Thanks.
Is it ok for this thing at 123 degrees in standby? I know it has a self cutoff at 132 degrees I think I read. Guess I need to see how hot it gets in full on mode, but I'm in guide download mode so it has been in standy mostly. I really want to keep it in the cabinet. The cabinet back is basically closed with some air holes where the cables enter. I guess I can remove some of the back, it is cheap press board that I have cut for wire hole anyway.


That seems awfully hot. When I had my original unit on top of my TV it started acting flaky. When I moved it to its own shelf the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the problems went away. Does anyone know if the USB port is providing power? I'm curious if it would power one of those USB laptop fans for a little extra cooling.

Does anyone know if the USB port is providing power? I'm curious if it would power one of those USB laptop fans for a little extra cooling.


USB Port is providing power.

I guess it's time to put my new DHG-HDD250 up on eBay. How much should I ask considering it has the 1.2.13 firmware update and presumably the 161-6 fix as well? I've tested it and confirmed that the firmware has been updated but I have no way to tell if the 161-6 fix was applied. I did tell them to do it despite it being a brand new unit since so many others have had the same problem. My new CableCARD is going into my DHG-HDD500 so that's not an option. Manufacturing date is July 2005 so they must have stopped making these a while ago. Anyone here interested before I put it up for auction? Send me a PM if you are. I try to stay away from eBay as much as I can these days.

What did the invoice/summary document say when you got it back from Sony? Did it mention the electrical adjustment? Mine listed stuff like the firmware update and "aging" to verify TVGOS function, and the last line item or two mentioned the electrical adjustment.

That seems awfully hot. When I had my original unit on top of my TV it started acting flaky. When I moved it to its own shelf the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the problems went away. Does anyone know if the USB port is providing power? I'm curious if it would power one of those USB laptop fans for a little extra cooling.
I have an Antec laptop cooler (http://shopping.yahoo.com/search;_ylc=X3oDMTFncmo3bG5vBF9HA2dsb2JhbF9ncm91cARfUwMyNzE2 MTQ5BHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--?p=Antec+laptop+cooler&sm=Yahoo%21+Search&fr=FP-tab-prod-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8) for my Ultimate TV DVR. It works pretty good, the only bad thing is that its a little noisy.

Another link for it. (http://www.hardwarecooling.com/product_info.php/cat/33/prod/399/Antec_Notebook_Cooler)

I guess it's time to put my new DHG-HDD250 up on eBay. How much should I ask considering it has the 1.2.13 firmware update and presumably the 161-6 fix as well? I've tested it and confirmed that the firmware has been updated but I have no way to tell if the 161-6 fix was applied. I did tell them to do it despite it being a brand new unit since so many others have had the same problem. My new CableCARD is going into my DHG-HDD500 so that's not an option. Manufacturing date is July 2005 so they must have stopped making these a while ago. Anyone here interested before I put it up for auction? Send me a PM if you are. I try to stay away from eBay as much as I can these days.
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with your unit, thats too bad. I wish we could have been able to do more for you. :(

I got March Madness scheduled for today, so now I don't have to leave work to watch...dang, I don't have an excuse to tip out early. ;)

Wolfie

As I have read through this, I have seen a lot of people having troubles with Comcast and Cablecards in their unit. Is anyone having a positive experience with Comcast and a Comcast CableCard? Both of my units work great with Adelphia but I am moving to Jacksonville, Florida and thus into the Comcast Zone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

Last night I installed my new 500 next to my existing 250.

My 250 came with a green TVguide sticker on the front, the 500 didn't. Is it Ok not to have the sticker in a factory sealed unit?

This morning, the 250 had updated overnight as usual.

But the 500 was showing no time. In fact the 500 froze when I turned it on. I reset by pulling the plug. When it powered on it showed incorrect time. Waiting, hoping it rights itself.

Last night I installed my new 500 next to my existing 250.

My 250 came with a green TVguide sticker on the front, the 500 didn't. Is it Ok not to have the sticker in a factory sealed unit?

This morning, the 250 had updated overnight as usual.

But the 500 was showing no time. In fact the 500 froze when I turned it on. I reset by pulling the plug. When it powered on it showed incorrect time. Waiting, hoping it rights itself.

It might be a factory refurb. Check the firmare version - if it is .13, it is most likely a refurbished unit.

I actually had a strange experience when purchasing my HDD500 from tweeter. The salesman and his manager wanted to make sure that I was not going to use the HDD500 with Comcast. They said that there is a known incompatibility issue with the cable card that Comcast uses. They even went so far as to tell me that this issue was posted on the Sony web site. (I looked, but never found it.) They were trying to convince me not to purchase the unit if I used Comcast. I'm not using a cable card, and I'm with a different cable provider. I've had not problems, just always wonder what these two were so afraid of.

It might be a factory refurb. Check the firmare version - if it is .13, it is most likely a refurbished unit.

No. It's 05. If it's reburbished there is fraud involved. It was factory sealed as new. Got it, and two others (one for my folks, I haven's installed yet) from Tweeters.

Minutes after I wrote the above, I looked and the time has corrected itself. Now hoping for the guide in the next 24 hours.

Later today, I'll go over to my folks and install theirs.

But what about the green sticker? Did anyone else get a new unit without the sticker?

What does anyone think of this. I find it very strange.

I'm using my units with QAM.

I've had my 250 since Oct. My digital hidef NBC channel is on channel 0 (zero) of my 250. Has been from day one. I find that odd all by itself.

Last night when I scanned the channels into the new 500, it found ABC digital hidef on channel 0. NBC on 1**.** something.

On the 250, NBC remains on 0. ABC is on 8*.** something.

How can two units side by side, with the same split cable feed, find different network feeds for the 0 channel and other channels on the Sony's.

Shouldn't it all be identical?

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with your unit, thats too bad. I wish we could have been able to do more for you. :(

Thanks. Sony did resolve the situation by replacing it with a brand new and updated unit. I've updated my post a few pages back regarding that situation. I'm only considering selling it because I now have a DHG-HDD500.

What did the invoice/summary document say when you got it back from Sony? Did it mention the electrical adjustment? Mine listed stuff like the firmware update and "aging" to verify TVGOS function, and the last line item or two mentioned the electrical adjustment.

On the original unit the included a document stating the 161-6 update and 1.2.13 firmware update were performed. This was the unit that was destroyed in transit back to me however. When they told me they were going to replace it with a brand new unit I asked them to be sure the same updates were performed since the CableCARD problem is quite common and I didn't want to go through this again. I received the new unit (the one I'm selling) and it has indeed been updated to 1.2.13 but I have no way to confirm if the 161-6 error has been fixed as there was no document included this time. I'm pretty sure it has been though. I was just wondering if there is something in the service menus that would confirm this.

USB Port is providing power.

Has anyone tried hooking up a USB laptop fan? Maybe it could help expell air out of the AV cabinet.

Has anyone tried hooking up a USB laptop fan? Maybe it could help expell air out of the AV cabinet.
mine both run within 97-109F always in open AV rack.

Has anyone tried hooking up a USB laptop fan? Maybe it could help expell air out of the AV cabinet.
will be noisier for sure.

clicking noises from these units are loud enough to make me think someone's trying to open our door house during the night! ;-)

As I have read through this, I have seen a lot of people having troubles with Comcast and Cablecards in their unit. Is anyone having a positive experience with Comcast and a Comcast CableCard? Both of my units work great with Adelphia but I am moving to Jacksonville, Florida and thus into the Comcast Zone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

Hey Eric!

Where do you have Adelphia? I'm in NoVA and have adelphia and was thinking of trying a cc. Also, were you able to get INHD1&2 using your CC? I had heard that you potentially could not get those with the adelphia cc.

I guess it's time to put my new DHG-HDD250 up on eBay. How much should I ask considering it has the 1.2.13 firmware update and presumably the 161-6 fix as well? I've tested it and confirmed that the firmware has been updated but I have no way to tell if the 161-6 fix was applied. I did tell them to do it despite it being a brand new unit since so many others have had the same problem. My new CableCARD is going into my DHG-HDD500 so that's not an option. Manufacturing date is July 2005 so they must have stopped making these a while ago. Anyone here interested before I put it up for auction? Send me a PM if you are. I try to stay away from eBay as much as I can these days.

They are going for $425 - $475 on eBay. You will most likely do better selling it there...

I got March Madness scheduled for today, so now I don't have to leave work to watch...dang, I don't have an excuse to tip out early. ;)

Wolfie

If you are recording the games @ Cox Arena in San Diego, I hope you added additional time to the end of the recording. Games are delayed due to bomb scare at Cox Arena.

Mine both run within 97-109F always in open AV rack.

I'm not having any problems with mine either. I was just thinking of options for the guy reported 120+ temperatures.

I'm not having any problems with mine either. I was just thinking of options for the guy reported 120+ temperatures.
i just might drill more holes either side or on the top if its running 120+

just wonder if the fan's not running properly?

If you are recording the games @ Cox Arena in San Diego, I hope you added additional time to the end of the recording. Games are delayed due to bomb scare at Cox Arena.

No such luck! :(

Wolfie

I think I read it somewhere on the thread but it's too long to read again and I can't find it by searching.

My 250 gets it's data from the Host PBS channel 13 by cable. I just saw that my Host channel for the new 500 is channel 13 but from OTA. But the OTA reception is weak.

What am I supposed to do to get the Host channel to switch to the cable channel instead of the OTA one? I have switched off the OTA channel in the channel list, would that be enough?

Thanks.

What am I supposed to do to get the Host channel to switch to the cable channel instead of the OTA one? I have switched off the OTA channel in the channel list, would that be enough?

Thanks.

Disconnect the OTA feed. Reset the Guide. Choose cable and OTA, but don't hook up the OTA until after the unit chooses a cable channel as host and starts getting the listings.

Hey Eric!

Where do you have Adelphia? I'm in NoVA and have adelphia and was thinking of trying a cc. Also, were you able to get INHD1&2 using your CC? I had heard that you potentially could not get those with the adelphia cc.



I have adelphia in West Palm Beach and the cablecard works fine. you get inhd1 and 2 but i don't believe that inhd2 appears in the tv guide, however if you just hit channel up, it goes there. The only issue I have had so far is that the strength of the cable signal is not very good into my house and therefore sometimes I lose the connectivity with the Sony HD. I am thinking about purchasing an amplifier to try to fix this, but otherwise I love it.

Eric

No, you can't transfer HD programs in HD to another HD recorder, and if you could, I don't understand what that would accomplish. If you are running out of space on your 500, I suggest you buy a second one.

You can transfer programs in S video quality to a DVD burner.




What it would accomplish, is getting those 3hr+ football playoff games off the harddrive.I want to have those games in HD cause my team won the superbowl. Could i replace one of the harddives? I should've just got the jvc d-vhs recorder.

By the lack of response does this mean that no one out there has had a positive experience with Comcast and their CableCard?

Eric

Eric, your house may have an older type of cable (Rg-59) or something similar and it may nat be able to carry enough bandwidth. Your inside cable should be at least RG-6 that will handle the bandwidth of the digital signal. As far as Comcast, my girlfriend is using them, but only getting basic cable. She does not have a cable card, but is able to get the local HD stations over her cable line. Those stations are all in the 92.10 up to 112.108 or something to that effect. She also receives digital radio over the same feed and in the upper channel dot numbers. I guess that the cable system carry this all the time ,but unless you have a tuner that can decode? the signal then you would need the cable card.
Not sure how that works, or maybe the cable companies are required to carry local digital stations that your HD tuner can pickup. I know you have to have a cable card for the other HD cable services.

From the posts on this forum, I think that this is an area-dependent thing. In mine you cannot do this, no matter what.

Well, I think PART of this isn't area dependent, i.e., that the basic basic cable service, the one that is basically just broadcast stations plus a few others, HAS to include the OTA digital stations, too, if you want them (and maybe even if you don't ask for them)...whether they have to provide you a box (such as Comcast's $5/month box) to RECEIVE the digital stations may be another matter...

TVGOS isn't the greatest guide in the world, but it's free and it usually works quite well once it's set up. I'm just surprised so few people seem to be using it outside this forum.

???I think a lot of people use it outside this forum, though most users probably get it through their TVs.

there is, of course, also the LG 3410a (a box a year older than the sony), which I also have, and IT uses the TV Guide...

As I have read through this, I have seen a lot of people having troubles with Comcast and Cablecards in their unit. Is anyone having a positive experience with Comcast and a Comcast CableCard? Both of my units work great with Adelphia but I am moving to Jacksonville, Florida and thus into the Comcast Zone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

Eric - Use the search :) Or download the thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/dt.php?t=537711) and search offline. I am having no problems with a Moto CC (fw 4.21), even with an ADS headend I was drop extended basic and still get the analog PBS channel for TVGOS data.

What does anyone think of this. I find it very strange.

I'm using my units with QAM.

I've had my 250 since Oct. My digital hidef NBC channel is on channel 0 (zero) of my 250. Has been from day one. I find that odd all by itself.

Last night when I scanned the channels into the new 500, it found ABC digital hidef on channel 0. NBC on 1**.** something.

On the 250, NBC remains on 0. ABC is on 8*.** something.

How can two units side by side, with the same split cable feed, find different network feeds for the 0 channel and other channels on the Sony's.

Shouldn't it all be identical?
You would think it would be identical. But the same thing is happening on my TV and 500 as well. The TV has NBC on channel 81.1 and PBS on 81.2 while on the 500 they are switched.

Eric, your house may have an older type of cable (Rg-59) or something similar and it may nat be able to carry enough bandwidth. Your inside cable should be at least RG-6 that will handle the bandwidth of the digital signal.

RG59 is ok for HDTV. My UHF roof antenna is connected to my two Sony DVRS through about 50 feet of RG59 cable and a two channel signal splitter. Signal strength is good on all OTA HD channels.

RG59 is ok for HDTV. My UHF roof antenna is connected to my two Sony DVRS through about 50 feet of RG59 cable and a two channel signal splitter. Signal strength is good on all OTA HD channels.

While that may be OK for over the air reception where you are only receiving a very small number of HD stations, the digital cable system has to carry perhaps up to hundreds of stations as well as digital information. Everything I have read has recommended that RG-6 be used for digital cable, as it can carry the greater bandwidth that is required with cable. Also, you have to consider the greater distance and number of connections that cable must run from their home office to your house, versus over the air line of site from your local stations. Anything you can do to enhance your indoor wiring (for cable) will indeed help. RG-59 was not designed to handle digital as digital cable was not even around when RG-59 came out.

My unit is still crashing multiple times a day and reseting my clock while in standby more. After trying all of the different factory and user resets to default I tried the Format Hard Drive option hoping that something was corrupt and that rebuilding the system for the backup partition would resolve my problems.

When selecting the Format option in the 9012 menu, the warning says that this action will take several hours to run. After confirming my request the unit reboots and shows the Welcome message and goes through 1, 2, 3, and at 4 it stops and shows FORMAT on the front display. This only lasted maybe 2 minutes before the unit showed a message displaing 1000000000 (Not sure about the number of 0s) for another couple of minutes and then rebooted again to end up with only the --:-- as the clock.

After powering up the unit I see a message saying something like "Hard disk error recovered successfully".

I'm guessing the hard drive reformat was not successfull and there must be a bad area on my drive which is possibly also causing the TVGOS crashes.

I tried this twice with the same result.

Whoever was successful in reformating their drives, did it in fact take several hours or was it this quick? Could the recover error only be a normal message after reformating the drive?

It's looking more and more like I will have to send my unit in to Sony for repair and I'll have to pay the $92 labor fee because I'm past the 90 days warranty and only have parts on warranty.

JP

OTA only/06 firmware.


Another user from Seattle sent me a PM saying he was having the exact same problem that I'm having with the unit rebooting and loosing the clock every time the unit tried to download TVGOS. This prompted me to ping my local PBS station and ask them to verify that the feed was not having any issues refering to this link which I've posted in the past but may be of some interest to the newer people who want to know what the PBS stations are sending.

http://www.kcts.org/inside/techreport/faq/index.asp

This is the reply I got:

Thank you for your recent letter and for your interest in KCTS, the Public Network.

I have confirmed with our engineers that we are not experiencing any technical difficulties with the equipment that feeds the TV Guide listings. You may wish to contact the manufacturer of your DVR for further assistance.

Best regards,

When I got back from work, surprise, surprise, the TV Guide was asking me for the appropriate lineup and this morning I have my listings for days 1,2 and 8. It looks like even though they're not admitting it or are even aware, the fact that they verified the feed seems to have resolved my issue. Or this is a pure coincidence and my unit just fixed itself over night... right.

Anyway, I'm happy. I don't need to send the unit in. Looks like this thing is sensitive to the TVGOS to the point where it will crash the unit if there's a problem with the feed.

I'm still puzzled that no one else on this thread experienced this problem as there have been at least 3 others from Seattle monitoring this thread in the past other than the one who PMd me.

JP

You would think it would be identical. But the same thing is happening on my TV and 500 as well. The TV has NBC on channel 81.1 and PBS on 81.2 while on the 500 they are switched.

Still very close in your case and they are distinctly different receivers.

Also, in the DHG-HDD250/500 there is a distinct disadvantage if a feed tunes in on the 0 (zero) channel. Simultaneously with any show being shown, the 0 channel loses it's guide data info and can not be recorded by name.

For example, at 11:34, the TV guide shows that at 11:35 the Tonight Show will be on and if I set it to record then it wil record it as the Tonight show. But at 11:35, if you hit info the result is unknown. This happens with every single show on the 0 channel.

And it is happening now with ABC being on 0 in the new 500.

Every other channel displays the correct info while it's on.

Disconnect the OTA feed. Reset the Guide.

Worked. Thanks

capturing & burning dvds:

sony vaio desktop with s-video input & rca audio

nerovision (vaio media server must be running)

burn onto dvd or watch mpeg2 or mpeg4 nerodigital

the video is great on hdtv via upconverted player
;)

I finally ran a VBI test on my unit. Results below. I have full guide data for 8 days and have not missed a recording, but I still failed the VBI test. What does this mean, and what do all of the other tests mean? What other tests are there?

Thanks

Flash Test: Pass
VBI Test: Fail
ATSC: Pass
Serial Test: Fail
IR Test: Fail

VBI:--- ATSC:---

Good Fixed Bad
VBI: 0 0 0
ATSC PAT: 1 - 0
ATSC PMT: 4 - 0

I'm still puzzled that no one else on this thread experienced this problem as there have been at least 3 others from Seattle monitoring this thread in the past other than the one who PMd me.Earlier this week I had a situation where my HDD500 (ver .05) showed "no listing" for all channels, while at the same time my HDD250 (ver .09) showed normal listings. Then a day or two later, the HDD500 started filling in with good listings. But at no time was there a crash/reboot occurring (AFAIK). I haven't bothered to see if there have been any changed in the TVGOS version info.

I finally ran a VBI test on my unit. Results below. I have full guide data for 8 days and have not missed a recording, but I still failed the VBI test. What does this mean, and what do all of the other tests mean?It could mean that you weren't tuned to your host channel when you ran that test.

It could mean that you weren't tuned to your host channel when you ran that test.
Ok, is there a way to find out what my host channel is?

Thanks

Earlier this week I had a situation where my HDD500 (ver .05) showed "no listing" for all channels, while at the same time my HDD250 (ver .09) showed normal listings. Then a day or two later, the HDD500 started filling in with good listings. But at no time was there a crash/reboot occurring (AFAIK). I haven't bothered to see if there have been any changed in the TVGOS version info.

I have the .06 version and the other individual who had this problem was on .05.

The reboots always occured at xx:55 hours. I've seen it in the morning at 6:55 and in the evenings, I can't remember exactly. I did not do the cross match with the download times but I'm assuming they match.

You may not have noticed it if your clock would set itself back quickly enough after the reboots.


JP

Ok, is there a way to find out what my host channel is?

Thanks

I've found out that most host channels are your local PBS analog. I keep my local PBS channel on and haven't had any trouble out of the TVGOS since.

Wolfie

Ok, is there a way to find out what my host channel is?

Thanks

This was how I verified VBI host channel: Manually tune DVR to analog channel you suspect could be host channel (in ABQ market it is NBC, not PBS). Run the VBI test through 9012 menu. If VBI shows pass while tuned on that channel, you've found it. If VBI doesn't pass, tune to a different channel and repeat. There has been some discussion on this forum regarding whether proper VBI channel needs to be manually tuned in first or not, with some postings saying that wasn't necessary & that unit will tune to VBI host on its own. I found that in order for the VBI test to show as pass my DVR had to be manually tuned to the proper host channel first.

I bought my first Sony 250 last fall in October. I then bought a 500 soon thereafter. Both units have firmware .05. I had some of the same problems with rebooting and such as has been described here in this forum. I had complete lockups and reboots for a while with both units usually at the same time and around midnight or so ( at least that is when I caught it). I thought this may have been because of my remote(s) laying around and magazines on top of the buttons. When I corrected this problem I did not have any more lockups or reboots. I can not remember though if, at or about the same time that I remounted my antenna higher and changed the direction a bit. I have not had any problems with reboots or receiving my guide data since then. I may have had once or twice where I did not have available listings for some of the channels, but that would usually clear up in a day or two.
I think the orientation of your antenna to your host channel is probably the number one factor with some of these issuses out there. I don't think the unit will display signal strength for a analog station, so I don't know of any easy way to check this without a signal meter. I know you can check for the VBI count , but not sure if this changes with time of day or weather conditions or even what is the acceptable range. Also, type of cable and splitters/combiners could be a factor in the signal strength getting to your units.
I am using a medium range directional antenna mounted in my attic as high as it will allow. All my antenna feed lines are RG-6 coax, using 2.5 ghz splitters. My PBS host station is to my east while all my other stations are pretty much to my westsouthwest ( about 252 degrees). I have the antenna pointed somewhat southwest, so I think that I am getting the PBS host via a reflective signal, plus their transmitter is fairly close ( 85 degrees and 8.1 miles) and mounted on top of Stone Mountain.
I bring all this up in hopes it may help some of you out there with your problems you are having with your setup. I believe that a lot of these same problems are from the system setup and not from the Sony HD itself. I also think that some of the guide channel and dropped scheduled shows are caused not by the recorder, but from the TVGOS and host station. I have been keeping a log as to what show/channel and when and what action was going on when a scheduled show would disappear off the schedule. I have come to believe that it must be something with the data going to the recorder from the TVGOS or host station to cause a program or programs to randomly drop off.
Hope this helps. Any feedback?

Ok, is there a way to find out what my host channel is?

Thanks
Copied from http://pvr.hidyman.com/

Yes. You can enter the TVGOS menu by pressing <GUIDE> move to SETUP press <DOWN> then 753159852

(System Info) chart will appear. Press <RIGHT> to go to second page. 5 entries down on the list it will say "Host Channel". It will appear as 0:0-XX (example: 0:0-11), the XX is your Host Channel.

Can i label my recordings? I didn't see anything in the book on it.

No, you can't put your own labels on recordings. If you record from the guide, you get the title from the guide listing. If you set the recording time manually, you get an "untitled" recording. Either way, you can't change the title.

Can i label my recordings? I didn't see anything in the book on it.

If you have a LG lst-3410a, you can. But w/ Sony, you already know the answer.

Okay, still struggling with TVGOS. Is there ANYONE in the LA area (using Comcast) receiving the data over cable? For a couple of days, a couple of weeks ago, I got the data via channel 3, cable. Since then, nothing. I can get the channel line-up and time over-the-air, but no program listings and I thought it might be a weak antenna signal. So, I wanted to get the info over cable, but nothing is showing up after three-four days, not even the time. I've tried changing zip-code, re-setting via front pannel, factory re-set via 9012 menu, choosing both "Cable and ANT" and unplugging the ANT, but it still won't find the host channel. Every night, no change. This thing hasn't been on for more than a minute a day for the last week. I've done the VBI test on channel 3-cable, and it passes, 125 or so packets a minute.

I need to know if it's just me, or if it's a futile quest to get the damn guide over the cable. Is it working for anyone else at all? (and no, I'm not using a cable card, just a direct feed from the wall.)

I need to know if it's just me, or if it's a futile quest to get the damn guide over the cable. Is it working for anyone else at all? (and no, I'm not using a cable card, just a direct feed from the wall.)After over three weeks, I'm still getting only OTA Guide listings. I have no CC, only basic cable. Yesterday, when I complained, the manager at Tweeter he said it was because I don't have a CC, and that the unit was designed to work only with a CC. :confused:

gwsmith,
. I finally got some Austin cable info on my machine today. all the channel names show up and are identified as CABLE listings. Some channels have program data, but many more do not.
What changed was under the Program setup where you choose a cable company name from a list, before there was only 1 choice, today there were about 8 choices, 2 for TIme Warner, one seemed like analog and one digital.
What comes up in your cable names list?

After over three weeks, I'm still getting only OTA Guide listings. I have no CC, only basic cable. Yesterday, when I complained, the manager at Tweeter he said it was because I don't have a CC, and that the unit was designed to work only with a CC. :confused:

The manager at Tweeter was talking out of his a$$. While it is possible/likely that Comcast may not be properly passing the TVGOS data through the feed, it has nothing to do with a "lack of cable card." While I now use a cable card, for a month or so I used the system without one with just basic/extended cable, no OTA.

Somewhere in the chain, the TVGOS data is being eliminated, corrupted, etc..

Marc

PS: I'm using Bright House Networks as my cable company.

Okay, still struggling with TVGOS. Is there ANYONE in the LA area (using Comcast) receiving the data over cable? For a couple of days, a couple of weeks ago, I got the data via channel 3, cable. Since then, nothing. I can get the channel line-up and time over-the-air, but no program listings and I thought it might be a weak antenna signal. So, I wanted to get the info over cable, but nothing is showing up after three-four days, not even the time. I've tried changing zip-code, re-setting via front pannel, factory re-set via 9012 menu, choosing both "Cable and ANT" and unplugging the ANT, but it still won't find the host channel. Every night, no change. This thing hasn't been on for more than a minute a day for the last week. I've done the VBI test on channel 3-cable, and it passes, 125 or so packets a minute.

I need to know if it's just me, or if it's a futile quest to get the damn guide over the cable. Is it working for anyone else at all? (and no, I'm not using a cable card, just a direct feed from the wall.)

cdog ... I live in Playa Vista too and have had a horrible time with the TVGOS ... I have two 500's, one with the cable card and one without, and have tried all sorts of OTA 28 and Cable 3 configurations. Both return pretty much the same results. I feel lucky I have a clock so I can manually record. Currently have two inside Silver Sensor antennas, but going to add an in-line amp to see if that helps the OTA signal and report back.

After over three weeks, I'm still getting only OTA Guide listings. I have no CC, only basic cable. Yesterday, when I complained, the manager at Tweeter he said it was because I don't have a CC, and that the unit was designed to work only with a CC. :confused:

My girlfriends 250 unit is hooked up to her Comcast cable. She only has the standard cable package, local plus cable channels up to 77. She does not have their digital subscription package, but is able to get local digital channels ( in the xx.xx range with her unit. No cable card at all. Have not had any guide problems, except when they did an upgrade or renumber.

Can you remove the hard drives in the dhg500?If so, I wonder if you could put them in a computer with a blu-ray writer and make a HD copy of programs from your dhg500 hard drives.

I spoke to Sony product specialist for the second time this week hoping to get my TV guide problem solved. I have both a 250 and 500 and neither has had more than one download, ie, three days of guide info, then nothing. I can't remember the last time I got a full week of listings. Today, after much discussion, the specialist found a bulletin from TV guide stating that there was problem with the equipment at the local PBS station KCET, and there was no estimate of when problem would be fixed.
Earlier in the week I was told that CBS, ABC and Fox also broadcast guide data. I suspect they only broadcast the old version, but I discovered that the clock is set within a minute after I do a hot reboot with recorder tuned to channel 11 (Fox).

I spoke to Sony product specialist for the second time this week hoping to get my TV guide problem solved. I have both a 250 and 500 and neither has had more than one download, ie, three days of guide info, then nothing. I can't remember the last time I got a full week of listings. Today, after much discussion, the specialist found a bulletin from TV guide stating that there was problem with the equipment at the local PBS station KCET, and there was no estimate of when problem would be fixed.
Earlier in the week I was told that CBS, ABC and Fox also broadcast guide data. I suspect they only broadcast the old version, but I discovered that the clock is set within a minute after I do a hot reboot with recorder tuned to channel 11 (Fox).
I spoke to Sony product specialist also for the second time today. First time, I was told to do the Guide+Exit and enter a different zip code. This time, I was asked to use menu 9012 to restore to factory default. That would wipe out my recordings. So I have not done it yet.

I know my problem might be different as I know someone else in my area has no problem with TV guide. My problem might be weak signal from the PBS analog station. I use an indoor antenna and my analog stations do look pretty bad.
How is your signal strength?

I finally got some Austin cable info on my machine today. all the channel names show up and are identified as CABLE listings. Some channels have program data, but many more do not.
What changed was under the Program setup where you choose a cable company name from a list, before there was only 1 choice, today there were about 8 choices, 2 for TIme Warner, one seemed like analog and one digital.
What comes up in your cable names list?I've got ten choices including two for TWC, one digital and one analog. Since I have basic cable service (even tho I receive numerous digital cable channels) I set it for TWC analog. I'll leave it turned off for a while and we'll see.

I spoke to Sony product specialist also for the second time today. First time, I was told to do the Guide+Exit and enter a different zip code. This time, I was asked to use menu 9012 to restore to factory default. That would wipe out my recordings. So I have not done it yet.

I know my problem might be different as I know someone else in my area has no problem with TV guide. My problem might be weak signal from the PBS analog station. I use an indoor antenna and my analog stations do look pretty bad.
How is your signal strength?

The recorder doesn't indicate signal strength for analog signals but it does show signal to noise ratio, which is even a better indicator. The signal to noise ratio is 55 on both my both OTA and cable sources of PBS channel 28.
I suggest you not perform a factory restore since I did that when I first got my 500, and I've done numerous guide/exit and zip code changes. After I did that stuff, I sometimes got one days worth of guide info (day 1,2 and 8). I believe what the specialist told me regarding KCET problem since he wasn't familiar with the LA area, but enumerated the various areas affected by that station problem. It is very stange that some people are able to get the guide.

After over three weeks, I'm still getting only OTA Guide listings. I have no CC, only basic cable. Yesterday, when I complained, the manager at Tweeter he said it was because I don't have a CC, and that the unit was designed to work only with a CC. :confused:

I have Comcast without the cable card and receive all the HD channels, except they are on a different number than furnished in the guide because I don't have a card. My setup is for digital cable plus OTA and my guide lists hundreds of channels. Setup should allow you to choose OTA, and Cable service, and you may need to choose digital to get the HD listing.

My cable listings are filling in, so far so good.

I hate to do it but I'm tempted to try a Cablecard, mostly because if my machine needs the fix for cablecard I want to try it now before the 3 month warranty is up, because I may opt for cablecard in the future. Unfortunately the local TWC charges $30 to put the card in. Anyone know if TWC Austin's cards are fully compatible with the 500?

I spoke to Sony product specialist also for the second time today. First time, I was told to do the Guide+Exit and enter a different zip code. This time, I was asked to use menu 9012 to restore to factory default. That would wipe out my recordings. So I have not done it yet.

I know my problem might be different as I know someone else in my area has no problem with TV guide. My problem might be weak signal from the PBS analog station. I use an indoor antenna and my analog stations do look pretty bad.
How is your signal strength?

Do the VBI test on your PBS station. If it passes with not bad or fixed packets, your signal is good enough even if the picture looks bad.

I had problems until I got my antenna just right and VBI test was passing but with fixed packets. As soon as I could get the test to pass without any fixed packets my guide started loading.

JP

Does anyone else get PBS-HD listings? I don't here, only on the SD PBS station.

I noticed that the clock on one of mine is dimmer then the other, one bright, the other dim. Anyone else who has two units notice this?

Does anyone else get PBS-HD listings? I don't here, only on the SD PBS station.

I noticed that the clock on one of mine is dimmer then the other, one bright, the other dim. Anyone else who has two units notice this?

I have both a 250 and 500, and the 500 has a much brighter display, information which I previously posted on this thread. As I recall, someone responded to my message, saying his 250 had the brighter display.

With regard to PBS-HD, it is in my channel lineup. However, this an HDTV demo channel, and programs are repeated very often and are not the hd version of the analog broadcast. If you are using cable, be sure you selected digital cable setting.

I had to pinch myself this morning to make sure I wasn't dreaming! I now have all OTA and TWC channels in my Guide! All the way out thru next Saturday! :)

Now my only problem is that there are many cable channels I never watch and some OTA channels listed that have no signal present, so I'm trying to figure out how to rid them from the listings.

Also, I haven't figured out how to look at future listings without panning 1-1/2 hours at a time. :(

Thank, gigaguy! I may be able to retire soon from what was beginning to look like a career in "DVR Management"!

(Now, if I can just transfer this thing to my UPS without losing everything I'll be happy.)

Do the VBI test on your PBS station. If it passes with not bad or fixed packets, your signal is good enough even if the picture looks bad.

I had problems until I got my antenna just right and VBI test was passing but with fixed packets. As soon as I could get the test to pass without any fixed packets my guide started loading.

JP

Myine passed the Flash Test, VBI Test and ATSC test. Failed Serial Test and IR test. Within 2 minutes, I got 138 good, 29 fixed and 84 bad VBI. Is this good enough? I did reset G* Factory Default this morning. Time and guide have not reset after 7 hours. I have very little room to work with my existing antenna since it is so directional. It is hard enough getting good signal for the 4 channels I want to watch.

But I will try to get the bad packets down for the PBS channel first to see if it helps. If that works, it is time to get a better antenna.

gigaguy and gwsmith - glad to hear your finally getting some results! theratpatrol - we're getting the PBS-HD info here in Chicago along with the SD feed info. But we're still not getting it for the recently added second subchannel, "Create".

To pan ahead (or back) in listings, while in lisitings view just punch in the # of hours you want to jump, say, key in 2 and 4, menu box will auto-pop-up showing 24, then choose 'jump forward hours' in the popup menu. this will jump forward 24 hours.

To pan ahead (or back) in listings, while in lisitings view just punch in the # of hours you want to jump, say, key in 2 and 4, menu box will auto-pop-up showing 24, then choose 'jump forward hours' in the popup menu. this will jump forward 24 hours. Thanks for the tip! Another problem solved!

Myine passed the Flash Test, VBI Test and ATSC test. Failed Serial Test and IR test. Within 2 minutes, I got 138 good, 29 fixed and 84 bad VBI. Is this good enough? I did reset G* Factory Default this morning. Time and guide have not reset after 7 hours. I have very little room to work with my existing antenna since it is so directional. It is hard enough getting good signal for the 4 channels I want to watch.

But I will try to get the bad packets down for the PBS channel first to see if it helps. If that works, it is time to get a better antenna.

That's your problem right there. Your PBS signal is not good enough and you are getting way too many fixed and bad packets. You should be getting none at all.

Try adjusting your attenna to get rid of those. If you can't, you're right, you need a better antenna.

Do you know the exact coordinates that you should align your antenna to?

If not, you can go to http://www.antennaweb.org and do the "choose antenna" thing. After you enter your address it will give you a map of all your local channels and the compass orientation of the transmitters and your distance from them.

If you have a compass you can align your antenna to your PBS station perfectly without trial and error.

JP

I have both a 250 and 500, and the 500 has a much brighter display, information which I previously posted on this thread. As I recall, someone responded to my message, saying his 250 had the brighter display.

I also have a 250 and a 500. And, like yours, my 500's display is noticably brighter than the display on the 250.

To pan ahead (or back) in listings, while in lisitings view just punch in the # of hours you want to jump, say, key in 2 and 4, menu box will auto-pop-up showing 24, then choose 'jump forward hours' in the popup menu. this will jump forward 24 hours.

Or after you key in the number of hours, just hit right or left on the navigation ring.

gigaguy and gwsmith - glad to hear your finally getting some results! theratpatrol - we're getting the PBS-HD info here in Chicago along with the SD feed info. But we're still not getting it for the recently added second subchannel, "Create".
I get listings for the PBS "Create" channel, 2.2 in Little Rock, AR so it's available from TVGOS.

Or after you key in the number of hours, just hit right or left on the navigation ring.

good to know!!!! (navigating forward several days is a pain with the menu select, which - each time - takes 3 actions after keying in the number of hours!)

That's your problem right there. Your PBS signal is not good enough and you are getting way too many fixed and bad packets. You should be getting none at all.

JP
Thanks so much for your help! Finally some progress made after 4 days. I tried to position the antenna to get the bad packets down. After an hour, the time is set but still no host channel after 2 hours. So I tried some more. Now after 3 hours the channel matrix appeared with no listings :) . Now I actually found out my host channel for the first time. To my surprise, it is not WETA channel 26. It is WFPT channel 62 in Frederick, MD. The strange thing is even though it is much farther away from my house, the antenna web shows it in It-Green, while the WETA is red.

And when I repeat the VBI test with channel 62, there is no bad packet at all. My system information shows my VBI station is channel 26 and the host channel is 62. I am not sure what the VBI station does. I am going to get a good antenna set up in the attic. I need to make sure my prewired cables are still good. The house is over 20 years old.

Thanks a lot for everyone for your help. Special thanks for Rob, who kept telling me my problem is with my signal and JP for the VBI testing tip.

I received TV Guide info when I first setup my HDD500 about 3 weeks ago. About 10 days ago my listings disappeared. I have tried all of the typical steps to restore the listings to no avail. I went to the Service Menu and the Host Channel line is blank. I have spoken to my local cable co. and they say they do nothing to inhibit the guide info. I spoke to my local PBS station(who I was told supplies the data) and they said they were sending the data. What do I do now?
Rod

Set all channels ON in TV Guide Setting. Your cable company changed the host channel. You turn that channel OFF in you TV Guide listing.

Two months ago my TV Guide Host channel was ch12, now is ch10. Go figure.

Set all channels ON in TV Guide Setting. Your cable company changed the host channel. You turn that channel OFF in you TV Guide listing.

Two months ago my TV Guide Host channel was ch12, now is ch10. Go figure.

Sorry I can't turn all my channels ON because there are no channels in my listings. This is the message displayed in my listings menu:

"Updated information will be available within 24 hours. The Guide is rebuilding your channel list based on your setup change."

It has been this way for 10 days. I do turn off the dvr every night. It is off most of the time now.

Sorry I can't turn all my channels ON because there are no channels in my listings.Are there no channels in your "Channel Editor", i.e., "Setup"? That's where you turn them on and off, not in the "listings".

I am not sure what the VBI station does.

The "VBI channel" listed in the TVGOS debug screens is just whatever channel you're currently tuned to (and are currently receiving VBI data on).

Are there no channels in your "Channel Editor", i.e., "Setup"? That's where you turn them on and off, not in the "listings".

There are no channels in my "channel editor". Same message as listings section(guide is rebuilding within 24 hours).

I did look in the service menu and noticed that there is no host channel listed. The space next to host channel is blank.

Remember, I was getting guide info up until 2 weeks ago.

It's looking more and more like my cable co. is to blame even though they say they do nothing on their end to prevent the guide info from being sent thru.
Rod

I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

I also have a 250 and a 500. And, like yours, my 500's display is noticably brighter than the display on the 250.
I have 2 500's, one is dim and the other is bright.

I get listings for the PBS "Create" channel, 2.2 in Little Rock, AR so it's available from TVGOS.
So does TVGOS send their info to the host channels, and then the host channels sends it out to our units, is that how it works?

I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

You can't just "add" a listing to TVGOS if it is not in the download for your Zip, it just does not exist. You should confirm that it is not hidden (disabled) in the TVGOS channel setup. Other people have discovered entering a nearby zip code sometimes results in new listings. What I have done is found either the local Analog equivalent of the digital channel OR found a generic listing for that "network" (eg PBS KIDS) and assigned the local digital tuner channel to that listing and show that listing.

I also make sure that none of my listing setting are set to Auto Hide in case the TVGOS has a hiccup for a day or two, the channels will not disappear and I know there is no data or no listing.

few questions about the hdd500

1. is the rca out active even when the hdmi cable is attached(ie can i watch hdmi on one tv while i watch the rca output on another tv simultaneously?)

2. will it pass a coax signal through from a vcr on the cable coax input. in other words can i hook up a computer video out via rca to a vcr. then connect the vcr to the hdd500 via coax cable in? can i watch what is on the vcr or the computer?

Information on TVGOS (http://www.vgi.com)

Using the video demostrations is a good source in case you still have questions about TVGOS.

Glad to hear you are making progress! I'm not sure if 62 is in Frederick or not -- I've seen some listings for it in Montgomery County, MD. You might want to check the Maryland Public Television website. This will help you in aiming the antenna. Some of the antennaweb listings are dated.

Also, if you end up getting better reception for WETA just change your zip code to a northern VA zip code.

Hope thing work out! I am in the process of finishing a second antenna install -- fun stuff! And I really love this Sony unit -- has worked like a charm for me since day 1!

Thanks so much for your help! Finally some progress made after 4 days. I tried to position the antenna to get the bad packets down. After an hour, the time is set but still no host channel after 2 hours. So I tried some more. Now after 3 hours the channel matrix appeared with no listings :) . Now I actually found out my host channel for the first time. To my surprise, it is not WETA channel 26. It is WFPT channel 62 in Frederick, MD. The strange thing is even though it is much farther away from my house, the antenna web shows it in It-Green, while the WETA is red.

And when I repeat the VBI test with channel 62, there is no bad packet at all. My system information shows my VBI station is channel 26 and the host channel is 62. I am not sure what the VBI station does. I am going to get a good antenna set up in the attic. I need to make sure my prewired cables are still good. The house is over 20 years old.

Thanks a lot for everyone for your help. Special thanks for Rob, who kept telling me my problem is with my signal and JP for the VBI testing tip.

few questions about the hdd500

1. is the rca out active even when the hdmi cable is attached(ie can i watch hdmi on one tv while i watch the rca output on another tv simultaneously?)



If by "rca" you mean the composite video (yellow), then I BELIEVE so (I have never actually tested it). If you mean the three component video connectors, then no it is not and HDMI will have precedence. There are a number of users using HDMI, and in theory it is the way to go, but HDMI seems to have a number of quirks (not just in this product), and I feel component is the currently the better option.

I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

The guide may have the stations listed under a different number. Find out what stations correspond to 20 and 20.1 and then look in the guide for them listed under a different number. If they are listed under a different channel number, go into the edit mode and change the numbers.

Or after you key in the number of hours, just hit right or left on the navigation ring.

This is the first I have heard of this. Saves a few steps!

TVGOS is intended for different products and different manufacturers each with their own remotes and capabilities, so it tries to accommodate the most common remote functions, but it would be cool if there were special buttons or "Alt-Right Arrow" that would move a day at a time.

There are no channels in my "channel editor". Same message as listings section(guide is rebuilding within 24 hours).

I did look in the service menu and noticed that there is no host channel listed. The space next to host channel is blank.

Remember, I was getting guide info up until 2 weeks ago.

It's looking more and more like my cable co. is to blame even though they say they do nothing on their end to prevent the guide info from being sent thru.
Rod

ARe you looking in the right place? menu, preferences, channel +/-. Every channel that the recorder found by scanning the cable and ota inputs should be listed there, with a check by the ones that are turned on.

I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

I assume that 20 is the analogue version and that 20.1 is the digital and that they have the same listings. If that's the case you can simply remap channel 20 to 20.1 in the channel editor. You probably don't care about the analogue version.

JP

ARe you looking in the right place? menu, preferences, channel +/-. Every channel that the recorder found by scanning the cable and ota inputs should be listed there, with a check by the ones that are turned on.

Sorry I was looking in the wrong place. I did find all the channels in preferences, channel +/-, but they were all checked already.

What now?

Sorry I was looking in the wrong place. I did find all the channels in preferences, channel +/-, but they were all checked already.

What now?

I think you looked at wrong place by misleading.

Press TV Guide button, then go to Setup, choose the Change Channel Display.
Make sure you have every channel ON.

I think you looked at wrong place by misleading.

Press TV Guide button, then go to Setup, choice the Change Channel Display.
Make sure you have every channel ON.

When I do this there are no channels, just the black window saying that updated info will be available in 24 hours.

If by "rca" you mean the composite video (yellow), then I BELIEVE so (I have never actually tested it). If you mean the three component video connectors, then no it is not and HDMI will have precedence. There are a number of users using HDMI, and in theory it is the way to go, but HDMI seems to have a number of quirks (not just in this product), and I feel component is the currently the better option.

yes i mean composite. i love my hdmi and won't change.

anyone know what happens when you input a signal from a vcr coax out to the hdd500 cable coax in???

does it show up?

yes i mean composite. i love my hdmi and won't change.I saw a marked improvement in PQ on my Sony A10 when I began outputting the HDD250 via component. Maybe it's the cheap hdmi cable that came with the 250, but then I've got cheap component cables also. :rolleyes:

Since these boxes rely on the analog VBI to receive both clock and guide data, what are we going to do in 2009 when the analogs pull the plug? I'm reasonably sure that cable will have analog for years to come, but if the source material is then digital, there will be no VBI to start with. Are we then obsoleted?

I saw a marked improvement in PQ on my Sony A10 when I began outputting the HDD250 via component. Maybe it's the cheap hdmi cable that came with the 250, but then I've got cheap component cables also. :rolleyes:

a cheap digital cable (i.e., DVI or HDMI) should work the same as an expensive one, assuming it works at all...that's the joy of digital

I saw a marked improvement in PQ on my Sony A10 when I began outputting the HDD250 via component. Maybe it's the cheap hdmi cable that came with the 250, but then I've got cheap component cables also. :rolleyes:

A bad HDMI cable is the same as a bad DVI cable. Bit errors result in "sparkles" - individual pixels that flicker bright/dark. If you're not seeing any sparkles, then your cable's fine.

The component vs. digital input question is really not about signal quality: digital is always better. The question is how has the OEM decided to handle the different signals. In my experience, I have found that the Japanese OEMs have configured their plasma displays with better scaling and filtering for the component inputs, assuming them to be video. The digital (DVI & HDMI) inputs seem to be caught in a time warp from prior designs of days gone by as computer displays - the result is a less filtered. Sometimes, if you prescale the digital input so the plasma/LCD doesn't scale (ie. pixel per pixel), then the result is much better. That's what I do.

Andrew

Sorry I was looking in the wrong place. I did find all the channels in preferences, channel +/-, but they were all checked already.

What now?

Seems to me that you aren't receiving guide data. You can verify that for yourself by looking at the information screen for VBI, which you can get by entering the special nine digit code, and scrolling through the various windows. One item gives the time of last download in GMT, and another one gives the time for the next guide download. If you don't know what I mean by the nine digit code please read post #2478.

If you are using only cable, I suggest you hook up an antenna. If you are using both, I suggest you try calling Sony for help. You need to speak with a product expert.

yes i mean composite. i love my hdmi and won't change.

anyone know what happens when you input a signal from a vcr coax out to the hdd500 cable coax in???

does it show up?

The S-video output is always enabled; I use it through my B&K as a back up. I would assume that the even worse composite is available since all the hard work of scaling is already done. Though, I don't know why you'd want to use the composite output in the first place. Also, if your primary output resolution is set for HD, the Sony HDD menus will not show up on the SD outputs (Svid & composite).

You keep asking about "the vcr coax" but your question doesn't make sense. Do you mean that you're planning on taking some sort of RF modulated analog NTSC signal, from an antenna or CATV service; running it into an analog VCR where it is demodulated, band-limitted and recorded; then the VCR uses an RF modulator to play back the cheesy composite signal recorded from tape back out to VHF channel 2 or 3 and into the Sony HDD? If so, you're probably better off selling your DVR on eBay; because, while it would work, it's like taking an F1 car to the beach. If what you want is to simply pass the RF source through the VCR on it's way to the HDD, then that should work fine, but I'd recommend just using a splitter.

Andrew

yes i mean composite. i love my hdmi and won't change.

anyone know what happens when you input a signal from a vcr coax out to the hdd500 cable coax in???

does it show up?

Your setup needs to include cable if you want to use that input. It will fine channel 3 or 4 depending on what your VCR is configured for.

If your not setup for cable you can still scan and find the channel 3 or 4 on that input but you wont be able to record from it. To option of cable as an input for the manual recording wont be there unless your setup includes cable.

I use it to recorde from my satelite receiver for shows that I can't get OTA. The PC is crap, but it's crap from the sat receiver anyway.

JP

When I do this there are no channels, just the black window saying that updated info will be available in 24 hours.
I know what you mean. When I lost my TV guide information, the channels are gone too. My problem was with my signal. Tune to you host channel, then do a VBI test. If you see lots of bad and fixed packets, you need to adjust your atenna.

Your setup needs to include cable if you want to use that input. It will fine channel 3 or 4 depending on what your VCR is configured for.

If your not setup for cable you can still scan and find the channel 3 or 4 on that input but you wont be able to record from it. To option of cable as an input for the manual recording wont be there unless your setup includes cable.

I use it to recorde from my satelite receiver for shows that I can't get OTA. The PC is crap, but it's crap from the sat receiver anyway.

JP

i don't want to record from it. i want to watch it. but if i can program channel 3 it will come in?

i want to run comp and dhghdd500 throughout my house via coax. control computer using an RF firefly remote and control hdd500 with a leapfrog to relay the ir remote control signals.

Originally Posted by mapson
I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

Thanks for the replies below, I quoted each one to keep my replies in order.

You can't just "add" a listing to TVGOS if it is not in the download for your Zip, it just does not exist. You should confirm that it is not hidden (disabled) in the TVGOS channel setup. Other people have discovered entering a nearby zip code sometimes results in new listings. What I have done is found either the local Analog equivalent of the digital channel OR found a generic listing for that "network" (eg PBS KIDS) and assigned the local digital tuner channel to that listing and show that listing.

I also make sure that none of my listing setting are set to Auto Hide in case the TVGOS has a hiccup for a day or two, the channels will not disappear and I know there is no data or no listing.

The thing is I have this issue with a couple minor channels. They exist because the Sony DVR finds them but TVGOS doesn't. I'm in Chgo and only OTA but the channels I'm having difficulty with are 20.1, 26.1, 26.2, I get the analogue versions but TVGOS shows none of the digital ones. Changed my zip yesterday to try again but so far no help. Sounds like I do have to find a generic listing and assign the the channel to it but will TVGOS download any listing info correctly for it?



The guide may have the stations listed under a different number. Find out what stations correspond to 20 and 20.1 and then look in the guide for them listed under a different number. If they are listed under a different channel number, go into the edit mode and change the numbers.

I went through the whole list under setup > channel lineup and I didn't see any corresponding channel logo or numbers. :(

I assume that 20 is the analogue version and that 20.1 is the digital and that they have the same listings. If that's the case you can simply remap channel 20 to 20.1 in the channel editor. You probably don't care about the analogue version.

JP

Sounds like I will have to do some adding of generic listings AND remapping of analogue to digital.

i don't want to record from it. i want to watch it. but if i can program channel 3 it will come in?

i want to run comp and dhghdd500 throughout my house via coax. control computer using an RF firefly remote and control hdd500 with a leapfrog to relay the ir remote control signals.
I do not believe that you would get an HD picture on your sets with that setup using the vcr and coax. You would most likely have to run HDMI or component+ audio through a switching device and out to each set in order to get HD quality on those sets. Is each tv HD compatible? Otherwise, it does not matter if you run coax to tv sets that are old analog,because they are not HD compatible and you will not get any better picture for the most part.

[QUOTE=mapson]Originally Posted by mapson
I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

Thanks for the replies below, I quoted each one to keep my replies in order.



The thing is I have this issue with a couple minor channels. They exist because the Sony DVR finds them but TVGOS doesn't. I'm in Chgo and only OTA but the channels I'm having difficulty with are 20.1, 26.1, 26.2, I get the analogue versions but TVGOS shows none of the digital ones. Changed my zip yesterday to try again but so far no help. Sounds like I do have to find a generic listing and assign the the channel to it but will TVGOS download any listing info correctly for it?





I went through the whole list under setup > channel lineup and I didn't see any corresponding channel logo or numbers. :(

Unless your area is totally in the dark, you should have stations listings similar to this: In my area ( Atlanta) we have WAGA, channel 5, (analog) and WAGADT which is digital. I believe that I had to map my 5.1 number to it in the setup channel listing. It's been a while since I set things up. All this is OTA. I would think that your area would have the same setup. Regular station call sign with channel number and then digital call signs, but no channel assignments.

[QUOTE=mapson]Originally Posted by mapson
I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

Thanks for the replies below, I quoted each one to keep my replies in order.



The thing is I have this issue with a couple minor channels. They exist because the Sony DVR finds them but TVGOS doesn't. I'm in Chgo and only OTA but the channels I'm having difficulty with are 20.1, 26.1, 26.2, I get the analogue versions but TVGOS shows none of the digital ones. Changed my zip yesterday to try again but so far no help. Sounds like I do have to find a generic listing and assign the the channel to it but will TVGOS download any listing info correctly for it?[QUOTE=mapsoff]
....



Ah. I'm in Chicago and use only OTA as well. Your problem is pretty simple
to fix. 20.1 is the same as 20. 26.1 is 26. 26.2 is 23.
So edit the entries for 20, 26, and 23 in the TVGOS listings to tune to 20.1,
26.1 and 26.2 respectively. Its what I did. :) Since they are the same,
you have no need of the analogue versions.

Dan (Woj...)

A bad HDMI cable is the same as a bad DVI cable. Bit errors result in "sparkles" - individual pixels that flicker bright/dark. If you're not seeing any sparkles, then your cable's fine.

The component vs. digital input question is really not about signal quality: digital is always better. The question is how has the OEM decided to handle the different signals. In my experience, I have found that the Japanese OEMs have configured their plasma displays with better scaling and filtering for the component inputs, assuming them to be video. The digital (DVI & HDMI) inputs seem to be caught in a time warp from prior designs of days gone by as computer displays - the result is a less filtered. Sometimes, if you prescale the digital input so the plasma/LCD doesn't scale (ie. pixel per pixel), then the result is much better. That's what I do.

Andrew
Be careful of blanket statements like "digital is always better" (why?). In my subjective opinion (which is all it is considering you're using the naked eye to make the comparison) I can't tell the difference. Especially on the one of the sony widescreen CRT based XBRs. Remember, one of the main reasons HDMI exists is because it lends itself to DRM protections, something that is inherently non-trivial with an analog signal.

[QUOTE=mapson]Originally Posted by mapson
I'm still wading through this thread but has anyone seen this scenario, I have channels 20 and 20.1 on the Sony DVR channels list but don't see channel 20.1 in the TVGuide listing or TVGuide setup screen that shows all the channels to be displayed. Where can I add the 20.1 to TVGuide listing? Is it something it just has to download?

Thanks for the replies below, I quoted each one to keep my replies in order.



The thing is I have this issue with a couple minor channels. They exist because the Sony DVR finds them but TVGOS doesn't. I'm in Chgo and only OTA but the channels I'm having difficulty with are 20.1, 26.1, 26.2, I get the analogue versions but TVGOS shows none of the digital ones. Changed my zip yesterday to try again but so far no help. Sounds like I do have to find a generic listing and assign the the channel to it but will TVGOS download any listing info correctly for it?[QUOTE=mapsoff]
....



Ah. I'm in Chicago and use only OTA as well. Your problem is pretty simple
to fix. 20.1 is the same as 20. 26.1 is 26. 26.2 is 23.
So edit the entries for 20, 26, and 23 in the TVGOS listings to tune to 20.1,
26.1 and 26.2 respectively. Its what I did. :) Since they are the same,
you have no need of the analogue versions.

Dan (Woj...)
IF you haven't, go to www.antennaweb.org and pull up your OTA listings. There you will see all the analog and digital stations in your area along with the call sign and channel numbers. Your channel setup guide in the Sony should also have at least the call sign for both analog as well as digital. I know mine has. I think they were listed way down the line until I remapped them.

Guys...I need some help here and hopefully quick. I have a show that is already recorded on my hdd250. My question is how can I record this a second time to something like a VCR or Computer Hard Drive. I've gone through the manual and can't seem to find anything about this scenario. Can the USB port be used or not? If I can't get it onto my computer then I will have to use a VCR that only has Composite In. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Guys...I need some help here and hopefully quick. I have a show that is already recorded on my hdd250. My question is how can I record this a second time to something like a VCR or Computer Hard Drive. I've gone through the manual and can't seem to find anything about this scenario. Can the USB port be used or not? If I can't get it onto my computer then I will have to use a VCR that only has Composite In. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I assume you could play it back and send the output to the SVideo or Composite (yellow) video output (and R/W audio, of course) to your VCR or computer. I THINK that if you are using component to your TV the SVid and composite outputs are also active (I think that HDMI output overrides all others). I have not heard of a way to send data out the USB port.

I've tried playing it back while attached through Composite to my VCR and its not working. I made sure HDMI was unplugged. Any other suggestions? Thanks

For those of you who have experienced the missing recordings problem, where scheduled recordings are sporadically dropped, Sony is finally acknowledging that a problem exists and they claim to have new firmware that fixes it.

When I called Sony about this problem about six months ago, they claimed that they hadn't seen the problem before and that I'd have to send my unit in for service. After another member of this forum sent his unit in for the same problem, it was returned with the 1.2.13 firmware, and he didn't see the problem for months after it came back. I tried to get an answer from Sony regarding whether or not firmware 1.2.13 fixed the problem, but they never got back to me. At that time, nobody on this forum that had 1.2.13 had reported having the missing recordings problem, so I sent my unit in for service hoping that 1.2.13 actually fixed the problem. Days after I sent it in, I received reports from other forum members stating that they had experienced the problem with 1.2.13, and somebody else mentioned that 1.2.13 only addressed DVI issues.

Anyhow, my unit was returned at the end of February and it just missed a recording last night. After waiting on hold for over an hour this morning, I talked to a tech who right away acknowledged that the missing recordings problem was a known issue that is fixed with new firmware. Since my unit had been serviced less than a month ago, I asked when the firmware was released and what the version number was. He couldn't provide an answer to either question, but was very confident that the issue is fixed. They are sending a UPS shipping label for me to send the unit back for the new firmware.

I'll let you guys know what firmware version my unit comes back with. Another member of this forum recently went through the same exercise and sent his unit back to Sony with 1.2.13, and it was returned with 1.2.13. So I'm still not completely confident that Sony has truly addressed the issue, but perhaps there are different build dates for 1.2.13, or Sony is referring to different firmware? The description of service from the first time I sent the unit in said "VERIFY G* PATCH 8.06.30". I'm guessing that 8.06.30 refers to the TVGOS firmware - maybe the missing recordings problem involves a TVGOS firmware patch that can't be applied via normal TVGOS updates and Sony has to apply it? Who knows, we'll see what happens...

Ah. I'm in Chicago and use only OTA as well. Your problem is pretty simple to fix. 20.1 is the same as 20. 26.1 is 26. 26.2 is 23.
So edit the entries for 20, 26, and 23 in the TVGOS listings to tune to 20.1,
26.1 and 26.2 respectively. Its what I did. :) Since they are the same, you have no need of the analogue versions.

Dan (Woj...)

I sent you a PM regarding a couple other channels to see how you dealt with them.


Unless your area is totally in the dark, you should have stations listings similar to this: In my area ( Atlanta) we have WAGA, channel 5, (analog) and WAGADT which is digital. I believe that I had to map my 5.1 number to it in the setup channel listing. It's been a while since I set things up. All this is OTA. I would think that your area would have the same setup. Regular station call sign with channel number and then digital call signs, but no channel assignments.

My situation is similar like yours but for example; I have a channel 5 analogue, 5.1 digital, and a 5.2 digital that runs weather. The 5.2 doesn't show up nor it's call sign in the TVGOS. I guess I could remap any call sign and channel to 5.2 since the listing does not matter (24hr weather).


IF you haven't, go to www.antennaweb.org and pull up your OTA listings. There you will see all the analog and digital stations in your area along with the call sign and channel numbers. Your channel setup guide in the Sony should also have at least the call sign for both analog as well as digital. I know mine has. I think they were listed way down the line until I remapped them.

I have looked there in the past and did again since reading your post. They do not show the sub channels such as .2, .3, etc. Thanks.

I've tried playing it back while attached through Composite to my VCR and its not working. I made sure HDMI was unplugged. Any other suggestions? Thanks

Did you use the FORMAT button on the remote to set the output to "480i" or "SD Out"?

The difference is that with the 480i setting, the menus, TV Guide etc. still appear on the component or HDMI output (whichever one you're using), whereas with the SD Out setting, they appear on the composite or S-Video output (and therefore show up on whatever that output is connected to, e.g. your VCR).

i used the sd out format from the remote, still no luck

Did you check and set the proper input on your vcr? Also, did you set the proper format out from the Sony? page 23 in the manual.

Be careful of blanket statements like "digital is always better" (why?). In my subjective opinion (which is all it is considering you're using the naked eye to make the comparison) I can't tell the difference. Especially on the one of the sony widescreen CRT based XBRs. Remember, one of the main reasons HDMI exists is because it lends itself to DRM protections, something that is inherently non-trivial with an analog signal.

Well, let me qualify my statement: properly done, from an originally digital source (DVD, HD OTA, digital cable or satellite, or computer) to a digital display (LCD, plasma, DLP) based device, then digital transfer is always better (DVI sans HDCP is best). This is because you avoid the digital to analog and analog to digital conversion loop, with it's attendent bandwidth limitations, pixel sample phasing, cross coupling plus additional noise at each step in the process.

To an analog display, like a CRT, then it's simply a matter of which end has better D to A's. When it comes to DRM, in case you have forgotten, the analog world has Macrovision, which I believe comes out the back of the Sony HDD (I seem to recall it mentioned in the fine print of the manual). Currently in Congress is some awful, misguided MPAA-backed bill to attempt to "close the analog hole" with analog watermarking.

Don't get me wrong: There are plenty of ways to screw up a digital transfer, like video levels on one end and computer levels on the other (digital codes 16 - 240 are the range used for video while 0 - 255 are used for "computer" signals).

But, just because your eyes can't see the difference doesn't mean it's not there. I just helped my neighbor replace a lamp dimmer where he had tried tying the green wire from the dimmer to the red wire in the switch box. To his eyes, that was fine. My local Fox affiliate out here, channel 7 (KTBC) has moron engineers who have no concept of a black level: the analog NTSC broadcasts look washed out, but in digital, blacks are grey and the picture looks like crap. I have a video processor setting stored just for when I'm watching the station to correct for all their local originated signals (network feeds are fine). But I'm sure to their super-fine eagle eyes, they are putting out a sharp picture they are proud of.

And, at the risk of repeating myself, after you get the signal between point A and point B, it's up to B to properly display it. And some OEMs haven't gotten the hang of DVI/HDMI for video yet.

Andrew

I've tried playing it back while attached through Composite to my VCR and its not working. I made sure HDMI was unplugged. Any other suggestions? Thanks

Define "not working". Black image, no image, torn image? Does a monitor with composite input show any video coming out of the Sony?

HDMI has no effect on the SD outputs, only the analog component outputs.

Andrew

Well, let me qualify my statement: properly done, from an originally digital source (DVD, HD OTA, digital cable or satellite, or computer) to a digital display (LCD, plasma, DLP) based device, then digital transfer is always better (DVI sans HDCP is best). This is because you avoid the digital to analog and analog to digital conversion loop, with it's attendent bandwidth limitations, pixel sample phasing, cross coupling plus additional noise at each step in the process.

To an analog display, like a CRT, then it's simply a matter of which end has better D to A's. When it comes to DRM, in case you have forgotten, the analog world has Macrovision, which I believe comes out the back of the Sony HDD (I seem to recall it mentioned in the fine print of the manual). Currently in Congress is some awful, misguided MPAA-backed bill to attempt to "close the analog hole" with analog watermarking.

Don't get me wrong: There are plenty of ways to screw up a digital transfer, like video levels on one end and computer levels on the other (digital codes 16 - 240 are the range used for video while 0 - 255 are used for "computer" signals).

But, just because your eyes can't see the difference doesn't mean it's not there. I just helped my neighbor replace a lamp dimmer where he had tried tying the green wire from the dimmer to the red wire in the switch box. To his eyes, that was fine. My local Fox affiliate out here, channel 7 (KTBC) has moron engineers who have no concept of a black level: the analog NTSC broadcasts look washed out, but in digital, blacks are grey and the picture looks like crap. I have a video processor setting stored just for when I'm watching the station to correct for all their local originated signals (network feeds are fine). But I'm sure to their super-fine eagle eyes, they are putting out a sharp picture they are proud of.

And, at the risk of repeating myself, after you get the signal between point A and point B, it's up to B to properly display it. And some OEMs haven't gotten the hang of DVI/HDMI for video yet.

Andrew

I'm not claiming one is better than the other. all I'm trying to say is it depends on the source. Here's a link to a simple explanation that comes down to , "It depends" Also unless a source is created with HDTV recording equipment, and I'm not aware of any movies that are yet, There is a multitude of A/D, D/A , and scaling conversions going on anyway. And in the case of quantifying a video display as "just because your eyes can't see the difference" That's as good as no difference.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm

I have composite out going from sony hdd to composite in on the vcr, then I have composite out from the VCR to the tv. Should I be able to see whatever is being recieved by the sony, sent through the vcr, then to the tv? All I can see on the tv is the blue screen from the vcr. When I try and record on the VCR all I am getting in white and back fuzz, Keep the hints coming. Thanks.

I have composite out going from sony hdd to composite in on the vcr, then I have composite out from the VCR to the tv. Should I be able to see whatever is being recieved by the sony, sent through the vcr, then to the tv? All I can see on the tv is the blue screen from the vcr. When I try and record on the VCR all I am getting in white and back fuzz, Keep the hints coming. Thanks.

Sorry, I came in late on this question... First, can you put a tape in your VCR and see it play on your TV screen? If so, then one less thing that's wrong.
Next, some VCR's have a 'channel' setting for LINE1in and LINE2in, or AUX1 or AUX2. They are usually below channel 2, so if you use the channel down, you can get to them. Try those. (If someone already suggested all this, my apologies.) IF that still is not the problem, what is the make and model of your VCR? I'd be interested in knowing

And, at the risk of repeating myself, after you get the signal between point A and point B, it's up to B to properly display it. And some OEMs haven't gotten the hang of DVI/HDMI for video yet.

Andrew

I think this is the key point. I've experimented with four different HD tuners variously with DVI and HDMI. In EVERY case, the component connection resulted in a more colorful, pleasing picture to my eye on my Sony plasma. I have to keep one tuner connected via DVI becasue I'm out of component inputs, but I've been considering a Zektor component switch so that I can use ONLY component for all my devices.

A cousin recently bought a plasma display and separately came to the same conclusion after much experimenting with his equipment.

I suppose that the equipment manufacturers are giving copy protection their main attention and letting us suffer with a less than optimal DVI/HDMI picture.

Should I be able to see whatever is being recieved by the sony, sent through the vcr, then to the tv?

Yes, provided you've set up the inputs on the VCR and the TV properly.

All I can see on the tv is the blue screen from the vcr. When I try and record on the VCR all I am getting in white and back fuzz, Keep the hints coming. Thanks.

That sounds to me like your VCR has its input set to its own tuner, which is tuned to a channel that doesn't have a signal on it. Or maybe you don't have an antenna or cable hooked up to your VCR.

On my Panasonic VCR, the remote has an INPUT button which cycles among the tuner and the two line inputs L1 and L2. Your VCR must have something that allows you to switch inputs like this. Whatever it's called, use it to switch to whichever input the signal from the Sony is coming in on.

I am able to view a vhs on the screen. I do not have an antennae or cable into the vcr. All I want to do is recorde what is already recorded on my sony hdd. The vcr is a panasonic pv8453. It does have a channel 3 or 4 option on the back. Keep em coming guys, I know we can figure this out!! Thanks.

I am able to view a vhs on the screen. I do not have an antennae or cable into the vcr. All I want to do is recorde what is already recorded on my sony hdd. The vcr is a panasonic pv8453. It does have a channel 3 or 4 option on the back. Keep em coming guys, I know we can figure this out!! Thanks.

I think what others are saying is that to see what is coming into the composite input (i.e. not coaxial) of the VCR you need to set your VCR input (with VCR remote, typically) to select that video input - sometimes called Video 1 or Input 1 or Line Input. On some VCRs this can be accomplished by starting at channel 2 and doing channel down to get to the Line/Video input channels.

Ok im getting out the remote to give it a try

Bad news,,, my remote to the VCR does not work. I think that getting to the Aux channels is probably the problem, and I can't do it manually on the front of the VCR either. So I guess I have to get another remote. I have to do all this because my wife was on tv and i have a recording of it on the sony HDD. But I lost all my guide info and it hasn't populated in about a month, so I think I have to do a reboot which would erase the recording of my wife. Is there any way to save it to a computer? I have a 9800 pro video card which I think only has video out, anybody have any more ideas? Thanks

Doesn't your VCR have channel up and down on it? Most all do and they will take you to the inputs of your machine unless you have turned them off in the vcr setup screen.

anyone know what happens when you input a signal from a vcr coax out to the hdd500 cable coax in???

That's how my aunt has her DHG-HDD500 hooked up. Coax from the wall to Ant In on a VCR. Ant Out from the VCR to Cable In (or whatever it's called) on the Sony. S-Video cable from the VCR to Input 1 on the TV. Composite from the Sony to Input 3. She has analog cable and an analog TV with PIP. She can watch analog channels and unencrypted digital channels including HD (downconverted to SD of course) on the main screen and in the PIP. She can record from either while watching the other. She used to have two VCRs. PQ is not as good on the Sony as it was on the older VCR through composite, but she only has 1 S-video input on the TV and prefers to leave that on the VCR since the channel changing is so much faster. So, if this is what you're trying to do, yes, it works.

I'm not claiming one is better than the other. all I'm trying to say is it depends on the source. Here's a link to a simple explanation that comes down to , "It depends" Also unless a source is created with HDTV recording equipment, and I'm not aware of any movies that are yet, There is a multitude of A/D, D/A , and scaling conversions going on anyway. And in the case of quantifying a video display as "just because your eyes can't see the difference" That's as good as no difference.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm

Interesting article...check this one out. Originally submitted by jplamarc.

http://www.cobaltcable.com/pdfs/component_vs_dvi_hdmi.pdf

The first article says that LCD and Plasma are "native digital displays" while the second article says that only DLP and LCos(D-ILA, HD-ILA) are truly digital, and Plasma and LCD are actually analog. I switched from HDMI to component because I believed the Plasma to be analog. Now I'm not so sure. Which article is correct?

The S-video output is always enabled; I use it through my B&K as a back up. I would assume that the even worse composite is available since all the hard work of scaling is already done. Though, I don't know why you'd want to use the composite output in the first place. Also, if your primary output resolution is set for HD, the Sony HDD menus will not show up on the SD outputs (Svid & composite).
Andrew
This discussion leads me to ask a question I've been interested in...in case I wanted to make archive DVD copies of some things I've recorded on the Sony, I assume that S-video is usually the best quality I can get...but I suppose there might be some DVD recorders that take component...is that the case? And would I be able to make DVDs having quality comparable to commercial movie DVDs? In that case, with the upconversion in my Sony CRT, maybe my archive copies would display fairly well...anybody know about this issue?

I live in Portland (Clackamas), Oregon area and have the following questions. First here is my setup: HDD250, firmware .09, OTA and basic Comcast Cable.

1. I wonder if anyone knows how to get the correct program listing for 10.2 OPB "Create". Autoscan does not come up with this channel. I currently manually map "10.2" to an unused PBS listing (KOAC). However, the downloaded program info does not belong to that of OPB Create.

2. When I enter "10.1" for antenna, it returns "no signal". The same coax goes into my TV (Samsung 6168), when I entering "10.1" on my TV it tunes to OPB HDTV.

3. Autoscan does not pick up all the signals. When I use the Channel Up/Down button on the HDD250 remote, I can see several local community channels. How can I add listings to these channels?

I live in Portland (Clackamas), Oregon area and have the following questions. First here is my setup: HDD250, firmware .09, OTA and basic Comcast Cable.

1. I wonder if anyone knows how to get the correct program listing for 10.2 OPB "Create". Autoscan does not come up with this channel. I currently manually map "10.2" to an unused PBS listing (KOAC). However, the downloaded program info does not belong to that of OPB Create.


2. When I enter "10.1" for antenna, it returns "no signal". The same coax goes into my TV (Samsung 6168), when I entering "10.1" on my TV it tunes to OPB HDTV.

3. Autoscan does not pick up all the signals. When I use the Channel Up/Down button on the HDD250 remote, I can see several local community channels. How can I add listings to these channels?
From what I understand, Create is a new PBS show available only in certian markets. To get it in your channel listing guide you may have to go through your initial setup again for it to show up there. And that is only if your host/TVGOS system is sending out the channel information.

If the local community channels are small, then the TVGOS system probably does not carry or transmit them. If they are not carried by TVGOS, then you will not have any listings for them in your channel listing setup guide.

I talked to a tech who right away acknowledged that the missing recordings problem was a known issue that is fixed with new firmware.

Good news, let us know how your upgrade goes.

I live in Portland (Clackamas), Oregon area and have the following questions. First here is my setup: HDD250, firmware .09, OTA and basic Comcast Cable.

1. I wonder if anyone knows how to get the correct program listing for 10.2 OPB "Create". Autoscan does not come up with this channel. I currently manually map "10.2" to an unused PBS listing (KOAC). However, the downloaded program info does not belong to that of OPB Create.

In my area (Twin Cities, MN) there was what I call a generic listing for PBS Create it was way down in the listings, hidden, with no tuner channel assigned. I manually added the digital channel tuning to that listing and configured it to show up in the listings.


2. When I enter "10.1" for antenna, it returns "no signal". The same coax goes into my TV (Samsung 6168), when I entering "10.1" on my TV it tunes to OPB HDTV.

Your TV might have a better tuner than the Sony or the TV is getting a slightly stronger signal than the Sony due to cabling/splitting. There is one channel I got on my TV tuner until I added a splitter to get the signal to the Sony. I bought a better quality splitter and then I got it again. I still do not get that channel on a cheap HDTV tuner card I have in my home computer in an other room. The difference is length of the Antenna (Coax) cable or the quality of the tuner.

3. Autoscan does not pick up all the signals. When I use the Channel Up/Down button on the HDD250 remote, I can see several local community channels. How can I add listings to these channels?
Autoscan is for the Sony tuner to find channels, which is why the channel Up/Down works. Later TVGOS downloads listings for your zip code and MAY try to show or hide channel listings based on the channels the tuner has configured. Keep in mind that your tuner and TVGOS are separate entities. Sony incorporates the TVGOS chipset into its product but has no control of the functionality, and TVGOS has to work in any manufacturers TV, DVR, DVD-R, etc.

TVGOS is a more or less national system that tries to customize listings for each area. I think it is asking a lot for a national service to carry listings for very local channels with extremely limited audience. Does the paper copy of TV Guide in the supermarket list those channels? Does the guide that comes in your Sunday paper list those channels?

My DVD recorder only has S-video and I have recorded some of the HD programs on my 500 to a DVD, looked fine and played back in 16:9 which is what I've wanted. I just wonder if any improvemment via component would be worth the cost to get a new DVD recorder with it. THe Sonys with component are about $600, and I don't trust the Philips/Magnavox ones from one I had and what I read.

I'm not claiming one is better than the other. all I'm trying to say is it depends on the source. Here's a link to a simple explanation that comes down to , "It depends" Also unless a source is created with HDTV recording equipment, and I'm not aware of any movies that are yet, There is a multitude of A/D, D/A , and scaling conversions going on anyway. And in the case of quantifying a video display as "just because your eyes can't see the difference" That's as good as no difference.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm

Yes, and I specifically qualified my statement for digital sources. Today, many movies are shot digitally - beyond consumer HD resolutions. About 2 years ago I screened one of the LOTR movies at Skywalker Ranch, Lucas Films Napa campus. I spent about half an hour talking tech with one of the IT guys about the collosal networked storage infrastructure they were scaling up for new movies. Production and editting are done off the network; George Lucas freqently watches dailies on a DLP or plasma shortly after shooting. Special effects are rendered in huge render farms directly to digital. And whole movies are being released digitally to digital theatres incorporating special TI DLP-based projectors. These cinema DLPs are not generally available to the consumer (unless you have more than $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket).

Mr. Bluejeans Cable's article was less than completely informative. After all, he's selling both component and digital cables. However, anybody can see the results of a bad DVI or HDMI cable - it's obvious. Information not included in the article is that HDMI supports 10 bits/pixel - which gives it a leg up over plain old DVI (yes, I despise DRM - don't get me started). One winning aspect of digital over analog is that black & white level setting is a no brainer, whereas in analog it depends on the drive level, offset & impedance of the source, the impedance of the cable, and the receiver's termination resistance, offset & gain. Otherwise, calibration can be a real pain, if it is possible at all.

Finally, just because you can't see the difference in PQ, doesn't mean that others around you can't. Sam Runco has a very sharp sense of image quality; that's why his stuff is pretty good (if you can afford it!). Which is why people are willing to pay for it. I have watched him at work, it's an eye-openning experience; sometimes, quite frankly, I don't see what he sees.

For a digital display, scaling is always in the digital domain. Mr. Bluejeans was somewhat disingenuous when discussing scalers: they are a fact of life. Even if you use analog component inputs, they are digitized and scaled. Period. Low-end products come with low-end scalers built into them; if you can't see that before you buy, then you get what you pay for. I have seen some absolutely ghastly scaling on consumer RP TV's. But since most people don't even know what aspect ratio control is, bad scaling is accepted.

My HD setup is a no-name ChinaCo 32" LCD, a video scaler and several HDTV receivers. The video is transferred via DVI, and the scaler does the heavy lifting scaling from the HDTV native resolution to exact LCD pixel resolution. This allows for much tighter control over scaling quality. Friends who have come over and seen it can't believe it; one friend just bought an LCD this weekend, a few days after watching my system.

As you might guess, I have been in the higher-end consumer video industry, but I'm certainly not one of the snooty "oxygen-free 99.999% pure copper" power cord audio/video-philes. From my experience, I'm more pragmatic and sensitive to performance/cost.

Andrew

Sounds like 2 threads but hey. I prefer the look of component out of the 500 to my Sony XBR960 tube, hdmi was seemingly pale or washed out looking, not to mention the longer channel shifting via HDMI. So now I have 5 cables doing what the great HDMI design is supposed to do with 1 cable.

I finally got my vcr to record from the sony hdd. Thanks to all those that posted solutions!!

And would I be able to make DVDs having quality comparable to commercial movie DVDs?

Even with HD source material, no, although their quality will be very good. Commercial movie DVDs are produced using very high-quality MPEG2 encoders that can make multiple passes over the source material, and the encoded bit-rate varies dynamically with the material (more complex sequences get a higher bit-rate). These encoders don't operate in real time like consumer DVD recorders do.

Even with HD source material, no, although their quality will be very good. Commercial movie DVDs are produced using very high-quality MPEG2 encoders that can make multiple passes over the source material, and the encoded bit-rate varies dynamically with the material (more complex sequences get a higher bit-rate). These encoders don't operate in real time like consumer DVD recorders do.
hmmm...interesting - thanks for the info. My understanding is that the s-video output of the Sony is "SD"...this means 480i, doesn't it? My previous question was caused by my understanding that DVDs are 480p, and that my Sony CRT upconverts this very nicely...do DVD recorders produce 480p? Or have I got all this wrong? (You did say the recorded DVD quality would be very good, but I'm just trying to pin this down...)

Now an associated question I have to figure out is what quality I would end up with if I recorded from the Sony to my JVC30K, and THEN sent this to a DVD recorder. This might give me more opportunity to edit out unwanted pieces of the program...on the other hand, maybe I could do this just by jumping across unwanted stuff as it's played back in the Sony.

(In fact, I'm unclear how one records stuff from the hard drive to a DVD player, anyway...I suppose one has to play it back...?)

I have to keep one tuner connected via DVI becasue I'm out of component inputs, but I've been considering a Zektor component switch so that I can use ONLY component for all my devices.



I got a Phillips four source selector switch from Walmart for $20. Three of the four sources can be component video. Only drawback is that it is purely mechanical - no remote. I have a separate Radioshack mechanical switch to handle the optical audio. Before I got the Phillips switch, I picked up a similar one with remote control, which had been sold by Best Buy. Unfortunately it couldn't transmit the component signals with sufficient fildelity to produce an image.

In my area (Twin Cities, MN) there was what I call a generic listing for PBS Create it was way down in the listings, hidden, with no tuner channel assigned. I manually added the digital channel tuning to that listing and configured it to show up in the listings.


Your TV might have a better tuner than the Sony or the TV is getting a slightly stronger signal than the Sony due to cabling/splitting. There is one channel I got on my TV tuner until I added a splitter to get the signal to the Sony. I bought a better quality splitter and then I got it again. I still do not get that channel on a cheap HDTV tuner card I have in my home computer in an other room. The difference is length of the Antenna (Coax) cable or the quality of the tuner.

Autoscan is for the Sony tuner to find channels, which is why the channel Up/Down works. Later TVGOS downloads listings for your zip code and MAY try to show or hide channel listings based on the channels the tuner has configured. Keep in mind that your tuner and TVGOS are separate entities. Sony incorporates the TVGOS chipset into its product but has no control of the functionality, and TVGOS has to work in any manufacturers TV, DVR, DVD-R, etc.

TVGOS is a more or less national system that tries to customize listings for each area. I think it is asking a lot for a national service to carry listings for very local channels with extremely limited audience. Does the paper copy of TV Guide in the supermarket list those channels? Does the guide that comes in your Sunday paper list those channels?

Thanks for your help. Two other questions:

1. With TVGOS what is the downloaded channel label for PBS Create?

2. I know it is too much to ask TVGOS to carry local program info. I'm hoping that there is a way to manually "create" a listing so that I can at least access that channel within TVGOS, even though I don't have the downloaded program info. I can use some unused listings for this purpose, but I won't be able to enter the correct label.

Sounds like 2 threads but hey. I prefer the look of component out of the 500 to my Sony XBR960 tube, hdmi was seemingly pale or washed out looking, not to mention the longer channel shifting via HDMI. So now I have 5 cables doing what the great HDMI design is supposed to do with 1 cable.

More like three threads: OTA users, cable users and those that want to archive to analog.

After waiting on hold for over an hour this morning, I talked to a tech who right away acknowledged that the missing recordings problem was a known issue that is fixed with new firmware. Since my unit had been serviced less than a month ago, I asked when the firmware was released and what the version number was. He couldn't provide an answer to either question, but was very confident that the issue is fixed. They are sending a UPS shipping label for me to send the unit back for the new firmware.

I'll let you guys know what firmware version my unit comes back with.

Yes, please let us know. What kind of DHG user are you, OTA, analog/clear QAM, cable card ?

Maybe I will give them a call asking for a UPS label to get the latest firmware. If enough of us ask maybe they will let us do it ourselves :)

My previous question was caused by my understanding that DVDs are 480p,

All DVDs are 480i. 480p is purely a playback trick.

what quality I would end up with if I recorded from the Sony to my JVC30K, and THEN sent this to a DVD recorder.

I'm not familiar with DVHS units. You'd be recording an analog signal from the Sony, so would the JVC30K record it in analog format like a regular VHS unit, or convert it to digital (MPEG2 probably)? Either way, you'd probably lose some picture quality compared to recording straight to DVD.

My Panasonic DVD recorder has a hard disk, so I dub from the Sony to the hard disk first, which converts the analog signal to MPEG2 digital. MPEG2 is a "lossy" compressed format, so you always lose some quality here. When recording material that was originally HD, I always use the Panasonic's highest quality mode, which limits me to one hour per DVD. Then I edit on the hard disk, and finally do a high-speed dub to DVD, which just copies the encoded MPEG2 files, so it's a lossless operation that doesn't lose any picture quality.

Going from the Sony to the Panasonic's hard disk is a "real-time" operation because I have to play back the video at normal speed on the Sony. High-speed dubbing from hard disk to DVD on the Panasonic is about four times faster.

If your JVC records everything as MPEG2, then your material would have to go through two MPEG2 encoding steps, first on the JVC, then on your DVD recorder. I'd be leery of that. But the only way to find out how much you lose is to try it both ways. Record something first straight to the DVD recorder, then via the JVC, and see for yourself how much difference it makes. Then you can judge the tradeoff between picture quality and the ability to edit.

If your DVD recorder doesn't have a hard disk, then you're probably limited in how much editing you can do there. But you might still be able to mark sections to skip over on playback, even though you'd still have to record them.

Yes, please let us know. What kind of DHG user are you, OTA, analog/clear QAM, cable card ?

Maybe I will give them a call asking for a UPS label to get the latest firmware. If enough of us ask maybe they will let us do it ourselves :)

I'm OTA and clear QAM (no cable card). I think the only reason that they are sending a UPS label is because this is considered follow-up service since they didn't fix the problem when I previously sent it to them.

If you have an hour to kill, give them a call and see what they say. I wonder if all of the techs are acknowledging the problem, or if the one I talked to fed me some BS and they're just going to reapply the same stuff they did the last time I sent it in!

I hope that they truly have fixed the problem, because I really like the unit when it doesn't miss scheduled recordings.

I got a Phillips four source selector switch from Walmart for $20. Three of the four sources can be component video. Only drawback is that it is purely mechanical - no remote. I have a separate Radioshack mechanical switch to handle the optical audio. Before I got the Phillips switch, I picked up a similar one with remote control, which had been sold by Best Buy. Unfortunately it couldn't transmit the component signals with sufficient fildelity to produce an image.

http://www.zektor.com/hds41/index.html

I know these questions may be on the previous pages, but I can not find it.

How do you find out what revision you have?

What do the revisions do or correct?

How do you obtain the revisions?

Is it possible, that you may not need revisions for your DHG?

Thanks

Sounds like 2 threads but hey. I prefer the look of component out of the 500 to my Sony XBR960 tube, hdmi was seemingly pale or washed out looking, not to mention the longer channel shifting via HDMI. So now I have 5 cables doing what the great HDMI design is supposed to do with 1 cable.

I agree. I have the 960 also and the picture is (to my eye, which is really all I care about anyway) perfect with component. This isn't my life, I only time shift on a daily basis and delete after I've found time to watch, it's only a temporary diversion from what consumes the relatively small amount of my free time. At the end of the day it's still only television. Something I think some people on this forum forget that by getting lost in the process. I remember reading about a test done when the HD spec was being defined and the direction was toward an analog transmission scheme. They had 2 TV's, one with a Faroudja based scan doubler with ghost canceling and the other an HD recording. From the same distance from the set the test subjects could not tell the difference. Needless to say, the hardware guys freaked and after that the emphasis for HD was shifted from better picture quality to all the life changing things you could do with a digital system.

My other issue about HDMI use was I wanted less cable clutter. Now I've got 5 thick cables where the promised HDMI only needed one.

as far as firmware revisions, it comes up under Menu - System or Diagnostics screen. Not sure of the advantages, but some say it helps with certain Cablecard compatibility problems, which can give an error screen.
I have version 1.2.6.
there are also 1.2.5 - 1.2.9 - 1.2.13 I think.

I've been considering a Zektor component switch so that I can use ONLY component for all my devices.

Last week I got a CE Labs remote-control component switch from Beach Audio. It's considerably less expensive than the Zektor and seems to work OK so far. It has its own remote and doesn't have the remote-learning capability of the Zektor, but it works with my Harmony universal remote.

http://www.beachaudio.com/product_info.php?products_id=45473

Yes, and I specifically qualified my statement for digital sources. Today, many movies are shot digitally - beyond consumer HD resolutions. About 2 years ago I screened one of the LOTR movies at Skywalker Ranch, Lucas Films Napa campus. I spent about half an hour talking tech with one of the IT guys about the collosal networked storage infrastructure they were scaling up for new movies. Production and editting are done off the network; George Lucas freqently watches dailies on a DLP or plasma shortly after shooting. Special effects are rendered in huge render farms directly to digital. And whole movies are being released digitally to digital theatres incorporating special TI DLP-based projectors. These cinema DLPs are not generally available to the consumer (unless you have more than $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket).

Mr. Bluejeans Cable's article was less than completely informative. After all, he's selling both component and digital cables. However, anybody can see the results of a bad DVI or HDMI cable - it's obvious. Information not included in the article is that HDMI supports 10 bits/pixel - which gives it a leg up over plain old DVI (yes, I despise DRM - don't get me started). One winning aspect of digital over analog is that black & white level setting is a no brainer, whereas in analog it depends on the drive level, offset & impedance of the source, the impedance of the cable, and the receiver's termination resistance, offset & gain. Otherwise, calibration can be a real pain, if it is possible at all.

Finally, just because you can't see the difference in PQ, doesn't mean that others around you can't. Sam Runco has a very sharp sense of image quality; that's why his stuff is pretty good (if you can afford it!). Which is why people are willing to pay for it. I have watched him at work, it's an eye-openning experience; sometimes, quite frankly, I don't see what he sees.

For a digital display, scaling is always in the digital domain. Mr. Bluejeans was somewhat disingenuous when discussing scalers: they are a fact of life. Even if you use analog component inputs, they are digitized and scaled. Period. Low-end products come with low-end scalers built into them; if you can't see that before you buy, then you get what you pay for. I have seen some absolutely ghastly scaling on consumer RP TV's. But since most people don't even know what aspect ratio control is, bad scaling is accepted.

My HD setup is a no-name ChinaCo 32" LCD, a video scaler and several HDTV receivers. The video is transferred via DVI, and the scaler does the heavy lifting scaling from the HDTV native resolution to exact LCD pixel resolution. This allows for much tighter control over scaling quality. Friends who have come over and seen it can't believe it; one friend just bought an LCD this weekend, a few days after watching my system.

As you might guess, I have been in the higher-end consumer video industry, but I'm certainly not one of the snooty "oxygen-free 99.999% pure copper" power cord audio/video-philes. From my experience, I'm more pragmatic and sensitive to performance/cost.

Andrew

I know bluejeans was touting cable. but the article was a simply stated comparison of the differences between the quality differences of HDMI and analog. It's subjective. Cobalt Cable had a similar article but I don't think DRM2295 has to worry about how "digital" LCD and Plasma are, it's all buried in the the signal processing chain. As far as digital movies go the main reason, and please correct me if I'm wrong, to do that is complete control over the editing process, storage benefits, multi workstation process flow, etc. The resolution of a digitized big screen movie vs HDTV is so huge that the down conversion is going to introduce it's own problems anyway. (except you probably won't notice them). I drove by SkyWalker Ranch once and a friend of mine sold a phone system to Mr. "Dolby" in the North Bay.

yes i mean composite. i love my hdmi and won't change.

anyone know what happens when you input a signal from a vcr coax out to the hdd500 cable coax in???

does it show up?
I have the Coax output from my C-Band Receiver hooked up to the Cable input. This allows me to record programs off of the C-Band. Works fine

Bad news,,, my remote to the VCR does not work. I think that getting to the Aux channels is probably the problem, and I can't do it manually on the front of the VCR either. So I guess I have to get another remote. I have to do all this because my wife was on tv and i have a recording of it on the sony HDD. But I lost all my guide info and it hasn't populated in about a month, so I think I have to do a reboot which would erase the recording of my wife. Is there any way to save it to a computer? I have a 9800 pro video card which I think only has video out, anybody have any more ideas? Thanks


According to the operating manual for your VCR, if you use the channel up/down buttons on front of your vcr, keep pressing the channel down (-) button. (You can do this without the remote.) After it passes the lowest channel in your lineup (channel 2, or perhaps channel 1), it will go to LINE1 which is your audo/video in connections. (Okay, this next statement is obvious, but I've done it myself before: MAKE SURE that your cable from the Sony HDD is plugeed into the lower set of connections on your VCR. The upper set of connections on the VCR are output; the lower connections are input.) Turn on the SONY first before you change channels on the VCR - this probably won't matter, but try it this way for now.

Now it's also possible that the input and output connects are dead. I had a VCR (don't recall the brand) where I could not get it to work with anything I connected. THe only connection that worked was the coaxial connections (in and out). At this point, go pick up a cheap VCR...

Here's a link to the manual in case yours is missing.
http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/PV8453.PDF

Page 17 describes how to use channel up/down to get to LINE1, Page 30 shows how to connect in order to copy, or dub, another source.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HSVHD
I get listings for the PBS "Create" channel, 2.2 in Little Rock, AR so it's available from TVGOS.
-----------------
So does TVGOS send their info to the host channels, and then the host channels sends it out to our units, is that how it works?

--------------
Yes, that's the way I understand it, but I believe the TVGOS data for the Create channel is only available locally if the local channel provides schedules/updates to TVGOS.

I bought this a while back and have concluded the following:
1. Cox Cable provider has encrypted it's signal so the unit will not work without a cable card. I called Cox Cable ...the tech support told me the cable card is not compatible with any "3rd party" HD recorders.....I suspect they may not be forwarding the complete truth ---Cox cable rents their own HD recorder so they don't want any other companies reigning in on their "goods"

2. I have the 500GB unit. I would like to record HD programming with the potential to "burn" onto a dual-layer DVD disc which can accommodate 9.4GB of space. The USB port is supposed to be for "future use"
Has anyone hooked up a burner or laptop computer to the Sony DHG-HDD500?
Has anyone been able to transfer HD recorded programs to a DVD?
I'm not sure if I will keep this unit.
thanks for any feedback.

I bought this a while back and have concluded the following:
1. Cox Cable provider has encrypted it's signal so the unit will not work without a cable card. I called Cox Cable ...the tech support told me the cable card is not compatible with any "3rd party" HD recorders.....I suspect they may not be forwarding the complete truth ---Cox cable rents their own HD recorder so they don't want any other companies reigning in on their "goods"



My daughter has Cox in Phoenix and refuse to rent her a card - claim they are testing it with the Sony recorder. I think that's an exuse. Last year I had my 250 hooked up to her cable and as I recall, was able to receive HD channels. Channel numbers are probably different than they would be with a card. I suggest you use the channel up/down key to locate them.
In some areas, Cox has provided cards for the Sony unit.

Thanks for your help. Two other questions:

1. With TVGOS what is the downloaded channel label for PBS Create?

2. I know it is too much to ask TVGOS to carry local program info. I'm hoping that there is a way to manually "create" a listing so that I can at least access that channel within TVGOS, even though I don't have the downloaded program info. I can use some unused listings for this purpose, but I won't be able to enter the correct label.
1. It is just the PBS Logo.

2. I guess I do not understand what the point is, but only the channels/listings TVGOS downloads are available.

In my area (Twin Cities, MN) there was what I call a generic listing for PBS Create it was way down in the listings, hidden, with no tuner channel assigned. I manually added the digital channel tuning to that listing and configured it to show up in the listings.
>
>
TVGOS is a more or less national system that tries to customize listings for each area. I think it is asking a lot for a national service to carry listings for very local channels with extremely limited audience. Does the paper copy of TV Guide in the supermarket list those channels? Does the guide that comes in your Sunday paper list those channels?
-------------------------------------

I think it's up to the local channel to provide schedules/updates to TVGOS (Somebody has to). I was told by the local PBS channel that they report any changes every morning. But then who I was talking to may not have known what they were talking about. I do see local programming, even one time only, reflected in the TVGOS listings.
I found the Create channel in the TVGOS list and it had a local name, AETV-2 (Little Rock, AR) with no channel #. I had to change the channel # to 2.2.

rodwed:

I sent a PM to you yesterday. Please check your PM.

I bought this a while back and have concluded the following:
1. Cox Cable provider has encrypted it's signal so the unit will not work without a cable card. I called Cox Cable ...the tech support told me the cable card is not compatible with any "3rd party" HD recorders.....I suspect they may not be forwarding the complete truth ---Cox cable rents their own HD recorder so they don't want any other companies reigning in on their "goods"


Not true. I have two 500s, one with a cable card, and one with just the cable, and I have Cox in Northern Virginia and the units both work well with and without cablecard . It just seems that different areas of the country that have Cox as their provider seem to have different "laws" governing what regions support what equipment. Cox needs to get their S*** together and realize what's happening out there. And it's true, with the cablecard inserted, that all the HD local channels which are passed through the cable along with the analog channels as part of basic service, take on new number designations once the cablecard is inserted. For example here, CBS HD through the cable is 9.1, but with the cablecard inserted, its 709, and it's 709 which appears in my TV guide lineup for CBSHD

Thanks for your help. Two other questions:
2. I know it is too much to ask TVGOS to carry local program info. I'm hoping that there is a way to manually "create" a listing so that I can at least access that channel within TVGOS, even though I don't have the downloaded program info. I can use some unused listings for this purpose, but I won't be able to enter the correct label.
At least with OTA you can manually assign a particular channel that has been recognized by the unit to an unused listing in the TVGOS system, and you can then use that listing (which won't have any info in it) to access or record the channel you assigned...I assume you can do this with a channel that is scanned from cable service, as well...

2. I have the 500GB unit. I would like to record HD programming with the potential to "burn" onto a dual-layer DVD disc which can accommodate 9.4GB of space. The USB port is supposed to be for "future use"
Has anyone hooked up a burner or laptop computer to the Sony DHG-HDD500?
Has anyone been able to transfer HD recorded programs to a DVD?
I'm not sure if I will keep this unit.
thanks for any feedback.
Forget the USB port, as it is not functional.

As for tranferring HD recorded programs to a DVD unit, you won't of course end up with an HD recording, but the S-video output should give a reasonable input to your DVD recorder. I've been interested in this, too, and I just today confirmed that the SD signal from this output looks reasonably good on my Sony CRT TV (though not of course as good as the HD program from the 250 - which I have), so it should also work as input to a DVD recorder...

I bought this a while back and have concluded the following:
1. Cox Cable provider has encrypted it's signal so the unit will not work without a cable card. I called Cox Cable ...the tech support told me the cable card is not compatible with any "3rd party" HD recorders.....I suspect they may not be forwarding the complete truth ---Cox cable rents their own HD recorder so they don't want any other companies reigning in on their "goods"
Where do you live?

My daughter has Cox in Phoenix and refuse to rent her a card - claim they are testing it with the Sony recorder. I think that's an exuse. Last year I had my 250 hooked up to her cable and as I recall, was able to receive HD channels. Channel numbers are probably different than they would be with a card. I suggest you use the channel up/down key to locate them.
In some areas, Cox has provided cards for the Sony unit.
Again, what are they testing? You insert the card, send out the signal and activate it. This unit has been out since last year, their testing should be over. They'll probably come back and say it won't work with their card because of the CC slot issue which they probably don't know about. The card is being used in other Cox locations, so we know it works. They just want you to use their DVR. But then again the same could be said about TV cable cards, "we want you to use our decoder box to receive digital channels".

You should tell your daughter to call them back and have her tell them that these cards are being used in other Cox areas and that the FCC has mandated the cable companys allow users to use these cards in devices with CC slots.

I am curious how they even get their hands on one to do the "testing". eBay??

They CANNOT deny installation if it is a compliant device (and it is).

I think it's up to the local channel to provide schedules/updates to TVGOS (Somebody has to). I was told by the local PBS channel that they report any changes every morning. But then who I was talking to may not have known what they were talking about. I do see local programming, even one time only, reflected in the TVGOS listings.
I found the Create channel in the TVGOS list and it had a local name, AETV-2 (Little Rock, AR) with no channel #. I had to change the channel # to 2.2.
Of course local channels provide their programming listings to TVGOS, which includes locally produced shows, but it is centrally assembled and fed back to the stations broadcasting TVGOS listings. They have to do this for every station and regional cable company in the country! When I said local I really meant community and public access. Channels that have no or very erratic schedules, limited staffs, and more importantly, small and/or very localized audiences.

At least with OTA you can manually assign a particular channel that has been recognized by the unit to an unused listing in the TVGOS system, and you can then use that listing (which won't have any info in it) to access or record the channel you assigned...I assume you can do this with a channel that is scanned from cable service, as well...
It has been my experience that without listings, the unit will only record in 30 minute chunks. You could probably choose consecutive periods to record, but it would show up as two recordings. The alternative is to do a manual recording, for which I do not believe you do not need a listing in TVGOS.

I would much rather reduce clutter in my TVGOS listings so I can find stuff without as much scrolling up and down, but everyone has their own preferences

Forget the USB port, as it is not functional.

As for tranferring HD recorded programs to a DVD unit, you won't of course end up with an HD recording, but the S-video output should give a reasonable input to your DVD recorder. I've been interested in this, too, and I just today confirmed that the SD signal from this output looks reasonably good on my Sony CRT TV (though not of course as good as the HD program from the 250 - which I have), so it should also work as input to a DVD recorder...
I use S-Video out to Vaio computer S-Video input, and i am able to save as Nero Digital MPEG4 or MPEG2 DVD ready.

It has been my experience that without listings, the unit will only record in 30 minute chunks. You could probably choose consecutive periods to record, but it would show up as two recordings.

To record two 30-minute periods, select the first one for recording, then set it to "end late" by 30 minutes. You can also "start early" to go the other way. You can go up to either 90 or 120 minutes (I forgot which) in each direction.

I haven't actually done this with the no-listings 30-minute chunks, but I assume you can do it just like you can with normal listings.

Please ignore

To record two 30-minute periods, select the first one for recording, then set it to "end late" by 30 minutes. You can also "start early" to go the other way. You can go up to either 90 or 120 minutes (I forgot which) in each direction.

I haven't actually done this with the no-listings 30-minute chunks, but I assume you can do it just like you can with normal listings.

Just press and hold the "record" button on the remote. It will let you then change the time and date for a recording. It will give your recording an "Unknown" header the same as a "No Listing" in the TVGOS.

Wolfie

When I do this there are no channels, just the black window saying that updated info will be available in 24 hours.

I don't think there is any problem with your channel +/- list (that is only used to tell the Sony what channels to tune to when you press Channel up/down button on the remote). In addition, you can't turn channels on and off in the guide in the state that your unit is in.

You are having a problem receiving the guide. Most likely your cable company as you suspect, but could be the channel in your area that transmits the guide.

You may want to consider hooking up an OTA antenna, orient it in the correct direction of your previous guide channel (if you know), and re-set up your DVR to use both cable and OTA. See if you get a new host channel set and guide data.

I plan to use my hdd250's mainly for time-shifting, but on occasion would like to transfer recorded content such as documentaries to dvd or vhs for temporary archive or distribution. Since I currently have need for another vcr, I thought I'd take the opportunity to acquire one with s-video input for use for dubbing from the dvr's.

Can anyone recommend suitable vcr's (currently available models) I should be considering?

I'd get a DVD recorder rather than a VCR. If you get one with a hard drive you can easily edit your material before saving to DVD. You can get one w/o a hard drive for just a little more than a decent VCR.

I plan to use my hdd250's mainly for time-shifting, but on occasion would like to transfer recorded content such as documentaries to dvd or vhs for temporary archive or distribution. Since I currently have need for another vcr, I thought I'd take the opportunity to acquire one with s-video input for use for dubbing from the dvr's.
I'd get a DVD recorder rather than a VCR. If you get one with a hard drive you can easily edit your material before saving to DVD. You can get one w/o a hard drive for just a little more than a decent VCR. I really need a vcr for several reasons....not the least of which is my collection of VHS tapes, and my current vcr has bit the dust.

However, I was planning to purchase a DVD recorder at some point, even tho I had one before and didn't use it much. (SWMBO gets along better with a vcr.)

How about a combo vcr/dvd recorder-player? Any good ones out there that have s-video or component input?

(If this is OT is there somewhere else to ask?)

I have connected an ota antenna. It is an indoor antenna and the only channels it receives is the PBS analog, PBS Digital, and PBS HD in my area. I setup my dvr for cable and ota. The antenna has been connected for two days and still no guide data. An engineer at the pbs station said that they are sending the guide info. I am not so sure.
This morning I took a second Sony 500 to the chief engineer at my local cable co. He hooked it up and is going to see if the guide data downloads over night. The thinking is that if he receives the guide data tonight, then the problem is at my residence. It will eliminate the posibility that something is wrong with my dvr and confirm that the pbs station is indeed sending the data. If it doesn't download then we go back to the pbs guys.

Where do you live?


Again, what are they testing? You insert the card, send out the signal and activate it. This unit has been out since last year, their testing should be over. They'll probably come back and say it won't work with their card because of the CC slot issue which they probably don't know about. The card is being used in other Cox locations, so we know it works. They just want you to use their DVR. But then again the same could be said about TV cable cards, "we want you to use our decoder box to receive digital channels".

You should tell your daughter to call them back and have her tell them that these cards are being used in other Cox areas and that the FCC has mandated the cable companys allow users to use these cards in devices with CC slots.

I spoke to the Cox Tech and told him all that stuff and his answer was it was being tested. However, I didn't believe him. I thought that he was just using testing as an excuse to not give her the card. I wrote an email to the FCC regarding their refusal and I hope they will respond with something I can relay to Cox such as a specific FCC document to quote from. My only other thought is to send a letter to Cox corporate office.

I gotta problem....have two HDD250's and tonight I tried to set up the second one in the same rack as my other one. Then I realized the remotes are not programmed discretely for each unit, and that one remote works on both.

Is there any way to make the remote identify a particular unit, or what is my alternative? I need to know which unit I'm scheduling but right now it's random.

Any ideas? :confused:

Is there any way to make the remote identify a particular unit

Menu, system, remote control code.

Change one of your units to 51. Follow on screen instructions for coding the one hand held to the same 51 code.

I can't seem to find a post on how to get into the 753159852 menu. Help please. I want to see the tvgos channel and verify Im getting data. Thanks.

I spoke to the Cox Tech and told him all that stuff and his answer was it was being tested. However, I didn't believe him. I thought that he was just using testing as an excuse to not give her the card. I wrote an email to the FCC regarding their refusal and I hope they will respond with something I can relay to Cox such as a specific FCC document to quote from. My only other thought is to send a letter to Cox corporate office.
And a complaint with the BBB in Phoenix too.

Menu, system, remote control code.

Change one of your units to 51. Follow on screen instructions for coding the one hand held to the same 51 code.Problem solved! You guys are the greatest! Thanks! :D

One of my 250's is dated May 2005 and the other is dated June 2005. The older unit has software version 1.2.05 and the newer one is version 1.2.06.

I don't use a cable card, and I have an antenna and basic cable connected to each. The older one has been working fine since I got the Guide info downloaded. The other unit I just set up this evening and everything looks good so far.

Is there any reason to get the firmware updated on either of these units? Anyone have a clue what the difference is between 1.2.05 and 1.2.06?

(BTW, for anyone who's interested, both units appear to have identical displays, and the HD temperatures are both at 95 degrees.)

I can't seem to find a post on how to get into the 753159852 menu. Help please. I want to see the tvgos channel and verify Im getting data. Thanks.

Here's a link I found useful:
http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-sat/thread.cgi?keywords=2741&highlight=753159852

And another one
http://pvr.hidyman.com/

I'm not sure,but i thought someone said you can't take out the harddrives in the DHGHD500.Is this true?I wonder if you could take them out and put them in a computer with a blu-ray writer and get a perfect HD copy of programs from your dhg500 hardrives.

Thanks for the link

DOOD! Anyone else have Lost get cut-off tonight? For a while they were listing it as running until 10:05...but tonight only said til 10. But my recording cut off before the episode was even over. Sometimes the previews run slightly past 10...but this sucks.

Did he draw a map to the balloon or not!?!?! :p

Hi All,

My plan is to use a coax splitter to take my OTA signal (from rooftop antenna) and split it two ways, with one input into a HDD250 (yet-to-buy) and a Samsung SIR-T451 HD tuner. I believe this will allow me to watch one HD program while recording another (actually, this "dual tuner" functionality was unintentional - I didn't know HD-DVR's existed outside of satellite/cable and I bought the dedicated HD tuner before I knew HDD250 existed).

What I'm wondering is whether I need a video coax splitter with certain specs (such as minimum bandwidth) to avoid signal/PQ degradation.

Second question. . .part of the coax cable from antenna is RG59 (maybe 12ft) before it links to RG6 cable the rest of the way. The signal is fine and strong with the T451 now. Is there any reason for me to replace that RG59 length with RG6?

Last question: I see a lot of posts about glitches with TVGOS, missed recordings, etc. Once I get my HDD250, do you recommend I get a firmware upgrade right away as preventative measure, or might I be OK with using whatever comes with the unit (again, I'll just be recording OTA HD/SD content).

Thanks all!

I have the exact same set up. I just use a plain vanilla radio shack splitter. What's nice about this is that you can be recording on the Sony and watching a program on the other receiver -- giving you essentially two tuners. You do lose some signal with the split but in my case it did not raise any problems. So I would say just try it and see how it works.

I can't comment on the RG59.

Re: software updates -- I'm actually deciding write now whether to send mine in for the software upgrade and 161-6. I have an order number and would just need to send it in as a pre-emptive way of dealing with these issues. But my Sony has worked great so I'm a bit hesitant to disturb things. Do keep in mind that the TVGOS problems people are having have little to do with their version of software. It mostly relates to problems getting a good feed from the relevant station or the station simply not inputting the necessary data. So, I don't think that a software upgrade will help you on that issue. The main reason I have heard for getting a software upgrade involves the speculation that only the latest version of the software will allow you to get the TVGOS information when the OTA stations shift to all digital in 2009. But I believe this is speculation -- Others can correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Hi All,

My plan is to use a coax splitter to take my OTA signal (from rooftop antenna) and split it two ways, with one input into a HDD250 (yet-to-buy) and a Samsung SIR-T451 HD tuner. I believe this will allow me to watch one HD program while recording another (actually, this "dual tuner" functionality was unintentional - I didn't know HD-DVR's existed outside of satellite/cable and I bought the dedicated HD tuner before I knew HDD250 existed).

What I'm wondering is whether I need a video coax splitter with certain specs (such as minimum bandwidth) to avoid signal/PQ degradation.

Second question. . .part of the coax cable from antenna is RG59 (maybe 12ft) before it links to RG6 cable the rest of the way. The signal is fine and strong with the T451 now. Is there any reason for me to replace that RG59 length with RG6?

Last question: I see a lot of posts about glitches with TVGOS, missed recordings, etc. Once I get my HDD250, do you recommend I get a firmware upgrade right away as preventative measure, or might I be OK with using whatever comes with the unit (again, I'll just be recording OTA HD/SD content).

Thanks all!

Ok, got the unit (EBay purchase) late yesterday. Plug it in, set it up, and it populates TV Guide over night. It is new; but is a May 2005 build and the SW is 1.2.05 Is that version going to cause me problems?

I have it set up to record four shows in a row tonight, so will see how that goes.

The tuner set up about 20 analogue and 25 DT stations for a total of 55 stations....about half of those I delete, only kept 2 of the analogue and about 18 of the DT's

Questions: Are these units supposed to be so loud?

You can hear it running over Good Morning America this morning. You can hear it over the fan in a DLP set. We can hear it over the AC/Heater running in the house. And this is 12-15 feet from the recorder you can hear it. I also have very old Sony Tape player and a Sony DVD player..........don't hear those at all.

When you put your hand on it, you can feel it running.....if you hold it for a couple of minutes.....it sort of pulse-es, like a very slow heart beat?

Is this noise normal?

HoustonPerson,

I have an early unit with 1.2.05 and see no reason to update it at this time.

The drives hum a bit, but you should not hear them across the room above the other sounds you describe. Make sure the unit is on perfectly flat surface and sits firmly in place. Otherwise, it sounds like you have a problem.

And another one
http://pvr.hidyman.com/Can't get this one to work....anyone else have any luck?

Ok, got the unit (EBay purchase) late yesterday. Plug it in, set it up, and it populates TV Guide over night. It is new; but is a May 2005 build and the SW is 1.2.05 Is that version going to cause me problems?

I have it set up to record four shows in a row tonight, so will see how that goes.

The tuner set up about 20 analogue and 25 DT stations for a total of 55 stations....about half of those I delete, only kept 2 of the analogue and about 18 of the DT's

Questions: Are these units supposed to be so loud?

You can hear it running over Good Morning America this morning. You can hear it over the fan in a DLP set. We can hear it over the AC/Heater running in the house. And this is 12-15 feet from the recorder you can hear it. I also have very old Sony Tape player and a Sony DVD player..........don't hear those at all.

When you put your hand on it, you can feel it running.....if you hold it for a couple of minutes.....it sort of pulse-es, like a very slow heart beat?

Is this noise normal?
Hi,

My HDD500 is built at the same time and have the same SW. It runs fine. At first, I thought it is very loud too. I have it in my bedroom. I think I just get used to it now. Another thing that affect the noise level is how cool the unit is. I noticed that when I first brought it in from a cold place, it was very very quite. So most of the noise is cooling fan noise, not hard drive noise in my case.

I have reached 100% (knock on wood). TVGOS has updated everyday for a week now and I am getting complacent with recording. I LOVE how you can watch the show being recorded from the start and zip through the ads without having to wait until the end of the recording process. You can even watch an unrecorded program that is half-way through on the tuner from the beginning by hitting the "previous" button on the remote. That's really cool.

Wolfie

And another one
http://pvr.hidyman.com/
Can't get this one to work....anyone else have any luck?
Try these:

PDF version (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=52073)

Text version (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=53116)

I have the exact same set up. I just use a plain vanilla radio shack splitter. What's nice about this is that you can be recording on the Sony and watching a program on the other receiver -- giving you essentially two tuners. You do lose some signal with the split but in my case it did not raise any problems. So I would say just try it and see how it works.

I can't comment on the RG59.

Re: software updates -- I'm actually deciding write now whether to send mine in for the software upgrade and 161-6. I have an order number and would just need to send it in as a pre-emptive way of dealing with these issues. But my Sony has worked great so I'm a bit hesitant to disturb things. Do keep in mind that the TVGOS problems people are having have little to do with their version of software. It mostly relates to problems getting a good feed from the relevant station or the station simply not inputting the necessary data. So, I don't think that a software upgrade will help you on that issue. The main reason I have heard for getting a software upgrade involves the speculation that only the latest version of the software will allow you to get the TVGOS information when the OTA stations shift to all digital in 2009. But I believe this is speculation -- Others can correct me if I'm wrong on this.
Thanks very much for responding Hoopnoop. I feel more secure now!

Questions: Are these units supposed to be so loud?

You can hear it running over Good Morning America this morning. You can hear it over the fan in a DLP set. We can hear it over the AC/Heater running in the house. And this is 12-15 feet from the recorder you can hear it. I also have very old Sony Tape player and a Sony DVD player..........don't hear those at all.

When you put your hand on it, you can feel it running.....if you hold it for a couple of minutes.....it sort of pulse-es, like a very slow heart beat?

Is this noise normal?You may have been just lucky and got a noisy Western Digital HD....I stopped using them back in the 90's because some of them were so noisy, but I thought they'd corrected that by now.

I don't know about that pulsing thing, tho....if it was a rough bearing it'd be constant. "Pulsing" sounds more like the HD cycling, but I've never noticed mine doing that.

Do you have a 500? Maybe they're noisier because of the two hard drives.

If it were me I'd probably let it go a while and see what happens. If you got a warranty you should be covered. My first 250 had a noise when I got it....I couldn't hear it but my wife said that from across the room it sounded like a "waterfall". BTW, she can't hear the fan in our Sony RP setting right next to it, so it must've been "loud". I originally thought these units had a cooling fan and maybe I'd gotten a bad one but apparently they don't. I could hear it if I stuck my ear right next to it, and it sounded just like a hard drive running....duh! I don't think I could feel anything through the case, tho. Anyway, after about a month running, she hasn't mentioned the noise anymore, and even to my tin ears it doesn't seem as loud. In fact, I just don't notice it at all.

I just set up a second 250 last night and I don't hear any noise coming from it....of course they're racked one right over the other so maybe they're canceling each other out! ;)

You might want to look at the HD temperature(s)....that might give you a clue if there's a mechanical malfunction going on.

Try these:

PDF version

Text version Thanks!

most of the noise is cooling fan noiseSo these things actually DO have a cooling fan? Even the 250? Tell me it ain't so? :eek:

Nathan, Lost ran 1:01, exactly as scheduled. The final minute was previews.

Balloon was still being looked for. Prisoner speculated to Jack & Locke that if he were 'an other' he would have drawn a map to a place where the searchers could be captured and then traded for him.

[QUOTE=Questions: Are these units supposed to be so loud?

You can hear it running over Good Morning America this morning. You can hear it over the fan in a DLP set. We can hear it over the AC/Heater running in the house. And this is 12-15 feet from the recorder you can hear it. I also have very old Sony Tape player and a Sony DVD player..........don't hear those at all.

When you put your hand on it, you can feel it running.....if you hold it for a couple of minutes.....it sort of pulse-es, like a very slow heart beat?

Is this noise normal?[/QUOTE]

I have had a 500GB unit for about six months now and have never noticed any noise, unless I'm within a foot or two of it (I can hear the drives humming, but very quietly). I'm probably 10 feet from the unit while I'm watching it. Also, I have about 12 friends over every week (to watch 24 in HD!) and none of them have ever commented on any noise. Have not noticed any pulsing of any sort either...more of a very small amount of vibration from the HDDs working. Do you have hardwood floors? I have carpet, which would absorb any noise like this pretty effectively.

Also as a reference point, when I check the temperature (on the diagnostics or system menu, whichever menu it is that shows the HDD temperatures), mine usually show somewhere in the 95-105 degree range for each drive.

Good luck!

Anyone else have Lost get cut-off tonight?

I've not found TVGOS to be very reliable (compared to the Comcast guide and TitanTV) in reflecting the time for shows that are 61-62 minutes; more often than not it seems to list them as 60 minutes.

The main reason I have heard for getting a software upgrade involves the speculation that only the latest version of the software will allow you to get the TVGOS information when the OTA stations shift to all digital in 2009.

A BIG reason to upgrade would be if they've really got firmware that fixes the problem with scheduled recordings being dropped. But that hasn't been confirmed yet.

ok, I guess I'm just going to have to break the seal on my brand new unit this weekend and do a image of the drive. This is more important to me than the 90 day warrantee and 1 yr. parts. Survival!! I read where there is three partitions. I want to make an exact copy and see if the machine runs ok. Then I want to play around with partition sizes and see if I can add more HD space for recording. I also want to see about adding another drive but that's not as good to me as making my one drive bigger. I found some cheap image software that supports XFS. I will also make a ghost sector copy. It would be nice if someone could image a 500 so I could compare the setup. The software might be the same. I have a MDP-130 (MyHD) card in my PC and I sometimes want to convert a HD show to SD and write it to a DVD. If the format of the files on the hard drive are transport streams (.tp or .ts) I could just copy them off if I need to archive them. That is the nice thing about the MDP-130 it uses your computer HD so if you need more storage you add more HD space plus it can uses "Titan TV" as the guide and you have direct access to the files so you can strip commercials out. Anyway.... if there are any others out there that information on any of this already that might save me some time let me know.

Ever have any luck with this? I'd pull the trigger on one of these units immediately if there was even a tedious way of archiving content (w/o losing the HD resolution of course ;) )

DOOD! Anyone else have Lost get cut-off tonight? For a while they were listing it as running until 10:05...but tonight only said til 10. But my recording cut off before the episode was even over. Sometimes the previews run slightly past 10...but this sucks.

Did he draw a map to the balloon or not!?!?! :p

Yes, I had the same issue. The show ended slighly after 10pm. It ran about 10 seconds over. It just so happened that I was watching the show while it was recoding so I only missed a couple seconds of dialog when it stopped recording and switched back to the live channel.

I am going to pad the recording by a few minutes in future weeks...

Hi All,

Second question. . .part of the coax cable from antenna is RG59 (maybe 12ft) before it links to RG6 cable the rest of the way. The signal is fine and strong with the T451 now. Is there any reason for me to replace that RG59 length with RG6?

Last question: I see a lot of posts about glitches with TVGOS, missed recordings, etc. Once I get my HDD250, do you recommend I get a firmware upgrade right away as preventative measure, or might I be OK with using whatever comes with the unit (again, I'll just be recording OTA HD/SD content).

Thanks all!

It will only cost you a few dollars to swap out the RG59 cable with RG6, do it. Once you add a splitter your signal will be 1/2 as strong so you will be more likely to have problems with the lower quality cable. If you are close to the TV transmission towers you most likely won't have a signal problem, but if you are further away, you may need to add a pre-amp to boost your signal.

In my opinion, if your unit is functioning properly, there is no reason to send it for a firmware upgrade.

Ever have any luck with this? I'd pull the trigger on one of these units immediately if there was even a tedious way of archiving content (w/o losing the HD resolution of course ;) )

I think he's also going to have to figure out how to write a CPRM id to the drives with no service equipment, if he wants to increase size/swap them out.

I will try to answer some of the questions.....yes it is the HDD500. And believe it or not it is currently hooked up to a 25yo plus Sony XBR (on it's last leg I think).

It may just be me having to get use to it? For one thing it is sitting up high, about 5 feet off the ground, but even when sitting down in the chair we still hear it.

Can any of you actually "feel" the machine running?

My Dell computer does make more noise then the HDD500, a good bit more, but I can just barely tell it is running when I put my hand on it, it has 2 drives, 2 dvd drives, and 2 fans in it....I would say it is about twice as loud and the HDD500; but basically close to zero buzzing or vibration.

It may be that once we set it down to a regular stand for an HDTV (under the TV) then it may not be making all that sound. Sitting on top like that, I notice about 80% to 90% of the sound comes out the back of the unit....it may be bouncing off the hard wood walls?

The temps in the unit seem to 98 and 102 for the two drives most of the time. I think 105 is the highest I have seen so far.

I will try to answer some of the questions.....yes it is the HDD500. And believe it or not it is currently hooked up to a 25yo plus Sony XBR (on it's last leg I think).

It may just be me having to get use to it? For one thing it is sitting up high, about 5 feet off the ground, but even when sitting down in the chair we still hear it.

Can any of you actually "feel" the machine running?

It may be that once we set it down to a regular stand for an HDTV (under the TV) then it may not be making all that sound. Sitting on top like that, I notice about 80% to 90% of the sound comes out the back of the unit....it may be bouncing off the hard wood walls?

The temps in the unit seem to 98 and 102 for the two drives most of the time. I think 105 is the highest I have seen so far.

My unit is under my TV stand on a flat piece of cardboard on the floor. There is about 6 inches of clearance on one side and several feet on the other. There is about 2 feet of clearance on the back. I can't hear mine at all from 8-9 feet away. Slight HDD hum when close to it. Temps are in the 95-111 degree range..

A BIG reason to upgrade would be if they've really got firmware that fixes the problem with scheduled recordings being dropped. But that hasn't been confirmed yet.

I have an HDD500 with the 1.2.05 FW and have NEVER lost a scheduled recording. I've had it about 3 months now and record stuff almost every day. I'm hoping it's not just a matter of time....

Hi, I'm new to the forum as a member, but I've been reading for awhile...
I took a chance and bought a Sony DHG-500 last week. Some background:
Living in Connecticut/ Comcast Digital Cable with a Motorola Cable Card.

I hooked the thing up last Wednesday night, followed all of the instructions...no Guide listings ever came through. Kept trying through the weekend...still no listings. Broke down and called Sony on Monday...tried a re-set and another 24hr wait...still no listings. Called Sony again....was told the box needed to be on the "TV Guide Channel" (Ch 95 for me). Did another reset, put the box on channel 95, waited another 24 hours...no listings.

I have now officially given up. I'm returning the box to Best Buy and going with Comcast's HD DVR (dual channel, HD, and actually WORKS...go figure!). As far as I'm concerned, I'm very disappointed in Sony for putting out a $1000 DVR that is a single tuner device and doesn't work. Without the guide listings, what good is a DVR. It's useless and incredibly frustrating.

As a note, when I returned the CAble Card to Comcast, they informed me that the Cable Card does NOT pass the guide material (thanks boys for telling me this NOW). The Motorola card apparently also has problems when used with Sony WEGA TVs (you can recieve the analog channels but not the digital channels). Be that as it may, I've had it with the Sony and am still going with Comcast's HD DVR. It's too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like that Sony DVR.

thanks for all the info and thanks for listening,
EllisonX

I will try to answer some of the questions.....yes it is the HDD500. And believe it or not it is currently hooked up to a 25yo plus Sony XBR (on it's last leg I think).

It may just be me having to get use to it? For one thing it is sitting up high, about 5 feet off the ground, but even when sitting down in the chair we still hear it.

Can any of you actually "feel" the machine running?

My Dell computer does make more noise then the HDD500, a good bit more, but I can just barely tell it is running when I put my hand on it, it has 2 drives, 2 dvd drives, and 2 fans in it....I would say it is about twice as loud and the HDD500; but basically close to zero buzzing or vibration.

It may be that once we set it down to a regular stand for an HDTV (under the TV) then it may not be making all that sound. Sitting on top like that, I notice about 80% to 90% of the sound comes out the back of the unit....it may be bouncing off the hard wood walls?

The temps in the unit seem to 98 and 102 for the two drives most of the time. I think 105 is the highest I have seen so far.

Man, break down and get an HD set. You're waisting this box on any other display.

Wolfie

Hi, I'm new to the forum as a member, but I've been reading for awhile...
I took a chance and bought a Sony DHG-500 last week. Some background:
Living in Connecticut/ Comcast Digital Cable with a Motorola Cable Card.

I hooked the thing up last Wednesday night, followed all of the instructions...no Guide listings ever came through. Kept trying through the weekend...still no listings. Broke down and called Sony on Monday...tried a re-set and another 24hr wait...still no listings. Called Sony again....was told the box needed to be on the "TV Guide Channel" (Ch 95 for me). Did another reset, put the box on channel 95, waited another 24 hours...no listings.

I have now officially given up. I'm returning the box to Best Buy and going with Comcast's HD DVR (dual channel, HD, and actually WORKS...go figure!). As far as I'm concerned, I'm very disappointed in Sony for putting out a $1000 DVR that is a single tuner device and doesn't work. Without the guide listings, what good is a DVR. It's useless and incredibly frustrating.

As a note, when I returned the CAble Card to Comcast, they informed me that the Cable Card does NOT pass the guide material (thanks boys for telling me this NOW). The Motorola card apparently also has problems when used with Sony WEGA TVs (you can recieve the analog channels but not the digital channels). Be that as it may, I've had it with the Sony and am still going with Comcast's HD DVR. It's too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like that Sony DVR.

thanks for all the info and thanks for listening,
EllisonX

Too bad you didn't try an antenna to receive the guide. I have both Comcast DVR and Two Sony HDs. I like the Comcast DVR two tuners but 15 hour record time is not nearly enough for me. Also with Comcast DVR you can't jump forward in time, only back. With regard to the DVR being useless without the guide, what about VCR recorder? I have both cable and ota and lately have receive only partial guide listings, so many of my recordings are manual. I enjoy view programs in HD, and the guide just makes it a little easier for me to set recordings. Clearly, the Sony is not a TIVO, but so much easier to use than a VCR.

So these things actually DO have a cooling fan? Even the 250? Tell me it ain't so? :eek:

Yes, both units hava a cooling fan. A photo of the interior, which was posted on this thread, shows it. Unfortunately it is poorly positioned with respect to the second hard drive, and thats probably why the second drive in the 500 runs hotter. Also, both the fan and hard drives run continuously even if the unit is turned off.

EllisonX, IIRC people have said that you have to tell Comcast to provision your cablecard to allow analog cable signals so you can get the guide data. Don't use a CC myself.

Hi, I'm new to the forum as a member, but I've been reading for awhile...
I took a chance and bought a Sony DHG-500 last week. Some background:
Living in Connecticut/ Comcast Digital Cable with a Motorola Cable Card.

I hooked the thing up last Wednesday night, followed all of the instructions...no Guide listings ever came through. Kept trying through the weekend...still no listings. Broke down and called Sony on Monday...tried a re-set and another 24hr wait...still no listings. Called Sony again....was told the box needed to be on the "TV Guide Channel" (Ch 95 for me). Did another reset, put the box on channel 95, waited another 24 hours...no listings.

I have now officially given up. I'm returning the box to Best Buy and going with Comcast's HD DVR (dual channel, HD, and actually WORKS...go figure!). As far as I'm concerned, I'm very disappointed in Sony for putting out a $1000 DVR that is a single tuner device and doesn't work. Without the guide listings, what good is a DVR. It's useless and incredibly frustrating.


As a note, when I returned the CAble Card to Comcast, they informed me that the Cable Card does NOT pass the guide material (thanks boys for telling me this NOW). The Motorola card apparently also has problems when used with Sony WEGA TVs (you can recieve the analog channels but not the digital channels). Be that as it may, I've had it with the Sony and am still going with Comcast's HD DVR. It's too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like that Sony DVR.

thanks for all the info and thanks for listening,
EllisonX

I have 2 units since October, OTA only. Works great, only reccuring problem is with scheduled programs dropping off. Could be a problem with the TVGOS system. Not a big problem, as it only happens a couple of times a month. Lots of capacity to record, great picture. Don't need two tuners as the TV has it's on.
As I understand it the cable cards are suppose to work in all compliant devices. They are suppose to pass the guide without problem. My girlfriends unit is hooked to Comcast, no card, but she gets all the listings. No problem. I guess maybe this ( cable cards will not work/pass guide info problem) is how Comcast is able to sell/rent their units. Great racket.

As a note, when I returned the CAble Card to Comcast, they informed me that the Cable Card does NOT pass the guide material (thanks boys for telling me this NOW). The Motorola card apparently also has problems when used with Sony WEGA TVs (you can recieve the analog channels but not the digital channels).

That's just BS from Comcast. I sure get steamed when I see cablecos making someone give up like this. The Moto cards work in the Sony and pass guide data just fine. Your card is no doubt provisioned as digital. THAT is why your guide channel is 95 --- an analog version just for guide data.

To check this, look at the Sony diagnostic screen on a major lower channel 2-30 like CBS or NBC. The Mode/Rate will be QAM. Do this on your channel 95 and it will be analog.

If the above checks out, then either the local guide station has a problem or --- and most likely --- Comcast has an equipment problem that is destroying the guide data. If you've read through any of this thread, you should know that their statements about CableCARD's are false.

I have an HDD500 with the 1.2.05 FW and have NEVER lost a scheduled recording. I've had it about 3 months now and record stuff almost every day. I'm hoping it's not just a matter of time....

I have two units, 1.2.05 & 1.0.06. Finally lost some scheduled recordings the other day, but I can say for sure it was related to a power outage. Power was out for apx 3 hours and the UPS batteries ran out and the Sony's were without power. Didn't notice until after a couple of scheduled shows did not record that there was a problem. About 5 shows disappeared from the recording list on one unit and a couple of shows on the other...

Hi, I'm new to the forum as a member, but I've been reading for awhile...
I took a chance and bought a Sony DHG-500 last week. Some background:
Living in Connecticut/ Comcast Digital Cable with a Motorola Cable Card.

I hooked the thing up last Wednesday night, followed all of the instructions...no Guide listings ever came through. Kept trying through the weekend...still no listings. Broke down and called Sony on Monday...tried a re-set and another 24hr wait...still no listings. Called Sony again....was told the box needed to be on the "TV Guide Channel" (Ch 95 for me). Did another reset, put the box on channel 95, waited another 24 hours...no listings.

I have now officially given up. I'm returning the box to Best Buy and going with Comcast's HD DVR (dual channel, HD, and actually WORKS...go figure!). As far as I'm concerned, I'm very disappointed in Sony for putting out a $1000 DVR that is a single tuner device and doesn't work. Without the guide listings, what good is a DVR. It's useless and incredibly frustrating.

As a note, when I returned the CAble Card to Comcast, they informed me that the Cable Card does NOT pass the guide material (thanks boys for telling me this NOW). The Motorola card apparently also has problems when used with Sony WEGA TVs (you can recieve the analog channels but not the digital channels). Be that as it may, I've had it with the Sony and am still going with Comcast's HD DVR. It's too bad, because I REALLY wanted to like that Sony DVR.

thanks for all the info and thanks for listening,
EllisonX

I know Comcast can be frustrating but don't give up so fast. My area was just switched over to ADS and it took me 3 weeks and 4 service calls to get my guide data back. When you talk to them about guide data they always think you are talking about the guide that is on their box. They are correct in saying the Cablecard will not receive that guide. They never seem to understand that you are getting a different guide usually over your local PBS channel.

Did you turn channel 95 on in the Setup Change your channel display. If you did not turn it on you would still be able to tune to the channel but would not get your guide data. Call Comcast and get your card back and after you get your channels go to TV Guide > setup > change channel display and make sure channel 95 is on. If 95 is your PBS channel just find your local channel in the change display and change it to channel 95. If you do this it should get the guide data.

If you just hook it up to your cable without a cablecard it should acquire the data over the regular PBS channel because all your channels below 100 will be analog. If you are willing to try I am sure with the help of this forum you will have your Sony working in no time.

Man, break down and get an HD set. You're waisting this box on any other display.

Wolfie

hahahah waiting for the set to get here!

I've noticed some mistakes in my Guide data as of late. I wanted to record an episode of Nova, looked at the guide and it said the show was coming on at a certain time, repeating at another. Set it to record the first one, turned out to be a totally different show. Same thing happened three more times. I guess my question is, how reliable is the guide data?

In my area, there is no TV Guide listing for PBSHD. Old fashion manual set time and channel is the only way to record PBSHD program.

The Guide data is more reliable than the magzine. :-)

Yes, both units hava a cooling fan. A photo of the interior, which was posted on this thread, shows it. Unfortunately it is poorly positioned with respect to the second hard drive, and thats probably why the second drive in the 500 runs hotter. Also, both the fan and hard drives run continuously even if the unit is turned off.
I wish Sony would have put more air holes in this unit. Both of my stereo units have "grated" top covers to allow the best air flow. Maybe removing the cover and drilling some holes would help? Heat rises. :D

In my area, there is no TV Guide listing for PBSHD. Old fashion manual set time and channel is the only way to record PBSHD program.

The Guide data is more reliable than the magzine. :-)
Are you using OTA or cable? I had the same problem when using cable only. I hooked up my OTA antenna, did a guide reset, and am now getting PBS-HD guide info. Now I get 4 listings for the same channel (expect for the PBS stations, I only get 2) 1 cable, 1 analog OTA, 1 HD OTA and 1 cable HD listing.

BTW, thanks to everyone who applied to my earlier posts about this. :D

A couple of days ago, I switched from using HDMI to component for my connection to my TV. I did it because I needed the DVI input to my TV to get a better connection for an older samsung receiver that I have. The PQ from my Sony is just as good, but - as reported before, I think - it had the added benefit of substantially reducing the time for changing channels on the Sony...apparently that auto-HDMI causes a big waste of time!

Another issue, though, is that I'm looking for a decent DVD recorder for archiving reasonably good (albeit non-high-def) copies of the few programs I feel like keeping. Two different places (BB and CC) both recommended a Panasonic MRES20S recorder. Aside from reasons others seem to like this unit, for my purposes it has the advantage that it has TWO S-video inputs, and one is on the front...making it somewhat easier to switch inputs from the 3 different high-def sources that I have. Anybody know this recorder? Or have comments about others worth considering?

Thanks - Tony

Are you using OTA or cable? I had the same problem when using cable only. I hooked up my OTA antenna, did a guide reset, and am now getting PBS-HD guide info. Now I get 4 listings for the same channel (expect for the PBS stations, I only get 2) 1 cable, 1 analog OTA, 1 HD OTA and 1 cable HD listing.

BTW, thanks to everyone who applied to my earlier posts about this. :D

I use Guide data from cable w/o CC. I may try the OTA later.

Another issue, though, is that I'm looking for a decent DVD recorder for archiving reasonably good (albeit non-high-def) copies of the few programs I feel like keeping. Two different places (BB and CC) both recommended a Panasonic MRES20S recorder. Aside from reasons others seem to like this unit, for my purposes it has the advantage that it has TWO S-video inputs, and one is on the front...making it somewhat easier to switch inputs from the 3 different high-def sources that I have. Anybody know this recorder? Or have comments about others worth considering?

Thanks - Tony
I suggest the Toshiba RD-XS32, which is a combination 80GB HD and DVD recorder. I've had mine for over a year and I am very glad I got it - got tired of waiting for the release of the Sony unit. It has three S video inputs, two in back and one in front. Sometimes I record DVDs in LP mode, so I can record 4 hours of programming. I've recorded Halmark channel movies in SP and they look great on my 50 inch screen. Also, before I got the Sony, I rented a Comcast HD receiver and recorded programs in letterbox on the hard drive. The recordings were as good as the live stuff but of course not HDTV.
I think you can get one on Amazon.

I wish Sony would have put more air holes in this unit. Both of my stereo units have "grated" top covers to allow the best air flow. Maybe removing the cover and drilling some holes would help? Heat rises. :D

They probably don't put holes on top because it's easy for dust and dirt to get in. Also, the holes may be located to maximize air flow to where it is needed.

My cabinet is open both in front and back to maximize natural air flow. My two units are stacked on a third DVR, and the sides of the cases are cool to the touch.

Um, well now it is as loud and the Dell computer, not good.

Ever have any luck with this? I'd pull the trigger on one of these units immediately if there was even a tedious way of archiving content (w/o losing the HD resolution of course ;) )

No! :mad:
I couldn't get a copy to work. I don't know why and I haven't tried again. I want to get back to it and try some more but I haven't had the time. It completely blows me away! The only thing I can think of is they might have the SN of the drive stored in NVRam. I think the image was good but I got errors on startup. The partition where the recorded files are stored is encrypted and nobody has cracked that yet either. I don't know why they go to so much trouble!!! I really haven't spent that much time looking at it. I need to get back on it. I can pipe the video out into my video in on my MDP130 and make a copy it's just not a digital copy. For now I just use the MDP-130 and record it there if I think I'm going to want to make a DVD.


Marshall

Last night I went into the tv guide channel setup, and found a bunch of ABC, CBS, etc channels which were set to off, with no channel number assigned. So I assigned the cable channel numbers the QAM tuner picked up, and turned them back on. Hopefully last night the guide downloaded for them, and then I can reorder the guide and hope it all works.
Yes, I meant to post this sooner, but thats exactly what I had to do too. You have to scroll almost all the way down to the bottom of the list and you'll see the cable OTA HD channels listed, then do the above. There's also a bunch of other digital cable channels listed there as well.

hahahah waiting for the set to get here!

Good for you! :)

Wolfie

Since I just got my unit back from Sony Service Center I thought I'd post what was done and the current upgrades performed.

I bought my 500 through eBay from a person who got the "Tweeter deal". I'm using UHF and VHF antennas plus Brighthouse digital cable with SA cable card. After two days of operation I encountered the "161-6 cable card problem". After going to the Sony website and reading this forum (thanks to all who post here), I sent my unit in to Sony 3/10/06. They received it on 3/11/06. They sent it back to me 3/17/03 and I received it on 3/21/06. So, just a little over a week. I used Fedex and the cost was $24.00 from Indiana to Pennsylvania. That's with $500.00 insurance.

The service center did the "161-6 firmware update", "upgrade software to 1.2.13" "Verify G* patch 8.06.30.", "Aged for TV Guide", "Reset factory defaults", "Test all functions". All up to date for $24.00. I'd highly recommend sending your unit in, if you haven't done so.

Sony sent emails when they got my unit and when they sent it back.

After three days the clock is set and the guide is filling out. The unit works great. My wife and I love how it records and plays back HD content.

For reference: My host channel is channel 20 WFYI, Indianapolis PBS, off my UHF antenna. I can also get the TV Guide data from channel 2 WFFT Fox, Ft. Wayne on Brighthouse cable. This is for central Indiana (Marion, 46952).

Hope this helps someone,

Larry Davis

Larry, sounds great on the update. I wonder if everyone who sends in their unit has a report as detailed as Larry's.

Let me ask another question.....

If I am getting several HD channels with my TV's QAM tuner and a basic cable subscription (no CableCard / no STB), will I be able to manually change the channel values in the guide to what they are for me? I am 99% sure the channel numbers I see are different from what I would see if I had a CC/STB and was paying for the digital and HD tiers. If not, will I at least be able to record manually? I expect TW to eventually (read a rumor it may actually only be days away) encrypt everything but in the meantime I may want to save a little $ and stick with only the QAM channels.

I really need a vcr for several reasons....not the least of which is my collection of VHS tapes, and my current vcr has bit the dust.

However, I was planning to purchase a DVD recorder at some point, even tho I had one before and didn't use it much. (SWMBO gets along better with a vcr.)

How about a combo vcr/dvd recorder-player? Any good ones out there that have s-video or component input?

(If this is OT is there somewhere else to ask?)


I'm not aware of any combo vcr/dvd recorder-players.

I'm not aware of any combo vcr/dvd recorder-players.

Combo DVD Rec/VCR units exist:
Samsung DVD-VR320 DVD Recorder/VCR
JVC DR-MV5S DVD Recorder/VCR
Toshiba D-VR4 DVD Recorder/VCR
Panasonic DMR-ES40VS DVD Recorder/VCR
Sony RDR-VX515 DVD Recorder/VCR

I'm pretty certain that some of the units have S-Video In. But as the OP asked,
I don't think any have Component Video In.

Dan (Woj...)

Let me ask another question.....

If I am getting several HD channels with my TV's QAM tuner and a basic cable subscription (no CableCard / no STB), will I be able to manually change the channel values in the guide to what they are for me? I am 99% sure the channel numbers I see are different from what I would see if I had a CC/STB and was paying for the digital and HD tiers. If not, will I at least be able to record manually? I expect TW to eventually (read a rumor it may actually only be days away) encrypt everything but in the meantime I may want to save a little $ and stick with only the QAM channels.

You should have the listings for your local HD stations in the guide. Something like WSB-DT or -HD. If not you can always assign your digital numbers to any of the local listings that match the station. My girlfriend has Comcast basic, and it gave her the digital listing in her guide. All I did was to assign the right digital channel number to them and turn them on in the guide. Also, to make it easier to find only the digital stations quickly, I set up a new favorites folder just for the digital channels.
As far as I know, the cable companies must carry all local programming, both analog and digital, so you should not have a problem getting them. I noticed on the Comcast cable packages, it tells you that they carry the local digital stations in the basic rate, but you may need a STB, CC, or other equipment to receive it. I do not believe that they are allowed to block or scramble any of the local programming, be it digital or analog. I think this is an FCC ruling.

just received my Sony DHG HDD500 and have not hooked up yet to my Hitachi 42HD#52 nor called Comcast to install cable card in subject DVR to match CC already installed in TV. My sole reason for buying DVR is because I cannot timer record programs without TV on due to cable car in lieu of STB I declined due to Comcast confirming STD broadcasts are better with CC. All my recordings are STD broadcasts (TCM mostly). Since I am willing to manually set for timer recordings through DVR to DVD/VHS recorder for non HD broadcasts and don't want to deal with the TV Guide hassle ------does anybody know if I can disregard downloading TV Guide and merely manually set for unattended timer recordings through DVR to DVD recorder and record with TV off and/or also record to HDD? And, if so. what are the best connections to use --------------- cable to DVR and out to TV via what HDMI or composite?

Thank you in advance for any input.

Stephen

Larry - did you need to provide any documentation of the original purchase to get warranty service?

Yes, Sony asked for the original receipt. The person I bought the unit from, on eBay, sent me the original receipt so I sent a copy of that to Sony. That satisfied them.

Larry

Looks like I was late to the party on this one too... does anyone know where I can pick up the DHG-HDD500 for at or near the Tweeter blowout price? I checked with all the Tweeter stores here in Maryland, and all inventory has been spoken for (some have been paid for but not picked up... weird?!?) May have to check the PA and/or DE / se Jersey stores... or even VA.... if you know something and can pass it along, thanks!

Larry, how'd you find the service center location? Does that show up when you do a service request online, or how did you arrange for your service? I went to the website but all it said was that service was available at a "factory service center"....didn't give a location, I guess because I didn't complete the service request process. Do you know if these centers are located around the country, or just the one in PA?

Also, my warranty doesn't mention firmware updates, just repairs. I suppose if a firmware update is considered a "repair" covered under the warranty, then I need to do this within the first 90 days to avoid labor charge, right?

Did Sony ship back to you prepaid? Did they return it in the original packaging? (I sent a notebook to HP for repair in original packaging, and got it back in a flimsy box with no padding at all...:( )

just received my Sony DHG HDD500 and have not hooked up yet to my Hitachi 42HD#52 nor called Comcast to install cable card in subject DVR to match CC already installed in TV. My sole reason for buying DVR is because I cannot timer record programs without TV on due to cable car in lieu of STB I declined due to Comcast confirming STD broadcasts are better with CC. All my recordings are STD broadcasts (TCM mostly). Since I am willing to manually set for timer recordings through DVR to DVD/VHS recorder for non HD broadcasts and don't want to deal with the TV Guide hassle ------does anybody know if I can disregard downloading TV Guide and merely manually set for unattended timer recordings through DVR to DVD recorder and record with TV off and/or also record to HDD? And, if so. what are the best connections to use --------------- cable to DVR and out to TV via what HDMI or composite?

Thank you in advance for any input.

Stephen
how long do you have this tv Hitachi 42HDS52? i'm thinking about buying this and really don't know if it can last for years 10+. How is it working out for you? thanks.