames, looking like a fraction of a second hesitation in the picture that I never observe on the same channel (Showtime HD recordings or from live HDNet).
These are never destructive, just a momentary departure from perfect video.
Frequency- average of 2-3 per hour of recording"

I agree 100% This is the only issue I see also.

Hello Don
Try this model instead.
SR-VD100US
This is also a pro VCR & DTheatre Compatible
This also has the I link provision.
Check out the website
www.jvc.com
select USA
Then Professional,that will take you to the pro site.
Select new models,then go down the page & select the 400.
The 300 is a diffrent animal.

All I want to do is get this darn machine to playback (HM-DH30000)
without a hitch.
Dave told me if I play the JVC back thru the decoder that it will
probably do the trick.
I just purchased a new firewire & put 2 ferrite chokes on both ends 3 inches before going to & from the DTC 100 & the JVC.
I also have these ferrite chokes on every thing from the power wire going into the avx1 the firewire going into the avx1 The power cord on the JVC
The componet wires coming out of the JVC & on the Projector ...Chokes on the power wire & componet cables.
I also have a line attenuator before going into the DTC-100.

What's left to do?
This is even a new vcr.

I get 2-3 seconds of a/v dropout about 3 times during a 1 1/2 movie.

So I figured if I get the new JVC the PRO MODEL it will be more tollerant (the Decoder)

Is there another DVHS deck that will work better than what I have now?
The mits or whatever else?

Thanks

Forgive my typing I have to type slower.
That was 1 1/2 hour movie Don

I get 2-3 seconds of a/v dropout about 3 times during a 1 1/2 movie.

And thats probably the best it'll be except for the odd perfect recording now and again. This isn't a perfect recording setup and I doubt you'll find one that is for a few more years. Accept it and enjoy it for what it is.

I think something has just broken on my AV-X1.

Whenever I connect the 1394 cable from the AV-X1 to my JVC VCR, I see the following message:
"Too many errors on SelfID error reception, giving up!"

Is it merely time for a new 1394 cable, or has something more serious happened?

John

hello john I corrected that.
When i got that message it was beacause I forgot to put the decoder on.
Also just power everything off the avx 1 ,the vcr & the decoder. & repower & it should clear up.
Let me know how you made out
Larry

Powering off did NOT help. I finally swapped 1394 connectors on the back of the DTC-100. Everything seems to be talking just fine now; I just wish I felt better about how I fixed it :)

I will have to wait until after "Six Feet Under" to confirm that everything is really working.

John

Even my pre-recorded D-THeater tapes I have watched have had a glitch here and there. Watching regular digital OTA has a glitch here and there.
Even my DVD's glitch here and there.

Oh well, good enough for me.

Dave

Originally posted by mrwilson
And thats probably the best it'll be except for the odd perfect recording now and again. This isn't a perfect recording setup and I doubt you'll find one that is for a few more years. Accept it and enjoy it for what it is.

I have been recording now for over 3 years and over 95% of my movies are perfect using the Panasonic combo and the dish 5000 modulator. I play them back using a panasonic DVHS VCR hooked up to a 169time DTC-100.

I only have a couple near perfect recordings from the AVX-1 setup.

Their is setups that yeald perfect recordings.

Jeff, have you watched every second of your greater than 1000 tapes to be able to support this 95% number? I cant even get the standard signal that good.

Dave

I have watched over 200 tapes and over 190 of them were perfect. I used the same equipment to record all 1,400 tapes so the percentage would be the same. Also I do watch the first and last 10 minutes of every tape I record to make sure I got a good recording.

If you can't get a standard signal that good you better get new equipment or find out the source of your problem.

I have on occasion re-recorded stuff that I saw or read on the forum of a source glitch. This doesn't happen often at all here. My 5% of tapes that do have a dropout could be from the source or just a bad spot on the tape.

I guess I dont spend so much time worrying about a small glitch when there arent too many other choices. I again am glad for what we have.
And continue to work with 169time and customers to make things as good as they can be, as quickly as they can be. Now, if only 169time have the resources that someone like Samsung does, they could have been as perfect as there "perfect" product released was.

Dave

Larry-

The SR-VD400US is the model I looked at. It is the pro version of the consumer 40K that just has the password protection encryption and the ability to connect it to the HDTV encoder for duplicating DVHS from HDCAM and other HD format VCRs. Nothing additional, like a "beefed up" decoder. It's additional pro featureset is in the area of recording encrypted HDTV. You'd be better off with a 40K consumer version. (lower cost)

hello Don
How are you making out as far as recording in HD?
I am so close of getting perfect recordings except the 2-3 seconds
of a/v dropouts.
This happens about 3 times during a 1 1/2 hour movie.
This is a brand new JVCvcr.
I'm not sure if the line attenuator is doing the trick or if I should change
it to a inline + 3db. inline DBS amplifier?

I'm using a DTC-100 with the AVX & the JVC.
What do you suggest?

Vic, here is the answer from Richard to your question.

fyi

>
> Ok, what am I missing here? Why is it that you need to have an AVX-1
> box for the 6000 also? I thought that the purpose of the box was to
> convert the non-standard DirecTV transport stream into standard MPEG2
> for the DVHS decks to recognize. Dish Network uses standard MPEG2 so
> no extra conversion should be needed. I thought the modification for
> the 6000 would be an internal one, no longer needing the extra box.
>
> Anyone care to explain?
>
> Vic


The presumption in the statement, "I thought that the purpose of the box was to convert the non-standard DirecTV transport stream into standard MPEG2 for the DVHS decks to recognize," is not exactly what the 169time.com web page says.

Here is the information from the faq on the web page.

Q: Isn't the AVX1 really just a PC computer?
A: The AVX1 is a custom made miniature PC that is designed for the dedicated task of making the satellite signal that comes out on the firewire compatible with the DVHS deck.

What is true is that in each of the systems where the AVX1 is used, it's purpose is to make the signal compatible with the DVHS deck so it can be displayed or recorded by the deck's decoder. The key word here is "compatible." It is a general term. The AVX1 does the same general task for each of the systems it is applied to. The task is to foster compatiblity.

In answer to the question, "Why is it that you need to have an AVX-1 box for the 6000 also?" The answer is as follows: To make the signal compatible with the deck.

169time.com engineering has already done all the work to deliver a method to allow perfect digital recording of these HDTV signals so they can be view at a time of the user's choosing. The user doesn't have to further analyze the details of how the 169time.com product accomplishes this feat.

What is most important to the user is that the exact signal that would be viewed when the broadcast is received is available for recording, so that the playback is of equal quality.

Larry-
I don't use a JVC VCR. From the beginning, I felt that there were too many people I respect that know what they were doing having problems with that model VCR for HDTV recording. In addition, I saw too many problems during demos using the JVC at CES, too many of the same problems where I saw the demonstrator making excuses for dropouts and macro pixelation of the JVC VCR. When we tested the AVX last summer, it seemed to me that the JVC was far more problem generating than what I was experiencing and it seemed to me to have some major operational complexities that I preferred not to be bothered with. Therefore I decided not to get the JVC and stick with my Mits 2000U. Now the Mits isn't perfect, It requires you have additional capability (source of OTA digital broadcast or a 5000/mod)in order to play back DVHS HD tapes but I have learned to live with that requirement, after all, it was the 169Time HDVR on the DTC-100 that gave me playback on the MIts to begin with and the reason why I bought the HDVR for the DTC-100.
The new B3 software has just made life easier and recording more reliable. I no longer choose the Panny system to record because I think it is easier to operate, easier to record and more reliable. In fact, I generally prefer to use the AVX now for Showtime HD recording as the PQ is just a tad better than the old 5000/mod signal. The image has less video noise and the colors are cleaner than the 5000/mod.
Does that answer your question- How am I doing recording HDTV?

Vic-
Another way of looking at it is this-
Keeping in mind the simple way Richard explained it and with the following fact- That we know not all 1394 HDTV signals are compatible with each other. for example-
I can record PVHD1000 1394 output to the MIts 2000 but I can't record Mits 2000 playback on the PVHD1000.
I can record and playback PVHD1000 HDTV via the Panny DST50 but I can't playback or record HDTV from the DST50 to the MIts 2000.

In a simple way of looking at this, the two mpeg2 HDTV signals transported by 1394 are incompatible.

OK, I agree with what you said because I had the same assumption you did, that the only thing the AVX did was to convert packet lengths but it appears that maybe the AVX does more than just that and it can simple be stated that it makes the signals ready for the JVC 30K and the Mits 2000 DVHS VCR's IT does not make the signals ready for the PVHD1000.

Now this raises an interesting point that would be good for an experiment.

Yes, I'm disappointed that the 169Time process isn't as tidy as I had envisioned for the 6000 but at least Richard now has an answer for those wishing to record from their 6000. Is it the best overall solution? That depends on each person's requirements and what the actual cost will be.

Personally, I suspect it will be at a premium price until the 921 hits the market and works as claimed, then it will take a tumble because replacing the 6000s we have now with a new 921 may be a much more prudent decision money-wise.

Don
Thanks for your answer.
Do you know if the line atteuator or in line amp
would make a diffrence?
Do you have ferrite chokes on your inputs & outputs?

Does adjusting the transponder number in the test signal
meter on the set top box for the strongest signal help,or is it just locked in to it's desired strenght?

The max signal I'm getting fo SAt 110/119 is 87
But I'm not sure by changing the transponder is in reality making the signal
stronger.

Larry

Larry-
I do not use either the inline amp or attenuator. I use about 120 ft of RG6 on my old technologhy dish with a sat C kit installed. It is a DSA8900 dish system, one of the first that was out. The sat C kit is a year old.

The inline amp is for those who have weak signals due to excessive line lengths. The attenuator is for those who have short line feeds mostly under 50 ft. The experts say that the DireTV dish systems are ideally designed to feed signals over 100 ft of RG6.

Adjusting the transponder number doesn't matter because you will get what you will get and what TP number is decided by DirecTV's RF center, not in your receiver. They do have different signals due to different power levels.

I use a Rat Shack ferrite torroid snap on choke at each end of my 1394 from the AVX to the Mits. I have none on the 1394 from the DTC-100 to the MIts.

Don

I just got back from Radio Shack & picked up a in line amp.
Since my sat.rg6 cable is very close to a 100 ft.,I will take out the attenuator & use this instead.

Maybe there is other devices interferring,like cordless phones(2.4 ghz),wireless internet,Transformers..Ballast from floresant lights & the new screw in type flor. bulbs(theyre spiral looking)


I'll run another recording & see if this line amp is any diffrent.

Larry

Larry,

I used the inline amp with the B2 software but removed it when I upgraded to B3. I was seeing pixelation every few minutes with the amp (and B3), but now the recordings are much better. I still get the occasional stutter/freeze but the audio is much better with B3.

I have had very few (probably only 1 or 2) perfect recordings using the AV-X1 and I don't think I have ever gotten a perfect recording of a movie from HBO-HD.

John

I've recently been running into a problem with recordings made on the JVC 30000U via the AVX-1. I'm now running the 0.8B3 software, but I believe this problem was present even with 0.8B2.

What's happening is that recordings made with the AVX-1 will typically not play back on the Panasonic combo (HD1000 and TU-DST50) without constant breakup of the image. The behavior is intermittent, but frequent, and the symptom is macro-blocking over most of the image rendering it unwatchable. The digital audio is usually unaffected.

The recordings seem to play back fine on the 30000U, and also seem fine when played back through the DTC-100/HDVR's decoder. But they're no longer portable to the Panasonic. I have several Panasonic combos and they all behave identically with AVX-1 recordings.

This problem was not present when I first got the AVX-1. I have several AVX-1/30000U recordings made last year that have always played fine on the Panasonics. But newer recordings (typically of HDNet material) do not. So the problem seems to have developed subsequently.

OTA recordings made with the HDVR, without using the AVX-1, have always been problem-free and still are.

I've reported the problem to 169Time and will be sending them one of the troublesome tapes (a recording of "Hogan's Heroes" made from HDNet) for analysis but I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced this problem or anything like it. One suspicion is that HDNet's signal might have changed in some way that matters to the DST50 but not to the other decoders.

Panasonic portability is still important to me and will be for some time, so I hope this can be solved or worked around.

If you dub the problem recording from the JVC to the Panny does it come out ok?

Larry,
From what I've read here, I would not put the line amp in.

The 2-3 second dropouts you are getting (2-3 per movie) seem to be the best you are going to get at this time.
If you read through all of the posts since the B3 software came out, everyone seems to be getting them. They were also present with the B2 software, but since it was so unreliable, only Don posted this issue.

I believe that specific issue (the video actually pauses for 2 seconds every hour or so) is caused by the avx1/dtc combo.

I also believe that any pixalizing issue is due mainly to either satellite signal problems or is the jvc deck acting up.

To sum up the axv1/dtc combo:
Does it work well now? Absolutely.
Are the movies watchable? Absolutely.
Do the 2-3 glitches per movie bother me? Not much, but a little.
Would it be nice if they were gone? Sure, and may be when Richard gets more time, he will be able to work it out.

Ron- I will roll tape on HDNet tonight and check your claim out here on the Panny system. A good observation from you to verify with the Mits/Panny as I never had a problem before either.

Back from Richard on the resyncs.

fyi

These are the so called "resyncs." It is likely that future AVX1 software
update will reduce the quantity and duration of these,

fyi

dave

Ron and Don,

The problem is real, and I've posted about it before.
Using the 0.8B2 software I also saw periodic video breakups through the following HDTV decoders:

Panasonic TU-DST50 + PV-HD1000
Samsung SIR-T165 + Mits. 1100U
MyHD PCI card + Victor 30000

The audio is not affected. The only reliable video playback I can get from AVX recordings is either through the DTC-100 or the Victor (JVC) decoder. The D-VHS deck model doesn't seem to matter. There are no problems with OTA recordings made from the HDVR-100-2. I have not yet tested with 0.8B3 software.

-Dylan

Dylan, dont even consider using the B2 s/w anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave

Richard had gotten a number of orders Friday for the last day of the sale, so he didnt finish the 6000 for me yet to try. Will pick it up tomorrow after work. I will play with this one before I do the HD200. (Still trying to get my darn dish to work again. C band is a pain. :o)

Dave

Just a note, it was stated above that everybody has experienced the 2 - 3 second drops. I have not had these with either B2 or B3 software. The slight resyncs I get last a fraction of a second and I do not experience audio drops, just a one or two frame jitter. I have never complained about those. If I had the 2 - 3 second problems, I would have been quite a bit more upset than I ever have been with the 169time. So far , so good, the new software has responded wonderfully throughout.

Jeff

Talking to Richard about this tonight, it again goes back to signal quality.
If the avx-1 sees a glitch, it has to do some things now to make sure things stay in sync. So Jeff, if you havent seen them, its because you have a "clean" setup. Again, the avx-1 is just passing through what it sees.
There goal continues to be perfection, but as I have been saying for 9 months, some folks have a better "setup" than others. This could be trees, just the margin on the pieces, etc.

But, bottom line, it is sure a lot better than it was.

And Don, talking to Richard, he says the 6000 should start at the quality level the other products are at today, since they all share so much. Again, hope to have the baby in my hands tomorrow night.

Dave

Ron and Dylan-

Yes, it seems I have the same experience as you all so I'm sure this is something peculiar to the AVX as you said Dylan. I just don't recall making this comparison before. The few archival tapes I had recorded off of HDNet are all pixelated in the Panny, yet those recorded from the 5000/mod via the HDVR (No AVX) are fine in both players for playback.

I'll bet this is what problem Mike had months ago and I just didn't understand it then. He also was having issues with audio dropouts but this case is clearly an issue with the Panny not being compatible with the AVX software, to the extent it can't even play back tapes recorded using the AVX.
I suppose we do have another clear limitation of the AVX documented.

Dylan- As observed by Ron G. this issue with the AVX is no different whether you are using the B2 or B3 software.

All along, I thought the limitation of the AVX was just that it would not record to the Panny. I see now it won't even play back tapes made on a Mits or JVC by the AVX for playback on the Panny.

I can't wait to see how this same test will fair with the 921's 1394 recording. That will probably be the first box to do a comparative test of a sat signal.

From now on, I will need to note on my tape labels, that the recording was made with the AVX so I know it won't be compatible with my Panny playback.

Does this same problem happen when you AVX record with the Mits or JVC and play back on the opposite? I wonder if this is strictly a Panny problem. Who has a JVC 30Kand MIts2000 who can verify this? tmitchmd?

"it was stated above that everybody has experienced the 2 - 3 second drops. I have not had these with either B2 or B3 software."

Not everybody, Jeff. I don't get 2-3 second hesitation either, I get 2-3 per hour same as you that are a fraction of a second hesitation.

Don, cleaner enviornment.

dave

Don,

It's not a Panny problem. I believe it's an AVX-1 problem. The video glitches show up repeatably as if recorded on tape, approximately once every 50 seconds, on the three decoders I mentioned above (Samsung, MyHD, and Panny). It problem is independent of the deck used to record or play back.

Dave, I mention this problem again because it appears that software version 0.8B3 does not resolve this long-standing issue, as reported by Ron. This flaw is one of the primary reasons why my AVX-1 rarely gets use in my system. I really would like to see this issue get resolved.

-Dylan

I have a Mits dedicated to 169Time. I play back on either my second Mits or the 30K. I experience only periodic audio dropouts. However, the last time I recorded SIX FEET UNDER I experienced about a five second video freeze.

The audio dropouts I refer to are about 5 seconds in length. (If you need more detail on this, please see my earlier posts).

I just watched my first useful recording with the new software. I got a couple of the freezes, about 2 seconds each. And I got a couple of audio dropouts w/ macro blocking early on in the first few minutes. This was in Swordfish, which I recorded night before last. It's obviously better but it's a bummer if there will be couple of those per recording, since it really yanks you out of the illusion. I've got some more stuff scheduled over the next few days and I'll see if it's consistent or not.

Dylan- None of the equipment you mention is listed as supported by the AVX. I agree that the AVX is quite specific to the recording environment but NOW, I also feel that it is specific as to where those recordings can play back. I have said it repeatedly, that 1394 is a very sensitive format for signal transfer. The new AVX software allows the supported hardware to function in a near perfect result, as far as I'm concerned. But, YOYO when you decide to depart from the supported stuff.

I'm still curious as to the cross compatibility of record playback between the Mits and the JVC. Those two VCR's are supported by the AVX for recording. Will the result tapes play on the other VCR with equal quality as they played on the VCR that made the recording. IF yes, then all one needs to know is, you stick to the supported hardware and B3 works. If not, then there is an additional limitation to the AVX that needs to be stated by 169Time.

You said your AVX rarely gets used. I can say that was true for me too when I had B2 because aside from testing, I felt it was too unreliable to record HBO or Showtime when I had more reliable options. Now, with B3 and using 169Time supported hardware, I find myself using the AVX much more because it IS reliable and well integrated into my DTC-100 as my main sat and OTA receiver for BOTH DishNetwork(5000/mod) and DirecTV channels. I do know this will all change when the 921 is integrated and HDNet is on Dish. When that happens, my AVX may become history/obsolete.

Todd where are you? You can run this test!

Originally posted by Don Landis
I'm still curious as to the cross compatibility of record playback between the Mits and the JVC. Those two VCR's are supported by the AVX for recording. Will the result tapes play on the other VCR with equal quality as they played on the VCR that made the recording. IF yes, then all one needs to know is, you stick to the supported hardware and B3 works. If not, then there is an additional limitation to the AVX that needs to be stated by 169Time.

Don, I use my JVC deck to do all the recordings, and playback all recordings on my Mits deck. I've not tried the other way around, because my Mits for some reason just will not operated correctly with the AVX/DTC100 combo under either software. I have played back an OTA recording made on the Mits (from the Mits TV tuner) on the JVC and that worked as well. I noticed no visible video/audio degredation, but my eyes and ears probably arent perfect!

As I thought, the HD1000 is NOT supported for recording with the avx-1

fyi

Panasonic deck isn't supported for recording.

What I've heard is that the DST50 has trouble playing back the tapes sometimes. Only heard this from one person. The deck will play back ok through the DTC100 for example, but there are issues playing back through the DST50 I'm told.

fyi

dave

Don, I had not used the avx-1 with b2 s/w. But, because the b3 works great, I am finding I am using it a lot more now.

Your comment about supported h/w and configurations is right on!!

For folks who say they have a glitch on a recording, has one seen the resync on the display? I know I watch that to see whats going on. So far, I am not getting any resyncs other the movie change times.

Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
Don, I had not used the avx-1 with b2 s/w. But, because the b3 works great, I am finding I am using it a lot more now.

Your comment about supported h/w and configurations is right on!!

For folks who say they have a glitch on a recording, has one seen the re-sync on the display? I know I watch that to see whats going on. So far, I am not getting any re-syncs other the movie change times.

Dave I never get a re-sync on the computer display during the recording however I get a micro video freeze a couple times every 30 to 45 minutes when it's played back just like Don and others (I believe all users).

Okay, will ask Richard about this since seems weird.

What are you playing the tape back on? Does it happen at the same place on the tape no matter which deck you use?

Dave

Okay, we need more data before one can jump to any conclusions.

Here is RIchards question.

fyi

Is the spot on the tape where the freeze occurs repeatable? That is, if you
rewind the tape just past that point and replay it, does that freeze reoccur
in every re-playback. I am especially interested in freezes that are not
seen at the JVC deck's outputs at the time of recording and when there was no re-sync during recording.



fyi

dave

I'll try to get some feel on that. Since my viewing last night was my first with the new software, I was more interested in just watching it all the way through and see how it did overall. I'll try to watch one as I'm recording and make not of any visual glitches, or lack thereof, then watch the taped one on a subsequent night. I'll want to do this on something I've already watched and am just getting for archive purposes, since it would kind of ruin the viewing experience for anything else. Maybe The Fifth Element coming up, since I've seen it so many times I could do all the parts myself from memory almost.

All this says that if we can show with data there is somehow a bug in the avx s/w, Richard will fix it. But, one would need data.

Dave

I have confirmed the Samsung 165 is not compatible with the AVX.
All my tapes play fine through my Mits into my 30000 component into my projector but if I introduce the Samsung (mits to Samsung dvi to projector) the same tape that plays fine from the same deck that plays the same tape just fine to the JVC no longer works so I am to assume the decoder in the Samsung does not like the AVX. All other tapes recorded from OTA play fine using the mits Samsung 165 combo.

Good work, that is strange. Does anyone have an integrated Mits or the PM that they can try playing back AVX recordings into?

Originally posted by mrwilson
Good work, that is strange. Does anyone have an integrated Mits or the PM that they can try playing back AVX recordings into?

I record to a JVC and playback to a Mits deck that is connect to firewire of my Mits TV. works just fine.

We should accumulate a list of MPEG2 decoders that are known to handle AVX-1 recordings.

So far it looks like the list includes: JVC 30000U
DTC-100 (via HDVR-100-2)
Mitsubishi TVs with FireWire input
Do we know of any others?

I should point out, that my Mits TV is one with an integrated tuner/firewire. I can not vouch for the Promise Module, but I would assume it works as well.

Originally posted by h2ofun
Okay, we need more data before one can jump to any conclusions.

Here is RIchards question.

fyi

Is the spot on the tape where the freeze occurs repeatable? That is, if you
rewind the tape just past that point and replay it, does that freeze reoccur
in every re-playback. I am especially interested in freezes that are not
seen at the JVC deck's outputs at the time of recording and when there was no re-sync during recording.


fyi

dave

Dave,

Yes, the spot on the tape where the freeze occurs is repeatable AND periodic. Each freeze is about 45-50 seconds apart; if you need a more precise measurement of the glitch interval I can make one for you.
As far as I know the recordings I made involved no resyncs (I was taping from HDNet and watching in real time through the JVC decoder, glitch-free). These same recordings exhibit no problems when played through the JVC or DTC-100. It appears the MPEG decoders in the Panasonic TU-DST50, Samsung SIR-T165, and MyHD card all exhibit similar freeze ups at repeatable positions on the tape, and with the same glitch interval. What's interesting is the audio remains perfect throughout the video glitch.

-Dylan

Originally posted by h2ofun
Okay, we need more data before one can jump to any conclusions.

Here is RIchards question.

fyi

Is the spot on the tape where the freeze occurs repeatable? That is, if you
rewind the tape just past that point and replay it, does that freeze reoccur
in every re-playback. I am especially interested in freezes that are not
seen at the JVC deck's outputs at the time of recording and when there was no re-sync during recording.



fyi

dave

Yes, the first thing I do is rewind the tape to make sure that it's repeatable, just to make sure that its not the jvc going screwy.

If you watch a movie all the way through, I'm sure you'll notice the same.

Also, since I monitor my Dtc through the Jvc (I'm short 1 component input on my amp), I watched 6 feet under live on Sunday night. During the hour, I got 1 freeze while watching live, monitoring through dtc and avx1.

Just got back from RIchards. I saw the dish6000 working like a champ.
Was not able to take it home since one more change had to be made.
It is using same proven h/w and s/w from the product line, so it should come out of the gates swinging. Just like the 4dtv also.

Dave

Add the HiPix to the list of devices that has problems playing back AVX1 recordings.

I guess it uses the same Terralogic Janus chip as the MyHD so the issue may be there.

If you haven't noticed it yet, you might want to check out Leszek1's analysis of an AVX1 recording here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=253968

Can anyone tell if one tape performs better than the other
I've been using the Maxells
Other than the 2-3 second Audio Video brief dropouts that happens
about 3 times throughout a movie it seems like it's OK
I used the Panasonic Color bar tape to record on (169time test tape)
& i get more audio video dropouts than on the Maxell.
Let me know fellows of your experience
Thanks
Larry from the garden state

I had issues with maxells. I dont touch them anymore

Dave

which tapes do you use dave?

which tapes do you use dave?

For Svhs, I use fuji's like many here do.

For DVHS, I havent been concerned. Some have other experiences, but
I have been okay.

Even if you can rewind the tape and get the error at the same point everytime, unless you were watching at the time it happened, you cant say with 100% certainty, that is wasnt the signal, or a bad spot on the tape, etc. Bottom line, we just continue to collect data. If we find anything that can be proven to relate to the avx-1 that RIchard can reproduce, he will and fix. This is one reason the timer isnt out yet. He has heard of a corner case issue here and there, and doesnt knowingly release stuff that may glitch.

Dave

hello Dave.
Does the atteuator or line amp have anything to do with possible glitches or just leave the cable coming directly from the dish right into the reciever
I just cracked open a Brand new Maxell 300 tape
I recorded a 1 1/2 hour movie.
I usally get 2-3 seconds of A/V dropout within the 1 1/2 hour time frame
For example At 16min 41 sec to 16 min.44 sec
then at 24 min.55 sec to 24min 58 sec
then at 29 min.47 sec to 29min.49 sec & even 1 more
at 41 min 12 sec to 41 min.15 sec.
From 41 min to 1 hour & 1/2 all clear

Now I rewinded the tape to all these dropout points & replayed them
& yes they did show up again. I even left the tape in the machine(VCR)
& powered it off,then powered it back on & hit play & still the dropout portions did not clear up.

Should I leave the AVX 1 on when playing back?

Any body out there please let me know what your experiences as far as playback goes


FOR RECORDING
Do you use line attenuators...does that help
Do you use the line amplifier ..does that help

Originally posted by dahester
Dave,

Yes, the spot on the tape where the freeze occurs is repeatable AND periodic. Each freeze is about 45-50 seconds apart; if you need a more precise measurement of the glitch interval I can make one for you.
As far as I know the recordings I made involved no resyncs (I was taping from HDNet and watching in real time through the JVC decoder, glitch-free). These same recordings exhibit no problems when played through the JVC or DTC-100. It appears the MPEG decoders in the Panasonic TU-DST50, Samsung SIR-T165, and MyHD card all exhibit similar freeze ups at repeatable positions on the tape, and with the same glitch interval. What's interesting is the audio remains perfect throughout the video glitch.

-Dylan

In terms of Software decoders you can add Sonic and WinDVD to the list of decoders that have video freezes with perfect audio and you can add the Elecard decoder to the list of decoders that have no problem with the AVX1 streams.

Leszek

DO I HAVE TO SHUT THE AVX 1 DOWN DURING PLAYBACK?
DO I HAVE THE DTC-100 ON FOR PLAYBACK?

Dave- I can confirm what others have observed--
The few momentary hesitations to normal flow of video (Glitch) is recorded to the tape and was not present during the record session that I watched live. While others have stated a 3-4 second glitch, I have yet to observe any glitch that, IMPO, is no more than a 1 or 2 frame interruption of the normal video frame rate. And, it appears to repeat at random 1-3 at most instances per hour of recording. While still not 100% perfect, the present reliability of B3 here, is just fine and unless trying for perfection, I wouldn't worry about reporting it. In my opinion, satellite TV should be so lucky to have this level of accuracy. ie. 0.0018% error rate based on 2 glitches per hour.
For those who are experiencing lengthy dropouts, like 3-4 seconds, I think you need to look beyond the AVX software for the problem source. But, who knows, maybe if Richard can make the software 100% perfect, it could be more tolerant in those environments with mediocre signals and lots of RF noise or what have you that is causing the lengthy glitches. I just know I am not getting those here and I am using the same software version.

Weird occurrence on tape of Flatliners.

I recorded Flatliners last Tuesday @ 7:00pm, when I reviewed the tape I experienced a problem I had never encountered before, it was not a freeze, or a glitch, or a pixelation but it was a vertical breakup in the middle of the picture frame that lasted maybe a second. It occurred thru out the tape at different intervals and when replayed all the breakups occurred at the same location in the tape. I even played the tape in my 2nd JVC30k to see if it was a deck issue and the breakup happened at the same locations in the tape when viewed on my 2nd JVC30K.

I re-recorded Flatliners Monday morning using the same tape and the vertical breakups where recorded again though at different locations than the first tape.

Has anyone experienced anything like this, I am thinking it just could have been a bad JVC DVHS tape.


Lon

When watching a dedicated monitor hooked to the AVX and the numbers start to zigzag back and forth does that mean there is a drop out or pixelization occurring.
I get this all the time.

Hello the people that are out there using the set up I have ,can you please
help me by answering these couple of questions??

I have the AVX-1 The PROSCAN DTC-100 & The JVC DH-HM30000

When I'm done recording should I shut down the AVX-1 & leave on the dtc-100 for playing back?

Would that help the situation Im having that when I playback a tape that I get during the course of a 1 1/2 hour movie 2 -3 seconds of audio/video dropout for about 3 diffrent times on the tape?

Please see my post here on the forum to Dave.

Also does it matter if I use a line attenuator or a line amp?
Right now I'm using the cable connection directly to the dtc-100.

Please let me know yiur findings

Also is one tape better off than the others?

Thankyou
Larry from N.J.

Originally posted by yrral
Hello the people that are out there using the set up I have ,can you please
help me by answering these couple of questions??

I have the AVX-1 The PROSCAN DTC-100 & The JVC DH-HM30000

When I'm done recording should I shut down the AVX-1 & leave on the dtc-100 for playing back?

Would that help the situation Im having that when I playback a tape that I get during the course of a 1 1/2 hour movie 2 -3 seconds of audio/video dropout for about 3 diffrent times on the tape?

Please see my post here on the forum to Dave.

Also does it matter if I use a line attenuator or a line amp?
Right now I'm using the cable connection directly to the dtc-100.

Please let me know yiur findings

Also is one tape better off than the others?

Thankyou
Larry from N.J.


Try it and let us know if it fixes your playback problem.

Hello
I really want to see if anyone experienced certain situartions.
JR you said try it...I did & I don't see any change.
That's why I need feedback from others that have the same pieces of equipment.


If you can help that would possibly help me.

I dont have any 2 to 3 second glitches. I only have 5 to 12 micro glitches during an entire tape.
If your usinf SVHS tape try using Fuji ST120. If your using DVHS use JVC DF300.

hello jr
are you familar with the fuji professional tape?
they are called the h471s
these are 120 too.

Do you have to drill a small hole in these in order for them to work properly?
The ones you have anyway?

I was noticing that if use the svhs tapes without drilling the hole in it that if used in dvhs mode & when playing back the recording it takes about 10 seconds to read
Would drilling the 1 extra hole in it would it still take about 10 seconds to be read by the vcr?

Okay, I have the Dish 6000 in my house. I officially give it a green light.
I used my std avx-1 with b3 that we all have. I recorded HBO, SHO, Discovery and CBS perfectly. I even was able to do this with the timer in the 6000 to control recording of my jvc deck.

Richard is working on putting the info on 169time. I havent looked yet, it may be on their now.

So Don, this release looks as stable as the dtc100 with avx-1 is now!!

Dave

Does the timer control work just via the FireWire, or do you need to connect an IR flasher to the VCR?

So it passes your alpha test and ready for release to beta. Cool!

Now I wait for a kit version like I got with the DTC-100. Let's see how Richard offers it. I hope this keeps him busy for awhile. :)

DTC-100/HDVR >(1394)>DVHSVCR<(1394)<AVX-1<(1394)<6000/HDVR

Is the above flow for wiring correct, Dave?

If so, I would need a 6 ft. minimum 1394 dangle off the 6000 to reach.

Ron, the timer on the dish6000. No firewire control. No dongle.
It uses bright LEDs I guess. Since my room is black, I had to put a white piece of paper in front of the 6000 that reflected it to the JVC deck.
The deck had to be on. The 6000 only does record and stop from what I could find.

Yes Don, this clearly is Beta, if not production quality. As RIchard and I talk, one sees small digital artifacts all the time, so guess what, you will get them on the tape!!!

Don, I didnt have the dtc100 and dish600 connected together.

I dont know if this is supported.

I may get the 4dtv sidecar to try tonight. I am trying to get my C/K all going again. Is such a pain compared to pizza dish.

Dave

Just looked at the 169time web. No update yesterday.

But what from what I have heard, the 6000 and dtc100 will both be priced the same.

So, its $999 for the upgrade to your dish 6000 and the avx-1.
If you want a new dish6000, I think it adds $500. If you already have an avx-1 and dont want another, I think you can reduce $300.

Dave

Is he still charging $200 plus shipping for doing the upgrade vs. what one pays to do the connection as a self install like in the DTC-100? I suppose I could look on the web site for this myself. :)

Let's see-
$999-300 for inserting HDVR to my 6000 because I have my own AVX.
$200 for labor to install ? unsure of this right now so I may edit later.
$60 Shipping both ways (about right as I checked this out from east coast)
$959.00 Total cost to add this to my 6000 because I have the AVX

Based on what you know, Dave, is this correct?

The reason why I had the DTC-100 in the loop is because that is what would be needed to play back through the HDVR because you said earlier the 6000 doesn't not allow for playback of the recordings. I appreciate that you don't play back your tapes with the 169Time solution and most with JVC don't but with the Mits, one must use that and I was trying to get a fix on what the real world requirements for this addition to 169Time would be. Kind of a bottom line for both technical and cost.

Don, the 999 should include installing, but not shipping, tax since I assume thats what hes doing now

dave

Don, since you have the Mits, you need to keep the dtc100 for playback

dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
Okay, I have the Dish 6000 in my house. I officially give it a green light.
I used my std avx-1 with b3 that we all have. I recorded HBO, SHO, Discovery and CBS perfectly. I even was able to do this with the timer in the 6000 to control recording of my jvc deck.

Richard is working on putting the info on 169time. I havent looked yet, it may be on their now.

So Don, this release looks as stable as the dtc100 with avx-1 is now!!

Dave

Originally posted by h2ofun
yes don, this clearly is Beta, if not production quality. As RIchard and I talk, one sees small digital artifacts all the time, so guess what, you will get them on the tape!!!

Are you referring to the 6000 on the 2nd quote?

Yea, my wording may be weak. Don was teasing me the 6000 would be alpha quality. I said I hoped better. So, in my hour of testing last night, it seemed to work just like my DTC100. Whether one considers this Beta quality or production, is in the eye of the watcher.

My comment on digital artifacts had nothing to do with the 6000. Its the general comment that as folks start taping HD, they will see its not always "perfect". Would probably never catch much of it live, but for us picky types.

Dave

For those experiencing periodic dropouts when playing back through the DTC100... I have always wondered if OTA antenna dropouts could disrupt playback of tape material. (Since the HDVR requires that the DTC100 be tuned to a valid OTA channel to allow playback).

I guess I would recommend that the DTC100 be tuned to the most "reliable" OTA channel you can find. A "local source" like a 5000 modulator or Sencore box would probably be the best bet.

Dave - does this sound right to you?

I've always suspected that too PVR.

Yep, If the OTA messes up, the playback would mess up. But, if one played the same part of the tape, it shouldnt reproduce.

So, I have the 4dtv and HD modulator hooked up. Trying to get my system adjusted to try it out. This is WAY more difficult than pizza, but another fun challenge. Will let you know how it goes. I have h/w all over my theater room with multiple monitors, etc. What a mess

dave

I hate to be the bearer of disappointing news, but I experienced a complete failure tonight.

I attempted to record the HD NET music program at 9:30 PM.

I fired up all the equipment (DTC-100 to Mits to AVR) and everything appeared fine. I then left the recording area and did not return until 11:05 PM and I observed that "error CP" was flashing on the Mits. I removed the tape to my second MITS intended to play it back to my Mits Integrated Tuner RP with firewire.

The tape played fine until the 4 minute 48 second mark at which time the picture froze up, never to recover. Actually, there is no video or audio on the rest of the tape.

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be that the AVX was not powered up long enough. I have no monitor and I would say it was on for only two minutes or so before I pressed the "record" button. However, I did get over 4 minutes of perfect recording.

Hope this info helps.

Don, isnt the error CP a mess up with the Mits?

Okay, just finished my sat work before bed. Avx-1 same as dtc100 and dish6000. 4dtv side card and hd200 with 169time board in.

I recorded perfectly Discovery, HBO east and west, and SHO east and west.
So, just got off the phone with RIchard with another Thumbs up.

Boy this stuff is cool!!!

Dave

"error CP" is meant to indicate that the inbound 1394 signal is "copy protected" but in reality the MIts can't determine why it can't record the inbound signal so it just denotes one name for the cause "error CP" IN the Panasonic the indicator is snF for signal not found.
Most likely causes for Mits error CP is that the connection of the DTC-100 HDVR is not -properly established and second that with sat signal there is a malfunction of the AVX. This is why I recommend that-
1. you first make sure your Mits can record and play back an OTA signal in HDTV, then connect the 1394 from the AVX after switching to sat channel and to be sure the AVX is ready, look for that status of being ready or "looking for HDVR" on the avx monitor. Connect the 1394 and now you would see the signal status scrolling on the screen. At that point in time, the system is ready to record the sat signal and you will not get a "error CP"

I have not changed the MIts procedure here with the B3 software. The only difference is that I find the B3 software allows one to switch channels from sat to sat and to check out the program guide while still recording. These things will still disrupt the recording but the difference with B3 is that the recording will recover everytime when you're done switching channels or shut off the program guide. The B2 operation would self destruct eventually if you tried anything like this with the AVX connected.

Does an OTA antenna have to be connected to the DTC-100 for it to function properly with the AVX. I'm still awaiting delivery of my AVX-1 and modded DTC-100 and I've seen in the forum here where users have said that the connection is necessary. I was planning on running my OTA antenna directly to the tuner in my Mits integrated set and using a firewire connection to a DVHS deck for recording. I was then going to send the satellite signal to the DTC100 connected to the AVX and a second DVHS. This would let me record 2(Sat+OTA) events at one time since both tuners are completely separate. Are the AVX and DTC100 both required to play back recordings made with this setup, or can I just send the signal by firewire to the Mits for decoding by its' MPEG converter? Just a little confused as I haven't seen many posts from people using the 169Time setup with a Mits integrated set.

Once you have the recorded tape, you should be able to play back w/o the need for the avx-1. If you use the dtc100, it has to be tuned to a DTV channel. Welcome aboard

dave

Clark: I have the Mits 73711 and utilize the setup you suggest. With the introduction of the 73711 and the Samsung T-165 I never record OTA stations from the 169 Time DTC-100. The 73711 and T-165 have the added advantage of timer control for OTA recording.

I have the 169 Time units connected to a dedicated Mits VCR. I then playback the recorded tape through either a second Mits or my 30K both of which are firewire connected to the 73711.

Edit: I forgot to mention the T-165 is also connected to a dedicated Mits VCR, and that tape is played back through the "second Mits" or the 30K.
One of these days I will have to daisy chain this third Mits VCR to the 73711.

Mikey, I dont understand you comment on dtc100 OTA timer recording.
I do this all the time with the 169time product.

Dave

Thanks for the reply Mikey. So you have no OTA antenna connection to the DTC100 and it works OK. Great! I take it that the 73711 does a good job on the decoding of the DTC100/AVX recordings. I was wondering if you've played around with the firewire connections and tried hooking up the 73711 in the chain with the DTC/AVX to see what would happen?