Why would you even consider "buying" one on eBay? If you're an existing subscriber, you can get the upgrade for anywhere from $99-$299 (or even free if you're lucky). If you're new, you can probably talk your way into a $99 - $199 option as a "competitive upgrade". The ebay options maybe save you $50 off the highest you would pay D*, don't include installation or the dish and carry some degree of risk.

What's the upside?

No upside, I guess. Was hoping to avoid the 2-year contract and if I "owned" it maybe sell it again after using it a couple of years.

Already have one and getting some programming credits was like pulling teeth. They charged me $300 up front. Not a Sunday Ticket subscriber, which seem to be the subscribers who get the equipment for the cheapest.

That and/or if you had already bought an HD Tivo.



Already have one and getting some programming credits was like pulling teeth. They charged me $300 up front. Not a Sunday Ticket subscriber, which seem to be the subscribers who get the equipment for the cheapest.

One easy solution now is to get the Seagate Free Agent Pro 750GB. It seems to be the most popular and it's available everywere--newegg, Circuit City, Best Buy, Costco, etc. You should be able to get it for a little over $200 depending on who has it on sale. I have two HR20s, so I got a Seagate Free Agent Pro for each of them. It's a really simple hookup that takes about two minutes. You just power down the DVR, connect the drive with a eSata cable, power up the drive, and then power up the DVR. One thing I noticed is that when I powered up the DVRs nothing seemed to be happening--not even the blue light. But then after a couple of minutes the light does come on and the reboot happens. I wanted to point that out since some people might panic and think that the DVR isn't powering up when actually it is. The increase in storage is huge, and it works exactly like the internal drive. You can still record two channels at once while playing back something previously recorded.

how much time can you download with one of those.... also, i see 2 versions of the FAP.... not sure which one to get?

I recently had D* swap-out my HR20 with a replacement unit (performed by D*installer) dur to some issues with my service. Since then, I self-diagnosed the problem to be a bad co-ax line and thus my original HR20 is still good.

I wil soon be upgrading my bedroom to an HD reciever and was wondering if I could use my original HR20 instead of sending it back to D*. Is the access card in my original HR20 'bricked' or can D* re-instate it?
If you call dtv they will surely activate (or reactivate) your old receiver, but if they are expecting it back (which I bet they are) - you could be charged $400+ for not sending it back like they asked. So if I were you, I'd call them, explain what's going on and see what kind of deal (like no charge) they can do for you to keep your original HR20.

What do you go by, the serial number on the unit or the number of the access card that it would come with?

Do the eBay sellers list that info?

"Both"
If it's "new" they may not give you the info [since it's just one of many in the back room].
If it's used, then make sure they give you both and have D* determine the status of the account it came from.

"Upside" may only be that it's cheaper than BB or CC and D* does seem to limit "upgrades" to every six months.

If you call dtv they will surely activate (or reactivate) your old receiver, but if they are expecting it back (which I bet they are) - you could be charged $400+ for not sending it back like they asked. So if I were you, I'd call them, explain what's going on and see what kind of deal (like no charge) they can do for you to keep your original HR20.

All of this is true.
They were very "nice" to me. :)

phone line issues

guys I have 2 HR20's and both are screwing up my phone lines: it is driving me nuts to find the cause

as soon as I connect one of the HR20's to the line, the line gets very noisy and causes the phone line error: now the other HR20 is doing it too

I switch to a second line: same thing

I use them for PPV so the phone connection is needed

Yes I have DSL on one line: tried with & without filter

Phone line is copper: as soon as I disconnect the HR20 it is clean and works OK

Ideas???

more: caller ID feature works as I can see a log of calls: it seems to happen when the stb wants to make a call: it locks up the line and stays locked up: if I disconnect the phone line the line clears but the fault is repeatable as soon as I reconnect to either HR20 (run test comes back phone line failed): I have H20's connected to the same line and they connect fine

In the beginning I plugged my phone line into a similar looking input on the back and it cut off my phones completely so, of course, this is probably not your trouble. But, for others, be sure to plug your phone jack into correct input on back of tuner. 2 of them are very similar.

The ring can be dimmed by pressing <- and -> on the ring at the same time.
!

Do you mean on the front of the box itself and not the remote? I tried this but it didn't do anything.

In the beginning I plugged my phone line into a similar looking input on the back and it cut off my phones completely so, of course, this is probably not your trouble. But, for others, be sure to plug your phone jack into correct input on back of tuner. 2 of them are very similar.

I wish it were that simple: I have tried everything like direct connect to telephone box and still see the fault:

so it appears I have 2 HR20's that cause phone line problems at different times; and H20's connected to same line work OK

Do you mean on the front of the box itself and not the remote? I tried this but it didn't do anything.

If I remember correctly, it's stepped, don't hold the buttons down, press and release about 3 times and each time the light gets dimmer and then goes out.

I'm a former D* subscriber, left them a couple years ago and went to Comcast. Had the Motorola 3412 DVR with them, and a bigger POS I have never seen. Most unreliable piece of consumer electronics I have ever used; so much so I eventually gave up on it altogether and have been OTA only for the past few months.

Now I am considering going back to sat, either D* or E*. Despite the price difference, I'm leaning towards D* because of the better channel lineup, and also because the HR20 has a native output mode (and I have a 1080P TV). But after reading a number of pages in this thread, I'm wondering if I'd just be going back to the same sorts of issues I couldn't stand with the Comcast Motorola box.

Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.

Also I've seen several posts saying channel changes are slow in native mode. How slow is slow? Unusably? I'm not much of a channel surfer, I usually use the guide.

If this is really a problem piece of hardware, I'll just save the extra money and go with Dish instead. Reviews of the 722 are much more positive.

I'm a former D* subscriber, left them a couple years ago and went to Comcast. Had the Motorola 3412 DVR with them, and a bigger POS I have never seen. Most unreliable piece of consumer electronics I have ever used; so much so I eventually gave up on it altogether and have been OTA only for the past few months.

Now I am considering going back to sat, either D* or E*. Despite the price difference, I'm leaning towards D* because of the better channel lineup, and also because the HR20 has a native output mode (and I have a 1080P TV). But after reading a number of pages in this thread, I'm wondering if I'd just be going back to the same sorts of issues I couldn't stand with the Comcast Motorola box.

Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.

Also I've seen several posts saying channel changes are slow in native mode. How slow is slow? Unusably? I'm not much of a channel surfer, I usually use the guide.

If this is really a problem piece of hardware, I'll just save the extra money and go with Dish instead. Reviews of the 722 are much more positive.

I have 2 HR20-700s to replace my 2 HD Tivos. I have been very surprised and happy with the performance of the HR20s. I have experienced very few problems. I run them in 1080i mode only to feed my Pioneer plasmas. Channel changing using the guide is not too slow imho.
Bish

hey ceccacci. i've had an HR20 for a little over a year now. The current performance is night and day better than what i put up with in the beginning. i missed so many shows, i couldn't keep track. Reboots and lock ups multiple times a week.
In the last 4 to 6 months, i haven't had a single problem. NOT ONE. Every recorded show plays, every scheduled recording actually happens. I actually like it better than the old tivo at this point.
As far as changing channels when native is on, there are some variables that will affect how long the channel change takes- if the two channels are different resolutions, it will take about 15-20 seconds to re-synch on my TV. If the two channels are the same resolution, the change takes about 10 seconds or so. With the resolution change, your tv will affect how long it takes, too- some sync up again quicker than others.
long story short- I used to hate the HR20, now i love it. The change really started when they opened up beta testing to subscribers- the edgecutter releases really seemed to increase the speed that they got fixes out . . . . .

I'm a former D* subscriber, left them a couple years ago and went to Comcast. Had the Motorola 3412 DVR with them, and a bigger POS I have never seen. Most unreliable piece of consumer electronics I have ever used; so much so I eventually gave up on it altogether and have been OTA only for the past few months.

Now I am considering going back to sat, either D* or E*. Despite the price difference, I'm leaning towards D* because of the better channel lineup, and also because the HR20 has a native output mode (and I have a 1080P TV). But after reading a number of pages in this thread, I'm wondering if I'd just be going back to the same sorts of issues I couldn't stand with the Comcast Motorola box.

Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.

Also I've seen several posts saying channel changes are slow in native mode. How slow is slow? Unusably? I'm not much of a channel surfer, I usually use the guide.

If this is really a problem piece of hardware, I'll just save the extra money and go with Dish instead. Reviews of the 722 are much more positive.

I am happy with the performance of the HR20. But I got this machine with the assumption that I would be dealing with a late beta device. I think this has made me more tolerant of it's flaws than some others. I have now had the machine about four months, and my assumption has proved correct. At this point, the HR20 is a late beta device.

Your issues:

I have never had a lockup or a spontaneous reboot.

I have now had one lost show. The reason for the loss is that the HR20 will allow you to schedule a recording on a channel you don't get. You don't find out about this until you try to view the recording. Once you realize the bug exists, the workaround is obvious.

I just timed the native mode channel change. It is roughly three seconds. You can improve performance by restricting the number of inputs you enable. I haven't done this because I like the flexibility of formats when you have all four inputs (480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i) enabled. (Format flexibility is essential given the Supercrop bug.)

The bug that really bugs me is the Supercrop bug. If you are watching a letterboxed SD broadcast, and you choose Crop mode to make the picture fill your screen, the picture frequently becomes unwatchable. It is stretched vertically beyond the limits of your screen. I am lucky because my Sony XBR2 allows me to compensate with its Zoom mode. Not all TVs allow this adjustment.

Supercrop is inexcusable. It has apparently been around since the HR20 was introduced. If you call D*, the CSRs have never heard of it. Try a search for "Supercrop" or "Super Crop" in this forum, and you will see how irritating it is.

That said, I am happy with the machine and I would go round again. Aspects of the machine's interface and performance are superb. There are bugs, but I'm willing to tolerate them under the assumption that they will eventually be fixed. If you don't expect perfection, you will probably be happy.

Hope this helps.

Burt

I'm a former D* subscriber, left them a couple years ago and went to Comcast. Had the Motorola 3412 DVR with them, and a bigger POS I have never seen. Most unreliable piece of consumer electronics I have ever used; so much so I eventually gave up on it altogether and have been OTA only for the past few months.

Now I am considering going back to sat, either D* or E*. Despite the price difference, I'm leaning towards D* because of the better channel lineup, and also because the HR20 has a native output mode (and I have a 1080P TV). But after reading a number of pages in this thread, I'm wondering if I'd just be going back to the same sorts of issues I couldn't stand with the Comcast Motorola box.

Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.

Also I've seen several posts saying channel changes are slow in native mode. How slow is slow? Unusably? I'm not much of a channel surfer, I usually use the guide.

If this is really a problem piece of hardware, I'll just save the extra money and go with Dish instead. Reviews of the 722 are much more positive.

The Motorola I played with lasted a week before I bailed.
The HR-20 has improved light years from last fall's release. It's not a Tivo and there are those that will never forgive it for not being one.
I use native and when I count one thousand two... I'm about three seconds to change. Sometimes it will take longer as it "goofs" and needs to do it again [I watch the front panel resolution lights].
I run a lot of beta software on mine and haven't missed a recording in 6-8 months. I've had a couple of reboots, in just as long.
If you get one that isn't behaving, you have 90 days to get your install done correctly and a good DVR.
These days the end user is the only one that will actually test the functions of it.

Yes, all Series Links will be lost since they're stored on the hard drive. However, they're not deleted, they're just not available since the internal drive is disabled. When the external drive is unplugged, all of the old series links will still be there.
Just so I'm clear, the internal drive, without the external attached has it's own set of SLs. The external drive, when attached, also has it's own set of SLs?

Is what you're saying, is that both ext and int both have a set of SLs?

Are these SLs on the ext retained when unattached and then re-attached?

Or do you lose them each time the ext is un-attached?

Thanks.

Just so I'm clear, the internal drive, without the external attached has it's own set of SLs. The external drive, when attached, also has it's own set of SLs?

Is what you're saying, is that both ext and int both have a set of SLs?
Yes, you understand correctly. Both sets of SLs are always retained, but they are always separate and can never be accessed at the same time.

I have 2 HR20-700s to replace my 2 HD Tivos. I have been very surprised and happy with the performance of the HR20s. I have experienced very few problems. I run them in 1080i mode only to feed my Pioneer plasmas. Channel changing using the guide is not too slow imho.
Bish

I'm a former D* subscriber, left them a couple years ago and went to Comcast. Had the Motorola 3412 DVR with them, and a bigger POS I have never seen. Most unreliable piece of consumer electronics I have ever used; so much so I eventually gave up on it altogether and have been OTA only for the past few months.

Now I am considering going back to sat, either D* or E*. Despite the price difference, I'm leaning towards D* because of the better channel lineup, and also because the HR20 has a native output mode (and I have a 1080P TV). But after reading a number of pages in this thread, I'm wondering if I'd just be going back to the same sorts of issues I couldn't stand with the Comcast Motorola box.

Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.

Also I've seen several posts saying channel changes are slow in native mode. How slow is slow? Unusably? I'm not much of a channel surfer, I usually use the guide.

If this is really a problem piece of hardware, I'll just save the extra money and go with Dish instead. Reviews of the 722 are much more positive.

As others have mentioned, I really have been pleasantly surprised with the HR20.

I read all the complaints for a few months, bit my lip and prepared for the worst when we upgraded to D* HD a few weeks ago. But the box has been rock solid, very stable and has nice functionality.

Other than the DLB issue, which we knew about going in, we've been really happy with how the box performed. It's been less than a month, so we're still in the honeymoon phase, but so far so good.

Yes, you understand correctly. Both sets of SLs are always retained, but they are always separate and can never be accessed at the same time.

Is my club card still good here? :D

Yes, you understand correctly. Both sets of SLs are always retained, but they are always separate and can never be accessed at the same time.

Okay, thanks.

Is my club card still good here? :D
You've still got more posts than me, so why not! :cool:

anyone have any esata hard drives hooked up to your hr 20... if so, which ones and how much did it cost you...
i am asking because i am interested in getting one but i dont want to spend too much money

I added the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB a couple of weeks ago. Works fine, cost about 230, http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/seagate-freeagent-pro-usb/4014-3186_7-32378647.html?orderby=210&sort=asc&tag=ob_210.

Just unplug the HR20, connect the cord and plug in the drive, and restart everything. You'll lose access to programs already stored on the HR20 and it will take some time (5-15 mins) to reinstall. Also, make sure you get a Sata II cable like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812191017 or the connectors may not fit, as others have posted.

...
Is there anyone who's really happy with the performance of the HR20? How extensive are these issues, really? How frequently are you experiencing lost shows, lockups, reboots... Once in a while I can deal with. Daily problems I cannot; for what they expect in fees I expect their equipment to do its job.
...

Many thanks to everyone who responded; you've been reassuring. I think I'm going to go with D* and the HR20.

If I remember correctly, it's stepped, don't hold the buttons down, press and release about 3 times and each time the light gets dimmer and then goes out.

You're right, my mistake. When I clicked the left&right buttons the ring dimmed but I couldn't tell because the room was too bright. It works just like you said. It has 4 light levels, then off. Thx

Many thanks to everyone who responded; you've been reassuring. I think I'm going to go with D* and the HR20.

I'm guessing you'll be pleased. Let us know how it goes.

You're right, my mistake. When I clicked the left&right buttons the ring dimmed but I couldn't tell because the room was too bright. It works just like you said. It has 4 light levels, then off. Thx

I made the same mistake the first time I tried it. :)

The D* guy just finished my SlimLine 5 LNB dish (good job considering I'm a major pain in the ass)........it's almost twice as big as my old 3 LNB dish, HR20 & H20 install. He saw my two mega surge suppressors (Panamax Pro and Tripp-Lite isobar) and said "D* doesn't recommend running the D* HD cable(s) through a surge supressor before hooking up to the HR20/H20". Sounds like BS to me, eh?? Opinions on this welcomed. Thanks

I bet they've had problems with customers complaining they lost signal on the satellite for whatever reasons.

My friend has a monster surge and power conditioner which we ran the satellite signal through. Running it through the monster actually dropped the sat signal by at least 10 vs without. Perhaps power conditioner could be defective or junk.

I have been using a Monster Power Strip (cheap one too) with dual coax and single phone surge protector since 2003 both on my old Tivo unit and my HR20 with zero problems. Just because they don't recommend it does not mean it won't work. I lost a perfectly good tube TV in 2003 due to a surge through the Satellite Coaxial lines. It killed my Ultimate TV box as well. For some reason my $99 apex tube tv and my non-tivo SD receiver I had at the time were completely unaffected, even though that was a shorter path for the surge to take.

I have an installer here right now and he says my old 3lnb dish from last year is the 5lnb? he says there's 3 with two on the sides?

I added the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB a couple of weeks ago. Works fine, cost about 230, http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/seagate-freeagent-pro-usb/4014-3186_7-32378647.html?orderby=210&sort=asc&tag=ob_210.

Just unplug the HR20, connect the cord and plug in the drive, and restart everything. You'll lose access to programs already stored on the HR20 and it will take some time (5-15 mins) to reinstall. Also, make sure you get a Sata II cable like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812191017 or the connectors may not fit, as others have posted.

How many additional HD viewing hours can you save with a 750 GB Sata drive? Or better question , what is the ratio of HD viewing hours per GB for the HR20?

The oval slimline dish uses what appear to be 3 LNB's. The middle one on the arm actually contains 3 LNB's within itself, plus the other 2 make 5.

How many additional HD viewing hours can you save with a 750 GB Sata drive? Or better question , what is the ratio of HD viewing hours per GB for the HR20?

No pure ratio as different type shows require different amounts of space. Sort of like your digial camera makes files or all sorts of sizes even when set on the same quality, it just depends on how much data is on the picture. A better question would be (and I don't know the answer) is how much Hard Drive space comes on the HR20? You could then divide that into 750GB and get you a rough answer as to how much more space you get.

The middle one on the arm actually contains 3 LNB's within itself, plus the other 2 make 5.
It's actually the one on the right that contains 3 LNBs, if you're looking into the LNBs from the back of the dish. It receives 99, 101, and 103.

How many additional HD viewing hours can you save with a 750 GB Sata drive? Or better question , what is the ratio of HD viewing hours per GB for the HR20?
The below is the capacity for an S3 TiVo. The HD numbers would be for MPEG2 content. Figure about 30hrs for each 250GB. Given that MPEG4 would be about 2/3 or more less space, I would guess that 250GB would hold about 40-45hrs - so a straight 750GB might be about 130hrs or so. It will vary depending on what type of content you are recording, MPEG2 or MPEG4.

The "none" in the chart indicates the internal drive capacity of the S3 which is also used when expanding the storage capacity. So the capacity listed for 500GB would actually be 750GB.

Tivo System Information: Variable Recording Capacity, Hours

eSATA HD SD
None 32 303
120GB 47 445
250GB 65 ?
300GB 71 673
500GB 98 927
750GB 131 1244
800Gb 138 ?
1 TB 165 1561

This is only an approximation with regards to the HR20.

(Chart courtesy of TiVo Community)

HD added this week

242 USA HD
244 SCI FI HD
273 BRAVO HD
332 MHD MUSIC HIGH DEFINITION
622 YES HD
623 NESN HD
625 SPORTSNET NY HD
629 COMCAST SPORTS NET MIDATLANTIC HD
640 COMCAST SPORTS NET CHICAGO HD

I added the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB a couple of weeks ago. Works fine, cost about 230, http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/seagate-freeagent-pro-usb/4014-3186_7-32378647.html?orderby=210&sort=asc&tag=ob_210.

Just unplug the HR20, connect the cord and plug in the drive, and restart everything. You'll lose access to programs already stored on the HR20 and it will take some time (5-15 mins) to reinstall. Also, make sure you get a Sata II cable like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812191017 or the connectors may not fit, as others have posted.

I just hooked up the seagate free agent and fired up the hard drive and then the hr20 but I dont see it on the menu and all my existing programs are still there . any idea whats up?

I just hooked up the seagate free agent and fired up the hard drive and then the hr20 but I dont see it on the menu and all my existing programs are still there . any idea whats up?
For some reason, the HR20 didn't detect the external drive. Make sure all of the connectors are tight, and reboot.

For some reason, the HR20 didn't detect the external drive. Make sure all of the connectors are tight, and reboot.

Tried that still doesn't detect it ... Just hit the red button and playlist is gone.Think im ok

New to the forum, but I really appreciate all the info.

I have a quick question. D* wants to lease me the HR20 for $300. Is that normal? I see it at Best Buy for that price, and I would own it.

I'm confused as to what to do. Does D* take care of all problems if I lease it from them instead of buying it elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.

DW

New to the forum, but I really appreciate all the info.

I have a quick question. D* wants to lease me the HR20 for $300. Is that normal? I see it at Best Buy for that price, and I would own it.

I'm confused as to what to do. Does D* take care of all problems if I lease it from them instead of buying it elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.

DWThe HR20 from Best Buy is also a lease. Or Costco. Or anywhere else.

The D* guy just finished my SlimLine 5 LNB dish (good job considering I'm a major pain in the ass)........it's almost twice as big as my old 3 LNB dish, HR20 & H20 install. He saw my two mega surge suppressors (Panamax Pro and Tripp-Lite isobar) and said "D* doesn't recommend running the D* HD cable(s) through a surge supressor before hooking up to the HR20/H20". Sounds like BS to me, eh?? Opinions on this welcomed. Thanks

This is one of my pet peeves. Unlike a CATV line or any other line that is mounted on poles for miles, you dish isn't going to see a surge. Where do you think it's going to come from? Lightning will burn right through anything you put so that doesn't count.
The surge protector is great for your AC power, phone lines, CATV or internet, but your dish is "local" to your house. Ground the coax and you're good.
So this is one of the very few times that I agree with an installer. [My God, I need to turn in my forum reg card now].

This is one of my pet peeves. Unlike a CATV line or any other line that is mounted on poles for miles, you dish isn't going to see a surge. Where do you think it's going to come from? Lightning will burn right through anything you put so that doesn't count.
The surge protector is great for your AC power, phone lines, CATV or internet, but your dish is "local" to your house. Ground the coax and you're good.
So this is one of the very few times that I agree with an installer. [My God, I need to turn in my forum reg card now].

very, thanks for that. I never thought of it that way. I've got a # 8 or 10 wire ground to the cold water hose bib at the dish grounding block and a second ground from a grounding block in the attic to a cold water pipe on the hotwater heater. That otta get it. :)

does anyone know if the esata cables offered on amazon.com are any good..... amazon.com does saturday delivery

Tried that still doesn't detect it ... Just hit the red button and playlist is gone.Think im ok

If the playlist you had is gone, than the external disk was detected. Another check - look for your scheduled recordings, which also should be blank. If you have problems, unplug the HR20 for 10 minutes, then plug in and it will reboot and reset, which should then detect the hard drive.

Also, a comment on the drive capacity posts: as others have posted, the HR20 doesn't use the internal + external drive, it uses one or the other. The internal drive has about 100gb of setup software for it's 300gb capacity. So, whatever drive you use, substract 100gb for applications and the rest is storage. If one calculates the 300gb internal drive as having about 50 hours HD recording capacity, which is actually the capacity of 200gb, my estimate for a 750gb drive is that it will record about 162.5 hours of HD (750gb - 100gb software = 650gb storage / 200gb storage of the internal drive = 3.25, X 50 hours storage on 200gb = 162.5 hours.). All this is approximate, of course.

No pure ratio as different type shows require different amounts of space. Sort of like your digial camera makes files or all sorts of sizes even when set on the same quality, it just depends on how much data is on the picture. A better question would be (and I don't know the answer) is how much Hard Drive space comes on the HR20? You could then divide that into 750GB and get you a rough answer as to how much more space you get.

The HR20-700 has a 300gb drive in it. The HR20-100 (which I just got - more on that in a bit) has a 320gb drive in it. However, D* reserves 100gb up front for its use so, therefore, the stock HR20 has about 200gb of storage on it and moving to a 750 will triple recording capacity.

I'm in the middle of a long saga of trying to get an updated HD setup (new dish and HR20). The latest is that a new tech is scheduled for tomorrow morning. We'll see how it goes...

Okay, I've finally got it - but it wasn't without another glitch. While I was out on Wed night my wife took a call from the tech scheduled to come on Thu morning in which he said he was probably not coming the next day because they were out of stock on the HR20s and had been for a couple of days. She was real nice and just said "okay, so just call us when they come in". To which he said, "well, you'll probably have to re-schedule through D*" (which I've already had to do once). I was steaming when I got home and she told me. My response would have been that he needed to get out here and get the dish in and they could just send me the stupid box.

But, I digress, because by some form of miracle, the local office got some new boxes in that night and he called back the next morning to say he was coming. Of course, no one had told him this was a ground install (and for free). Luckily he turned out to be a great guy and, with my help we got the dish in and the new cables run in just a couple of hours. He nailed the install too - I've got nothing lower than 98% on my signals with a few of them pegged at 100. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Anyway, haven't even scratched the surface with the new box but I'll be playing with it some today and just wanted to post the update since I had been posting in here about it before. As an aside, I've already decided I need to upgrade the storage and have purchased the FAP 750. Unfortunately, though, I haven't found a local source for the silly cable so will probably have to wait for Monday to get it installed (time for Newegg to overnight me one).

Man, I had forgotten the lip-sync issues I had in the past with D*

Well.....I sure remember now :( Why are they SOOOOO aweful with this?
Usually the video is behind the audio, but there are sometimes that the audio is behind the video and you can't do anything about that.

Anything I can do short of buying one of these to help with the normal problem?
http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=3011

Had two HR-20's installed yesterday. The problem I am having is the location where the boxes are located I am only able to run one sat feed to each location.

Is the HR20 only designed to work with two sat feeds? :confused: I can't find anywhere in the set up menus where I can tell it I only have one sat feed to the box. Since the box thinks I have two sat feeds I get searching for signal message about half the time. :(

On my HR10-250 (getting HR20 on 10/23) you have to go through the initial "setup wizard" process again and you can tell it there that you only have one feed. A bit of a pain but that gets rid of the searching for signal message...

how much time can you download with one of those.... also, i see 2 versions of the FAP.... not sure which one to get?
There are two versions of the FAP--one with firewire and one without firewire. It doesn't matter which one you get since you will only use the eSata connection and not the firewire. I have one of each only because at one time Circuit City actually had the one with firewire on sale cheaper than the one without. Again it doesn't matter which one you get since they are identical otherwise. Also, as others have stated, you might be able to get as much as 140 hours of MPEG4 HD on the drive. I have a huge amount recorded on one of mine already, and it still shows over 50% space remaining.

Had two HR-20's installed yesterday. The problem I am having is the location where the boxes are located I am only able to run one sat feed to each location.

Is the HR20 only designed to work with two sat feeds? :confused: I can't find anywhere in the set up menus where I can tell it I only have one sat feed to the box. Since the box thinks I have two sat feeds I get searching for signal message about half the time. :(

It was my understanding that the HR20 would automatically detect the feeds on startup. Have you tried restarting them (from the menu)?

Also, just as an fyi, there is supposedly a new multiswitch coming out soon (in beta now) that will solve your wiring problems and allow you to have all your tuners connected.

Just thought I would put my coments in here about my 1 week old HR20. I have have 3 tivo DTV SD DVR's over some years. I loved the Tivo and was real relunctant to switch to this DVR but after hearing some good comments on the newer software I decided to try it.

There is a lot to like about this machine. I like the gauge to see how full it is, the clock on the list pages, one button season passes, the 30 second skip is actually better than the Tivo (I think), the picture in a box on the list page so you can still see the program playing and there is probably more that I just can't think of right now.

I don't like the limit of 50 season passes. Big negitive there.

I am really happy with it so far.

That's nice to know, Scott. I'm really on the fence here - I've got a couple of months to decide whether to stay with D* or go with Comcast and a Series 3/HD. I guess there are pluses and minuses for both - one of the big minuses with me is rain/snow fade (I'm in Boston). And HD content is important, but so are the local channels, and Comcast seems to have more of those in HD than D*. AAAGH! What to do....

I don't like the limit of 50 season passes. Big negitive there.

I am really happy with it so far.
That is kind of a bummer, I just ran up against that today trying to set a SP for FNL. I had to delete a few. This is something that really needs to be fixed.

Hey all,

I have an Over the Air Antennae and through the HR20 I get the local cbs, ptv, abc, & fox signals pretty good (ocaisonal dropouts) - nbc has always been non-existent to weak.

Installed a new Sharp Aquos 52" LCD Tv and hooked up the OTA antennae to it and its HD tuner picked up all local HD channels beautifully.

Is there some setup procedure to tweak the OTA feature in the HR20 as I'd like to record some NBC programs in HD?

...or is the HD tuner so much better in the Sharp than the HR20?

Thanks in advance,
JT

Everyone who does not like the 50 Series Link limit. Please call DirecTV or go to their email page and complain to them about it. Also, if you go over to DBSTalk, find the survey link and vote for it.

That is kind of a bummer, I just ran up against that today trying to set a SP for FNL. I had to delete a few. This is something that really needs to be fixed. Agreed. I've been able to adjust easily from the HR10, but the 50 season pass limit is a major drawback that I still find troublesome. And it seems like it would be easy for D* to fix. I find it even more annoying than the dual live buffer shortcoming. At least there's a workaround (albeit a clumsy one) for that. The limit becomes even a bigger drawback with all the new HD channels, offering many more program options than before (at least for us HD snobs).

...or is the HD tuner so much better in the Sharp than the HR20?... I don't know about the Sharp, but the tuner in the HR20 is not very good. It's worse than my HR10 or even my 4 year old plasma, even though ATSC tuner technology has made great strides in the past couple of years. The H20 (non-DVR) is reported to be better, which only pours salt in the wounds. :mad:

sorry if asked:

1. Id the HR20-100 older/not as good as th 700? Idd I get hosed by buying the 100?
2. Does the HR20 upconvert SD signals? Should i be concerned about that?
3. Can the 100 be set to view HD channles only in the guide? I have heard the 700 can.

Have slimline installed, have hr20-100. Ordered custom stand today and waiting for Mits WD73833 to be delivered. Can't wait but somewhat concerned about SD PQ. Might replace denon AVR with one that upconverst if Hr can't...

Thanks for any thoughts...................

The 100 and 700 are essentially the same device.
The 700's have been around longer and are in more homes, consequently they get national updates first (usually only a few days or so). Other than that, there are zero actual interface differences. Some external differences...
100 has an external RF antenna 700 has an internal one
100 has USB port in front near card slot - 700 has one in rear - neither are active
100 has a semi-solid blue ring and 700 has individual LEDS making up the blue ring
100 has coaxial and optical audio out - 700 has only optical
100 blue and orange lights on front to the left of the ring are slighly smaller than the lights on the 700

As for guide, hit guide button 2x - it will give you choice of sorts...
Select the bottom one - High Definition Chanels - it will then filter. You may just have to hit guide 1x to get to the filter page, but if you are asking the question, I am guessing you are not seeing filter page on 1st press of guide button, so just hit it again, hit page down and select and you'll be browsing HD only channels.
As for upconverting, both boxes will do it exactly the same if you want it to..
Just go to your HDTV settings in the setup on the HR20 and tell it which resolutions to output. I personally have the 480i and 480p turned off and native set to on. That way all my SD shows get converted by the box. It really does not matter though, as your HDTV will convert everything below 720p to it's native resoltion, it's just a matter of having it done before it gets to the TV or after. Browse the AVS forum for your new TV to get an idea of how SD looks, as that varies wildly from set to set, the source (the HR20) is not the issue on SD quality as much as the viewing device. My SD looks acceptable on my Philips 42" 1080p LCD, but not super, but again, that is just because SD is 480i and your new WD73833 is 1080p. SD is only 240 lines taking turns wheras your 1080p set needs 1080 lines all the time to make it look spectacluar (720p and 1080i still look superb)

danmen, thanks. Lots of help. i do have a clarifiying question.

I have seen the guide, press twice and see only HD option.

I was thinking I saw somewhere you could set it so that when you only see the HD channels. Like when surfing with the channel up button you would only see the HD channel if there are both (SD and HD) EX. I am just surfing up channels I would not have to pass Espn SD and see only ESPN HD.

Am I making sense? Even if I am not I am getting relly pumped to get this all set up.

thanks for your help.

I don't think you can default it to HD only guide, but by selecting HD Chanels on the Guide filter you will only get HD Chanels while surfing, once you tune to a chanel, you'll still have to re-filter your guide each time. There may be a way to set up a favorite chanels - but I don't do that, so I am not sure if it's possible

It was my understanding that the HR20 would automatically detect the feeds on startup. Have you tried restarting them (from the menu)?

Also, just as an fyi, there is supposedly a new multiswitch coming out soon (in beta now) that will solve your wiring problems and allow you to have all your tuners connected.

After resetting the unit from the menu a few times it looks like they are both working properly. :)

I finally updated and have now a HR20 as well. Everything works ok so far the only problem I have is that the menu and guide text in general looks fuzzy and not sharp at all. I tried to change the font or in general to change the settings but nothing helped. Is there a way to fix this? I'm watching it on a 110" screen so it's not pretty to look at. The picture itself is fine only the guide text looks bad.

I finally updated and have now a HR20 as well. Everything works ok so far the only problem I have is that the menu and guide text in general looks fuzzy and not sharp at all. I tried to change the font or in general to change the settings but nothing helped. Is there a way to fix this? I'm watching it on a 110" screen so it's not pretty to look at. The picture itself is fine only the guide text looks bad.
The GUI is rendered at 480 (don't know i or p) resolution, and then scaled up to 720p or 1080i. That's why it looks so fuzzy. It's also 4:3 natively, which is why things like circular channel logos are ovals. Really, it's a horrible design.

The GUI is rendered at 480 (don't know i or p) resolution, and then scaled up to 720p or 1080i. That's why it looks so fuzzy. It's also 4:3 natively, which is why things like circular channel logos are ovals. Really, it's a horrible design.

Too bad thanks for the details.

phone line issues

guys I have 2 HR20's and both are screwing up my phone lines: it is driving me nuts to find the cause

as soon as I connect one of the HR20's to the line, the line gets very noisy and causes the phone line error: now the other HR20 is doing it too

I switch to a second line: same thing

I use them for PPV so the phone connection is needed

Yes I have DSL on one line: tried with & without filter

Phone line is copper: as soon as I disconnect the HR20 it is clean and works OK

Ideas???

more: caller ID feature works as I can see a log of calls: it seems to happen when the stb wants to make a call: it locks up the line and stays locked up: if I disconnect the phone line the line clears but the fault is repeatable as soon as I reconnect to either HR20 (run test comes back phone line failed): I have H20's connected to the same line and they connect fine


well D* tech was just here and agrees phone modems in both HR20's are bad: he did not bring replacements as promised, but ordered them for me

Tech said he has seen phone line modem failures before

The GUI on my system is sometimes extremely sharp and detailed and other times is just plain old fuzzy SD quality.

I have yet to figure out why it is sometimes so sharp and what I can do to force it to stay in that mode.

My HR20 is set to native and is connected to a Denon 3808 set up upconvert video to 1080p and then goes to my Westinghouse 1080p monitor...all via HDMI.

If anyone knows how to keep the sharp setting, please let me know. Right now it is quite a mystery to me.

fafner

The HR20 doesn't have the ability to skip forward like a TiVo does it? The only thing I've been able to do is fast forward in 30 secs increments. Is that the extent of that feature? Must be pressure from the advertisers...

Thanks.

I thought that this would be a neg too with the HR20 coming from the Tivo unit. I like it better. Each press of the 30 sec fwd button increases a number on the lower right corner of the screen. Want 2 mins, hit the button until the number climbs to 4. I watch for the show to start and hit the 6 sec back button and most of the time I am there. seems faster than the Tivo.

The GUI on my system is sometimes extremely sharp and detailed and other times is just plain old fuzzy SD quality.

I have yet to figure out why it is sometimes so sharp and what I can do to force it to stay in that mode.

My HR20 is set to native and is connected to a Denon 3808 set up upconvert video to 1080p and then goes to my Westinghouse 1080p monitor...all via HDMI.

If anyone knows how to keep the sharp setting, please let me know. Right now it is quite a mystery to me.

fafner

Not that it will likely matter with your setup, but do you have 480i and 480p turned off? If not, try that.

Thanks. I will give that a try.

As for guide, hit guide button 2x - it will give you choice of sorts...
Select the bottom one - High Definition Chanels - it will then filter. You may just have to hit guide 1x to get to the filter page, but if you are asking the question, I am guessing you are not seeing filter page on 1st press of guide button, so just hit it again, hit page down and select and you'll be browsing HD only channels.When I press 2x my 'alternate' screen is My Favorites and NOT the original Genre' of catagories as it was by default. What have I done, where can I get this back to the default? I too wanted to select HD Channels to see ALL of what's now available but have somehow lost these... any suggestions where to look first?

Hey all,

I have an Over the Air Antennae and through the HR20 I get the local cbs, ptv, abc, & fox signals pretty good (ocaisonal dropouts) - nbc has always been non-existent to weak.

Installed a new Sharp Aquos 52" LCD Tv and hooked up the OTA antennae to it and its HD tuner picked up all local HD channels beautifully.

Is there some setup procedure to tweak the OTA feature in the HR20 as I'd like to record some NBC programs in HD?

...or is the HD tuner so much better in the Sharp than the HR20?

Thanks in advance,
JT

The HR20 isn't able to receive our NBC (VHF 2) either. Although we found the ota tuner in the HR20 to be far better and more sensitive than the HR10-250 when receiving UHF channels(and upper VHF). Is your ota coax running directly to the HR20? Do you know which digital channel your NBC broadcasts on?

I thought that this would be a neg too with the HR20 coming from the Tivo unit. I like it better. Each press of the 30 sec fwd button increases a number on the lower right corner of the screen. Want 2 mins, hit the button until the number climbs to 4. I watch for the show to start and hit the 6 sec back button and most of the time I am there. seems faster than the Tivo.

It's not too bad, it's just that it's slower than than either the TiVo or the Dish 622. I've programmed a button on my Harmony 880 to do 5 skips in a row with just one button press, normal commercial breaks being about 3 mins, works good, but you still have to watch it all, albeit at a fast speed. With a TiVo or Dish it just jumps to the point without viewing.

If this is some sort of concession to the advertisers I guess it's okay as the alternative may be no skipping at all.

It's not too bad, it's just that it's slower than than either the TiVo or the Dish 622. I've programmed a button on my Harmony 880 to do 5 skips in a row with just one button press, normal commercial breaks being about 3 mins, works good, but you still have to watch it all, albeit at a fast speed. With a TiVo or Dish it just jumps to the point without viewing.

If this is some sort of concession to the advertisers I guess it's okay as the alternative may be no skipping at all.

I read before that TiVo have the instant skip patented and anyone that wants to use it has to pay them. Some cable comapnies have, but DirecTv has not.

Steven

Not that it will likely matter with your setup, but do you have 480i and 480p turned off? If not, try that.
Actually, the GUI is at it's sharpest in 480i or 480p. It gets fuzzy when the receiver upconverts it to 720p or 1080i. Since he's using native, he sees the sharp GUI on SD channels, and the fuzzy GUI on HD channels.

I read before that TiVo have the instant skip patented and anyone that wants to use it has to pay them. Some cable comapnies have, but DirecTv has not.

Steven

I suppose that's possible, although, I've seen it work that way on other DVRs, Dish as noted and on some non-cable Motorola DVRs as well. In fact, the only one I've seen that works this way is the DirecTV DVR.

Actually, the GUI is at it's sharpest in 480i or 480p. It gets fuzzy when the receiver upconverts it to 720p or 1080i. Since he's using native, he sees the sharp GUI on SD channels, and the fuzzy GUI on HD channels.

I'm using native and all resolutions. With HD the guide looks the sharpest and with SD it looks close but if I do look closely, I can see my Sony's scaler. I went through this for another poster [on the other site] who had almost the same TV but without the same "pro" scaler and they were seeing a poorer quality guide.

My "guess" is for fafner that the Denon 3808 set up upconvert is the cause or source.

We've got four of these units now, replacing DirecTiVo HD units. I find the 50 show limit very, well, limiting (yes, I emailed DirecTV about it, though I don't expect a response or change), especially with an expanded capacity via eSATA drive, and am wondering if there is any easy way--as there was with the TiVo--to have two HR20s in the same place. Can you set a remote code with the unit, as you could with TiVo?

We've got four of these units now, replacing DirecTiVo HD units. I find the 50 show limit very, well, limiting (yes, I emailed DirecTV about it, though I don't expect a response or change), especially with an expanded capacity via eSATA drive, and am wondering if there is any easy way--as there was with the TiVo--to have two HR20s in the same place. Can you set a remote code with the unit, as you could with TiVo?

I have one set from the DTV position and my other on the AV2. Just follow the on screen prompts for AV1 or 2 [you might need to use the second remote to get to the screen or the front panel buttons to navigate there], but is was "easy" for me to get one remote to control two HR-20s with RF and it can be done with IR but I think you need to cover one of the HR-20s during the setup so not to program both.

You can set one to work RF and one for IR (IR is default) - just change HR20 #2 to RF and mark which remote is which.

When I press 2x my 'alternate' screen is My Favorites and NOT the original Genre' of catagories as it was by default. What have I done, where can I get this back to the default? I too wanted to select HD Channels to see ALL of what's now available but have somehow lost these... any suggestions where to look first?GOT IT... I had to pull the (AC) plug to get the HR20-100s to reboot and reset my menus.

I gotta say, I can't tell any difference in the quality of these new HD channels being mpeg-4 and all... Although I say that ONLY for those programs in HD -- MANY of the other programs are ZOOMed, STRETCHed, or upconverted to fill the 16:9 format.... just as I believed the defunked VOOM satellite network had planned.

The mpeg-4 compression should allow for a greater number of hours to be DVR'ed!

We've got four of these units now, replacing DirecTiVo HD units. I find the 50 show limit very, well, limiting (yes, I emailed DirecTV about it, though I don't expect a response or change), especially with an expanded capacity via eSATA drive, and am wondering if there is any easy way--as there was with the TiVo--to have two HR20s in the same place. Can you set a remote code with the unit, as you could with TiVo?

I have 4 HR20-700s in 1 room. The easiest thing to do is to go through RF setup for each unit. The units have a built-in RF antenna. Each machine will have its own distinct RF code. When you go through the RF setup it will tell you what codes to enter.

Well, I guess the honeymoon is over. Its too bad too because I was really liking this new machine. It is faster and more responsive than my Tivo and has some good design features. For those of you not following at home - I recently (last Thu) got an HR20 making the switch from the HR10.

So, all was going very well until we sat down last night to watch this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy and this is what we got:

http://www.reedsplace.com/Theater/greys001.JPG

That single video frame for an hour and four minutes (I had padded both ends by a minute). No audio. Lovely. My bride about blew a gasket before I could tell her I had kept the HR10 active and recording so we still had the show.

This is a major bummer because I was really stoked but If I can't trust this thing to do the ONE thing it is really supposed to do, what good is it?

Similar problem happened to me just now when I fired it up. I turned on the TV and it was on one of the new HD channels (SCIHD I think). The audio was from the current program but on the screen was a single video frame of a Progressive ad. Changing the channel up and back fixed it.

Grrrr....

That has happened to my on the HR10.

I have one set from the DTV position and my other on the AV2. Just follow the on screen prompts for AV1 or 2 [you might need to use the second remote to get to the screen or the front panel buttons to navigate there], but is was "easy" for me to get one remote to control two HR-20s with RF and it can be done with IR but I think you need to cover one of the HR-20s during the setup so not to program both.

I should have said in my original post ... But we're using a Logitech Harmony remote to control our entire system, not the original DirecTV remote. Can it be done using that remote? And, if so, how? (Sorry to sound so stupid; just don't want to get another one and then find out we can't control it.)

Assuming you are using an IR (Infrared) only Harmony instead of one of their more expensive RF versions, you will likely be unable to differentiate, as both boxes will receive and answer the same call from the remote. You could just program one box to RF and program your Harmony to just toggle the inputs (like watch Directv1 for HR20-1 and Watch Directv2 - for HR20-2) but it will just set your TV and AV system inputs correctly but will be unable to turn on the Hr20 that is set to RF, then just use the DTV clicker to work HR20-2 - kind of clunky but it will work. Or just get a wood block about 1" square and place it in front of the HR20 that you don't want to use at the moment, this will blind the box and it won't respond to the Harmony.

Has anyone had some shows (both HD and SD) pixelate and the sound go out for about 1 second.... It has been happening periodically, sometimes a couple of times a minute.

My setup:
HR20 <---hdmi 1.3 cable ----->Denon 3808 <--------hdmi 1.3 cable-----> HDMI 1.3 HDTV

I am wondering if it is the HR20 which is what the technician suggested. He said "oh, even though it is annoying, it is not that bad". Or it could be the HDMI cable between the HR20 and the receiver because the other inputs (such as PS3) into my receiver work fine.

Any suggestions? I am not sure if this is called macroblocking or what.

Has anyone had some shows (both HD and SD) pixelate and the sound go out for about 1 second.... It has been happening periodically, sometimes a couple of times a minute.

My setup:
HR20 <---hdmi 1.3 cable ----->Denon 3808 <--------hdmi 1.3 cable-----> HDMI 1.3 HDTV

I am wondering if it is the HR20 which is what the technician suggested. He said "oh, even though it is annoying, it is not that bad". Or it could be the HDMI cable between the HR20 and the receiver because the other inputs (such as PS3) into my receiver work fine.

Any suggestions? I am not sure if this is called macroblocking or what.

Me too, same equipment PR1150 Pionner.

I used the optical out of the HR20 though.

I read on dbstalk that there is a sunspot issue this month... anyone know if that's true?

I noticed these 1-second audio dropouts on my local CBS during the LSU game last night! I'd heard of some units doing this but mine HAD been stable. I have DD set ON and have both the HDMI and Optical between the HR20 and my Onkyo A/V receiver. I'm not currently using the HDMI but will soon... I'd been testing the configuration and that's why it's even there. I wonder if it's an issue with the HDMI or the Optical? I'm suspecting HDMI seeing as I don't recall these dropouts before I connected it combined with the fact that my Onkyo defaults to HDMI if it's there.

Well, I guess the honeymoon is over. Its too bad too because I was really liking this new machine. It is faster and more responsive than my Tivo and has some good design features. For those of you not following at home - I recently (last Thu) got an HR20 making the switch from the HR10.

So, all was going very well until we sat down last night to watch this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy and this is what we got:
That single video frame for an hour and four minutes (I had padded both ends by a minute). No audio. Lovely. My bride about blew a gasket before I could tell her I had kept the HR10 active and recording so we still had the show.

This is a major bummer because I was really stoked but If I can't trust this thing to do the ONE thing it is really supposed to do, what good is it?

Similar problem happened to me just now when I fired it up. I turned on the TV and it was on one of the new HD channels (SCIHD I think). The audio was from the current program but on the screen was a single video frame of a Progressive ad. Changing the channel up and back fixed it.

Grrrr....

A similar issue showed up on our HR20 last night. It's worked fine since the instal last Tuesday until I switched to channel 70 (HBO HD)last night. It was having trouble locking in to the channel. Switched to 71(Show HD) and it was worse, switched back to 70 and the HR20 froze. No response to any buttons on the remote. I did a reset using the red button under the door on front panel and everything works now except channel 70 won't showup - 'searching for satellite'. The strange thing is channel 509 (equivalent to HBO HD - 70) works fine.

This seems about the right time of year for the sunspot thing.
There was an audio problem on CBS for LSU, Fla.

A similar issue showed up on our HR20 last night. It's worked fine since the instal last Tuesday until I switched to channel 70 (HBO HD)last night. It was having trouble locking in to the channel. Switched to 71(Show HD) and it was worse, switched back to 70 and the HR20 froze. No response to any buttons on the remote. I did a reset using the red button under the door on front panel and everything works now except channel 70 won't showup - 'searching for satellite'. The strange thing is channel 509 (equivalent to HBO HD - 70) works fine.

I am on my second HR20 and beginning to have same problems as I did with first HR20. The video will freeze as the audio continues; also, at times, I tune to a channel and get nothing but a blank screen. Reset with red button will help..for awhile..then, the problems will persist. Soon, I shall ask for another HR20. I still believe 120 degree heat may be the problem.

We've got four of these units now, replacing DirecTiVo HD units. I find the 50 show limit very, well, limiting (yes, I emailed DirecTV about it, though I don't expect a response or change), especially with an expanded capacity via eSATA drive, and am wondering if there is any easy way--as there was with the TiVo--to have two HR20s in the same place. Can you set a remote code with the unit, as you could with TiVo?

Can you folks who think 200 season passes are not enough tell me what kind of job you have that you have that much free time to watch that much TV? I get upset when I have 40 season passes, as to me that is plenty. My HR20 now is at 26 or so, and I find that fine. Yes, I understand you like to save shows, but how long is too long before you decided you're really not going to watch? If it sits for an month, I usually delete it because I won't watch before then.

I am on my second HR20 and beginning to have same problems as I did with first HR20. The video will freeze as the audio continues; also, at times, I tune to a channel and get nothing but a blank screen. Reset with red button will help..for awhile..then, the problems will persist. Soon, I shall ask for another HR20. I still believe 120 degree heat may be the problem.

Thx for posting. It's hard to know what's going on. There's so many different factors that could be causing the strange freezing and channels not showing for some reason. It could be an issue with the HR20 switching back and forth from mpeg 2 to mpeg 4. Strangely it was only the old HD channels(which I believe are still Mpeg 2) where the HR20 tripped up.

My internal temp has never shown higher than 98 degs.

I'm using HDMI out with native 'off' and set to upconvert all channels (or pass thru) to 1080i.

Thx for posting. It's hard to know what's going on. There's so many different factors that could be causing the strange freezing and channels not showing for some reason. It could be an issue with the HR20 switching back and forth from mpeg 2 to mpeg 4. Strangely it was only the old HD channels(which I believe are still Mpeg 2) where the HR20 tripped up.

My internal temp has never shown higher than 98 degs.
I'm using HDMI out with native 'off' and set to upconvert all channels (or pass thru) to 1080i.

New H & HR20 user, dumb question..........how do you check the internal temp on the H(HR)20? :o

Probably covered numerous times - but just a reminder to anyone planning wiring to make sure you include an ethernet connection at your receivers for VOD.

This seems about the right time of year for the sunspot thing.
There was an audio problem on CBS for LSU, Fla.


I had a D* repairman over this morning because of sporadic video and audio glitches and dropouts. He said D* is having a wide spread problem with sunspots that is affecting a lot of people. He could find nothing wrong with my system so I guess, for once, an installer probably is knowledgeable about an issue.

fafner

Thx for posting. It's hard to know what's going on. There's so many different factors that could be causing the strange freezing and channels not showing for some reason. It could be an issue with the HR20 switching back and forth from mpeg 2 to mpeg 4. Strangely it was only the old HD channels(which I believe are still Mpeg 2) where the HR20 tripped up.

My internal temp has never shown higher than 98 degs.

I'm using HDMI out with native 'off' and set to upconvert all channels (or pass thru) to 1080i.

My first hr20 (believe it was 100 model) had a temperature some 20 degrees less than this 700 model. But I have had exact same problems on both units. Just unluckly. The reset does 'fix' it for a day or 2. I have always used component. I have always placed some rubber supports under the units to get them up one inch plus from the shelf. And always have air flowing completely around these units.

Can you folks who think 200 season passes are not enough tell me what kind of job you have that you have that much free time to watch that much TV? I'd be very happy with the ability to keep 200 season passes. :D I don't think that's what you meant though.

I get upset when I have 40 season passes, as to me that is plenty. My HR20 now is at 26 or so, and I find that fine. You must have been in the focus group D* used when deciding on the limit. ;)

Seriously, I'm sure that 50 is enough for most customers.

Everyone probably isn't as lazy as me. I don't like to keep reading the TV listings to see when seasonal shows (mostly on cable, but some on the big networks, too) are going to start again. They show up at odd times, and it is easy to miss a series beginning. So with the HR10, I just entered them and left them alone. They would start being recorded whenever they appeared again.

I also don't like to guess when a series is on hiatus rather than cancelled without notice, so I prefer leave "dead" ones on the list for awhile in case they reappear. (I seem to have an affinity for shows that get cancelled or kicked around by the networks because of low viewership. :rolleyes:)

Then there are sports shows, which I may or not choose to watch, but I like to have them all recorded in case I choose to. In the case of several local teams, they can appear on any of three channels and all require their own pass.

There are workarounds, but its annoying to be forced to use them when there seems to be no compelling reason for the arbitrary limitation.
Yes, I understand you like to save shows, but how long is too long before you decided you're really not going to watch? If it sits for an month, I usually delete it because I won't watch before then. In my case, it's got nothing to do with saving shows, as I agree that when the drive gets full (50 hours or so), I might as well clean it out as I'll never watch everything that is on there. If I had a bigger drive, I'd probably collect some movies on it, though, just as I do with DVDs I buy, in order to have a selection available to fit my mood.

50 would probably be fine if they had "Tivo selections". Without them, I set a lot of season passes just to keep stuff on my playlist.

Everyone probably isn't as lazy as me. I don't like to keep reading the TV listings to see when seasonal shows (mostly on cable, but some on the big networks, too) are going to start again. They show up at odd times, and it is easy to miss a series beginning. So with the HR10, I just entered them and left them alone. They would start being recorded whenever they appeared again.

I also don't like to guess when a series is on hiatus rather than cancelled without notice, so I prefer leave "dead" ones on the list for awhile in case they reappear. (I seem to have an affinity for shows that get cancelled or kicked around by the networks because of low viewership. :rolleyes:)


That's what I do as well. This week I had to delete Monk, Eureka, Psych and Saving Grace just to keep at the 50 SP limit. Now I have to watch to see when these shows start up again, and occasional, a show like Monk and The Closer will have a one-off episode around Dec. As it is, I'll miss it because it's not set as an SP.

The Dish 622 had a 45 limit, I think, but it was fixed rather quickly. I'm not sure what the limit is on TiVos, I've never run up against it, so it must be quite a few. A 50 SP limit with the HR20 is too low, especially with all the HD DirecTV is now adding, it needs to be around 100.

<rant>And now, I'll take this moment to make another pointless rant about the skip function on the HR20. After using the Series 3 TiVo and the Dish 622 extensively last night, going back to the HR20 and having the skip function work the way it does is extremely annoying. I can't help but think that there had to be some advertiser consideration when this was designed this way although every other DVR I use does it the "right" way and they don't seem to have any issues with it, at least not that have made any big news about it.
Okay, done. :p </rant>

After using the Series 3 TiVo and the Dish 622 extensively last night, going back to the HR20 and having the skip function work the way it does is extremely annoying.
Before I got the HR20, I figured I would hate the 30 second slip. But I quickly grew to prefer it over the skip. I don't think commercials are pure evil, and a lot of times while I'm slipping through a commercial break a commercial will catch my eye and I'll go back and watch it. The few extra seconds that it takes really don't bother me at all.

Before I got the HR20, I figured I would hate the 30 second slip. But I quickly grew to prefer it over the skip. I don't think commercials are pure evil, and a lot of times while I'm slipping through a commercial break a commercial will catch my eye and I'll go back and watch it. The few extra seconds that it takes really don't bother me at all. I went through pretty much the same transformation. I'm not sure which one I'd choose now if I had the option. Seeing what's going on is helpful when I overrun the start of the program, too. Breaks seem to vary from 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 minutes (some longer, a few shorter), and I seem to guess wrong a lot.:o

Before I got the HR20, I figured I would hate the 30 second slip. But I quickly grew to prefer it over the skip. I don't think commercials are pure evil, and a lot of times while I'm slipping through a commercial break a commercial will catch my eye and I'll go back and watch it. The few extra seconds that it takes really don't bother me at all.

I'm sure I'll get used to it, I'll have to, and if it was the only DVR I had, no doubt I wouldn't notice it as much, but going from a TiVo to the HR20 in the same viewing session, the difference is jarring.

Oh well, as I said, it was pointless rant - unless someone comes up with a way around it. :)

I'm sure I'll get used to it...

Don't be so sure, skip is far better. If you're like me, you'll just abondon the 30 second slip altogether and just FF.

One of my recently received refurb'd HR20's is having a problem where the unit locks up completely and only displays a solid green screen. I called Directv and have a tech coming out but I wasn't sure if anyone else can report a similar problem? I think it's a bad box but Directv thinks it's a bad multi-switch. :confused:

I just purchased a HR 20 700 and Sharp Aqous LC 46D64U display. When tuned to an OTA/DirecTv HD DD channel (Using HDMI or component/RCA audio connections) the audio will immediately drop out. This problem does not occur on SD non DD channels via HDMI or component/RCA audio connections.

I have checked all of the applicable settings on the Sharp; I have tried turning on and off DD on the HR 20 and the problem still occurs. Now to make things interesting, when using the optical output from the HR 20 connected to my Dennon receiver, the problem DOES NOT occur.

I have swapped out HDMI & component cables. Didn’t fix the problem.
I have reset the HR 20 dozens of times. Didn’t fix the problem.
I have reset the Sharp display dozens of times. Didn’t fix the problem.
I have not contacted DirecTv yet; I was hoping to get a little advice here before calling them.

I suspect the HR 20 may be the problem, is there something I should look for or check? Thanks in advance.

Don't be so sure, skip is far better. If you're like me, you'll just abondon the 30 second slip altogether and just FF.

Yes, skip is definitely better, I'll have to play around with the FF, haven't tried that yet.

..and since it's Sunday, maybe we can pray that the TiVo logo shows up on DirecTV equipment sometime in the future. :D

New H & HR20 user, dumb question..........how do you check the internal temp on the H(HR)20? :o

Hi,
Menu->help&settings->setup->info&test(few second wait)
then move right (to highlight bar and scroll down).

Yes, skip is definitely better, I'll have to play around with the FF, haven't tried that yet.

FFx3 with the autocorrect works pretty well. You can get the timing down. FFx4 is impossible to be consistent because the screens you see have a pretty big jump. One time the jump may take you 2 seconds into the program - and the next, you may be 1 or 2 minutes in when you first see the program.

FFx3 with the autocorrect works pretty well. You can get the timing down. FFx4 is impossible to be consistent because the screens you see have a pretty big jump. One time the jump may take you 2 seconds into the program - and the next, you may be 1 or 2 minutes in when you first see the program.

My wife just complained about this today. She said it takes too long to go back or fwd without being able to jump. It also doesn't stop on the 5th hit, you have to hit 'play' to stop it. I think we'll get used to it eventually(maybe :) )

Hi,
Menu->help&settings->setup->info&test(few second wait)
then move right (to highlight bar and scroll down).
This only applies to the HR20. The H20 does not have a temperature sensor.

This only applies to the HR20. The H20 does not have a temperature sensor.

Thx for adding that.

Does anyone miss having an ota tuner meter in the HR20?

Does anyone miss having an ota tuner meter in the HR20?
The HR20 does have a signal strength meter for OTA.

The HR20 does have a signal strength meter for OTA.

was hoping you'd say that. How do I get there? thx.

FFx3 with the autocorrect works pretty well. You can get the timing down. FFx4 is impossible to be consistent because the screens you see have a pretty big jump. One time the jump may take you 2 seconds into the program - and the next, you may be 1 or 2 minutes in when you first see the program.

I'll give it a shot tonight, thanks.

was hoping you'd say that. How do I get there? thx.
I'm not in front of my HR20 right now, but I believe it's under Antenna Setup.

I'm not in front of my HR20 right now, but I believe it's under Antenna Setup.

Ok, good I found it.
Menu -> Help&Settings -> Setup -> Sat&Ant -> Antenna Setup -> Edit off-air settings.

...for the HR20... :)

I seem to recall reading that mpeg 4 takes up less disk space per hour than mpeg 2. Is that right and, if so, is there an advantage to recording HBO-HD on channel 501 rather than channels 70 or 509? Also, is there any difference in picture and sound quality?

On a related note, why does D* have three different channels showing the same thing?

I just got an HR20 a couple weeks ago. It's been great so far, but I do have a question.

If I buy a DVD recorder so I can get programs off the HR20 to keep, how will HD programming look on the DVD? Will it end up stretched? Is there some way to get the DVD recorder to record in widescreen?

Sorry if this is a stupid question! Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

I seem to recall reading that mpeg 4 takes up less disk space per hour than mpeg 2. Is that right and, if so, is there an advantage to recording HBO-HD on channel 501 rather than channels 70 or 509? Also, is there any difference in picture and sound quality?
All three of those channels are exactly the same. They're all MPEG2, just mapped to three channel numbers. If you want the best PQ and the lowest disk usage, record the stuff three hours later on HBO West HD. That's MPEG4.
On a related note, why does D* have three different channels showing the same thing?
70 is there so that it could be part of the HD channels group, 509 is there so that it can be part of the premium channels group, and 501 is there because of the way DirecTV does the HD channel numbering now.

All three of those channels are exactly the same. They're all MPEG2, just mapped to three channel numbers. If you want the best PQ and the lowest disk usage, record the stuff three hours later on HBO West HD. That's MPEG4.

70 is there so that it could be part of the HD channels group, 509 is there so that it can be part of the premium channels group, and 501 is there because of the way DirecTV does the HD channel numbering now.

HBO 501 HD was in the first rollout of the D10 channels.
Before that it was SD.
Sounds like MPEG-4 to me, just like HBOW.

HBO 501 HD was in the first rollout of the D10 channels.
Before that it was SD.
Sounds like MPEG-4 to me, just like HBOW.
That's when the channel number was added, yes. But it's only the MPEG2 feed, just like the rest of the MPEG2 HD channels. 206 and 73 are exactly the same too, for example.

HBO 501 HD was in the first rollout of the D10 channels.
Before that it was SD.
Sounds like MPEG-4 to me, just like HBOW.


Jeremy is correct. 70/509 were the same channel, when they changed the numbering system they just added another mirror to 501. So all three are the identical MPEG2 feed.

As suggested, if you want the MPEG4 version, use 504 and record the HBO West feed.

IOW:
509 is the original HBO HD channel placed with all the HBOs from 501-509.
70 is a mirror of 509 placed in the 70s along with all the other HD channels (pre-rollout)
501 is a mirror of 509 so the new format that keeps the HD channel on the same channel number as the SD version stays consistent with all the new HD channels.

FFx3 with the autocorrect works pretty well. You can get the timing down.

I agree with this 100%. FFx3 works perfect (HR20-700) for me. I have the timing down to an art now and am very pleased. And it is actually faster at skipping by the commercials than both of my TiVo units. (HR10-250 & Sat-T60)

I agree with this 100%. FFx3 works perfect (HR20-700) for me. I have the timing down to an art now and am very pleased. And it is actually faster at skipping by the commercials than both of my TiVo units. (HR10-250 & Sat-T60)

This does work well, used it quite a bit last night, much better than hitting the "slip" button 5-6 times. I'm going to program a Harmony button to do the 3x-FF with one press and I should be good to go.

This does work well, used it quite a bit last night, much better than hitting the "slip" button 5-6 times. I'm going to program a Harmony button to do the 3x-FF with one press and I should be good to go.

Now that is a great idea. I hadn't even thought of that.

FFx3 with the autocorrect works pretty well.
What is "Auto Correct" for the FF function and how do you program it?

I have a HR20-100 Directv DVR, and have been able to receive all of my local networks via antenna since I upgraded from the HR10-250 about four months ago.

While scrolling thru all available channels (local OTA and DirecTv) I noticed that the PBS affiliate on 36.1 and 36.2 are no longer viewable. When manually tuning to either channel the DirecTv program banner appears, along with "Searching for station on antenna..." at the bottom of the screen.

The signal strength meter displays a 95% signal for 36.1 and 36.2 on both tuners.

I have rebooted the HR20, but get the same results. I am having no problems pulling in any other OTA feed, and the loss of audio or video on 36.1 seems to have come about the same time as DirecTv began rolling out the new mpeg 4 channels about two weeks ago.

DirecTv does not offer locals in SD or HD in my market.

Any thoughts on what might be causing this problem?

Threads merged.

Can you folks who think 200 season passes are not enough tell me what kind of job you have that you have that much free time to watch that much TV? I get upset when I have 40 season passes, as to me that is plenty. My HR20 now is at 26 or so, and I find that fine. Yes, I understand you like to save shows, but how long is too long before you decided you're really not going to watch? If it sits for an month, I usually delete it because I won't watch before then.



I think some of hte other posts did a good job explaining this but I will add/expand a little. I like not having to mess with the thing. I have maybe 65-70 season passes on my HR10-250 now and many of them are for shows like Deadliest Catch which are not airing now, but I know when it starts back up, I will get the new season and not have to go back in and enter the SP. Sure, I could just delete the unused SPs each spring, summer and fall season, but that kind of kills the point of having this computerized device record stuff for me.

Als, we have maybe 10-12 wishlists for various people's names or shows/movies we want to see. (Lets say we decide we could watch a certain movie again, instead of running to the video store, we can just search for it and set it up or if not, set a wishlist and watch it when it does come on) This kind of stuff will ahve to be eliminated with a 50 SP limit.

It is really about maximizing the use of the technology to keep me from having to manually do things.

I am having a recording issuse with my HR20. On Thursdays I have Survivor(8pm)The Office(9pm) and Grey's Anatomy(9pm) all set to record the whole season. They are all set to start and stop on time, and all show up on my "to do" list as will be recorded. But for some reason Grey's hasn't recorded on it's on for the last 2 weeks. I had to start it manually both times. Is there something I am not doing correctly? I have never had this problem up until now. It also happened on House last week. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

What is "Auto Correct" for the FF function and how do you program it?
When you stop fast forwarding, it will jump back a little bit. You don't have to program anything, the DVR just does it.

I am having a recording issuse with my HR20. On Thursdays I have Survivor(8pm)The Office(9pm) and Grey's Anatomy(9pm) all set to record the whole season. They are all set to start and stop on time, and all show up on my "to do" list as will be recorded. But for some reason Grey's hasn't recorded on it's on for the last 2 weeks. I had to start it manually both times. Is there something I am not doing correctly? I have never had this problem up until now.

The problem with Grey's Anatomy has been noticed by lots of other posters. I don't recall any answer, except some people thought it had something to do with the Guide data being incorrect. I don't know anything about House, though.

SMK

I have a HR20-100 Directv DVR, and have been able to receive all of my local networks via antenna since I upgraded from the HR10-250 about four months ago.

While scrolling thru all available channels (local OTA and DirecTv) I noticed that the PBS affiliate on 36.1 and 36.2 are no longer viewable. When manually tuning to either channel the DirecTv program banner appears, along with "Searching for station on antenna..." at the bottom of the screen.

The signal strength meter displays a 95% signal for 36.1 and 36.2 on both tuners.

I have rebooted the HR20, but get the same results. I am having no problems pulling in any other OTA feed, and the loss of audio or video on 36.1 seems to have come about the same time as DirecTv began rolling out the new mpeg 4 channels about two weeks ago.

DirecTv does not offer locals in SD or HD in my market.

Any thoughts on what might be causing this problem?

You might try going back into your antenna setup and making sure that the boxes for 36.1 and 36.2 are checked as channels you receive. I don't know why, but that happened once to me on a local channel. Somehow the box which had been checked suddenly wasn't, and I could no longer tune that channel.

SMK

Jeremy is correct. 70/509 were the same channel, when they changed the numbering system they just added another mirror to 501. So all three are the identical MPEG2 feed.

While Jeremy being correct isn't dumb, adding 501 to the remapped 509 really seems dumb. Grouping HD in the 70's makes some sense, but 501 & 509 both being MPEG-2 just seems stupid.

So do people see a difference in PQ between 70/501 and 504?

When you stop fast forwarding, it will jump back a little bit. You don't have to program anything, the DVR just does it.


Is there any way to turn autocorrect off? Or a way to set a fine scroll through the program?
My wife is hard of hearing and likes to jump back a few seconds here and there during a program that she has recorded. Is there a way that (like TIVO) the place where you chose to stop the FF or REW actually picks up at that point? Not 5-7 seconds before that point?

Can you still record two channels at the same time?

Can you still view one channel while viewing the other?

Can you still overlap recordings on two tuners?

Thanks

I have mixed feelings about the HR20. Some things it does very well, but for me the transport controls are not one of them.

The 30 sec slip is just really slow and cumbersome (and once stacked does not seem very accurate). The skip to tick doesn’t seem to work at all, it just jumps immediately to the end of the show and I can’t get it to work in reverse at all. Also slow motion seems sporadic at best.

Is this user error?

Someone said the 3xFF works better for them than Tivo (which has very robust transport). I don’t quite understand how you guys are doing this unless you’re hitting FF and then just watching it then trying to hit the mark manually (which would not be clear to me how that would be better than just hitting X# of 30 sec skips on a Tivo).

That kind of stuff will also have to be eliminated because the HR20 doesn't support wishlists.




Als, we have maybe 10-12 wishlists for various people's names or shows/movies we want to see. (Lets say we decide we could watch a certain movie again, instead of running to the video store, we can just search for it and set it up or if not, set a wishlist and watch it when it does come on) This kind of stuff will ahve to be eliminated with a 50 SP limit.

It is really about maximizing the use of the technology to keep me from having to manually do things.

Is there any way to turn autocorrect off? Or a way to set a fine scroll through the program?
My wife is hard of hearing and likes to jump back a few seconds here and there during a program that she has recorded. Is there a way that (like TIVO) the place where you chose to stop the FF or REW actually picks up at that point? Not 5-7 seconds before that point?

you can turn autocorrect off... look thru the setup menu under Display I think and turn autocorrect off

Can you still record two channels at the same time?

Can you still view one channel while viewing the other?

Can you still overlap recordings on two tuners?

Thanks

yes
yes
yes

Can you still record two channels at the same time?
yes

Can you still view one channel while viewing the other?
huh? do you mean view one channel while recording another? if you do, the answer is yes.

Can you still overlap recordings on two tuners?

Thanks
yes

Can you still record two channels at the same time?

Can you still view one channel while viewing the other?

Can you still overlap recordings on two tuners?

Thanks

Yes

No

Yes

Maybe I'm wrong but I think he's asking about DLB.




huh? do you mean view one channel while recording another? if you do, the answer is yes.

I have mixed feelings about the HR20. Some things it does very well, but for me the transport controls are not one of them.

The 30 sec slip is just really slow and cumbersome (and once stacked does not seem very accurate). The skip to tick doesn’t seem to work at all, it just jumps immediately to the end of the show and I can’t get it to work in reverse at all. Also slow motion seems sporadic at best.

Is this user error?

Someone said the 3xFF works better for them than Tivo (which has very robust transport). I don’t quite understand how you guys are doing this unless you’re hitting FF and then just watching it then trying to hit the mark manually (which would not be clear to me how that would be better than just hitting X# of 30 sec skips on a Tivo).

This sounds like you're pressing the 30 sec slip button instead of the FF button, to move to the "tick".

I have the HR20-100 and NFL Sunday Ticket with Superfan. I noticed this weekend that changing between the HD NFL channels takes a lot longer than channel changing outside of NFL ticket. Even just using the channel up/down to change takes 10 seconds or so to change. Is this normal, and if not, is there something I might do, some settings change, to help this?

Probably not, I know, but I thought I'd check.

Good catch. I was using the wrong button because I couldn't get FF to do anything.

As it turns out this has something to do with my harmony 680 because it does not skip to tick at all using FF but the D* remote does.

Thanks for getting me on track. FF through 4 hours games was killing me. Is it normal that it will only skip to one tick per FF?



This sounds like you're pressing the 30 sec slip button instead of the FF button, to move to the "tick".

Good catch. I was using the wrong button because I couldn't get FF to do anything.

As it turns out this has something to do with my harmony 680 because it does not skip to tick at all using FF but the D* remote does.

Thanks for getting me on track. FF through 4 hours games was killing me. Is it normal that it will only skip to one tick per FF?

"I think so", in that I need to repeat it to go to the next tick.

Is there any way to turn autocorrect off? Or a way to set a fine scroll through the program?
My wife is hard of hearing and likes to jump back a few seconds here and there during a program that she has recorded. Is there a way that (like TIVO) the place where you chose to stop the FF or REW actually picks up at that point? Not 5-7 seconds before that point?
AutoCorrect cannot be turned off. The Tivo does it too, and just like the HR20 it can't be disabled. If she just wants to jump back a few seconds, why not just use the Replay button?

I am occasionally getting pixelation (tiny cubes on half or all of the screen) and audio skips (they occur at the same time). I have my HR20 connected to my AVR via HDMI. Does this sound like my HDMI cable is bad or is this something with the HR20. The D* tech said he has seen it on other HR20s. I am not familiar with macroblocking; does this sound like macroblocking?

I am occasionally getting pixelation (tiny cubes on half or all of the screen) and audio skips (they occur at the same time). I have my HR20 connected to my AVR via HDMI.
On what channels?

thanks, I meant record one channel while channel surfing the other tuner

thanks, I meant record one channel while channel surfing the other tuner
You can definitely do that on the HR20.

On what channels?

I have gotten it on ABC and NBC (both HD and SD programs).

For those using learning remotes, keep holding down the navigation buttons on the OEM remote until the learning remote signals it read the beam. When using the learning remote, if it doesn't do the three second hold properly, hold for three seconds, then release and press the button again. That works on my MX500.

cool. Mine will be here on Monday. Hope it lives up to my TiVo. I figure they had 3 years to improve on my r10, should have some killer features.

That kind of stuff will also have to be eliminated because the HR20 doesn't support wishlists.

I thought I had read that while the feature was not as powerful as TiVos implementation, that they still had some type of keyword search autorecord feature.

While scrolling thru all available channels (local OTA and DirecTv) I noticed that the PBS affiliate on 36.1 and 36.2 are no longer viewable. When manually tuning to either channel the DirecTv program banner appears, along with "Searching for station on antenna..." at the bottom of the screen.Do you know if they're broadcasting? I'd had issue with my PBS affiliate and the issue had nothing to do with the transmission signal but everything to do with the data about the signal. D* buys this program guide/PSIP mapping data from TMS and passes it to the consumer via ZIP code. If it's in error you're screwed. Can you tune the station on another ATSC tuner?

Alternately, our local PBS just had some sort of 'major antenna failure' and is no longer on the air. I'm getting the banner (from the HR20), NO signal and then that 'seacrhing for signal' banner BECAUSE I'm (essentially) tuning a channel that isn't there -- literally.

If the first explanation is your case I can direct you to a man who can get this fixed. For YEARS I was told data correction HAD TO BE initiated from the broadcaster.... not :-)

I'm not liking the 'search' function. Just doing a search for 'premieres' seems to not work. If you go to the keyword search, it requires letters before continuing to the next screen where 'show types' is found. With the HR10-250(Tivo), you could do a search for just showtype 'premiere' and that would show a list of movies on all channels that were being shown for the first time. The HR20 does seem a little faster though when sifting thru menus and showing results.

I thought I had read that while the feature was not as powerful as TiVos implementation, that they still had some type of keyword search autorecord feature.
You are correct.

It does to an extent but as I said not wishlists. For example you cannot record say all the season premiers. Plus what's there doesn't work correctly, believe it or not the software is not even aware of what channels you actually receive. It will record hours of shows from a channel you've never received in your life.

I thought I had read that while the feature was not as powerful as TiVos implementation, that they still had some type of keyword search autorecord feature.

It does to an extent but as I said not wishlists. For example you cannot record say all the season premiers. Plus what's there doesn't work correctly, believe it or not the software is not even aware of what channels you actually receive. It will record hours of shows from a channel you've never received in your life.


I heard about the channels I receive thing. Luckily we sub to TC platinum or premier or whatever they call it now so that we get just about everything except PPV.

I never even thought to use the Wishlist feature to get all the season premiers. Interesting! Primarily, we are just running whishlists searches for a few names so that if they show up on Letterman or Tonight show we get to see them. Plus the occaisional Movie Title.

Here is a little happy story for me.

I have been with D* since 1999. When I signed up back then, I had purchased a TIVO SAT-T60 SD DVR.
At that time, I chose to pay the lifetime DVR service fee of $289.00.
Ever since, the DVR service has been listed on my bill with $0.00 each month.
Even after I upgraded to the HD Tivo HR10-250 3 years ago, my DVR service still remained at $0.00
So 1 month ago, I got my 5LNB dish and a new HR20-700
Today I got my first bill since the dish/dvr install and the $5.99 DVR service was shown.

So I called them to question the charge. At first, they did not want to honor that lifetime subscription from 1999.
I politely said, "Sir, I am looking at my bill from Aug, 1999 (I really still have it), that clearly shows LIFETIME DVR SERVICE"
He put me on hold for 10 minutes, and came back with the great news that my lifetime DVR service was still valid and I will be charged $0.00 each month forward, and to remove the $5.99 from the next payment.
So I am now very happy with Direct TV.

Man, you took 4 years to get into the black with that deal, but you are now over $200 in the clear! Nice job (and a good investment) I really thought they would tell you you just bought a life of the receiver subscription (that is what sirius sells).

Man, you took 4 years to get into the black with that deal, but you are now over $200 in the clear! Nice job (and a good investment) I really thought they would tell you you just bought a life of the receiver subscription (that is what sirius sells).

Yes...it took 4 years and it was a risk, but I had friends telling me "you will never regret it" They were right, and yes, actually if I calculate it out it is now close to $300 to my favor since that Aug 1999 lump payment.
And the DVR service is "per household" and NOT "per receiver". Thats why they still have to honor it.

And to make it even a sweeter deal, Direct TV gave me the HR20-700 and 5LNB dish with 6x8 multiswitch Free of charge.

anyone running directv at two different houses and just go out and buy an extra satellite?

Heh I once used a keyword Wishlist item to get a recording of a particular episode of the old Twilight Zone that took 2 years to eventually record.

One thing about the HR20 is that its really easy to focus on what it doesn't do all that well esp at first. It does most things you're used to but not the same way. And it does some things much better although that's not always apparent the first little while when you're pressing the wrong button/control because that's how your Tivo did it for the last 10 years.





I heard about the channels I receive thing. Luckily we sub to TC platinum or premier or whatever they call it now so that we get just about everything except PPV.

I never even thought to use the Wishlist feature to get all the season premiers. Interesting! Primarily, we are just running whishlists searches for a few names so that if they show up on Letterman or Tonight show we get to see them. Plus the occaisional Movie Title.

anyone running directv at two different houses and just go out and buy an extra satellite?
Satellites are expensive...

Is there a way to set record on HD chnls (way in the future) that still have the same number as SD chnl? Explain please if so...

Is there a way to set record on HD chnls (way in the future) that still have the same number as SD chnl? Explain please if so...

I don't understand the question.
If you want to record anything, just find it in the program guide, highlight it and press record. If you want to make sure you are recording Sex In The City on TBS HD vs TBS, just make sure you highlight the show on the HD Chanel.
The program guide only goes approx 2 weeks out, so if it's farther out than that, you'll have to wait to schedule.

For some reason I cannot find the music/photo tab on my HD DVR. I know it was there because I was streaming photos about a week ago. Anyone else having this issue or have an idea of what I might be doing wrong? And yes, I did restart the recorder, but no joy.

Thanks,

Kemical

Mine's ok. When you run the network test does it show everything connected? And that you get a good IP on your LAN?

Smarter people should be along soon :D

peace . . .

For some reason I cannot find the music/photo tab on my HD DVR. I know it was there because I was streaming photos about a week ago. Anyone else having this issue or have an idea of what I might be doing wrong? And yes, I did restart the recorder, but no joy.

Thanks,

Kemical

Well its back, so I am not sure what I did or didn't do. Anyway, just found it interesting.

Thanks,

Kemical

It was suggested to me to try and move the BBC modules to the output of the multiswitch and then use a diplexor after the BBC module to combine OTA signal with the satellite feed and then of course use a diplexor at the HR20 receiver to segregate OTA and satellite signal.

- I first moved the BBC converters from the input of my HR20 to the the immediate output of the 6x8 multi-switch in my attic. I checked the satellite signal on the HR20 and signal bars were still at 97%. Checked on MPEG-4 channels and all was good. :)

- I then installed a diplexor immediately after the BBC converter and combined an OTA signal from my attic antenna. Also added a diplexor to the input of my HR20 and ran satellite side to one of the Sat tuner inputs and the OTA to the antenna input. I checked the satellite signal on the HR20 and signal bars were still at 97%. Checked on MPEG-4 channels and all was good. :o

- I then checked on my OTA channels and I only got 1 channel to come in. All other OTA channels were no longer detected by the HR20. Thus my experiment to run diplexed OTA and MPEG-4 Satellite on a single coax post BBC module did not work. The MPEG-4 frequency still interfered with all but 1 of my OTA channels. :(

It was suggested to me to try and move the BBC modules to the output of the multiswitch and then use a diplexor after the BBC module to combine OTA signal with the satellite feed and then of course use a diplexor at the HR20 receiver to segregate OTA and satellite signal.

- I first moved the BBC converters from the input of my HR20 to the the immediate output of the 6x8 multi-switch in my attic. I checked the satellite signal on the HR20 and signal bars were still at 97%. Checked on MPEG-4 channels and all was good. :)

- I then installed a diplexor immediately after the BBC converter and combined an OTA signal from my attic antenna. Also added a diplexor to the input of my HR20 and ran satellite side to one of the Sat tuner inputs and the OTA to the antenna input. I checked the satellite signal on the HR20 and signal bars were still at 97%. Checked on MPEG-4 channels and all was good. :o

- I then checked on my OTA channels and I only got 1 channel to come in. All other OTA channels were no longer detected by the HR20. Thus my experiment to run diplexed OTA and MPEG-4 Satellite on a single coax post BBC module did not work. The MPEG-4 frequency still interfered with all but 1 of my OTA channels. :(

"OR" the loss of the diplexers is so great that your OTA signals are just too low now.

"OR" the loss of the diplexers is so great that your OTA signals are just too low now.

Should I try and amp the OTA signal? Should I boost it before the first diplexor in my attic or boost the OTA signal after the diplexor at the input side of my HR20?

Should I try and amp the OTA signal? Should I boost it before the first diplexor in my attic or boost the OTA signal after the diplexor at the input side of my HR20?

A pre-amp would be the best [mounted at the antenna and the power inserter before the 1st diplexer].
Once the signal is lost it's hard to then amplify it back.

DirecTv has got to be the most inept provider I have ever dealt with

Recently I had 2 of 3 HR20-100's go bad: tech came out and confirmed and ordered replacements

what I got were refurbished HR20-700's that looked like they had been dropped and battered: they did not fit in my Middle Atlantic custom rack shelves and no coax digital audio: just toslink

worse: one was defective (good sat signals but hung at 0 guide data) and the other D* was unable to activate after 3 hours on the phone with them

Tech finally agreed to send me HR20-100's and requested new ones: he said they are supposed to replace HR20's with like models

I have lost all faith in D*

It’s kind of odd how they have different versions of what to most consumers would appear to be the same unit.

My issue is that my HT receiver has 2 toslink inputs and I need 3 now and soon 4.

I plan on trying one of those toslink to coaxial converters on my HR20-700. The powered ones claim to work perfectly but I’d like to find a first hand account.

Would solve a lot of problems tho, short of buying a new amp. Maybe for you too?

peace . . .



DirecTv has got to be the most inept provider I have ever dealt with

Recently I had 2 of 3 HR20-100's go bad: tech came out and confirmed and ordered replacements

what I got were refurbished HR20-700's that looked like they had been dropped and battered: they did not fit in my Middle Atlantic custom rack shelves and no coax digital audio: just toslink

worse: one was defective (good sat signals but hung at 0 guide data) and the other D* was unable to activate after 3 hours on the phone with them

Tech finally agreed to send me HR20-100's and requested new ones: he said they are supposed to replace HR20's with like models

I have lost all faith in D*

It’s kind of odd how they have different versions of what to most consumers would appear to be the same unit.

My issue is that my HT receiver has 2 toslink inputs and I need 3 now and soon 4.

I plan on trying one of those toslink to coaxial converters on my HR20-700. The powered ones claim to work perfectly but I’d like to find a first hand account.

Would solve a lot of problems tho, short of buying a new amp. Maybe for you too?

peace . . .

I have used the adapters (they come with a separate power supply): they work fine : I have spare toslink inputs available on my processor as well

The MA rack is another story: seems the height of the -700 is different than the -100

I just feel that D* is not prepared to handle the surge in calls and issues with the upgrades and adding new channels and customers: I always used to have great customer service from D*

...I plan on trying one of those toslink to coaxial converters on my HR20-700. The powered ones claim to work perfectly but I’d like to find a first hand account
. . . I used a toslink to coaxial converter for a year or two before getting a new receiver, and it worked fine. My previous receiver found a new life with my daughter, and the converter went with it, where it is still performing well.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the inputs. :D

Not to defend D* service but the product folks have put the customer service people in a tough position haven’t they? They have different models with what can be very noticeable differences to the consumer (coaxial, size) but don’t generally distinguish them at the user or CSR level. Without the user making a lot of fuss (and even then not always) they don’t know which one you’ll get when you order nor whether you’ll get the same one you had if tou need to do an R&R.



I used a toslink to coaxial converter for a year or two before getting a new receiver, and it worked fine. My previous receiver found a new life with my daughter, and the converter went with it, where it is still performing well.


I have used the adapters (they come with a separate power supply): they work fine : I have spare toslink inputs available on my processor as well

The MA rack is another story: seems the height of the -700 is different than the -100

I just feel that D* is not prepared to handle the surge in calls and issues with the upgrades and adding new channels and customers: I always used to have great customer service from D*

Tech finally agreed to send me HR20-100's and requested new ones: he said they are supposed to replace HR20's with like models
The techs actually do not have the ability to choose what model you get. They're picked randomly, and if you actually do get a -100 then you just got lucky. Also, there is no policy about replacing a -100 with a -100 and a -700 with a -700. They're considered fully interchangeable, even though there are some differences.

I have an HR10-250 and I love it. I want the HR20 to get the new channels but I plan on keeping both. Called DTV and they offered me an HR20 if I trade in my HR10-250. No way I'm giving that up.

Is there any special way to get a deal on the HR20? They offered my $299 but that's too much.

What if I subscribe to Sunday Ticket. Will that help?

I got my HR-20 free when I upgraded to HD, but you might want to check the DirecTV deals thread.

Where is the DTV deals thread?

Where is the DTV deals thread?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=857506

I see you found it but for future wanderers it's here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=857506

Where is the DTV deals thread?

anyone running directv at two different houses and just go out and buy an extra satellite?

I currently have D* at three homes. One I live in, the other two I currently lease.

Satellites are expensive...

You can find the new Slimline dish for around $70 (shipping included) on Ebay.

i'm sorry, this thread is 140 pages long and this may have been answered, but can someone repeat it for me..

One of my shows tonight has a series pass and just didn't record for some reason. Is this a recurring issue with this DVR? Now I have to go and hunt down an SD copy of the show so I can watch it.

You can find the new Slimline dish for around $70 (shipping included) on Ebay.
That's a dish, not a satellite. Satellites are up in space, not attached to your house.

That's a dish, not a satellite. Satellites are up in space, not attached to your house.

I stand corrected :) I assumed he meant a satellite dish.

I assumed he meant a satellite dish.
I'm sure he did, I'm just an a**hole. :D

You're both wrong. Satellites are in space, dishes are in the cupboard.

Perhaps you both meant 'satellite dish'? :D


That's a dish, not a satellite. Satellites are up in space, not attached to your house.

Some people seem to never have problems but across the userbase you won't have any trouble finding a lot of people with missed recordings.

What does your history say about the show?

Is this a recurring issue with this DVR?

What's the difference between the HR20-700 and the HR20-100? Someone told me the HR20-100 provides better OTA reception. Has anyone found that to be the case? Aside from random problems that particular people in this thread have with particular receivers, are there any other differences between the two?

100 has a digital coaxial output in addition to the optical (700 has only optical)
100 has unused usb port on front - 700 has unused usb port in rear
100 has external antenna for RF - 700 has internal RF antenna
100 and 700 have slightly different diminsions.
no idea about OTA as I don't need/use
lights on front panel differ slightly on each model
Both are functional equivalents of each other, the only real difference is the additional Coax digital audio output on the 100
As for the actual graphic interface and features, they are identical. No difference at all in the actual operation of either.

-100 has a fan at the bottom of the case, and no vent holes on top panel: a consideration for stacking

I don't think the -700 has a fan: it has perforated vent holes on top

"100 has unused usb port on front - 700 has unused usb port in rear"

:confused: the -700 has a USB under the cover on the front [left side].

OTA tuners seem to be the same [poor] tuners.

I have an HR10-250 and I love it. I want the HR20 to get the new channels but I plan on keeping both. Called DTV and they offered me an HR20 if I trade in my HR10-250. No way I'm giving that up.

Is there any special way to get a deal on the HR20? They offered my $299 but that's too much.

What if I subscribe to Sunday Ticket. Will that help?

I got my HR20 for 5 bucks a month on lease and got to keep my HR10-250. They upgraded my dish to 5lnb and gave me 10 bucks off my bill per month for the next two years. All I had to do was talk to someone in customer retention and bitch and moan about:

- How I just paid 1000 dollars for a receiver that won't receive the new HD
- How I have to pay extra for NFL ticket to be in HD
- Why they would not replace my standard def tivo when in fact it was their software upgrade that zapped it.
- Why I shouldn't switch to VerizonTV. Of course I new the answer was that Verizon doesn't have the Sunday ticket, but I didn't tell D* that.

This happend about 4 months ago and I got the following deal:
- 5 dollar lease for HR20, (5 dollar lease for an additional standard def dvr)
- Free install and dish upgrade
- 10 dollars off my bill per month for 2 years. (This essentially negates the cost of my two leased DVRs)
- I had to agree to a 2 year contract

Couldn't be happier. The new HD channels are terrific!

OTA tuners seem to be the same [poor] tuners.

We found the ota tuner in the HR20-100s to be better in the UHF channels than the HR10-250 but the HR20 won't receive digital 2 at all (lowest VHF).

DirecTv has got to be the most inept provider I have ever dealt with

Recently I had 2 of 3 HR20-100's go bad: tech came out and confirmed and ordered replacements

what I got were refurbished HR20-700's that looked like they had been dropped and battered: they did not fit in my Middle Atlantic custom rack shelves and no coax digital audio: just toslink

worse: one was defective (good sat signals but hung at 0 guide data) and the other D* was unable to activate after 3 hours on the phone with them

Tech finally agreed to send me HR20-100's and requested new ones: he said they are supposed to replace HR20's with like models

I have lost all faith in D*

idiots sent me 2 more banged up reconditioned -700's :(

HR20-100: I'm about to split OTA 4 ways and I need to see how much I loose and if I need a CM7777 pre-amp kit to boost it back up prior to the splitter. It's easy to check your SAT signal strength but how do you check your OTA signal strength?

Thanks :)

HR20-100: I'm about to split OTA 4 ways and I need to see how much I loose and if I need a CM7777 pre-amp kit to boost it back up prior to the splitter. It's easy to check your SAT signal strength but how do you check your OTA signal strength?

Thanks :)

There is a signal meter under edit OTA channels.

Ok, good I found it.
Menu -> Help&Settings -> Setup -> Sat&Ant -> Antenna Setup -> Edit off-air settings.

...for the HR20... :)

sjv,
Found it here

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????

no way around it, GoFRO, unless you can talk D* out of charging you the lease fee . . . . and good luck with that if you have no history as a customer with them.

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????

You almost certainly bought a box that was already a "leased box" which the seller conveniently forgot to tell you. Complain to him.

fafner

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????Reputable ebay sellers will guarantee that you will be able to activate the unit. If the unit is indeed "brand new" then you should be able to activate with no problem. If the unit is owned by Directv and previous leased to someone else who never returned it, then I would demand my money back. Good luck.

Jay

HR20-100: I'm about to split OTA 4 ways and I need to see how much I loose and if I need a CM7777 pre-amp kit to boost it back up prior to the splitter. It's easy to check your SAT signal strength but how do you check your OTA signal strength?

Thanks :)

veryoldschool & Tom in OH.........thanks. Your help took me right to it. :)

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????

"Something" doesn't make sense here.
If you "bought it" what you got was in deed a lease box, BUT activating it shouldn't cost you $300, since you already have the box and the "lease fee" should be $4.99/month [like any owned additional receiver] plus the DVR fee if this is your first DVR.
There is a two year commitment and if you leave D* you will need to return the leased box.

Hello folks, I am yet another newbie to the new HD DVR D* boxes.

I have an appointment to get upgraded to the new HD boxes (HR20-700), but after reading posts here, I am confused between the 100 & 700.

If I have a 50' Plasma, and plan to watch all my TV through the D*, is there any real difference between the 100 & 700? I thought the 700 was the newer version, so I assumed that is what I should request, but after reading some posts here I am confused. Is the 100 more desirable, or will the 700 be what I need.

Thank you.

DW

Is the 100 more desirable, or will the 700 be what I need.
It doesn't matter, you'll be fine with either one. Aside from the 100 having a coax audio output, they're both exactly the same.

100 has a digital coaxial output in addition to the optical (700 has only optical)
100 has unused usb port on front - 700 has unused usb port in rear
100 has external antenna for RF - 700 has internal RF antenna
100 and 700 have slightly different diminsions.
no idea about OTA as I don't need/use
lights on front panel differ slightly on each model
Both are functional equivalents of each other, the only real difference is the additional Coax digital audio output on the 100
As for the actual graphic interface and features, they are identical. No difference at all in the actual operation of either.

-100 has a fan at the bottom of the case, and no vent holes on top panel: a consideration for stacking

I don't think the -700 has a fan: it has perforated vent holes on top

with respect: there are differences between the two: to many it makes no difference

but I purchased Middle Atlantic RSH-4A custom rack shelves for my new HR20-100's: they failed a couple of months later and D* replaced them with reconditioned HR20-700's which do not fit the rack shelves :(

As I use the HR20 more I'm seeing a few problems and was wondering if they were "know issues" or might they be specific to my DVR.

I was hoping they would just "go away" or clear up on their own, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Every once in awhile I get an audio dropout, it starts with a noise, a very brief burst of low pitched static and then the audio is gone. It comes back in about a minute at the most.

I also have what I'd call micro-stuttering of the video, very brief and not completely disruptive of the viewing experience, but annoying nonetheless.

The audio is a major annoyance as you lose dialog.

I can't say at this point for sure what channels it happens on, but I've notice it on the local channels and it's usually on playback of recorded material, I say that because I rarely watch anything live.

Anyone notice having the same problems?

Thanks.

As I use the HR20 more I'm seeing a few problems and was wondering if they were "know issues" or might they be specific to my DVR.

I was hoping they would just "go away" or clear up on their own, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Every once in awhile I get an audio dropout, it starts with a noise, a very brief burst of low pitched static and then the audio is gone. It comes back in about a minute at the most.

I also have what I'd call micro-stuttering of the video, very brief and not completely disruptive of the viewing experience, but annoying nonetheless.

The audio is a major annoyance as you lose dialog.

I can't say at this point for sure what channels it happens on, but I've notice it on the local channels and it's usually on playback of recorded material, I say that because I rarely watch anything live.

Anyone notice having the same problems?

Thanks.
I am not having those problems you describe.
I have the HR20-700.
I have noticed on only a couple of occasions, the whole video and audio drop out to a black screen, but only for 2-3 seconds, and has only happened 2 times in 1 month,
I would call to complain.

I am not having those problems you describe.
I have the HR20-700.
I have noticed on only a couple of occasions, the whole video and audio drop out to a black screen, but only for 2-3 seconds, and has only happened 2 times in 1 month,
I would call to complain.

I have the HR20-700 as well. Calling them is something I really wanted to avoid, but it's looks like I'll have to. I have to call to get my billing straightened out, again, so I'll just do it all at once.

Keenan,
Please post the results of your call. I have a 700 and I am getting similar problems as you. These are the problems I am having:
1. Audio drop out for 1-2 seconds. The speaker lights on my receiver go out during that time, so I know that the connection is lost. Today it happened and the lights stayed on, so I figured that it was the station's audio. Previously, it must have been the -700. I haven't had this problem in a while, though.
2. The worst problem which seems to be rater frequent is I get pixelation of video for 2-3 seconds and distorted or no audio. It almost looks like what would happen during bad weather, only we've got clear skies here in Atlanta. I am not sure if this is the -700 or if it is a cable (HDMI) problem. I use a HDMI-switching AVR and don't have this problem on the other inputs (Blu-Ray player, etc.). I am not sure if this is what is referred to as macroblocking or not.

I have the protection plan, so I may just call and have them take a look. The last technician who came out said "it was unfortunate, but not unbearable." He also didn't know DirecTV increased the number of HD channels, so I'm trying to keep his opinions in perspective! LOL

Anyone have any advice about my second problem?

with respect: there are differences between the two: to many it makes no difference

but I purchased Middle Atlantic RSH-4A custom rack shelves for my new HR20-100's: they failed a couple of months later and D* replaced them with reconditioned HR20-700's which do not fit the rack shelves :(

Can you further explain why they don't fit in the rack please?

Keenan,
Please post the results of your call. I have a 700 and I am getting similar problems as you. These are the problems I am having:
1. Audio drop out for 1-2 seconds. The speaker lights on my receiver go out during that time, so I know that the connection is lost. Today it happened and the lights stayed on, so I figured that it was the station's audio. Previously, it must have been the -700. I haven't had this problem in a while, though.
2. The worst problem which seems to be rater frequent is I get pixelation of video for 2-3 seconds and distorted or no audio. It almost looks like what would happen during bad weather, only we've got clear skies here in Atlanta. I am not sure if this is the -700 or if it is a cable (HDMI) problem. I use a HDMI-switching AVR and don't have this problem on the other inputs (Blu-Ray player, etc.). I am not sure if this is what is referred to as macroblocking or not.

I have the protection plan, so I may just call and have them take a look. The last technician who came out said "it was unfortunate, but not unbearable." He also didn't know DirecTV increased the number of HD channels, so I'm trying to keep his opinions in perspective! LOL

Anyone have any advice about my second problem?

I won't be calling until Monday, hoping to get someone who has a clue that way.

Can you further explain why they don't fit in the rack please?

Middle Atlantic has separate listings for the custom RSH-4A for each:they list separate part numbers for the HR20-100 and HR20-700

when I tried to fit the -700 in the MA -100 rack shelf I saw several issues:

-the width of the -700 is slightly larger so it does not fit in the cutout
-the height of the -700 is lower ; due in part to the rubber feet: but shimming it will not work because you will end up with a large gap on top or bottom of the unit: and the access doors will not be accessible due to interference of the cutout

the only solution is to order a new faceplate from MA

Note to all those with odd reception issues. Please take any issues occuring in October with a grain of salt. There are reports of sunspots which affect all satellite communications. I'd check around the web to get an accurate start and end date prior to worrying too much, as it may be a genuine technology problem and not your hardware.

What problems should I anticipate if I replace my H20 with an HR20 DVR and I only have one coax cable coming in. I fully understand I will not be able to take advantage of the dual tuners, but all I really want is to be able to record HD programming, not watch and record another channel at the same time.

D* tells me it is OK to do this, but I would like some real-world answers.

Thanks all in advance.

What problems should I anticipate if I replace my H20 with an HR20 DVR and I only have one coax cable coming in. I fully understand I will not be able to take advantage of the dual tuners, but all I really want is to be able to record HD programming, not watch and record another channel at the same time.

D* tells me it is OK to do this, but I would like some real-world answers.

Thanks all in advance.

I thought you were familiar, what you can't ask this "over there"? lol
It will work fine until you get your SWM.

...If I have a 50' Plasma, ...

Then you are the envy of everyone I know... ;)

Seriously, read some of the subsequent responses on the 100 vs 700 issue. The biggest ones (unless you have custom rack shelves) are the coax audio output and the fact that the 100 receives software updates after the 700. The 100 is the "newer" model.

I have also seen reports that the 100 has worse RF performance even though it has an external antenna.

btw:

I found a wireless phone jack (plugs into AC) that works nicely with the HR20 and passes caller ID info as well

RTX DUALjack RTX3241S - white: Heartland America (a liquidator) has them for $25.00 ea

Can we use the ethernet port for updates instead of the phone jack? I know that my directivo r10 needed a phone line to update and call in. Can I eliminate the phone line and use my router instead?

Can we use the ethernet port for updates instead of the phone jack? I know that my directivo r10 needed a phone line to update and call in. Can I eliminate the phone line and use my router instead?

the phone line is used only for Pay per view if you order with the remote control: updates are done via the dish

Ethernet is not presently used for updates or PPV (but maybe in the future?)

Ok so for a PPV liking girlfriend, I guess I should leave the phone line connected for now.

You can order PPV online as an alternative.

the phone line is used only for Pay per view if you order with the remote control: updates are done via the dish

Ethernet is not presently used for updates or PPV (but maybe in the future?)

Also it's used for the Beta VOD [DOD].

Man the installer has been here for 2 hours now. i have NO clue what he is doing. All I know is that he has been drilling for hours and just asked if he could borrow my drill since his is now dead.

I tell, ya. These HD dishes must way 8000lbs if it needs that much reinforcement. Hook it up already. I want to play with it now.

On a side note, what signal strength should I strive for since I was in the very high 90's with my other dish.

Man the installer has been here for 2 hours now. i have NO clue what he is doing. All I know is that he has been drilling for hours and just asked if he could borrow my drill since his is now dead.

I tell, ya. These HD dishes must way 8000lbs if it needs that much reinforcement. Hook it up already. I want to play with it now.

On a side note, what signal strength should I strive for since I was in the very high 90's with my other dish.

The same levels and they weigh just under 50 lbs with a big sail for wind.

Finally, he is inside the house. I ran the cables already. Let's turn this thing on already!

<Vent>

Wow, this receiver is a JOKE. I was hoping it would be a nice setup.

this totally reminds me of my D* RCA reciever I had back in '97. The menu looks the same. It's functional but lacks any character or creativity.

The box has trouble functioning, way to much lag. i can't believe it takes 10 seconds to load video and audio for an HD channel. And an amazing 5 seconds to load SD channels. So much for channel surfing. looks like we are channel crawling from now on.

Speaking of lag, I was in the info and setup and looking at the box info. Amazingly enough it has trouble scrolling down the page. Hold the button down to scropll and it is jerky and hesitates. not smooth at all. And slow.

This box is slow.

Granted I have only been using it for 20 minutes, but in those 20 minutes I have been annoyed. I am coming from a 3 year old tivo SD box. you would think that in those 3 years, D* could have come up with a better interface.

Now maybe I am doing something wrong, but this thing seems to be slow and clumsy. The guide and channel listings and station id's are all so basic and generic. this is the reason I have always stayed away from cable tv, mediocrity in their boxes. I see the disease has spread to DirecTV as well.

I am going to play around with settings and see if I can make this a more pleasant box to surf. I'll post back.

</Vent>

Give it a while to populate the guide and settle itself in, turn the scrolling effects off and turn off all SD resolutions (just leave 1080i and 720p on) - that should speed it up a bit.

Scrolling was the first thing that i turned off.

Is there a way to have a list guide pop up instead of the grid guide? More along the lines of the tivo r10 or tivo sd40 style?

Also it should download the most current software tonight and you'll notice it should be quite alot quicker afterwards.
Bish

Is there a way to have a list guide pop up instead of the grid guide? More along the lines of the tivo r10 or tivo sd40 style?
- Not by default. If you go into the Guide and click on the Info button over the channel, it will bring up the List Guide.

As for the slow performance, give it a few days to update and catch up to the Guide information. The HR20 should perform much faster than the HR10-250.

I found my HR20 to be much faster and more responsive than the HR10. Just wait until you delete a series link (season pass) or re arrange priorities. No more "Please wait, this may take a few minutes" (or an hour).

I just returned from a week long vacation and was worried but the HR20 was still going strong and doesn't seem to have missed any recordings while I was away.

Also it should download the most current software tonight and you'll notice it should be quite alot quicker afterwards.
Bish

I think it did this right away. If not, will it download updates while on, in standby mode or only when it's off? My old tivo was left on for 2.5 years. the only time that it was turned off was during the move.

- Not by default. If you go into the Guide and click on the Info button over the channel, it will bring up the List Guide.

I'll try this now, thanks.

As for the slow performance, give it a few days to update and catch up to the Guide information. The HR20 should perform much faster than the HR10-250.

I am coming from the DirecTivo R10 seen here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-video-recorders-dvrs/directv-r10-70-hour/4505-6474_7-31347967.html

Man I wish there was a way to transfer my 200+ season passes & priorities from my R10 to this box. This is going to be a long process.

The HR20 has a maximum of 50 series links (season passes).

Is an optical cable better than an HDMI for the HR-20? I am getting pixelation and audio dropouts. I know pixelation wouldn't be fixed with optical since that is audio, but will it help the audio dropouts?
I am getting used to the HR-20 - except for the pixelation.

The HR20 has a maximum of 50 series links (season passes).

Oh that sucks.

Is an optical cable better than an HDMI for the HR-20? I am getting pixelation and audio dropouts. I know pixelation wouldn't be fixed with optical since that is audio, but will it help the audio dropouts?
I am getting used to the HR-20 - except for the pixelation.

I use optical for audio thru my Home Theater receiver and HDMI for video to the TV. Audio dropouts abound either way. It is a source issue more than the HR20.
Pixelation is also a source issue. I can watch 480p DVD of Friday night Lights and get a perfect picture, when I watch the new season on NBC over 1080i, it is ghosty and pixely. Most of my network HD shows have flaws. ESPN is flawless. The networks should consult with ESPN and Discovery chanels tech crew as they are getting it right.