It was a nightmare. Throughout the Cards game, I kept envisioning Doug's loving acronym, kSDk.

This sounds like a low signal issue to the Moxi any new splitters installed recently?

This can also be an issue when it's hot and the AMP's on main line are driving up the signal or having issues with the heat.

The fact that the issue started in the heat of the day and resolved itself in the evening after things had time to cool down leads me to believe this may be your issue.

If you have a DPP44 switch, locate the Power Inserter for it. It looks just like a power inserter for a laptop....A/C power cord/black box/cord to switch. Check to insure the green LED is lit on the power inserter box. It is usually (but not always) located behind your 622 or TV.



What is a Power Inserter? I have the 622 and the installer did not install any device other than the 622. Doesn't the 622 require the use of a DPP44?

It was a nightmare. Throughout the Cards game, I kept envisioning Doug's loving acronym, kSDk.

If Doug were here, I think he'd be quoting Tina Turner right now.... "What's love got to do with it?" :D

This sounds like a low signal issue to the Moxi any new splitters installed recently?

This can also be an issue when it's hot and the AMP's on main line are driving up the signal or having issues with the heat.

The fact that the issue started in the heat of the day and resolved itself in the evening after things had time to cool down leads me to believe this may be your issue.
It was OTA, and definitely a station issue. At one point, during the latter innings, the display blanked, and KSDK switched to the SD feed, where it remained until after coming out of the next commercial.

What's a Moxi? :D

What is a Power Inserter? I have the 622 and the installer did not install any device other than the 622. Doesn't the 622 require the use of a DPP44?
Ferl,
Depending on your configuration, it is not necessary to have a DPP44 switch. If you go into system information, on page 1, in the box labeled "h," the software will display which switch is in your system. If you do have a DPP44, then you also have a power inserter somewhere in the system, which must be powered on in order for the system to operate. A power inserter looks just like the small black box located between a A/C power cord, and a laptop.

To view the correct System Information screen, use Menu >6 >1 >3. The first item listed next to "Device:" is the switch in your system. In the sampling below, the system has a DP34 switch. The page will look something like this:

http://members.aol.com/kdg454/sysinfo.jpg

I was wondering if those with DSL would mind posting their DSL transceiver stats.

If you would like to participate, please post if known your provider, city, modem, subscribed data rate along with your stats.

Disclaimer: I don't have any working interest in any particular provider, just a dude whose curious in these sort of things.

I'm especially curious in those cases who had difficulty going from 6MB to 10 MB via Centurytel.

I'll post mine for an example:

(My modem stats are available via the embedded web server of the modem on the
troubleshooting/transceiver stats page)
CenturyTel
Troy, Missouri
Westell 6100
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 1536 256
Margin (dB) 31.0 27.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 11.5 6.0
Transmit Power (dBm) 13.2 13.0

(In its most basic form for those who are unfamiliar Signal/Noise margin - higher is better Attenuation lower is better)

TIA to all those who participate.

My Dish 622 got the USB support update last night, but as John says, I can't activate it until the 15th. I did confirm that it will accept a hard drive and format it, but of course it won't do anything with it until activation. Dish suppport hasn't been given training on it yet, but preliminary answers to my questions indicate:

1. Multiple hard drives will not be supported at the same time.
2. If a 622 fails, a new 622 can be tied to the old external HDD on your account (useful since I don't want to lose the Cardinals World Series video I didn't record last year).
3. Hard drives are tied to particular receivers - this to prevent people from loading material onto a drive and giving it to someone else.

External hard drive support also has a section for managing photos, too.

Ken, does this sound right from what you've been told, especially the part about moving the hard drive to a replacement receiver?
Joe,
Some follow up on this....
The EHDD can currently (once activated on 8/15) be moved between other household 622's up to 3 times. Unlimited HomeKeys will be available later this year.

Activation fee is one-time, per account, $39.95. Activate after 8/15 @ 888-241-2205.

Multiple drives is not currently supported simultaneously, though is planned. It was not clear as whether you could use 2 drives, one at a time. Still, if this is possible, you could only do it 3 times, which essentially is once. Once you went from HDD1 to HDD2, and then back to HDD1, until you had a HomeKey, that would disable HDD2.

Joe,
Some follow up on this....
The EHDD can currently (once activated on 8/15) be moved between other household 622's up to 3 times. Unlimited HomeKeys will be available later this year.

Activation fee is one-time, per account, $39.95. Activate after 8/15 @ 888-241-2205.

Multiple drives is not currently supported simultaneously, though is planned. It was not clear as whether you could use 2 drives, one at a time. Still, if this is possible, you could only do it 3 times, which essentially is once. Once you went from HDD1 to HDD2, and then back to HDD1, until you had a HomeKey, that would disable HDD2.

That's convoluted. Good to know, but convoluted, especially if they're going to change it down the line to unlimited. All the more reason to put as big a hard drive on there as you can.

Let me make sure I understand this - until I get that 750GB drive, I can use a smaller one if I want, then replace it with the 750? And I can add as many drives as I want to the 622, one after the other, but I can't at any point switch arbitrarily back and forth among them? Once I've changed three times, I'm stuck with the drive I'm using unless I want to add a completely new drive which will be formatted and empty?

Thats not how I understood it (Dish external drives).
Over at that other satellite website that focuses on Dish they posted a PDF of the "rules". Basically it seemed the transfer only came into effect if you connected to another box. There didn't seem to be any rule about how many times you connected/disconnected a drive - but maybe new information has come out. Scott even talked about having a drive for movies, sports, kids shows, etc with no mention of the limitation.

Anyhow - I suggest just going with DirecTV and getting a 2-3 TB external solution. :)

Another interesting tid-bit on this is Western Digital is coming out with a DirecTV branded external drive. Wonder how much more it will cost to put the logo on it!!! :D

Chris

I was wondering if those with DSL would mind posting their DSL transceiver stats.

If you would like to participate, please post if known your provider, city, modem, subscribed data rate along with your stats.

Disclaimer: I don't have any working interest in any particular provider, just a dude whose curious in these sort of things.

I'm especially curious in those cases who had difficulty going from 6MB to 10 MB via Centurytel.

I'll post mine for an example:

(My modem stats are available via the embedded web server of the modem on the
troubleshooting/transceiver stats page)




Scott
CenturyTel
Troy, Missouri
Westell 6100
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 1536 256
Margin (dB) 31.0 27.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 11.5 6.0
Transmit Power (dBm) 13.2 13.0

(In its most basic form for those who are unfamiliar Signal/Noise margin - higher is better Attenuation lower is better)

TIA to all those who participate.
Centurytel
O'Fallon, MO
Westell
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 7168 896
Margin (dB) 12.0 9.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 23.5 6.0
Transmit Power (dBm) 18.9 12.3

Scott

That's convoluted. Good to know, but convoluted, especially if they're going to change it down the line to unlimited. All the more reason to put as big a hard drive on there as you can.

Let me make sure I understand this - until I get that 750GB drive, I can use a smaller one if I want, then replace it with the 750? And I can add as many drives as I want to the 622, one after the other, but I can't at any point switch arbitrarily back and forth among them? Once I've changed three times, I'm stuck with the drive I'm using unless I want to add a completely new drive which will be formatted and empty?
I did a poor job of explaining it. :o Let's take it up in PM's. Later on today, I have some outside-the-office (home :) ) appointments to tend to. Until then, take a gander at this (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=1047001#post1047001), James speaks much clearer English than I do:

little off topic ...but i get better answers in a local forum

im starting a small business in the house but dont have a home phone

which company does everyone recommend,

there are a couple things i need with this phone

i need 2 -3 more jacks installed, for some reason i only have one in the whole house,
also i want to get the ringmate to ring mine and my partners cell phones if we are not at home

ive done a little research, and im still 50-50 on who i should get

i have dish for HD and charter for internet


which brings me to a dish question

i have to vip622 and love it
im getting another HD tv in the basement
what box or setup would be best for just one tv non dvr.... i think??

i have the 211 now
will i have to pay another 20/month for hd programming with a new hdbox
plus a monthly rental fee for the box?


i guess my ultimate ? is ...

has anybody figured out how much it cost to add one more HD TV to the mix with E*....



thx to all that reply

i guess my ultimate ? is ...

has anybody figured out how much it cost to add one more HD TV to the mix with E*....



thx to all that reply

I have only been with them for 3 months, it looks like the cost of the xtra box. I have a 622 and a 211...

Belo and Charter:

Anyone think that Belo and Charter will settle their differences before the NFL season starts? So we can see the games in HD?

I'd recommend an antenna or a call to your favorite friendly satellite company. If the SuperBowl and other major events haven't been enough to settle differences I don't think the start of a new football season will help.

Chris

Belo and Charter:

Anyone think that Belo and Charter will settle their differences before the NFL season starts? So we can see the games in HD?


i got tired of waiting
and dont think they are anywhere near getting anything done this year

go to sat it is worth it

Belo and Charter:

Anyone think that Belo and Charter will settle their differences before the NFL season starts? So we can see the games in HD?


Remember, it's just "temporary."

-former Charter Subscriber

which brings me to a dish question
i have to vip622 and love it
im getting another HD tv in the basement
what box or setup would be best for just one tv non dvr.... i think??
i have the 211 now
will i have to pay another 20/month for hd programming with a new hdbox
plus a monthly rental fee for the box?

Another 211. If your account is eligible for another lease, you monthly cost will be $11.00 ($6.00/lease fee + $5.00 additional receiver fee)

Monthly HD charge is per account, and not per receiver, so no, only your current $20.00/mo HD fee.

If your account is eligible for a Dish'n It Up upgrade, no up front cost for the additional receiver.

Call AHDTS to inquire further: 800-969-4388

Belo and Charter:

Anyone think that Belo and Charter will settle their differences before the NFL season starts? So we can see the games in HD?

Short answer is no.

I would add that if NFL is important to you, call Directv and ask for their NFL Sunday Ticket promo. :) Or, you can watch all the games at my house. Hope you like watching Charger games though. :)

Scott

I just picked up a 750GB Western Digital MyBook external USB2 hard drive at Best Buy, on sale for $199. That's $80 off the regular price, and it's really about 3% less than that for Reward Zone card holders. First thing tomorrow, Dish gets the call to activate my 622 to support USB.

Thanks, again, Ken, for all the help you provide for St. Louis Dish subscribers. You prove over and over that if we need the Dish, you're the go-to guy.

Ferl,
Depending on your configuration, it is not necessary to have a DPP44 switch. If you go into system information, on page 1, in the box labeled "h," the software will display which switch is in your system. If you do have a DPP44, then you also have a power inserter somewhere in the system, which must be powered on in order for the system to operate. A power inserter looks just like the small black box located between a A/C power cord, and a laptop.

To view the correct System Information screen, use Menu >6 >1 >3. The first item listed next to "Device:" is the switch in your system. In the sampling below, the system has a DP34 switch. The page will look something like this:

http://members.aol.com/kdg454/sysinfo.jpg


That Screen indicates that I have the DPP44. I do not have the external power supply as the switch is mounted on the dish. Does this create any problems?

I must be getting old...I remember when Charter used to provide subscription TV services. ;)

From today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
_______________________________________________

The Town and Country-based cable provider, which is trying hard to expand its phone business, launched a new international calling plan on Monday with the fixed-price attributes of a calling card but without, Charter says, the uncertainty about what you're buying.

It's taking a whack at the $4 billion-a-year prepaid card business, which is built largely on serving immigrants. Tiny companies, lightly regulated, sell $5 and $10 cards with names like "Da Bomb," and "Sweet Choice Carribbean," at delis and groceries in ethnic neighborhoods nationwide.
_______________________________________________

To read the full story, click here (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/B8C62B0DBBA434CA862573370009D310?OpenDocument)

Thanks, again, Ken, for all the help you provide for St. Louis Dish subscribers. You prove over and over that if we need the Dish, you're the go-to guy.

Amen, brother!

That Screen indicates that I have the DPP44. I do not have the external power supply as the switch is mounted on the dish. Does this create any problems?
Ferl,
The PLUS system (DPP44 and + LNB's) require a low-voltage power supply. As you probably know, standard RG6 coax is capable of carrying this power, and there is a means of back-feeding from your receiver, up to the switch/LNB to get this low voltage power. However, in other conversations, it has been my experience this is not the best scenario, which would explain why every DPP44 switch is shipped with the Power Inserter.

I can't tell you what, if any effect it has on the system by powering the switch/LNB's through coax, and it may very well be, others have said it is not the best, because it circumvents the way it was designed.

IOW, I've never heard of any sub having issues, that was cured by adding the power inserter to their configuration. Though, I have know of several subs call DISH after their install, and request the power inserter be installed, which DISH will accommodate.

IMO, if your system isn't broken, just leave it be.

BTW, I'm sure you looked, but when an installed mounts the DPP44 on the dish, he/she will located the power inserter somewhere behind, beneath, your primary receiver/TV/Entertainment center.

im starting a small business in the house but dont have a home phone...there are a couple things i need with this phone .. .i need 2 -3 more jacks installed, for some reason i only have one in the whole house,
also i want to get the ringmate to ring mine and my partners cell phones if we are not at home


Google just purchase a company called Grand Central (http://www.grandcentral.com/home/intro) that provides some pretty neat features that could do what you want. It allows you to pick from a pool of local numbers available and can auto-forward (and screen) your calls to multiple phones at the same timeme (home, cell, partners cell, etc). It even allows you to transfer calls back and for between them.
It will require a home phone and/or cell phone as well since it doesn't actually provide phone service.

Good luck,
Token

I had my racks powder coated and completed assembly.
Pictures below. The large one will hold my HT gear. The small one is a matching stand for my center channel speaker. I'll add pics when the install is complete. Probably a week or two as I'm waiting for the return of my Denon 2807 to actually move my components. All in all I'm very happy with the results. It all cost me a total of about $350 including getting myself a drill press :cool:

AL Extrusion - Free
screws - $40
Glass - $120
Powder Coating - $80

I had my racks powder coated and completed assembly.
Pictures below. The large one will hold my HT gear. The small one is a matching stand for my center channel speaker. I'll add pics when the install is complete. Probably a week or two as I'm waiting for the return of my Denon 2807 to actually move my components. All in all I'm very happy with the results. It all cost me a total of about $350 including getting myself a drill press :cool:

AL Extrusion - Free
screws - $40
Glass - $120
Powder Coating - $80

Beautiful! Nice work. Could I suggest you put wheels on it before you load it up with gear. That would make it easier to get to the back of your equipment, not to mention cleaning/moving. I make something similar in wood years ago, but I eventually redesigned it with wheels so I could get to things easier.

My Dish installer said that the power-supplied DPP44 was not necessary in my case (he installed it anyway), but that as you add more receivers it becomes needed. Although, my installer didn't really seem to know a whole lot about the Dish technology, so he may have been feeding me misinformation.

On another note, my appointment on Monday to fix my HD locals took a while but ended up well. I had a 8:00-12:00 window, and the tech showed up at 12:15. After trying all kinds of stuff (such as re-aiming the dish, replacing the 622, etc.), he eventually had to go back to the "shop" and get a new LNB (this might be the wrong term, but I'm talking about the little round things inside the dish that get the signal). This guy seemed to know what he was doing much more than the installer. He finished up around 2:30 (so much for this taking half-a-day).

He also mentioned that the folks at Dish think that a thruster on the 118 satellite may not be functioning, so a lot of people are having trouble because the satellite is about a half degree away from where it should be.

Finally, he also said something about Dish planning on launching two new satellites next year.

I'm sure a lot of you already know about this stuff, but I thought I'd pass it along anyway.

Mike

Beautiful! Nice work. Could I suggest you put wheels on it before you load it up with gear. That would make it easier to get to the back of your equipment, not to mention cleaning/moving. I make something similar in wood years ago, but I eventually redesigned it with wheels so I could get to things easier.

Thanks! Already planned for the wheels, but they have to be the right size and design. I'm headed to home depot/lowes now to see if I can find the right ones and that they'll support the weight. If I can't find them, I'll leave the rack 4-6 in from the wall until I can.

Dave:

They did a very nice job on the powder coating at a very reasonable rate.

First rate look and work :D

Cheers,

Paul Allen Says He May Sell Charter; Considers Other Options

From the UPI newswire:
________________________________________________

Paul Allen said Wednesday he might sell or privatize the No. 4 U.S. cable company, Charter Communication Inc., which he controls.

Allen, who has a 51.7 percent economic stake in Charter and controls 91 percent of the voting power, said in a regulatory filing he might buy all the remaining stock he doesn’t own, The Wall Street Journal reported.

At Charter's current stock price, that would amount to about $1 billion.

Allen, who formed Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates, also said in his filing he was considering recapitalizing or restructuring Charter to reduce its debt.

With debt exceeding $19 billion, the company is one of the most highly leveraged in the cable industry, the Journal said.

Allen may also consider "other extraordinary corporate transactions, such as mergers or reorganization or sales of material assets," his filing said.

Charter shares closed down 9 cents, or 3.38 percent, at $2.57 a share on the Nasdaq stock exchange. They were trading close to $5 a share about one month ago, the Journal said.
________________________________________________

Here's the full Wall Street Journal story that the UPI news story on Charter was based upon:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118720502013498740.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology

Should have gone to the original source to begin with...

I had USB support activated on the Dish 622 today. I had to do it twice, since I previously had a work order in for Saturday to have a tech look into my problem with HD locals. Apparently, if you have a work order scheduled, they can't add anything to it, even though it's completely unrelated. They had to cancel my Saturday work order to activate USB support. Then, of course, they couldn't just give me my Saturday time frame back. Apparently, that time had been sucked into a worm hole and no longer existed in the normal space-time continuum.

USB works just fine. No problems moving material over from the main drive.

Doug,

Here is the new DISH HD channels for the HD Programming Chart:

Channel Number Number HD Format Avg Daily Non-HD Dolby 5.1
Home Mapped Content Display
Discovery HD 9487 182 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
TLC HD 9488 183 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Animal Planet HD 9489 184 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
Science HD 9490 193 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
MHD 9469 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Golf/Versus HD 9468 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹

*listed as all HD, have viewed up-converted content
¹capable, not always broadcast in 5.1
All subs with HD Package should now be receiving these channels.
Note: History HD will launch Sep 1st.

Moman (anyone else),
Have you noticed any improvement with the 118 locals, other than KTVI?

DISH ended up partitioning the larger HDD in the 722 for more user content.

ViP622: 200hr SD / 30hr HD
ViP722: 350hr SD / 55hr HD

Though, with External support, not a big deal

Only other difference is the 722 is a brushed-black finish as opposed to the 622 gunmetal finish.

The trick issues (erratic FF/SlowMo, etc) seem to be cured with the new s/w.

Rob's DBSTalk "First Look 722" HERE (http://www.dbstalk.com/722/dbstalk_vip722_first_look.pdf) for those who haven't seen it.

I had USB support activated on the Dish 622 today. I had to do it twice, since I previously had a work order in for Saturday to have a tech look into my problem with HD locals. Apparently, if you have a work order scheduled, they can't add anything to it, even though it's completely unrelated. They had to cancel my Saturday work order to activate USB support. Then, of course, they couldn't just give me my Saturday time frame back. Apparently, that time had been sucked into a worm hole and no longer existed in the normal space-time continuum.

Joe,
Procedures like that make way to much sense, and would be far to easy for any large company to implement. :D

Moman (anyone else),
Have you noticed any improvement with the 118 locals, other than KTVI?

Ken,

Sorry I haven't updated you as promised. Too darn busy to spend much time in front of the set these days, to see if all these efforts changed anything for the better. Fortunately, I have not yet seen the KDNL "Pizza" breakup. This used to happen quite often.

Now I find myself more involved in the new software and HD channels. I promise a more educated reply when I know for sure. Like the fellow before me, virtually every component in the chain has been either swapped, tweaked or tightened: Receiver, LNB, dish aim, cables, etc. If the problem recurs, the cause must be either in the uplink or somewhere in space.

Another 211. If your account is eligible for another lease, you monthly cost will be $11.00 ($6.00/lease fee + $5.00 additional receiver fee)

Monthly HD charge is per account, and not per receiver, so no, only your current $20.00/mo HD fee.

If your account is eligible for a Dish'n It Up upgrade, no up front cost for the additional receiver.

Call AHDTS to inquire further: 800-969-4388


just got off the phone with them $99 upgrade fee + 6 a/month for the 211

199 upgrade for the 722

i also brought up the fox and nbc problem

this definitely is a local problem
he said that alot of the european channels and soccer are on 118
and they never have complaints about them


we should all blow up murdicks phone #/ office
until they(local fox) fix this problem

how hard is it to fix
is it money?

Doug,

Here is the new DISH HD channels for the HD Programming Chart:

Channel Number Number HD Format Avg Daily Non-HD Dolby 5.1
Home Mapped Content Display
Discovery HD 9487 182 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
TLC HD 9488 183 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Animal Planet HD 9489 184 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
Science HD 9490 193 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
MHD 9469 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Golf/Versus HD 9468 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹

*listed as all HD, have viewed up-converted content
¹capable, not always broadcast in 5.1
All subs with HD Package should now be receiving these channels.
Note: History HD will launch Sep 1st.

I saw quite a bit of upconverted content on these channels today, but I knew this was going to be the case. Still, it's a few more choices. I saw an episode of Myth Busters in HD tonight, and surfed through a few others on the 6 new Dish HD channels.

Joe,
Procedures like that make way to much sense, and would be far to easy for any large company to implement. :D

I can just see the programmer putting together the software that forces CSR's to do things like what happened to me today. At least it looks like an out of touch programmer wrote the code that won't allow CSR's to make simple, logical changes to work orders. Then again, it could have been the bone-headed demands of upper management, tying the hands of a programmer who wanted to do it the right way. In either case, it's "big stupid."

i also brought up the fox and nbc problem
this definitely is a local problem
he said that alot of the european channels and soccer are on 118
and they never have complaints about them
we should all blow up murdicks phone #/ office
until they(local fox) fix this problem
how hard is it to fix
is it money?
There are 2 different issues. The FOX/KTVI is a local KTVI issue, also effected by the DISH 118 issue. The local KTVI issue has been around since KTVI launched their digital station, I'd guess over 2 years ago.
The NBC/KMOV is neither a network or local issue, it is a DISH 118 issue.

With the absence of any standardization, all the different software's, and different hardware configurations, used throughout the industry, issues of this type are far more complex than they may seem to be. It's not simply a matter of funding, or lack of desire and effort on the part of both parties. It's a matter of complex diagnostics, and the inability to effectively communicate across a industry where everyone is on a different page.

The added burden of owners/shareholders forcing directions towards revenue bearing segments of their businesses, further complicate matters. Digital streams, for the most part, are still not revenue producing products.

Doug,

Here is the new DISH HD channels for the HD Programming Chart:

Channel Number Number HD Format Avg Daily Non-HD Dolby 5.1
Home Mapped Content Display
Discovery HD 9487 182 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
TLC HD 9488 183 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Animal Planet HD 9489 184 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
Science HD 9490 193 1080i 24/7* -- Yes¹
MHD 9469 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹
Golf/Versus HD 9468 --- 1080i 24/7 -- Yes¹

*listed as all HD, have viewed up-converted content
¹capable, not always broadcast in 5.1
All subs with HD Package should now be receiving these channels.
Note: History HD will launch Sep 1st.Ken,

Thanks for passing this on. Not sure I have my master list with me (I'm in Texas), but will do some hunting later.

In the meantime, two things I'm not clear about from your list. First, what is the distinction/explanation between Home and Mapped? And second, what is Discovery HD doing in this list? Is this different that Discovery HD Theater, which was one of the original (perhaps THE original) DISH HD channels?

Thanks for teeing up this info.

FYI:
For those with limited RG6 cabling the DirecTV SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) is now available. This is a multiswitch that can carry 5 to 8 tuners on a single cable and support diplexing. The multiswitch also has 2 "legacy" outputs for receivers that do not support the SWM and it can also be stacked with the standard WB68 or installed in parallel with WB68s or other SWMs.

So those with a single RG6 cable can have dual tuners and an OTA antenna without any additional wiring.

Note: RG59 has worked on shorter runs. Compression fittings are highly recommended (and if DirecTV installs they will change all ends to compression - even in-wall ends.)

Chris

Ken,

Thanks for passing this on. Not sure I have my master list with me (I'm in Texas), but will do some hunting later.

In the meantime, two things I'm not clear about from your list. First, what is the distinction/explanation between Home and Mapped? And second, what is Discovery HD doing in this list? Is this different that Discovery HD Theater, which was one of the original (perhaps THE original) DISH HD channels?

Thanks for teeing up this info.

As long as we're teeing up channel updates, on September 12, Charter (provided they're still around) is adding:

A&E HD channel 795
History Channel HD channel 796
StarzHD Channel 790

This info was printed on the last bill from Charter, so the info should be solid.

You just have to wonder where all this bandwidth to carry these channels was 6-12 months ago.

Overall I think we as consumers are seeing the benefit of DirecTVs plan across the industry. Whether you go with DirecTV or not, everyone seems to be getting more HD channels.

Hopefully DirecTV will also continue with what appears to be their trend of improving HD picture quality as well and puts all the new channels up with full source resolution and sufficient bandwidth. That will then raise the bar from quantity - to quantity with quality.

Chris

Anyone else noticing audio dropouts on KSDK. I am getting this on my 622, OTA and the Dish HD channel.

Ken,

Thanks for passing this on. Not sure I have my master list with me (I'm in Texas), but will do some hunting later.

In the meantime, two things I'm not clear about from your list. First, what is the distinction/explanation between Home and Mapped? And second, what is Discovery HD doing in this list? Is this different that Discovery HD Theater, which was one of the original (perhaps THE original) DISH HD channels?

Thanks for teeing up this info.
Doug,
Up until the 15th, DISH had Discovery SD and Discovery HD Theater. The Discovery HD added is the HD version of Discovery SD, so yes, it is different than Discovery HD Theater, but a HD simulcast of Discovery SD.

Sorry about the mapped channels, I see now, it is not something you capture on the chart. FYI, all of the DISH HD channels are in the 9xxx range. The s/w maps them down to a lower virtual channel number, putting them SbS with their SD sister channel, and making them easier to locate.

Texas, you say....a cooling-off trip? It's like, 138 bazillion degrees here!

Thanks! Already planned for the wheels, but they have to be the right size and design. I'm headed to home depot/lowes now to see if I can find the right ones and that they'll support the weight. If I can't find them, I'll leave the rack 4-6 in from the wall until I can.

Rack looks awesome, so great job. Personally, I'd leave the wheels off as It would look better without. If you need to move it, get some of those mover-helper-disc-thingy's which you could easily place under each leg when needed.

Scott

Texas, you say....a cooling-off trip? It's like, 138 bazillion degrees here!

Naw.....he went down there for the rain.

Walt

FYI:
For those with limited RG6 cabling the DirecTV SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) is now available. This is a multiswitch that can carry 5 to 8 tuners on a single cable and support diplexing. The multiswitch also has 2 "legacy" outputs for receivers that do not support the SWM and it can also be stacked with the standard WB68 or installed in parallel with WB68s or other SWMs.

So those with a single RG6 cable can have dual tuners and an OTA antenna without any additional wiring.

Note: RG59 has worked on shorter runs. Compression fittings are highly recommended (and if DirecTV installs they will change all ends to compression - even in-wall ends.)

Chris

This is great news, as I was just going to go run a new line around the outside of my Fathers home to get him his 2nd tuner on the HR20.

Where can I get one of these SWM's?

Scott

If he already has the HR20 I'm not sure of the route, but people are getting them with new HR20 installs/adds. If you call DirecTV they may be able to help (or even better yet, if you have the phone number of the company that did the installation they are more likely to have pricing and options for you).

Chris

Hey all,

Sorry, I guess I have become a lurker, life gets a little busy with new twins.

If I have missed it I am sorry. I was wondering about the External Hard Drive on the 622. I have read most of what has been posted. But I haven't seen too much about the actual interface once it has been activated and installed.

How easy or difficult is it to access programs stored on that external drive or to toggle between it and the internal drive?

Can these programs be viewed fairly seamlessly?

I think I read or heard that only recorded programs can be moved to the external HDD, for example a person cannot record through the 622 directly to the external HDD, is this true? Also can a program be moved back to the internal drive after being placed on the external drive? I'm not sure why one would want to do that, just curious.

Again I apologize if this has all been covered, but I have seen more discussion concerning rules, costs, and activation and less about the actual interface. If this will be too redundant to post then Ken or anyone with information can PM me, if it will be beneficial for the group I thought it could be posted in the forum. Thanks.

I think I got most of my questions answered with this:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=18163&d=1187031743

I hope posting that link is ok. So are there any quirks or great features we should know about?

If someone makes a post and no one is there to read it, then did that person really post?

So how much programming SD or HD should a 750GB drive hold?

If someone makes a post and no one is there to read it, then did that person really post?

So how much programming SD or HD should a 750GB drive hold?
Depending on compression, resolution, etc....40-50ish HD hours...YMMV.

Not to worry, it's a very user friendly interface. I'm sure, when she gets the time, she'll show you how to use it. :D

They sell external drives at Babies R Us now?

Babies R Us? What's that? :eek:

So am I reading conflicting opinions? Can I fill one external HDD, then fill another and switch between the two on the same 622?

Edit: I assume this will not work on the 942??? I have not been home to check.

Babies R Us? What's that? :eek:

So am I reading conflicting opinions? Can I fill one external HDD, then fill another and switch between the two on the same 622?

Yes.

Edit: I assume this will not work on the 942??? I have not been home to check.

The 942 doesn't accept external drives; and it's a USB 1.1 interface so it's very bandwidth constrained for HD playback.

Cheers,

Thanks John, and I'm not gonna argue with you about USB speeds, not that I would even know anything about that. ;)

So should I wait for the spin down issue to iron out, or just find a HDD that doesn't spin down? From what I am reading this appears to be about the only major bug so far. Should I give them more than a day or two to find the bugs? lol

FYI:
For those with limited RG6 cabling the DirecTV SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) is now available. This is a multiswitch that can carry 5 to 8 tuners on a single cable and support diplexing. The multiswitch also has 2 "legacy" outputs for receivers that do not support the SWM and it can also be stacked with the standard WB68 or installed in parallel with WB68s or other SWMs.

So those with a single RG6 cable can have dual tuners and an OTA antenna without any additional wiring.

Note: RG59 has worked on shorter runs. Compression fittings are highly recommended (and if DirecTV installs they will change all ends to compression - even in-wall ends.)

Chris


Thats nice to hear as this multiswitch & my company taking over my Pipeline account were some of the main reasons I had held off even looking at a dish provider.. I have no interest in having anymore holes put in the house to support additional tuners n' such....

Now to just sit back and wait and see how the hd roll outs go to figure out who I want to go with and who can save me the most money.

-Phatty

Thanks John, and I'm not gonna argue with you about USB speeds, not that I would even know anything about that. ;)

So should I wait for the spin down issue to iron out, or just find a HDD that doesn't spin down? From what I am reading this appears to be about the only major bug so far. Should I give them more than a day or two to find the bugs? lol
What is the "spin down issue?" I've been using a IoMagic 500gb and a WD MyBook 500gb. The first for about 3 months, the second only for about 2 weeks, but I have not experienced any issues.

Perhaps are you referring to the normal HDD inactivity spin-down, and how it relates to the receiver in operation? Admittedly, I have been doing most of my transfers at night, while in stand-by. I have moved the automatic update time up to 5AM, and begin transfers just before I put the receiver into stand-by for the night.

On another note, I am able to move my EHDD back-and-forth between the 722 and 622. With 50 events (appx 325gb) stored on it from the 722, I plugged it into the 622. A message appears asking if I want to configure the EHDD for use with the 622...selected yes, 10 seconds later, the EHDD menu appeared with all the events intact. I then moved it back to the 722...same message...accessible and all events intact.

FYI:
For those with limited RG6 cabling the DirecTV SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) is now available. This is a multiswitch that can carry 5 to 8 tuners on a single cable and support diplexing. The multiswitch also has 2 "legacy" outputs for receivers that do not support the SWM and it can also be stacked with the standard WB68 or installed in parallel with WB68s or other SWMs.

So those with a single RG6 cable can have dual tuners and an OTA antenna without any additional wiring.

Note: RG59 has worked on shorter runs. Compression fittings are highly recommended (and if DirecTV installs they will change all ends to compression - even in-wall ends.)

Chris

I just got off the phone with D* as I was ready to pull the trigger on ordering a HR20. This was only my 2nd attempt to at least get something off the advertised $299 price. Anyway, the CSR couldn't find any information that SWM was officially released. He was well aware of the beta testing, but knew nothing of its general availability.

Anyway, I'll try back another day.

Have there been any issues where the Moxi won't record a program? The last few times I've tried to record a program, it didn't record and a I saw an error message stating, "signal not received". My cable has been working fine.

There are 2 different issues. The FOX/KTVI is a local KTVI issue, also effected by the DISH 118 issue. The local KTVI issue has been around since KTVI launched their digital station, I'd guess over 2 years ago.
The NBC/KMOV is neither a network or local issue, it is a DISH 118 issue.


Since my Monday tech appointment/satellite readjustment, I've been really happy with my HD locals. I haven't had any cutouts or mosaic pizzas since then.

On an unrelated note, is there generally anything you can do about audio/video sync issues? I recorded "The Big Lebowski" in HD on my DVR about 2 weeks ago (on Showtime HD) in hopes of leaving it on there for a long while, and the sound was WAY OFF. So much so that I deleted it. Do you think this is something that would have been equally bad if I watched it live, or could it have something to do with a glitch in the recording process?

The dude abides...

Mike

Since my Monday tech appointment/satellite readjustment, I've been really happy with my HD locals. I haven't had any cutouts or mosaic pizzas since then.

On an unrelated note, is there generally anything you can do about audio/video sync issues? I recorded "The Big Lebowski" in HD on my DVR about 2 weeks ago (on Showtime HD) in hopes of leaving it on there for a long while, and the sound was WAY OFF. So much so that I deleted it. Do you think this is something that would have been equally bad if I watched it live, or could it have something to do with a glitch in the recording process?

The dude abides...

Mike
Could be either Mike, There isn't any ongoing issue with audio sync and recordings, which would more so indicate a broadcast issue, though, not to say, it doesn't happen from time to time.

I have been usually successful at curing a audio sync issue during event playback, by going through a random sequence of trick commands....
Pause; Skip Back x3; Skip Fwd x3; Play; Pause; Skip Fwd; Skip Back; Play...
Not specifically those commands, just any random sequence, will sometimes sync the audio back up with the video. When it doesn't, I usually attribute it to a broadcast issue.



wondering if ST knows LT is sitting on Saturday...resting him for playing real teams

Pause; Skip Back x3; Skip Fwd x3; Play; Pause; Skip Fwd; Skip Back; Play...wondering if ST knows LT is sitting on Saturday...resting him for playing real teams

Ken,

I truly appreciate your ongoing input and suggestions, but I must say that your suggestion sounds like some way to get extra lives in Contra...

up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,b,a,start.... anyone on-board ;)?

Mike

Ken,

I truly appreciate your ongoing input and suggestions, but I must say that your suggestion sounds like some way to get extra lives in Contra...

up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,b,a,start.... anyone on-board ;)?

Mike
Laughing....but, it works. If they'd learn how to develop s/w, we wouldn't have to create ridiculous workarounds, ya :)

On your sequence, I would have began with "start."
just sayin' :D


OT, for a change....who here is using Gmail?

I'm getting used to Gmail, after a friend (kdg454) recommended it. :) I'm still acclimating myself to it, but I like it. I have been using Hotmail for a couple of years, and MS just did a makeover with Hotmail Live, which I haven't tried yet but will. I've told most people to get in touch with me via my Gmail account - what a great way to reconnect with friends I haven't emailed for a while.

I've found the random series of FF, pause, REW, etc., fixes lip sync in some situations, too. It is hard to tell, because stations still don't have a good handle on this problem, and it crops up in the broadcasts fairly frequently.

I've had a return of an old problem with Ch. 30. Some of the eps of Men in Trees that they're rerunning now do that irritating micro-freeze-skip again. Haven't seen that for a long while. Maybe it's related to the recent problems Jim's reported on.

I'm getting used to Gmail, after a friend (kdg454) recommended it. :) I'm still acclimating myself to it, but I like it. I have been using Hotmail for a couple of years, and MS just did a makeover with Hotmail Live, which I haven't tried yet but will. I've told most people to get in touch with me via my Gmail account - what a great way to reconnect with friends I haven't emailed for a while.

I've found the random series of FF, pause, REW, etc., fixes lip sync in some situations, too. It is hard to tell, because stations still don't have a good handle on this problem, and it crops up in the broadcasts fairly frequently.
Gmail first got forced on me...had to use it within a work-related system. I've found it quite intuitive. Once I began to use, and became familiar with the calendar interface, is when I really recognized the logic and usefulness they've built into it. Being able to share calendars, appointments, and schedules in a seamless real-time environment, makes Office look fairly dinosaur-ish.

The search function is amazing, as one would think, a Google product would have excellent search capabilities.

Since my Monday tech appointment/satellite readjustment, I've been really happy with my HD locals. I haven't had any cutouts or mosaic pizzas since then.

On an unrelated note, is there generally anything you can do about audio/video sync issues? I recorded "The Big Lebowski" in HD on my DVR about 2 weeks ago (on Showtime HD) in hopes of leaving it on there for a long while, and the sound was WAY OFF. So much so that I deleted it. Do you think this is something that would have been equally bad if I watched it live, or could it have something to do with a glitch in the recording process?

Mike

Ditto on both items. I sat down finally to watch some local HD action and it does seem better on all the channels with no video pizza in sight. Fox2 still has coccasional breakups but we all know that's not something E* can remedy.

I also experienced a recent RAVE concert with horrible audio sync. The video was a full half-beat behind the audio. Watching people clap to the music was (sadly) comical. I could not correct it with tricks. EVEN MY WIFE (Mrs. SD) NOTICED THIS!!!

Hopefully, this will diminish with the MPEG4 switch.

I just got off the phone with D* as I was ready to pull the trigger on ordering a HR20. This was only my 2nd attempt to at least get something off the advertised $299 price. Anyway, the CSR couldn't find any information that SWM was officially released. He was well aware of the beta testing, but knew nothing of its general availability.

Anyway, I'll try back another day.

Yeah - your experience seems to be the norm. People are reporting some CSRs say they know nothing, some acknowledge the SWM but say its not out, while others have no problems... Go figure. I guess you would call this a "soft roll-out" :D

Chris

As expected there was a new filing with the FCC by DirecTV. They have announced their intention to start moving D10 to its final location on Sept 1st instead of Sept 12. It takes 3 days to get it parked in the precise final location which is where the Sept 15th light-up date came from.

Well - we are now looking at a potential/likely Sept. 4th date for the new DirecTV HD channels. Those of you with the MPEG4 receivers - make sure you install your B-Band Convertors before this date! (Check channel 499 to ensure everything is in place).

Chris

You could always try calling Premier to get the SWM. I doubt it would help much, but at least someone there MAY know something....

You don't need BBC's on SWM's, right?

What is the "spin down issue?" I've been using a IoMagic 500gb and a WD MyBook 500gb. The first for about 3 months, the second only for about 2 weeks, but I have not experienced any issues.

Perhaps are you referring to the normal HDD inactivity spin-down, and how it relates to the receiver in operation? Admittedly, I have been doing most of my transfers at night, while in stand-by. I have moved the automatic update time up to 5AM, and begin transfers just before I put the receiver into stand-by for the night.

On another note, I am able to move my EHDD back-and-forth between the 722 and 622. With 50 events (appx 325gb) stored on it from the 722, I plugged it into the 622. A message appears asking if I want to configure the EHDD for use with the 622...selected yes, 10 seconds later, the EHDD menu appeared with all the events intact. I then moved it back to the 722...same message...accessible and all events intact.


As you know I am not a techie, so bear with me Ken. Some are complaining that if they have external HDDs that spin down after a period of inactivity, then when they come back to the 622 it is not recognizing there is still an external HDD connected and a reboot is required. At least that is how I understand it.

Have you moved between your 622 and 722 multiple times? I had read you can move up to 3 times and then after that you must stay with that receiver. I apologize if that was posted here, I don't recall where I saw it.

I still have my doubts, but let it be known I NEVER believed the Cardinals would even be in this position.

You could always try calling Premier to get the SWM. I doubt it would help much, but at least someone there MAY know something....

You don't need BBC's on SWM's, right?

Correct - no BBCs needed on the FTM ports on the SWM (enough TLAs?).

Chris

... (enough TLAs?).

Chris

wtf iirc tla work

Since my Monday tech appointment/satellite readjustment, I've been really happy with my HD locals. I haven't had any cutouts or mosaic pizzas since then.

On an unrelated note, is there generally anything you can do about audio/video sync issues? I recorded "The Big Lebowski" in HD on my DVR about 2 weeks ago (on Showtime HD) in hopes of leaving it on there for a long while, and the sound was WAY OFF. So much so that I deleted it. Do you think this is something that would have been equally bad if I watched it live, or could it have something to do with a glitch in the recording process?

The dude abides...

Mike

"'Cuz I'm The Dude." Classic, and one of my fav's.

Check your A/V Surround processor to see if it has a audio delay feature.

If you don't have a A/V Surround processor, get one or you are not hearing the "The Dude" the way it was originally intended.

Seriously, this is the way I fix audio sync isuues at my house. I set the A/V receiver to delay the sound by 200 ms.

Scott

Correct - no BBCs needed on the FTM ports on the SWM (enough TLAs?).

Chris

So are u saying the SWM has BBC's built in?

Scott

So are u saying the SWM has BBC's built in?

Scott

Yes. An HR20 connected to the SWM does not need BBCs to see the KA-lo channels when they are turned on. However, this applies ONLY to the FTM ports, not the legacy. In fact, the legacy ports on the SWM do not even pass KA-lo frequencies. So any MPEG-4 receiver you want to get the new channels needs to be on the SWM FTM ports or connected to a WB68 switch with BBCs.

Chris

I've had a return of an old problem with Ch. 30. Some of the eps of Men in Trees that they're rerunning now do that irritating micro-freeze-skip again. Haven't seen that for a long while. Maybe it's related to the recent problems Jim's reported on.

The encoder that was causing the problem was replaced a week ago....have not seen any blocking since....but there was a PSIP problem Wednesday that I fixed Thursday AM. This would not have caused blocking, but a problem with some receivers tuning the channel.
Jim

Yes. An HR20 connected to the SWM does not need BBCs to see the KA-lo channels when they are turned on. However, this applies ONLY to the FTM ports, not the legacy. In fact, the legacy ports on the SWM do not even pass KA-lo frequencies. So any MPEG-4 receiver you want to get the new channels needs to be on the SWM FTM ports or connected to a WB68 switch with BBCs.

Chris

My head hurts after reading that. Can you explain that a little better so I can make sure I get the right stuff when I finally get the HR20 ordered (shooting for this weened to order) Are you saying I do or don't need the WB68 switch? And what are BBC's, since I'm sure you aren't talking about the British Broadcast Company?

Thanks. I know I need to definitely do more research.

My head hurts after reading that. Can you explain that a little better so I can make sure I get the right stuff when I finally get the HR20 ordered (shooting for this weened to order) Are you saying I do or don't need the WB68 switch? And what are BBC's, since I'm sure you aren't talking about the British Broadcast Company?

Thanks. I know I need to definitely do more research.

Sure! Sorry if it got a little weird there.

The new HD channels from DirecTV are in slightly different satellite locations and use a different method of satellite broadcasting termed KA for this discussion. KA is in two bands - hi and lo.

To receive signals from these new satellites you need the new satellite dish which is a little larger and has more lnb's on it - the old 1,2,3 lnb dishes won't work. If you don't have a new satellite dish yet it WILL come with your HR20 that you order.

OK - now you can "see" the satellites with the new dish. The distribution of the signal will occur from one of 2 methods - a WB68 switch or a SWM5/SWM8 switch. Both work just fine, consider the SWM5/SWM8 to be used in situations where wiring is a problem. The SWMs give you the ability to feed multiple tuners from 1 cable - versus the WB68 which requires a cable per tuner (this is only important for DVRs where you have 2 tuners). The appropriate switch WILL come with your HR20 order - it will be a WB68 unless specified otherwise.

OK - now you have the actual satellite signal making it all the way to your TV. New problem - the KA-lo signals need to be converted before the HR20 (or any other DirecTV Mpeg4 receiver) can understand them. The KA-hi signals are fine (this is what the St. Louis locals are using). If you are using a SWM, the conversion is done inside the switch - no other work is needed. If you are using a WB68 you need a B-Band Converter (BBC) to make the appropriate adjustment.

These are small boxes that connect to your HR20 satellite inputs, and the satellite cable connects to the BBC box. They come with your HR20. Once everything is connected you can tune to channel 499 and read the instruction. You SHOULD get a "searching for satellite signal" message. If NOT - something is not hooked up right.

Sorry for the long story - hope it helps clarify.

Chris

The encoder that was causing the problem was replaced a week ago....have not seen any blocking since....but there was a PSIP problem Wednesday that I fixed Thursday AM. This would not have caused blocking, but a problem with some receivers tuning the channel.
Jim

It isn't a blocking problem. It's a jerkiness in the action, especially noticeable during pans, but there even if people move in a static frame. It's possible it may be my 622, but I don't notice it on other stations.

Sure! Sorry if it got a little weird there.

The new HD channels from DirecTV are in slightly different satellite locations and use a different method of satellite broadcasting termed KA for this discussion. KA is in two bands - hi and lo.

To receive signals from these new satellites you need the new satellite dish which is a little larger and has more lnb's on it - the old 1,2,3 lnb dishes won't work. If you don't have a new satellite dish yet it WILL come with your HR20 that you order.

OK - now you can "see" the satellites with the new dish. The distribution of the signal will occur from one of 2 methods - a WB68 switch or a SWM5/SWM8 switch. Both work just fine, consider the SWM5/SWM8 to be used in situations where wiring is a problem. The SWMs give you the ability to feed multiple tuners from 1 cable - versus the WB68 which requires a cable per tuner (this is only important for DVRs where you have 2 tuners). The appropriate switch WILL come with your HR20 order - it will be a WB68 unless specified otherwise.

OK - now you have the actual satellite signal making it all the way to your TV. New problem - the KA-lo signals need to be converted before the HR20 (or any other DirecTV Mpeg4 receiver) can understand them. The KA-hi signals are fine (this is what the St. Louis locals are using). If you are using a SWM, the conversion is done inside the switch - no other work is needed. If you are using a WB68 you need a B-Band Converter (BBC) to make the appropriate adjustment.

These are small boxes that connect to your HR20 satellite inputs, and the satellite cable connects to the BBC box. They come with your HR20. Once everything is connected you can tune to channel 499 and read the instruction. You SHOULD get a "searching for satellite signal" message. If NOT - something is not hooked up right.

Sorry for the long story - hope it helps clarify.

Chris

Also, if you have "legacy" recievers, you will need to use the legacy ports on the SWM. You may still need a 6x8 with the SWM if you have a couple of Tivos(more than 2 extra tuners). Currently, the only receivers that work with the SWM are HR20, H20, H21(beta) and maybe the newer sd reveivers(Budshark would know for sure).

Dug

Sure! Sorry if it got a little weird there.

The new HD channels from DirecTV are in slightly different satellite locations and use a different method of satellite broadcasting termed KA for this discussion. KA is in two bands - hi and lo.

To receive signals from these new satellites you need the new satellite dish which is a little larger and has more lnb's on it - the old 1,2,3 lnb dishes won't work. If you don't have a new satellite dish yet it WILL come with your HR20 that you order.

OK - now you can "see" the satellites with the new dish. The distribution of the signal will occur from one of 2 methods - a WB68 switch or a SWM5/SWM8 switch. Both work just fine, consider the SWM5/SWM8 to be used in situations where wiring is a problem. The SWMs give you the ability to feed multiple tuners from 1 cable - versus the WB68 which requires a cable per tuner (this is only important for DVRs where you have 2 tuners). The appropriate switch WILL come with your HR20 order - it will be a WB68 unless specified otherwise.

OK - now you have the actual satellite signal making it all the way to your TV. New problem - the KA-lo signals need to be converted before the HR20 (or any other DirecTV Mpeg4 receiver) can understand them. The KA-hi signals are fine (this is what the St. Louis locals are using). If you are using a SWM, the conversion is done inside the switch - no other work is needed. If you are using a WB68 you need a B-Band Converter (BBC) to make the appropriate adjustment.

These are small boxes that connect to your HR20 satellite inputs, and the satellite cable connects to the BBC box. They come with your HR20. Once everything is connected you can tune to channel 499 and read the instruction. You SHOULD get a "searching for satellite signal" message. If NOT - something is not hooked up right.

Sorry for the long story - hope it helps clarify.

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the explanation. I understand perfectly clear. I was a bit unclear on some of the connections you had previously talked about. I think it was FTW and Legacy? I have no clue about all that.

Another question:

Does the HR 20 output 480i and HDMI simultaneously? If so, I can eliminate a 3rd box.

Scott

SWMs have 2 types of ports: FTM and Legacy. The FTM is the "single wire" port that, as Dug pointed out, is only compatible with certain receivers. The HR20, H20, (HR21 and H21 when they are released), and the D12 SD receiver. The R15 and older D models (D10, D11) do not have SWM compatibility yet - and I dare say I don't think they will (hardware limit). The legacy ports (2) are compatible with ALL standard receivers. There are several options for stacking or running multiple switches in parallel if you need more than 2 legacy ports.

Yes - HR20 does simultaneous output. S-video and composite are active with HDMI/Component.

Chris

The encoder that was causing the problem was replaced a week ago....have not seen any blocking since....but there was a PSIP problem Wednesday that I fixed Thursday AM. This would not have caused blocking, but a problem with some receivers tuning the channel.
Jim

I have a small TV in the kitchen that receives ATSC OTA. The other day I discovered that Channel 30 was dark. I went looking for it and found it on channel 31-3. I thought I was loosing it. Later, all seemed fine.

I think you just explained why this happenned.

I have a small TV in the kitchen that receives ATSC OTA. The other day I discovered that Channel 30 was dark. I went looking for it and found it on channel 31-3. I thought I was loosing it. Later, all seemed fine.

I think you just explained why this happenned.

Yup, that was the PSIP problem. Computer glitches...will continue to be a pain as we progress to an all digital world!!!

Sorry for the long story - hope it helps clarify.

Chris

Yes, it helps a lot.

Also, if you have "legacy" recievers, you will need to use the legacy ports on the SWM. You may still need a 6x8 with the SWM if you have a couple of Tivos(more than 2 extra tuners). Currently, the only receivers that work with the SWM are HR20, H20, H21(beta) and maybe the newer sd reveivers(Budshark would know for sure).

Dug

That's good to know too, since I have 2 older receivers.

Purrty :)

Question for you HR20 owners (yeah, yeah, I know I should say "leasers")....

How was your install experience? I'm tempted to set up the HR20 myself and just leave the power cord unplugged. Also move the HR10 DTivo to the bedroom myself and leave that unplugged, just to speed the whole thing along.

Think the installer guy would be cool with that? Or would there be some objection I'm not thinking of? After all, the label on the HR20 box does say if you're getting it professionally installed to leave the box unopened til the guy gets there.

Also, think I could hook up the eSata drive and start up with it in the first place, or should I just let the installer set the whole thing up with the internal drive, then reboot with the eSata drive after he leaves?

Anything else I should know before the guy gets here Monday afternoon?

Thanks....

Rams game not televised tonight?

Rams game not televised tonight?

You mean the Chargers game right? Fortunately it's on at my house thanks to the CBS East/West Feed I get. :D

Go Boltz

Dude. Please tell me how you convinced DTV to give you that. Or do you have a C-band dish?

Dude. Please tell me how you convinced DTV to give you that. Or do you have a C-band dish?

I've had them since day one 13 years ago, so I guess I'm granfathered in. Yes, it comes in handy sometimes. It is not in HD though. I only get 380/381 not 80/81. But I can watch the game. :)

Scott

Question for you HR20 owners (yeah, yeah, I know I should say "leasers")....

How was your install experience? I'm tempted to set up the HR20 myself and just leave the power cord unplugged. Also move the HR10 DTivo to the bedroom myself and leave that unplugged, just to speed the whole thing along.

Think the installer guy would be cool with that? Or would there be some objection I'm not thinking of? After all, the label on the HR20 box does say if you're getting it professionally installed to leave the box unopened til the guy gets there.

Also, think I could hook up the eSata drive and start up with it in the first place, or should I just let the installer set the whole thing up with the internal drive, then reboot with the eSata drive after he leaves?

Anything else I should know before the guy gets here Monday afternoon?

Thanks....


My installer appreciated the "pre-work" I did. However, they brought my HR20so I had no access to it before the install. I did some pre-wiring and cleanup.

As far as the eSata, you'll be pulling down a new version when you first start up and probably rebooting 2-3 times while that occurs and they activate the receiver. So, with that said, I'd just wait until they left. Remember the series links and settings go with the drive - so however you do it make sure you don't spend too much time setting up the "internal" drive if you don't plan on using it.

Good Luck!
Chris

This Wednesday I am having the HR20 installed. :( I tried to postpone the inevitable as long as I could ( I love the Guide and dual buffers). With the new programming launching supposedly at the end of September I figured I needed time before the new fall season to get the hang of it.

I have one HD TV in the living room with the HR10-250 and one SD TV in the bedroom with the R10. I have a direct antenna run. I have dual cable runs on each and nothing else.

I'd like to hook-up both the 20 and 250 in the living room for the time being as I have some HD Net movies and other stored recordings in HD. I could use component cables for the 250. Is this just a matter of plugging it in to one of my TV inputs and a splitter for the cables? I can set the 250 up in my bedroom after changing the channel guide and turning off the antenna right? Or should I just keep the R10?

A couple of quick questions: The HR20 now supports an antenna correct? What are good sat signals? I currently am around 95-97 on my 250. I think I read that pointing to the new bird the signals are lower. If this is true? Has anyone noticed more rain fade? Are ther any plans to add dual buffers or is this a hardware limitation? Any tips or head up I need prior to this install?

Thanks in advance and I hope you guys will be patient with me as I am sure I will have many more questions to follow. I bought the first TiVo and I am going to miss the interface. I always hated the grid and I'm not sure how TV life will be without the guide and dual buffers.

Ken or anyone else have any ideas?

One of my 622s lost audio on 1 tuner today. I rebooted and while acquiring singal the 622 rebooted itself. Then it came on and I had audio again. However not all the guide info was there. Tried to download guide info, status bar did not move, so I stopped the Guide Info download, then while watching TV shortly after the 622 rebooted itself again. Now while trying to acquire satellite signal it keeps continually rebooting itself. Others are having similar problems but seem to have fixed themselves. They appear to only have had the audio issue and it was fixed after a reboot, I am having continuing issues.

Edit: It has finally acquired signal and all appears well. This may be something to keep an eye on though.

Ken or anyone else have any ideas?

One of my 622s lost audio on 1 tuner today. I rebooted and while acquiring signal the 622 rebooted itself. Then it came on and I had audio again. However not all the guide info was there. Tried to download guide info, status bar did not move, so I stopped the Guide Info download, then while watching TV shortly after the 622 rebooted itself again. Now while trying to acquire satellite signal it keeps continually rebooting itself. Others are having similar problems but seem to have fixed themselves. They appear to only have had the audio issue and it was fixed after a reboot, I am having continuing issues.

Edit: It has finally acquired signal and all appears well. This may be something to keep an eye on though.
Mine have been fine, though I have also read about some subs experiencing this issue. I still don't understand why she still lets you play around with the receivers??:D

Just one note...it is common, that after a Program Guide Download, all of the data is not immediately available. After a full reload of the Program Guide, the data will populate gradually over the next 10-20 minutes.

It's not logical, and I don't know why it is, but you can download the entire program guide, open it when the download completes, and only find 2-3 days of data....return in 20 minutes, and then find all 9 days populated.

I still don't understand why she still lets you play around with the receivers??:D



I am just hoping it is smooth sailing from here. She has to let me play with something right?

This Wednesday I am having the HR20 installed. :( I tried to postpone the inevitable as long as I could ( I love the Guide and dual buffers). With the new programming launching supposedly at the end of September I figured I needed time before the new fall season to get the hang of it.

Congrats! You'll miss some things and appreciate others. The new programming is actually now expected before Sept. 10, so you are right on time!


I have one HD TV in the living room with the HR10-250 and one SD TV in the bedroom with the R10. I have a direct antenna run. I have dual cable runs on each and nothing else.

I'd like to hook-up both the 20 and 250 in the living room for the time being as I have some HD Net movies and other stored recordings in HD. I could use component cables for the 250. Is this just a matter of plugging it in to one of my TV inputs and a splitter for the cables? I can set the 250 up in my bedroom after changing the channel guide and turning off the antenna right? Or should I just keep the R10?


You can hook them both up under 1 of the following options:
A) You connect 1 satellite feed to the HR20 and 1 to the HR10-250. You will 'lose' the ability to record 1 channel and watch the other on 1 receiver - although you could just change to the other receiver.
B) You connect 2 satellite feeds to the HR20, start recording everything on the HR20 and ONLY watch old recording on the 250. When you are done watching things on the HR10-250 - move it or decommission it. (This is my recommendation)


A couple of quick questions: The HR20 now supports an antenna correct? What are good sat signals? I currently am around 95-97 on my 250. I think I read that pointing to the new bird the signals are lower. If this is true? Has anyone noticed more rain fade? Are ther any plans to add dual buffers or is this a hardware limitation? Any tips or head up I need prior to this install?

Each model measures satellite signals differently - so direct comparison is hard. I am in the 97-98 range on my HR20 though. I have actually noticed less rain fade with the new dish. While the signals are lower, the gain of the dish and the quality of the receivers are improved enough to compensate.
Dual buffers on the HR20 is unknown. DirecTV has only said it is not a priority. In fact even when they run polls or "wish lists" on dbstalk - dual buffers are never in the top 3. It seems to be a very specific desire - some love it, most seem to not care. VOD, Multi-room viewing, and remote programming are all higher priority and things DirecTV has committed to.


Thanks in advance and I hope you guys will be patient with me as I am sure I will have many more questions to follow. I bought the first TiVo and I am going to miss the interface. I always hated the grid and I'm not sure how TV life will be without the guide and dual buffers.

Well good luck! Ask away. Like I said, you'll come to really appreciate some things (speed, picture in guide, the "mini-guide" - I also personally love the Media Share features) - and really miss others (the "Tivo" feel, dual buffers apparently). Anyhow - I'm sure all will be forgiven in 3 weeks when your new HD channels start turning on!

Chris

Well, I went and hooked up my HR20 a day early, with the existing 3-lnb dish. When the installer brings the 5-lnb dish tomorrow I'll repeat the setup procedure. Moved the Tivo HR10 to the bedroom (even though I don't have an HDTV there).

First thoughts...

I'm not getting the SWM that's being talked about, so I'm gonna lose my diplexed OTA feeds. I figure I've got a few weeks to drill some more holes and run some separate OTA lines before the Fall season starts.

Picture seems a bit more detailed but also a bit darker than the HR10. When I first got the HR10 a few years ago, I was a bit disappointed in its PQ compared to the Sony HD100 box I'd been using before. The new HR20 seems to have that detail back, though again it's darker than the HR10.

I *love* the native mode output on this thing! I'm watching Hootie and the Blowfish on HDnet in 1080i on my TV, and at the same time my capture card is recording it for me via S-Video in 480i (the HR10's s-video was disabled if I ran 1080i to the TV). What's more, the HR20 is sending the 16x9 signal to my capture card as tall, skinny 4x3 rather than adding its own letterbox bars like the HR10 did. This is a GOOD thing, as I can simply resize ALL the existing video data rather than having to clip off the letterbox bars when I reencode to x264 or XviD. I'll estimate a 30% improvement in picture quality on my captures now over what I'd gotten from the HR10.

I *hate* the remote. The HR10's Tivo remote was the easiest to learn and get used to that I've ever experienced.... even after being used to ReplayTV's for several years before that. Having to learn a new remote again really sucks.

I *love* the fact that a bigger hard drive can be installed simply by plugging an eSata drive into the back, without even opening the thing. That's a biggie considering this thing is a lease! The 750 gigger is ready to go soon as the installer leaves.

The HR20's ability to recognize, format, and use an external drive instead of the internal drive gives me the impression the operating system is on a flash memory chip rather than on the internal hard drive. That's gonna make it REALLY hard to hack this thing to do anything OTHER than use a bigger hard drive.

I have an HTPC sitting right next to the HR20, so the media sharing features don't do diddley squat for me. If I could share the recordings FROM the HR20 and copy them digitally TO my other PC's, now THAT would be awesome. Meanwhile the Fusion cards in my editing PC will still be getting their workouts on OTA HD programs... assuming I get the separate OTA lines run to the PC by then.

After being used to the instant 30-second skip in the Tivos and ReplayTV's since 1998, this 30-second "slip" on the HR20 just plain sucks dishwater. Yeah, it runs the whole thirty seconds by in just three seconds, but that's still 2.9 seconds too long. If I wanted to see the ads at all, I wouldn't be "slipping" in the first place. Is there a way to speed this up at all, like maybe run the "slip" in one second?

While I don't need the dual buffers per se, how do you switch from one tuner to the other on the HR20? With the HR10 you just pressed the down arrow button. I don't really need the two tuners to be buffered, I would like to be able to switch back and forth between them. How do you do that?

I'm sure my initial misgivings above (well, most of them anyway) will disappear once Sci-Fi HD starts running the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica. Also, the "Sci-Fi Pictures Original" movies on Saturday nights are a guilty pleasure of mine (no, I don't stay home and watch them on Saturday night, that's what the DVR is for in the first place)... and seeing them in HD will only enhance their cheesiness!

I'll post more when the 5-lnb is installed and when I get the 750 gig eSata drive working, so stay tuned!

Bob, thanks for your thoughts on the HR20. I will have to make a move soon like you and mo did. God, I dread changing out equipment, and having to reprogram my Harmony remote. Oh well, this is the price to pay for technology I guess.

Scott

I'm not getting the SWM that's being talked about, so I'm gonna lose my diplexed OTA feeds. I figure I've got a few weeks to drill some more holes and run some separate OTA lines before the Fall season starts.
...
The HR20's ability to recognize, format, and use an external drive instead of the internal drive gives me the impression the operating system is on a flash memory chip rather than on the internal hard drive. That's gonna make it REALLY hard to hack this thing to do anything OTHER than use a bigger hard drive.

...

After being used to the instant 30-second skip in the Tivos and ReplayTV's since 1998, this 30-second "slip" on the HR20 just plain sucks dishwater. Yeah, it runs the whole thirty seconds by in just three seconds, but that's still 2.9 seconds too long. If I wanted to see the ads at all, I wouldn't be "slipping" in the first place. Is there a way to speed this up at all, like maybe run the "slip" in one second?

While I don't need the dual buffers per se, how do you switch from one tuner to the other on the HR20? With the HR10 you just pressed the down arrow button. I don't really need the two tuners to be buffered, I would like to be able to switch back and forth between them. How do you do that?

I'm sure my initial misgivings above (well, most of them anyway) will disappear once Sci-Fi HD starts running the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica. Also, the "Sci-Fi Pictures Original" movies on Saturday nights are a guilty pleasure of mine (no, I don't stay home and watch them on Saturday night, that's what the DVR is for in the first place)... and seeing them in HD will only enhance their cheesiness!

I'll post more when the 5-lnb is installed and when I get the 750 gig eSata drive working, so stay tuned!

Well glad you got to have some early fun with it! On to the comments/questions:
No OTA does suck - but with the 5lnb all you'll be missing is PBS and KPLR - but with that said, I've kept mine hooked up. There is a 'slight' quality loss on the MPEG4 conversion.

Yes - the HR20 brains are on a chip. There is no hacking with this thing.

Slip is the way around lawsuits. DirecTV determined (probably by committee) that the slip was a way to avoid "not" showing the commercial. Making it go by really fast was "safer". You get used to it especially since you can stack the slips. But now with autocorrect on FF I use slip less and less.

There is no way to switch tuners. Without the dual buffering it was deemed "unnecessary". You can however hit (r) on two shows and flip back and forth between them and pause. A poor man's dual buffer.

Anyhow - good luck! Let us know how the install goes.

Chris

From this morning's Skyreport at http://www.skyreport.com............

Judge Halts DIRECTV's Cable Ads

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering DIRECTV to stop airing its television spots that claim home-theater installers prefer the satellite company's picture quality to that of cable. The judge also rejected the satcaster's request for a similar injunction that would have forced Comcast to stop running its own ours-is-better-than-yours ad.



U.S. District Court Judge John Grady of the Northern District of Illinois last week barred DIRECTV from running its anti-cable ads and rejected the company's request to have Comcast stop airing its ads saying satellite customers prefer cable. The Comcast spot cites an industry survey that claims two-thirds of satellite's subscribers think the cable operator has better high-definition picture quality.



The dispute stems from lawsuits the companies filed against each other; a false-advertising suit by DIRECTV in May, and a counterclaim by Comcast seeking the injunction against the satellite company.



A Comcast spokeswoman said the absence of an injunction against the cable operator means the company will continue to air the anti-DIRECTV ads "which show that satellite customers prefer Comcast's HD picture quality over DIRECTV's."



"We are quite perplexed by the court's conclusions. The facts simply don't support these decisions," a DIRECTV spokesman told SkyREPORT. "We will appeal these rulings and are confident we will ultimately prevail. At the end of the day, though, it's the customers who matter, and they've shown their preference for DIRECTV over cable in both the recent ACSI and J.D. Power rankings. Those two studies speak for themselves." The company also said it will appeal the ruling.

*****************************************************

Hmm, maybe *D should have a look at my tagline below....

More HR20 thoughts.........

Sounds like hitting the r button to switch tuners will be fine by me... I never really use the actual buffers.

ReplayTV, Tivo, and Dish Network have had instant 30-second skip in their DVR's since 1998. I find it hard to believe the bean counters at *D think they alone are gonna get sued for it!

Also noticed no "save to VCR" option. While I'm copying a program to my PC's capture card, guess I'll have to hide the remote in a drawer or something so I don't forget I'm copying and try to change the channel!

Looks like I have to put up the white "duh" flag on my dark picture complaint above....

I have 9 windows and 2 skylights in my family room and have to use the "vivd" preset mode on my Sony to see pretty much anything on the TV when the sun's shining in the day. For serious TV watching when the sun's not a problem, I use the "pro" mode (which I've tuned up withe the Video Essentials DVD).

Well, I thought I had flipped to the Pro mode but screwed up and flipped to the "movie" mode... where dark shadows are all the same shade of black.

Just like everything else, the HR20 looks a LOT better in a mode that's been professionally calibrated or at least run through the Video Essentials.

Duh............

When I woke up this morning and saw the pouring rain, I thought "Oh great, there goes my install." The installer called about 10AM. I picked up the phone and said "Let me guess, canceling the appointment because of the weather?" He said "Nope, just calling to see if you mind if I get there a little early?"

So he arrived at 10:20 for my noon appointment. Big plus there.

While he started replacing the dish, I started removing the diplexers from my receivers. Turned out my neighbor's tree is right in the way of one of the satellites, so he had to move the dish to the side of my house (it had previously been in the back). Once he got the new dish mounted, he came in and started to take down my existing multiswitch. I said "Hold on a minute. I'll still be using the old multiswitch as a splitter for the OTA when I run the extra wires for it." So he mounted the new multiswitch on the basement ceiling right next to the old one.

Fired up the receivers. No issues except for the HTL-HD in the basement. No signal. Oops, I'd forgotten to remove the diplexer from that one. A simple reboot and it was running fine.

So, with the new HR20 seeing all five satellites and the other recievers running fine and dandy, it was time to hack the hard drive. I unplugged the HR20's power cord, hooked up my 750gig Seagate eSata drive, fired up the drive, plugged the HR20 back in, and held my breath. It booted up with no problems. Just to make sure it was using the new 750gig drive instead of the internal 300 gigger, I called up the list of shows I'd recorded yesterday. Blank... and that's a good thing because it meant the HR20 is using the new drive and not the old one.

A few more minutes setting up my favorite channel list (deleting the OTA channels for now), and I'm now ready for that BIG list of HD channels coming next month!

By the way, the installer was DONE by 12:15 on an appointment scheduled for somewhere between 12 and 4. Quite a nice change from the Charter guy that didn't show up at all to fix my internet a few months back.

... By the way, the installer was DONE by 12:15 on an appointment scheduled for somewhere between 12 and 4. Quite a nice change from the Charter guy that didn't show up at all to fix my internet a few months back.

Glad to hear all went well! I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the MPEG4 locals when you have some time with them.

Chris

P.S. What "model" did you get? HR20-100 or HR20-700?

Paramount and Dreamworks bail on Bluray, and opt for HD-DVD. I still wish both formats would die a painful death.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/08/20/paramount-dreamworks-dropping-blu-ray-in-favor-of-hd-dvd-exclus/

Scott

Glad to hear all went well! I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the MPEG4 locals when you have some time with them.

Chris

P.S. What "model" did you get? HR20-100 or HR20-700?

Got the 700. HD locals seem fine so far, though I've not seen any actual HD on them yet.

It'll probably be a while before I get the requisite holes drilled in my floors and the separate antenna cables run so I can have *D and OTA locals side by side to compare. It's inventory time at work this week so starting tomorrow I'll be working ten days in a row.

But I'll be on vacation after that, so that's when I'll finish getting OTA back.

When I woke up this morning and saw the pouring rain, I thought "Oh great, there goes my install." The installer called about 10AM. I picked up the phone and said "Let me guess, canceling the appointment because of the weather?" He said "Nope, just calling to see if you mind if I get there a little early?"

So he arrived at 10:20 for my noon appointment. Big plus there.

While he started replacing the dish, I started removing the diplexers from my receivers. Turned out my neighbor's tree is right in the way of one of the satellites, so he had to move the dish to the side of my house (it had previously been in the back). Once he got the new dish mounted, he came in and started to take down my existing multiswitch. I said "Hold on a minute. I'll still be using the old multiswitch as a splitter for the OTA when I run the extra wires for it." So he mounted the new multiswitch on the basement ceiling right next to the old one.

Fired up the receivers. No issues except for the HTL-HD in the basement. No signal. Oops, I'd forgotten to remove the diplexer from that one. A simple reboot and it was running fine.

So, with the new HR20 seeing all five satellites and the other recievers running fine and dandy, it was time to hack the hard drive. I unplugged the HR20's power cord, hooked up my 750gig Seagate eSata drive, fired up the drive, plugged the HR20 back in, and held my breath. It booted up with no problems. Just to make sure it was using the new 750gig drive instead of the internal 300 gigger, I called up the list of shows I'd recorded yesterday. Blank... and that's a good thing because it meant the HR20 is using the new drive and not the old one.

A few more minutes setting up my favorite channel list (deleting the OTA channels for now), and I'm now ready for that BIG list of HD channels coming next month!

By the way, the installer was DONE by 12:15 on an appointment scheduled for somewhere between 12 and 4. Quite a nice change from the Charter guy that didn't show up at all to fix my internet a few months back.

What a freakish coincidence - that's almost exactly what happened with my Dish appointment this morning. Except for the part where my tech told me the alternator went out on his truck and he wasn't going to be here. Rescheduled for Thursday.

Paramount and Dreamworks bail on Bluray, and opt for HD-DVD. I still wish both formats would die a painful death.

Scott

Ugh, just as it seemed we were starting to get a winner in the format war. Guess I won't be buying a player soon after all.

Paramount and Dreamworks bail on Bluray, and opt for HD-DVD. I still wish both formats would die a painful death.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/08/20/paramount-dreamworks-dropping-blu-ray-in-favor-of-hd-dvd-exclus/

Scott

Yes, this will just drag it all out that much longer. Sony must have been feeling really good about itself lately, only to have this little blast of sewer gas blow up its skirt. What I would have given to be a fly on the wall for those discussions at Paramount and Dreamworks.

I'm off to the HD DVD threads, where they're probably popping champagne corks and serving them little finger wienies.

Got the 700. HD locals seem fine so far, though I've not seen any actual HD on them yet.

It'll probably be a while before I get the requisite holes drilled in my floors and the separate antenna cables run so I can have *D and OTA locals side by side to compare. It's inventory time at work this week so starting tomorrow I'll be working ten days in a row.

But I'll be on vacation after that, so that's when I'll finish getting OTA back.

You mention your competing interests - but the -700 model is the "beta" test box of choice. If you haven't, and if you are inclined to be an "at-will" tester you can head over to the dbstalk Cutting Edge forums for more details.

They are currently working on a new release that has several interface improvements and some MPEG-4 FF/RW fixes. It also is significantly larger - so they believe this is the code base for VOD, but with VOD currently turned off (making sure the box is stable with the code before they introduce new features).

Chris

Yes, this will just drag it all out that much longer. Sony must have been feeling really good about itself lately, only to have this little blast of sewer gas blow up its skirt. What I would have given to be a fly on the wall for those discussions at Paramount and Dreamworks.

I'm off to the HD DVD threads, where they're probably popping champagne corks and serving them little finger wienies.

We should all just continue to sit on the sidelines until the respective manufacturers bring the hardware costs down to $100 a piece, which is where they will eventually end up. Then we can afford to buy one of each and relax while they continue to beat their brains out.

May the best man win!:)

With the recent price drops, this is where they are heading anyway. My sincere condolences to anyone who ponied up $1K for a Blueray Box.

Got the 700. HD locals seem fine so far, though I've not seen any actual HD on them yet.

It'll probably be a while before I get the requisite holes drilled in my floors and the separate antenna cables run so I can have *D and OTA locals side by side to compare. It's inventory time at work this week so starting tomorrow I'll be working ten days in a row.

But I'll be on vacation after that, so that's when I'll finish getting OTA back.

Bob, why go through all the trouble drilling, cabling and such if you can use the SW Multiswitch and one cable?

Scott

Is anyone else having issues with KMOV-DT's signal? On my Dish 622 my level is jumping all over the place from as high as 91 to no-lock. All the other channels I get at most 4% fluctuation. I had no problems before. Thanks.

Bob, why go through all the trouble drilling, cabling and such if you can use the SW Multiswitch and one cable?

Scott

Mainly because I have four "legacy" receivers to feed in my house, and the SWM only has two "legacy" outputs. :(

I'm currently watching the Bears and Colts on ESPN-HD. No complaints on PQ.

But I still hate the 30-second "slip." Admittedly I was mistaken about the thirty seconds into three seconds.... it's actually 30 seconds into 1 and a half seconds. But it feels like it's still 30 seconds.

Is anyone else having issues with KMOV-DT's signal? On my Dish 622 my level is jumping all over the place from as high as 91 to no-lock. All the other channels I get at most 4% fluctuation. I had no problems before. Thanks.
Rt,
This may just be a temporary weather related issue. As you know, the DISH HD Locals have reception issues in the STL DMA. Some subs have issues, while others have none at all.

With the already borderline reception issue, it's very possible the recent weather conditions have pushed your reception below acceptable. If that is the case, just as soon as the onset was for you, and conditions change, you should go back to having no reception issue.

Also, if that turns out to be the case, monitor KMOV next time you have a dark-rainy day, and see if it returns. If it does, a re-point/peak would probably be in order.

Is anyone else having issues with KMOV-DT's signal? On my Dish 622 my level is jumping all over the place from as high as 91 to no-lock. All the other channels I get at most 4% fluctuation. I had no problems before. Thanks.

No problem with CSI Miami currently via the *D HD locals.

I have OTA locals not SAT.

You mention your competing interests - but the -700 model is the "beta" test box of choice. If you haven't, and if you are inclined to be an "at-will" tester you can head over to the dbstalk Cutting Edge forums for more details.

They are currently working on a new release that has several interface improvements and some MPEG-4 FF/RW fixes. It also is significantly larger - so they believe this is the code base for VOD, but with VOD currently turned off (making sure the box is stable with the code before they introduce new features).

Chris
Chris,
When you say "the 'beta' text box of choice," Is that to say the HR20-700 is a beta machine, or a receiver the D* s/w engineers have selected to monitor more closely, with input from subs who have the machine?

I know, most could care less about WRBU-DT in general, but has anybody seen it recently?

I've noticed that WRBU's analog signal has gotten better, and now my receiver can't pick up WRBU-DT at all.


The signal was weak about a couple of weeks ago with severe multipath, which led me to believe that the signal power was down...

Anybody using an OTA reciever picking them up?

I have OTA locals not SAT.
Ah, I must have missed that. I watched CSI Miami OTA, and like Bob, noticed no issues.

Apparently, Paramount and Dreamsworks may have had some financial incentive to go HD DVD only for the next few years. I might consider doing cartwheels in a mine field if someone offered me $150 million, so I can't say I blame them much.

LG is coming out with a less expensive dual format (HD DVD/Blu-ray) PC drive next month that I will be interested in. I really don't want to limit my options to HD DVD. Now that I'm getting used to really high quality discs, regular old HD has a hard time competing. I'm planning on putting together a simple HTPC that will be able to play back both formats when that drive hits. The XBox drive allows me to do that with HD DVD now, but with Netflix I could rent any HD title that hits the stores.

Hi Joe,

Your earlier post about the format war really made me LOL. That was quite funny!! I especially loved the line about the sewer gas.

Bob,

I'm glad that things went well with your install. I can't wait to check out all those new channels at your place when they show up. DISH had better get on it and catch up, or I might be looking to jump ship.

Regards,
Adrian

I know, most could care less about WRBU-DT in general, but has anybody seen it recently?

I've noticed that WRBU's analog signal has gotten better, and now my receiver can't pick up WRBU-DT at all.


The signal was weak about a couple of weeks ago with severe multipath, which led me to believe that the signal power was down...

Anybody using an OTA reciever picking them up?

My Dish 211's OTA tuner is picking it up with a signal strength of 98. No problems that I noticed, though I didn't watch long.

Hi Joe,

Your earlier post about the format war really made me LOL. That was quite funny!! I especially loved the line about the sewer gas.

Bob,

I'm glad that things went well with your install. I can't wait to check out all those new channels at your place when they show up. DISH had better get on it and catch up, or I might be looking to jump ship.

Regards,
Adrian

I'm really interested to hear how the new D* channels look. I have to say that Dish seems to have gotten its MPEG4 act together. When they launched the new MPEG4 channels, some of them were really MPEG2, and not very good MPEG2. The quality has improved dramatically. The 6 new channels have a lot of upconverted material, but they provide a better picture than the SD channel ever did. The Science Channel used to be one of my favorites, but after HD I couldn't bear to watch it. Some of the SC HD shows are true HD, and the ones that aren't are at least bearable to watch.

Adrian, you and Bob are going to have to come see the UnRaid setup I have running. It's a real testament to excess. I managed to salvage the CPU, RAM, motherboard and other parts from older systems after my overhaul this summer, and before I knew what happened I had a second UnRaid system. It's totally unpopulated with content, so I think I'll be set for some time to come, even with the new fall TV season bearing down.

Sounds good, Joe. After Bob's done with inventory, I'm sure that he and I could find some time to pop out. I'd love to see what you've put together. I've taken a few baby steps of my own towards building my first system.


Adrian

Anyone else with D* notice the new channel 77? It plays a loop about what you need to view HDTV. Is this there way of letting me know I won't see my NFL Sunday Ticket games in HD? I think a lot of poeple are going to be in for a shock when they turn off their HD channels. D* is not doing a very good job of communicating what is going on with its subs. People who don't frequent forums like this are clueless about this. Looks like I will have to call soon and jump ship to the new dish and boxes.



Scott

Mainly because I have four "legacy" receivers to feed in my house, and the SWM only has two "legacy" outputs. :(


You can split the satellite signals from the dish (the 4 lines) and feed both a SWM and a WB68 switch - OR - you can keep the WB68 switch as is, and feed the first 4 lines outputs of the WB68 into the SWM satellite in ports. Depending on your choice this will give you either 10 (split) or 6 (stacked) legacy feeds.

Chris

Chris,
When you say "the 'beta' text box of choice," Is that to say the HR20-700 is a beta machine, or a receiver the D* s/w engineers have selected to monitor more closely, with input from subs who have the machine?

DirecTV is very actively involved with the community to make the HR20 the box of choice (a good thing).

What they are doing is opening up "windows" late Friday/Saturday nights (usually) from 10pm - 1am central where you can force your HR20 to download "beta" firmware. They provide release notes on what was changed and look for feedback. After 4-5 cycles of testing firmware - they'll throw out a release candidate - and eventually make the firmware the national release and push it to all boxes.

During these test cycles they are extremely responsive. DirecTV has tweaked the autocorrect timing, wording in menus, colors on the menu, stability problems, etc that were all requested by the test community.

The reason why I said the "HR20-700" is the box of choice is because there are 2 manufacturers. Right now the code is merged, but the development cycles aren't. So the vast majority (not all) of the test releases are only for the HR20-700, not the HR20-100.

Chris

Anyone else with D* notice the new channel 77? It plays a loop about what you need to view HDTV. Is this there way of letting me know I won't see my NFL Sunday Ticket games in HD? I think a lot of poeple are going to be in for a shock when they turn off their HD channels. D* is not doing a very good job of communicating what is going on with its subs. People who don't frequent forums like this are clueless about this. Looks like I will have to call soon and jump ship to the new dish and boxes.

Scott

They aren't clear about what you will and won't be able to receive (with respect to old channels) after the switch. I believe this is because they want 100% MPEG-4 and the more they can sway that way the better off they are.

I'm sure they have a number (whatever it is) that if they get the number of MPEG2 HD boxes below - they will just flat out turn off the MPEG2 channels.

So far everything indicates Sunday Ticket will be MPEG 2 (no one has been told otherwise). Although the general concensus is that the existing MPEG2s will be mirrored on MPEG4 - and during Sundays 1 or more of the MPEG2 national HDs will be turned off. Anyone who calls to complain will be directed to upgrade their equipment so they can see "all channels" - further shrinking the MPEG2 world.

The only problem with this is since they didn't take anyones MPEG2 HD boxes - most people (including myself) moved it to a second TV and retired an SD box. So I doubt their numbers are really shrinking all that much.

Chris

Anyone else with D* notice the new channel 77? It plays a loop about what you need to view HDTV. Is this there way of letting me know I won't see my NFL Sunday Ticket games in HD? I think a lot of poeple are going to be in for a shock when they turn off their HD channels. D* is not doing a very good job of communicating what is going on with its subs. People who don't frequent forums like this are clueless about this. Looks like I will have to call soon and jump ship to the new dish and boxes.



Scott

They actually pushed it to my Now Playing List. It wasn't on a showcase, and I didn't record it, but it's there, and I cannot delete it. So if you have a newer DVR(most likely HD), you won't have a choice but look. Unfortunately, I don't know if they forced it down to H10's
Dug

My Dish 211's OTA tuner is picking it up with a signal strength of 98. No problems that I noticed, though I didn't watch long.

I'm completely puzzled, now. Maybe the antenna orientation is off.

Thanks for the response.

They actually pushed it to my Now Playing List. It wasn't on a showcase, and I didn't record it, but it's there, and I cannot delete it. So if you have a newer DVR(most likely HD), you won't have a choice but look. Unfortunately, I don't know if they forced it down to H10's
Dug

Wow, Do you have Tivo? It's not on my now playing or showcase on my Tivo's.

Scott

I haven't checked my HD TIVO, but it is on the HR20. I'll check the tivo tonight. It may not be there because of the hacking too though...

Apparently, Paramount and Dreamsworks may have had some financial incentive to go HD DVD only for the next few years. I might consider doing cartwheels in a mine field if someone offered me $150 million, so I can't say I blame them much.

LG is coming out with a less expensive dual format (HD DVD/Blu-ray) PC drive next month that I will be interested in. I really don't want to limit my options to HD DVD. Now that I'm getting used to really high quality discs, regular old HD has a hard time competing. I'm planning on putting together a simple HTPC that will be able to play back both formats when that drive hits. The XBox drive allows me to do that with HD DVD now, but with Netflix I could rent any HD title that hits the stores.

It would be nice if a format could win/lose based on it's own merits, but I guess the $ incentives have been there in various forms from both sides. I had hoped that the war would be essentially over by Xmas so I could invest in a nice player with DTS-HD MA. Now it looks like I will wait as well.

For now I have a refurb HD-A1 and a PS3 20GB (have yet to buy a game) to tide me over (at least I was able to retire my DTheater stuff) until the smoke clears. Hopefully Sony will implement DTS-HD MA on the PS3 and I can wait for the cheaper combo units to come out in 2008/2009.

Dave

The channel is there on the new HR20 but not in the showcases. Showcases are still empty, in fact. The channel is also there on the Tivo HR10, but again not in the showcases or the now playing list.

Oddly, the channel they tell you to turn to to see if you're "HD-ready" doesn't give me either of the results they say ("Searching for satellite" or "B-band converter not connected"). It simply says "channel not available" on both the HR10 and HR20.

Not to beat a dead horse, except for the fact that's it's fun <G>, but if *D wants to make the HR20 "the" box of choice, they could give us the instant 30-second skip back that ALL their previous Tivo DVR's had.

Have I mentioned I hate the 30-second "slip?" :D

It would be nice if a format could win/lose based on it's own merits, but I guess the $ incentives have been there in various forms from both sides. I had hoped that the war would be essentially over by Xmas so I could invest in a nice player with DTS-HD MA. Now it looks like I will wait as well.

For now I have a refurb HD-A1 and a PS3 20GB (have yet to buy a game) to tide me over (at least I was able to retire my DTheater stuff) until the smoke clears. Hopefully Sony will implement DTS-HD MA on the PS3 and I can wait for the cheaper combo units to come out in 2008/2009.

Dave

The Sony spin machine is patrolling the streets right now, accusing Toshiba, etc., of paying off the studios in "desperation," since HD DVD sales have lagged Blu-ray for the whole year. As if Sony didn't apply a little financial lubricant to get their backers to go Blu-ray exclusively. Can you spell hypocrisy?

I wanted to stay on the sidelines, until I discovered the HD DVD authoring technique. Once I started doing that and bought a few HD DVD's, I got hooked. They're the best HD I've ever seen. Blu-ray quality is just as good, now that they're past the initial bad releases. I'm still looking for that good combo player at a reasonable price, but until then I'll just get the least expensive PC drive that will do Blu-ray.

The channel is there on the new HR20 but not in the showcases. Showcases are still empty, in fact. The channel is also there on the Tivo HR10, but again not in the showcases or the now playing list.

Oddly, the channel they tell you to turn to to see if you're "HD-ready" doesn't give me either of the results they say ("Searching for satellite" or "B-band converter not connected"). It simply says "channel not available" on both the HR10 and HR20.

Not to beat a dead horse, except for the fact that's it's fun <G>, but if *D wants to make the HR20 "the" box of choice, they could give us the instant 30-second skip back that ALL their previous Tivo DVR's had.

Have I mentioned I hate the 30-second "slip?" :D

Dish makes the 30 sec. skip feature a key part of its ads now. I use the button so much, I wore it out on one of my Harmony remotes. Had to buy another one.:)

Have I mentioned I hate the 30-second "slip?" :D

You now officially have a disease. I'm not sure what it is named, but its a disease... Must have .5 second "skip"... 1.5 second "slip" takes too long! :D

I know each person has their favorites - but I've gotten use to the FF and use slip only rarely. However, I will say with Tivo 30-sec skip I'd overshoot a lot. With slip I never do. (Because I see when something pops back on and can hit the "play" to stop the slip)

Chris

Well, I finally broke down and place me order with D* for a HD-DVR. I'm keeping my existing receivers and I'll either be moving one into my kitchen or my garage.

Anyway, the CSR's still don't show SWM being available, so hopefully the installers can take care of me. But I guess I will still fish a wire down my wall prior to the installation date, just in case. They even tried to schedule my install for this Friday afternoon, but I had to decline because I'm heading out of town:mad: I was surprised they chose a date only 3 days away. So now I'm scheduled for next Tuesday....not sure when I'll have time to be crawling in my attic fishing wire.

Chris (BudShark) thanks for the info.

At least I have a 8-Noon appt. so the chance of them running late is minimized.

I need to print out the install checklist from DBS Talk and print out the Tips and Tricks.

I'm so glad I'm getting it now before the fall season starts. I can't wait to watch BSG on the SciFi channel in HD when it's rolled out! Also, I have a problem with ABC OTA when there are leaves on the trees that will be eliminated.

The only thing I can't figure out is how many monopoles the dish is supposed to have. D* said one and DBS Talk was monopoles (plural) but didn't specify how many monoples.

I was surprised they chose a date only 3 days away.

I was surprised how quick my install date was too. It's good to do it before the possible rush. When Joe Sixpack realizes they need the HR20 for the new HD channels D* may get busier.

The Sony spin machine is patrolling the streets right now, accusing Toshiba, etc., of paying off the studios in "desperation," since HD DVD sales have lagged Blu-ray for the whole year. As if Sony didn't apply a little financial lubricant to get their backers to go Blu-ray exclusively. Can you spell hypocrisy?

I wanted to stay on the sidelines, until I discovered the HD DVD authoring technique. Once I started doing that and bought a few HD DVD's, I got hooked. They're the best HD I've ever seen. Blu-ray quality is just as good, now that they're past the initial bad releases. I'm still looking for that good combo player at a reasonable price, but until then I'll just get the least expensive PC drive that will do Blu-ray.

Some people hate Sony, some people hate Microsoft. These are the two companies throwing money around. Sony wants their HD on disc to be standard, Microsoft wants there to be NO HD on Disc standard(for their future download service). I'm just pissed that as soon as it started to look like this thing was getting close to being over, $150 million extends it. And not $150 mil towards R&D, Lower cost players, or attempts at a better product(Not a HD vs BR thing), It's payola. I thought that was outlawed when it was destroying the recording industry.
Stupid format war....

I need to print out the install checklist from DBS Talk and print out the Tips and Tricks.

Hmm, I don't remember seeing an install checklist. Got a link?

Thanks,
Kurt

P.S. let us (me) know if you are able to get SWM with your installation.

Some people hate Sony, some people hate Microsoft.

And some of us hate BOTH of 'em! :D

Sorry, feeling a little cynical today.... as if last season being so disappointing weren't enough, they just announced JANEANE GAROFALO will be joining the cast of 24 this season. As a government agent investigating Bauer, no less. Oh well, hopefully her character dies a 24-style patented spectacular death.

So do I, although I reserve more hate for Microsoft(I haven't had the rootkit issues with sony, and I haven't had issues with my sony equipment, like I did with JVC). But, I also hate Apple, Charter, Sprint, George Lucas, Wasatch, Tivo Fanboys, HD-DVD fanboys, BluRay Fanboys, Autodesk, etc...

I just realized it would take much less time to list what I like(NOTHING).

Hmm, I don't remember seeing an install checklist. Got a link?

Thanks,
Kurt

P.S. let us (me) know if you are able to get SWM with your installation.

Yeah - so far it appears the SWM is spotty. East coast seems to have gotten the most. I'm sure St. Louis isn't high on their list. Anyhow - hopefully in the next week or two they'll clarify and make it generally available. Its definitely out - just not "available". Maybe its the Wii of the satellite industry... ;)

Chris

Yeah - so far it appears the SWM is spotty. East coast seems to have gotten the most. I'm sure St. Louis isn't high on their list. Anyhow - hopefully in the next week or two they'll clarify and make it generally available. Its definitely out - just not "available". Maybe its the Wii of the satellite industry... ;)

Chris

So do you think it's worth me putting the effort in my hot attic to run an additional cable? Or better yet, how hard is it to convert to SWM in the future (whenever that may be)?

So do you think it's worth me putting the effort in my hot attic to run an additional cable? Or better yet, how hard is it to convert to SWM in the future (whenever that may be)?

If you can't get a hold of the SWM right now (which I agree is frustrating and wrong), the desire to run cable is up to you. It depends on two factors:
1) How much is PBS and KPLR HD worth to you?
2) How important is having the OTA HD channels of 2, 4, 5, 30 for quality/comparison/rain fade?

If the answer to both of these is "not important, don't need" - you gain nothing from the antenna. In my opinion (and this is accepting that OTA is not the quality it used to be or could be, and I don't need KPLR or PBS HD feeds) I would say its not worth it.

With respect to converting to the SWM in the future - depending on where your WB68 is, its a 5 minute job. Of course, the question would be whether it is worth it at that point. If you don't need/want the OTA, and you already have 2 satellite lines - the SWM will not buy you any "gains" - except being able to take the BBC (B-Band converter) off.

Chris

And some of us hate BOTH of 'em! :D

Sorry, feeling a little cynical today.... as if last season being so disappointing weren't enough, they just announced JANEANE GAROFALO will be joining the cast of 24 this season. As a government agent investigating Bauer, no less. Oh well, hopefully her character dies a 24-style patented spectacular death.

I agree. Last season was mostly a bore. I think the series woke up towards the finale, but I don't think I'll be sitting thru another full season if things don't improve. The JANEANE GAROFALO character concerns me as well. I realize that Jack needs a foil to keep things interesting, but who wants still another inept bureaucrat?

....I already have enough of them at work....... :(

If you can't get a hold of the SWM right now (which I agree is frustrating and wrong), the desire to run cable is up to you. It depends on two factors:
1) How much is PBS and KPLR HD worth to you?
2) How important is having the OTA HD channels of 2, 4, 5, 30 for quality/comparison/rain fade?

If the answer to both of these is "not important, don't need" - you gain nothing from the antenna. In my opinion (and this is accepting that OTA is not the quality it used to be or could be, and I don't need KPLR or PBS HD feeds) I would say its not worth it.

With respect to converting to the SWM in the future - depending on where your WB68 is, its a 5 minute job. Of course, the question would be whether it is worth it at that point. If you don't need/want the OTA, and you already have 2 satellite lines - the SWM will not buy you any "gains" - except being able to take the BBC (B-Band converter) off.

Chris

Ignorance talking here (and sorry if I missed it), but doesn't the new D* DVR give you the ability to integrate OTA recordings with sat recordings - same guide, etc.? If so, you gain the ability to record both OTA and sat HD locals at the same time. I do this all the time with Dish, which gives you the ability to record 2 sat HD locals and 1 OTA HD local at the same time, while viewing a 4th that's already been recorded. I do this frequently when new network shows are airing.

Has anyone heard of a cheap Blu-ray PC drive for sale now? CompUSA had a Lite-On Blu-ray burner for $300, but I missed out on the sale. I found out that the LG coming in the fall may not be able to read HD DVD recordable discs, which probably includes my homemade discs. I may just end up using a Blu-ray drive and the XBox 360 drive together in that HTPC.

Ignorance talking here (and sorry if I missed it), but doesn't the new D* DVR give you the ability to integrate OTA recordings with sat recordings - same guide, etc.? If so, you gain the ability to record both OTA and sat HD locals at the same time. I do this all the time with Dish, which gives you the ability to record 2 sat HD locals and 1 OTA HD local at the same time, while viewing a 4th that's already been recorded. I do this frequently when new network shows are airing.Yes, I believe the new D* DVR allows you to integrate OTA and sat recordings, but without SWM I would need 2 sat feeds to the receiver to be able to record one sat channel and watch another. What Budshark is suggesting is to use my current OTA cable for the 2nd sat feed if OTA isn't important to me.

If I have time, I will most likely run another cable.

Has anyone heard of a cheap Blu-ray PC drive for sale now? CompUSA had a Lite-On Blu-ray burner for $300, but I missed out on the sale. I found out that the LG coming in the fall may not be able to read HD DVD recordable discs, which probably includes my homemade discs. I may just end up using a Blu-ray drive and the XBox 360 drive together in that HTPC.
The Lite-On's I've seen are all over $400....the Philips higher than that.

Ignorance talking here (and sorry if I missed it), but doesn't the new D* DVR give you the ability to integrate OTA recordings with sat recordings - same guide, etc.? If so, you gain the ability to record both OTA and sat HD locals at the same time. I do this all the time with Dish, which gives you the ability to record 2 sat HD locals and 1 OTA HD local at the same time, while viewing a 4th that's already been recorded. I do this frequently when new network shows are airing.

Joe - actually this is NOT possible with the HR20. Only 2 streams are possible at a time - so you cannot record three. The advantage DirecTV has is 2 OTA vs. 1 OTA on Dish - but again, the only recording possibilties are for 2.
1) Record 2 OTA, watch a recorded.
2) Record 2 sat, watch a recorded.
3) Record 1 OTA, 1 Sat, watch a recorded.
4) Record 1 (OTA/SAT), watch SAT or OTA

Chris

Add me to the list of users who finally had the D* HR20 installed. I've been a D* customer since May '05 and have had the Tivo HR10-250 since August '05.

I had the installation done on Monday evening. Everything went well (and fast), except I specifically asked to have the Zinwell WB68 multi-switch installed, but the installer didn't know anything about it. Since I didn't have a previous multi-switch, he said that they couldn't install it. I don't need one right now, but plan to expand my installation in the future, so it would have been nice to have. I'll give D* a call and see if they can send me one.

He installed the HR20-700. Its worked well thus far and the speed of the box is an improvement over the old Tivo box. I am going to miss the dual buffers during football season though. :(

No WB68??? So you had no multi-switch before so he wouldn't put one in? What is in its place? There is no switch on the dish - each satellite feed carries a separate LNB - you need the WB68 (or SWM) to put all 4 satellite feeds onto a wire for your receiver.

Edit: Correcting myself. The slimlines do have a multiswitch in them - so if only 4 tuners are installed a WB68 is not needed. I'd still call DirecTV though and ask for one though.

Chris

I thought you only needed a switch if you needed more than 4 satellite feeds/cable. There are 4 cables coming from the dish and all 4 are being used right now. I don't have a switch right now, just some coax connectors that are grounded.

Jeremy

Edit: I just saw you edit your reply after I posted....

We've had DirecTV for 10+ years, but will be moving to Wentzville in a couple months or so, and I've started to wonder about switching to Dish Network there (assuming they'll keep up with D*'s HD) after looking at their HD DVR features again since the ViP722 release. :) But I'm wondering about the CenturyTel/DISH "bundle." I can't find much on any pricing differences... :confused: After looking at CTel's site, I only see a $10 discount for a year (wow :rolleyes:), and then it's regular price after that, just on a single bill? What's the point of a bundle if it costs as much as "separate" DISH service? At standard prices, D* is definitely cheaper for desired channels and 2 HD DVRs (yes I know E*'s are dual capable, still want 2). E* really needs to stop charging twice as much for HD in about a month! :eek:

Can anyone give more details? I know one member has it (tstolze); anybody else? Besides pricing info., any other "issues" going through CenturyTel, or is it the same as DISH directly as far as deals, equipment, installation, etc.?

Thanks!

Joe - actually this is NOT possible with the HR20. Only 2 streams are possible at a time - so you cannot record three. The advantage DirecTV has is 2 OTA vs. 1 OTA on Dish - but again, the only recording possibilties are for 2.
1) Record 2 OTA, watch a recorded.
2) Record 2 sat, watch a recorded.
3) Record 1 OTA, 1 Sat, watch a recorded.
4) Record 1 (OTA/SAT), watch SAT or OTA

Chris

It all depends on how you look at it. If you schedule back to back recordings
on say Channel 4, say one show starting at 5:58 and stopping at 7:02 and another recording on Channel 4 starting at 6:58 and ending at 8:02, that only
uses one of your tuners. I just continues using the same stream the entire time, so actually it is one long recording from 5:58 - 8:02, the software then breaks it down into 2 recorded shows.

So then you can use the other tuner to record something else. So yes, you can record 3 things at the same time. But you couldn't record channel 2, 4, and 5 all at 5:58 - 7:02. Only 2 channels can be recorded at the same time.

Here ya go, this could get long. Centurytel gives you a $5 a month discount for bundling with E*. I left Charter because of billing issues, lack of HD, and cost for DVR. I have struggled to get a correct bill with Centurytel after 3 months, but I believe I have this resolved.

As for other issues with Centurytel, do not sign up for the 10/768 service yet, unless you are in a new home with fiber to the home, you can get 15 down with fiber not sure on the upload. Ctel has yet to resolve the local issues with the 10/768 plan, all other plans are stable. When I ordered service I was told I could get a modem for the cost of shipping, $14.95, if I agreed to a 12 month term for DSL. I get my first bill and I was charged $1.95 modem equipment fee. This continues to be an issue with my billing, I purchased a modem off Ebay and returned theirs.

On the Dish side, you cannot access your account on E* website. So I am wondering about some of the future "online" services. I am able to call E* phone numbers and report problems, change programming, etc. I was charged $49.95 for installation, but received the same credit on my first bill. I have the Top 200 plan with the HD package, locals, and I had the 1 premium for free for 3 months. My equipment is a 622 and a 211. I was able to get my $20 a month rebate, should show on my next bill. Here is a line by line of my bill from Ctel.

Monthly Charges

DISH DVR Service Fee 0.00

DISH Home Protection Plan 5.99

DVR Adv HD plus 1 Premium Special 30.00

Dish DVR Advantage AT200 49.99

HD Channel Package 0.00

Local Channels 0.00

MPEG-4 Additnl Outlet Box Fee 6.00

Total Monthly Charges 91.98

Discounts

Bundle Discount 5.00 CR

Total Discounts 5.00 CR

Video Detail

Item Date Description Charge

1 JUL31 FROM 07/31/2007 5.99 CR
DISH HOME PROTECTION PLAN (DHPP)

Total Video Detail 5.99 CR

Total Current Charges 80.99
Taxes, Fees and Surcharges

MISSOURI Sales Tax 0.23

O’FALLON Sales Tax 0.08

ST CHARLES Sales Tax 0.09

Total Taxes, Fees and Surcharges 0.40

Total Current Charges For Video Services 81.39

So then you can use the other tuner to record something else. So yes, you can record 3 things at the same time.

Personally I wouldn't call this recording 3 things at 1 time. You are still only recording 2 streams. The overlap (because the next show is on the same channel) is actually a nice feature/behavior (versus a hard break) but it only addresses 1 specific item (early/extended recordings on the same channel back to back)

Contrast this to the 622/722. You can actually record channel 2, 4, 5 from 6:58-8:02, while you are watching a recorded program. Thats recording 3 things at once in my mind.

It is important to point out this feature though - because I don't think the Tivo's could do this, nor the 622. I think those all have hard breaks with no overlap.

It is important to point out this feature though - because I don't think the Tivo's could do this, nor the 622. I think those all have hard breaks with no overlap.
Chris,
The 622 does now, and has always had this capability. KIM, in order to be able to record the 3rd event, OTA must be connected. Both machines can only record 2 SAT streams, and a 3rd OTA, if connected.

The 622 and 722 are essentially identical machines. The only difference being, the 722 has a larger HDD and is brushed-black as opposed to the 622 gun metal finish. Both run the same s/w version.

Personally I wouldn't call this recording 3 things at 1 time. You are still only recording 2 streams. The overlap (because the next show is on the same channel) is actually a nice feature/behavior (versus a hard break) but it only addresses 1 specific item (early/extended recordings on the same channel back to back)

Contrast this to the 622/722. You can actually record channel 2, 4, 5 from 6:58-8:02, while you are watching a recorded program. Thats recording 3 things at once in my mind.

It is important to point out this feature though - because I don't think the Tivo's could do this, nor the 622. I think those all have hard breaks with no overlap.

Nope, the TIVO's couldn't do it.

I remember some talk about slingbox, but don't remember who the experts were.

Anyway, does anyone know if it can be hooked up to the MOXI mate?

Tim

Cards in HD, Tonight through Sunday :)

Full Schedule HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10174447#post10174447)

I remember some talk about slingbox, but don't remember who the experts were.

Anyway, does anyone know if it can be hooked up to the MOXI mate?

Tim

That's that way I have mine hooked up. But with the remore control problem with the Moxi and slingbox I haven't been using it.

Wayne

Has anyone had any experience with the "Next Generation Remote Control Extender"?

The reviews are wonderful and there is a bunch of information about it on AVS. Just wondering if anyone local has tried to control components from another room and how they do it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000C1Z0HA******ord_cart_shr/104-9913588-4076700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2YLYLTN75J8LR&v=glance

How about that comeback last night. Ludwick's homerun was awesome!

Has anyone had any experience with the "Next Generation Remote Control Extender"?

The reviews are wonderful and there is a bunch of information about it on AVS. Just wondering if anyone local has tried to control components from another room and how they do it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000C1Z0HA******ord_cart_shr/104-9913588-4076700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2YLYLTN75J8LR&v=glance

How about that comeback last night. Ludwick's homerun was awesome!

Looks like your link has been corrupted. What needs to be substituted for ****** ?

Hmm, I don't remember seeing an install checklist. Got a link?

Thanks,
Kurt

P.S. let us (me) know if you are able to get SWM with your installation.



http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for. EDIT: I made the installer hook up a Zinwell 6X8 Multi-Switch even though O onlu have 4 cables and one direct OTA cable coming in. So is it a multi-switch of some sort?

My install went well. I am hating the HR20 for now. No dual buffers really sucks. Also the constant scrolling around on this grid thing to see what's going to be on later on various channels sucks even more. :mad:

Bah humbug!

[QUOTE=MoInSTL;11388089]http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for.

QUOTE]


I hope it's not Single White Male:eek:

[QUOTE=MoInSTL;11388089]http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for.

QUOTE]


I hope it's not Single White Male:eek:

Hey, dont quote me! ;) Ask Kurt.

SWM is single wire method. It represents the promised land for directv by allowing you to access two tuners in a DVR AND OTA with only one cable wire coming into the room. Any house that's cable ready will be ready for multi-tuner DVR's. I understand that testing is going well and we might see it later this year (probably next year). Only the newer DVR's will work with the SWM but the legacy DVR's will also work with multiple lines.

Mike (Da Bears)

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for. EDIT: I made the installer hook up a Zinwell 6X8 Multi-Switch even though O onlu have 4 cables and one direct OTA cable coming in. So is it a multi-switch of some sort?

My install went well. I am hating the HR20 for now. No dual buffers really sucks. Also the constant scrolling around on this grid thing to see what's going to be on later on various channels sucks even more. :mad:

Bah humbug!
Not to worry Mo, you'll get used to it. Just about everyone I've ever talked to, hated the HR20 when they first got it, but once they became comfortable with it, most of them love it. :)

Not to worry Mo, you'll get used to it. Just about everyone I've ever talked to, hated the HR20 when they first got it, but once they became comfortable with it, most of them love it. :)


Agreed,
The only thing I still miss on the tivo is the dlb. I prefer EVERYTHING else on the HR20.

Mo,
Did you notice you can skip ahead 12 hours with the red and green button(or yellow/blue, I don't remember without sitting with the remote). Also, the next software version, coming probably tomorrow, has red button delete, and a few other new plusses.

Dug

Chris,
The 622 does now, and has always had this capability.

You're talking about the ability to have overlapping recordings on the same channel, which use only 1 tuner? If so, great, though I'm not sure I'd have much need to use it... Just wanting clarification since it looks like there could be some confusion on the post you quoted, and you may actually be talking about the ability to record 3 things. :confused:

Thanks.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for. EDIT: I made the installer hook up a Zinwell 6X8 Multi-Switch even though O onlu have 4 cables and one direct OTA cable coming in. So is it a multi-switch of some sort?

My install went well. I am hating the HR20 for now. No dual buffers really sucks. Also the constant scrolling around on this grid thing to see what's going to be on later on various channels sucks even more. :mad:

Bah humbug!

Thanks for the info, I actually surfed around a bunch over at dbstalk and found it late last night. As for SWM, here is what I know from here:

...
OK - now you can "see" the satellites with the new dish. The distribution of the signal will occur from one of 2 methods - a WB68 switch or a SWM5/SWM8 switch. Both work just fine, consider the SWM5/SWM8 to be used in situations where wiring is a problem. The SWMs give you the ability to feed multiple tuners from 1 cable - versus the WB68 which requires a cable per tuner (this is only important for DVRs where you have 2 tuners). The appropriate switch WILL come with your HR20 order - it will be a WB68 unless specified otherwise.

OK - now you have the actual satellite signal making it all the way to your TV. New problem - the KA-lo signals need to be converted before the HR20 (or any other DirecTV Mpeg4 receiver) can understand them. The KA-hi signals are fine (this is what the St. Louis locals are using). If you are using a SWM, the conversion is done inside the switch - no other work is needed. If you are using a WB68 you need a B-Band Converter (BBC) to make the appropriate adjustment.


Chris

You're talking about the ability to have overlapping recordings on the same channel, which use only 1 tuner? If so, great, though I'm not sure I'd have much need to use it... Just wanting clarification since it looks like there could be some confusion on the post you quoted, and you may actually be talking about the ability to record 3 things. :confused:

Thanks.
Either, Or, and Both :)
The 622 has always, and now the 722 can record 3 different streams (channels) simultaneously, providing OTA is connected. This would provide 2 SAT streams (channels) and 1 OTA stream (channel). The 622/722 have 3 recordable tuners, 1 ATSC, and 2 SAT.

In a case when two events is scheduled to record from the same channel, with overlapping ending and beginning times, the receivers will continue the recording from the beginning of the first event, through the end of the second event, and the software will show 2 separate events. This would apply whether 1, 2, or 3 streams is being recorded.

However, if you do not change the timer pads, when you go to play back the overlapping events, the first minute of the second event will be seen during the last minute playback of the first event. If you do edit the timer pads when scheduling the events, you can have a clean ending of the first event, and a clean beginning of the second event, but actual overlapping is not possible, nor do I think it would be logical.

Now, I'm confused :o:confused:

SWM? I have no idea what that stands for. EDIT: I made the installer hook up a Zinwell 6X8 Multi-Switch even though O onlu have 4 cables and one direct OTA cable coming in. So is it a multi-switch of some sort?

My install went well. I am hating the HR20 for now. No dual buffers really sucks. Also the constant scrolling around on this grid thing to see what's going to be on later on various channels sucks even more. :mad:

Bah humbug!

As others have said - the SWM is the Single Wire Multiswitch - only needed if you don't have sufficient RG6 runs (3 if you want OTA, 2 if not). The WB68 will do you just fine. Make sure your B-Band Converters are hooked up (channel 499 should say "searching for satellite signal" - if not, they are not hooked up). D*10 is drifting into place and the rumors are flying now about Sept 4/5 startups and that there are ~10 unannounced channels in addition to the announced ones...

Sorry to hear about the love/hate w/HR20. It will grow to be more love over time - I promise. The box is in active development. While the DLB issue has never been resolved - DirecTV still has not said no. They have been focused on meeting stability, VOD, and Media Share commitments. In the next 6 months I'd expect to see a handful of "new" unannounced, but rumored, features (DLB, Multi-room viewing, etc)

Of course - YMMV and forward looking statements should not be taken as fact.

Chris

Either, Or, and Both :)
[snip]

Now, I'm confused :o:confused:

We all are now ;)

Suffice it to say, the HR20 can only record 2 streams. The 622/722 can record 3 streams. Lets leave it at that... :D

Chris

We all are now ;)

Suffice it to say, the HR20 can only record 2 streams. The 622/722 can record 3 streams. Lets leave it at that... :D

Chris
What Chris said :)


BTW, any DISH subs loose the SAT's around 10:30 last night (Wed)? I was watching the game, time-shifted, and left to go look at something live, but there was no SAT signals. We went back to watching DVR events, and checked for signals a few more times. I think it was out for about an hour, or so.
Fortunately, no recordings lost, since there is *nothing* on worth recording, and Anchorwoman had already completed...whew.
Can't understand why that one didn't make the fall schedule. :eek:

Now, I'm confused :o:confused:

LOL, OK. :D Well, from what I understand with the HR20, you can do a recording from 7-8:30 and 8-9, on the same channel (only using 1 tuner), and the 2 recordings will then be 1h30m and 1h00m long. Your second paragraph was sounding like E*'s DVR would also do that, and then the 3rd added confusion. :eek:

A scenario where I thought it could be used is like on channel 2 or 4 during football season -- you extend the end time of games you want to see, and also want to record the primetime shows afterwards, which will probably be late (though you'd still set the recording to start at the scheduled time in case). You'd then have 2 recordings, that only tied up a single tuner, which allows separate resume on each and the ability delete one to free up some space before the other gets watched, etc...

Here ya go, this could get long. Centurytel gives you a $5 a month discount for bundling with E*. I left Charter because of billing issues, lack of HD, and cost for DVR. I have struggled to get a correct bill with Centurytel after 3 months, but I believe I have this resolved.

As for other issues with Centurytel, do not sign up for the 10/768 service yet, unless you are in a new home with fiber to the home, you can get 15 down with fiber not sure on the upload. Ctel has yet to resolve the local issues with the 10/768 plan, all other plans are stable. When I ordered service I was told I could get a modem for the cost of shipping, $14.95, if I agreed to a 12 month term for DSL. I get my first bill and I was charged $1.95 modem equipment fee. This continues to be an issue with my billing, I purchased a modem off Ebay and returned theirs.

On the Dish side, you cannot access your account on E* website. So I am wondering about some of the future "online" services. I am able to call E* phone numbers and report problems, change programming, etc. I was charged $49.95 for installation, but received the same credit on my first bill. I have the Top 200 plan with the HD package, locals, and I had the 1 premium for free for 3 months. My equipment is a 622 and a 211. I was able to get my $20 a month rebate, should show on my next bill.

Thanks for that info! I think I pretty much had the E* costs figured out, except the CenturyTel discount. I assume that $5 is "forever," not only initially?

Your service was ordered through CTel right? Were the 622 and 211 free? I don't really know what E* charges after the first receiver, just wondering if CTel is the same. It sounds like you got the same promotions I saw on the DISH site: $49.95 install credit and $20/month off (for 6 mos?), that's good.

We currently have CenturyTel here BTW (in Warren county), got DSL in Feb '05 and just have 1.5M speed now (3 is the fastest available here; ~12.5k from RO, if that's why). And I think 6 is the highest at the new subdivision. As long as I don't go for the ADSL2+ 10M service at some point, I guess I can continue using this modem (Netopia). We actually have a second that they sent -- offered to send it back twice and they never responded. :rolleyes:

I saw on the dslreports.com forum that you got $10 off your bill for a year... Our 1.5 is $30 :mad: with the bundle plus $40 for phone, making the total after taxes and fees a little over $80. :( Maybe I can get a bit taken off that at some point.

What Chris said :)

BTW, any DISH subs loose the SAT's around 10:30 last night (Wed)? I was watching the game, time-shifted, and left to go look at something live, but there was no SAT signals. We went back to watching DVR events, and checked for signals a few more times. I think it was out for about an hour, or so.
Fortunately, no recordings lost, since there is *nothing* on worth recording, and Anchorwoman had already completed...whew.
Can't understand why that one didn't make the fall schedule. :eek:

I'm glad to see this mentioned. Last night, around that time, I was installing my DPP44 power inserter (which DISH sent me for free after I discovered my installer didn't install one a couple of months ago). I put it on the cable coming into my 311 receiver and all appeared well on my 311 and my 622 for a few minutes until I lost the sats. So I swapped the cables on my DPP44 and moved the power inserter to the cable going into my 622. Some of the channels were working, others weren't. I started to think they sent me a piece of junk when all of a sudden things started working again. It was somewhere around 11:00 PM at that time.

Things still seem to be working fine this morning so I hope that was it.

Just incredibly bad timing I guess. . .

[...] Come fall, I'll be set for some serious OTA and satellite capture. I've added the HDHomerun as a companion OTA capture device to MyHD. I've been so busy with computer operations that I haven't even had time to try it out yet. I'll still be using MyHD for OTA and satellite capture playback, but the beauty of HDHomerun is that it contains 2 OTA tuners and simply interfaces with my network through Ethernet, much as the UnRaid box does. It can be programmed by any computer on the network.

Joe, older post I know, but the satellite capture you're doing isn't in HD, is it? :confused:

Hey Joe,

What software do you use with that HDhomerun? It doesn't come with any, right?

Thanks...

Has anyone had any experience with the "Next Generation Remote Control Extender"?

The reviews are wonderful and there is a bunch of information about it on AVS. Just wondering if anyone local has tried to control components from another room and how they do it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000C1Z0HA******ord_cart_shr/104-9913588-4076700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2YLYLTN75J8LR&v=glance

How about that comeback last night. Ludwick's homerun was awesome!

Working Link:http://www.buy.com/prod/next-generation-ath-aaa-remote-control-extender/q/loc/111/201967610.html

Thanks for that info! I think I pretty much had the E* costs figured out, except the CenturyTel discount. I assume that $5 is "forever," not only initially?

Your service was ordered through CTel right? Were the 622 and 211 free? I don't really know what E* charges after the first receiver, just wondering if CTel is the same. It sounds like you got the same promotions I saw on the DISH site: $49.95 install credit and $20/month off (for 6 mos?), that's good.

We currently have CenturyTel here BTW (in Warren county), got DSL in Feb '05 and just have 1.5M speed now (3 is the fastest available here; ~12.5k from RO, if that's why). And I think 6 is the highest at the new subdivision. As long as I don't go for the ADSL2+ 10M service at some point, I guess I can continue using this modem (Netopia). We actually have a second that they sent -- offered to send it back twice and they never responded. :rolleyes:

I saw on the dslreports.com forum that you got $10 off your bill for a year... Our 1.5 is $30 :mad: with the bundle plus $40 for phone, making the total after taxes and fees a little over $80. :( Maybe I can get a bit taken off that at some point.

I paid nothing for the equipment, the $5 discount is "forever" in my mind. I ordered everything through Ctel at one time.

They do have a new package now, metro calling with unlimited long distance, 1.5 DSL, and E* top 100 for 89.95 a month. That should give you a basis, then you can add additional services above that.

I'm glad to see this mentioned. Last night, around that time, I was installing my DPP44 power inserter (which DISH sent me for free after I discovered my installer didn't install one a couple of months ago). I put it on the cable coming into my 311 receiver and all appeared well on my 311 and my 622 for a few minutes until I lost the sats. So I swapped the cables on my DPP44 and moved the power inserter to the cable going into my 622. Some of the channels were working, others weren't. I started to think they sent me a piece of junk when all of a sudden things started working again. It was somewhere around 11:00 PM at that time.

Things still seem to be working fine this morning so I hope that was it.

Just incredibly bad timing I guess. . .


Apparently there were bad thunderstorms in Cheyenne - where Dish's uplink is. It was noted on that other satellite site for guys ;) and they even linked to the weather radar so you could see when it would "clear up".

So apparently Dish had nationwide "rain-fade" :p

A scenario where I thought it could be used is like on channel 2 or 4 during football season -- you extend the end time of games you want to see, and also want to record the primetime shows afterwards, which will probably be late (though you'd still set the recording to start at the scheduled time in case). You'd then have 2 recordings, that only tied up a single tuner, which allows separate resume on each and the ability delete one to free up some space before the other gets watched, etc...
Ah, I get it now. In your scenario, it would not matter on the 622/722, because they are NBR. If the event was scheduled to record, and another event ran into its time-slot, it still records. Even though you would see the record times set, the DVR schedules the events by the EPG description. I think the HR is the same...yes?

What Chris said :)


BTW, any DISH subs loose the SAT's around 10:30 last night (Wed)? I was watching the game, time-shifted, and left to go look at something live, but there was no SAT signals. We went back to watching DVR events, and checked for signals a few more times. I think it was out for about an hour, or so.
Fortunately, no recordings lost, since there is *nothing* on worth recording, and Anchorwoman had already completed...whew.
Can't understand why that one didn't make the fall schedule. :eek:

Yes; and my wife wasn't too happy about it either :(

Cheers,

Yes; and my wife wasn't too happy about it either :(

Cheers,
The DISH outage, or Anchorwoman? :D

OT(again) Looks like Ctel thinks they have the 10 meg fixed in our area. I ran a test this morning and I have been bumped back up. :D

http://www.testmy.net/share2-ZTPREK8HI (http://testmy.net/stats/id-ZTPREK8HI)

Joe, older post I know, but the satellite capture you're doing isn't in HD, is it? :confused:

Yes, it is. I use the Nextcom R5000 mod to a Dish 211. It captures MPEG2 and MPEG4 HD, although it's harder to get software to edit/play the HD streams for MPEG4. MPEG2 capture and editing is a walk in the park.

Hey Joe,

What software do you use with that HDhomerun? It doesn't come with any, right?

Thanks...

I still don't have this set up. :o You can download software from their site, which will let you capture. It works with third party software, such as Sage and several others, but I haven't done it yet.

Working Link:http://www.buy.com/prod/next-generation-ath-aaa-remote-control-extender/q/loc/111/201967610.html

That's it...Thanks Glendale.

Anybody have any experience with this crazy thing?

Joe:

What software have you found that can handle an MPEG-4 TS?

If you have some MPEG-4 TS content I may need to hit you up for a little content for a future product review.

Best,

Sorry to hear about the love/hate w/HR20. It will grow to be more love over time - I promise. The box is in active development. While the DLB issue has never been resolved - DirecTV still has not said no. They have been focused on meeting stability, VOD, and Media Share commitments. In the next 6 months I'd expect to see a handful of "new" unannounced, but rumored, features (DLB, Multi-room viewing, etc)

Of course - YMMV and forward looking statements should not be taken as fact.

Chris

I missed Rescue Me and setting it up as a Season Pass AKA Series Link. It did record on my bedroom R10 at least. I am going to subscribe to TV Guide or something so I don't miss upcoming programs. The other thing is deleting a lot of channels like USA to get the grid smaller. I wish there was a way to easily toggle between the Favorite Channels on FAV 1 and FAV 2.

Is there a way to see upcoming shows while recording on both channels? I watched the ballgame live but was recording it and another program. During commercials I was wanting to look ahead and a screen popped up saying I was recording two programs.

I did notice the 12 hours forward and back. I also turned off Native Mode so channel changing would be faster. I sort of like the Active button. I'd like it more if it loaded faster. The remote layout is not great and it's straight (as well as heavy and wide) rather than curved like the peanut so it's not as easy to move your thumb around for the buttons and my wrist is actually sore. I'm sure I'll like it more when all the new channels start.

I printed out the Undocumented Tips & Tricks from DBS.

OT(again) Looks like Ctel thinks they have the 10 meg fixed in our area. I ran a test this morning and I have been bumped back up. :D

http://www.testmy.net/share2-ZTPREK8HI (http://testmy.net/stats/id-ZTPREK8HI)

Should mine go back to 10 meg automatically, or did you have to call them?

Scott

That's it...Thanks Glendale.

Anybody have any experience with this crazy thing?

I don't have personal experience with that one, but I do with ohter types that use 2 cones and they work very well.

Scott

Joe:

What software have you found that can handle an MPEG-4 TS?

If you have some MPEG-4 TS content I may need to hit you up for a little content for a future product review.

Best,

Some of the Dish MPEG4 content plays on Media Player Classic or Nero and some doesn't. I have examples of both.

Watching the Jaguars and Packers on *D's MPEG-4 KTVI feed. Have to say the MPEG-4 locals are pretty nice. Don't have the antenna feeds to compare them to at the moment, but after all the b!tching I've done about *D compressing the MPEG-2 HD channels to 1280x1080i, I kinda like being able to say something nice for a change.

Still hate the 30 second "slip," though..........

Some of the Dish MPEG4 content plays on Media Player Classic or Nero and some doesn't. I have examples of both.

Why would either playback some but not all content? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Cheers,

Why would either playback some but not all content? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Cheers,

Your guess is as good as mine. I tried to find my samples, but I probably ditched them while transferring things to UnRaid. I'll record some more and try to be specific as to which channels will play and which won't. I know others have experienced the same thing with the Dish MPEG4 channels. Audio would sometimes play, though.

Should mine go back to 10 meg automatically, or did you have to call them?

Scott

My understanding is that the techs were keeping a written list of customers that needed bumped back up after the problem was fixed. I received a message from a local tech while at work, he is calling back in the morning to check on things. I will ask him for particulars.

That's it...Thanks Glendale.

Anybody have any experience with this crazy thing?
I have one of these. It works fine, but the range isn't that great for me. I was hoping to use it outside to control my system in the living room, but it didn't go more than a few feet outside the house through a brick wall. The little batteries that power the transmitter seem to wear down quickly, so be prepared to swap them out often. It comes with two and you can always keep on charging while using the other.

It was OTA, and definitely a station issue. At one point, during the latter innings, the display blanked, and KSDK switched to the SD feed, where it remained until after coming out of the next commercial.

What's a Moxi? :D


Somehow I missed this when I was online last week... Moxi is an HD DVR currently only available through Charter in the St. Louis area; though we will be going to retail this fall. The great news is in the St. Louis area, we also have multi-room deployments, which allow you to access all the content recorded on the main Moxi, in a second room. It supports external HD and a host of other features.

You should check out the Moxi ( Motorola BMC90xx ) Q&A and Discussion Thread - in the HDTV Recorders forum for more info. Lots of folks are passionate fans of the UI (much more dynamic than other EPGs). You can also check out our website at www.moxi.com for a virtual demo.

Wished I had seen this last week as we held a Meet Moxi event in St. Louis, you could have gotten a sneak peak at our retail version ;)

MoxiMessenger

I remember some talk about slingbox, but don't remember who the experts were.

Anyway, does anyone know if it can be hooked up to the MOXI mate?

Tim

It can be connected to the main Moxi, not sure about Moxi Mate. Technically Sling compatibility isn't part of our "features" so we don't officially "support" it today, though I've read in the main Moxi thread some users have success with it.

We are in communications with Sling to make the Sling + Moxi equation work better, so am sure it will improve in the future, but for now it falls in the "mileage may vary" category. ;)

MoxiMessenger

Have there been any issues where the Moxi won't record a program? The last few times I've tried to record a program, it didn't record and a I saw an error message stating, "signal not received". My cable has been working fine.

StockInv - Are you still having this problem?

FYI, in the future, you may want to cross post in the Moxi ( Motorola BMC90xx ) Q&A and Discussion Thread - in the HDTV Recorders forum as that is where MoxiGuy and I spend the most of our time.

You could also cross post in the St. Louis - Charter thread as well.

MoxiMessenger

Watching the Jaguars and Packers on *D's MPEG-4 KTVI feed. Have to say the MPEG-4 locals are pretty nice. Don't have the antenna feeds to compare them to at the moment, but after all the b!tching I've done about *D compressing the MPEG-2 HD channels to 1280x1080i, I kinda like being able to say something nice for a change.

Still the 30 second "slip," though..........

KTVI-DT OTA is nototious for occasional brief picture breakups. This happens 24 x 7 in SD and HD. Usually a few times per hour. I see this OTA as well via E* HD locals. While the quality is also quite nice, the breakups seem worse over the satellite as the MPEG4 obviously cannot handle them well.

Do you see this via D*? It's hard not to notice. If you don't see this I must assume they get the content via some other means than OTA.

Thanks Scott. Thanks Joe.

I'm trying to come up with the best way to hide my components in the house when it's finished. I like the thought of having the Sat receiver and Stereo receiver in the basement and out of site is very intriguing.

Quite the storm moving through right now. Might not have a baseball game to watch tonight.

Somehow I missed this when I was online last week... Moxi is an HD DVR currently only available through Charter in the St. Louis area; though we will be going to retail this fall. The great news is in the St. Louis area, we also have multi-room deployments, which allow you to access all the content recorded on the main Moxi, in a second room. It supports external HD and a host of other features.

You should check out the Moxi ( Motorola BMC90xx ) Q&A and Discussion Thread - in the HDTV Recorders forum for more info. Lots of folks are passionate fans of the UI (much more dynamic than other EPGs). You can also check out our website at www.moxi.com for a virtual demo.

Wished I had seen this last week as we held a Meet Moxi event in St. Louis, you could have gotten a sneak peak at our retail version ;)

MoxiMessenger
Well, it certainly was worth the wait. And, that virtual demo...that rocked, for sure.
Somebody got off at the wrong stop :eek:

Should you happen to pop in again, I'm assuming this Moxi also had DLB's, SbS PiP, a single box can power 2 TV's with simultaneous independent of DVR functions, seamless OTA/EPG/DVR integration, and of course, record 3 HD events while viewing a 4th...yes?:D

I have wondered about this though, if Paul is the CEO of Diego and of Charter, why it is Charter experienced such a shortage of Moxi's, having to offer the 3416's in their place? You'd think he'd have *some* pull, ya?

Thanks Scott. Thanks Joe.

I'm trying to come up with the best way to hide my components in the house when it's finished. I like the thought of having the Sat receiver and Stereo receiver in the basement and out of site is very intriguing.

Quite the storm moving through right now. Might not have a baseball game to watch tonight.

I have a Niles wireless system that allows me to hook up infrared emitters to any piece of equipment anywhere in the house with simple wiring. I have all my computers in the basement now, including the MyHD system with its remote. I run longer USB and Firewire cables to the area where my keyboard, mouse and video monitor are, so I can plug in USB DVD and HD DVD drives, etc. A second keyboard and mouse (USB) are located in my home theater room, where I can use software to switch back and forth among up to 4 different computer systems. I use a USB extender from TigerDirect that allows me to run the USB kybd/mouse up to 150 away through Cat5.

My home theater room has an IR sensor that picks up signals from a Harmony 659 remote. The Harmony 890 has 8 IR emitters built into the system (and you can add additional emitters if 8 are not enough), which allows you to eliminate the additional cost of a separate IR sensor/emitter system. The 880 model is IR only, while the Harmony 890 uses RF, allowing you to hide your equipment out of sight. Personally, I like the 659 better because it has very tactile buttons and I can work it completely in the dark, but you need a separate IR repeater system with it.

I'm thinking of moving my Dish 622 satellite receiver, audio receiver, video processor and DVI switch into the basement, too, to simplify my setup even more and get rid of as much clutter as possible. As it is, all my gear with distracting lights and displays is located out of the room with the projector, and out of sight. It's amazing how little green and blue lights can destroy the image on the screen, not to mention pulling your eyes away from the picture.

KTVI-DT OTA is nototious for occasional brief picture breakups. This happens 24 x 7 in SD and HD. Usually a few times per hour. I see this OTA as well via E* HD locals. While the quality is also quite nice, the breakups seem worse over the satellite as the MPEG4 obviously cannot handle them well.

Do you see this via D*? It's hard not to notice. If you don't see this I must assume they get the content via some other means than OTA.

Yeah, it's there via *D's MPEG-4 as well. But *D's transcoding to MPEG-4 doesn't seem to have made it any worse.

Rams and Raiders tonight, no HD though. :(

Joe:

Thanks very much.

On the HTPC front the newer gen of LG universal drives is very attractively priced :) I'll find out more at CEDIA.

Cheers,

Yeah, it's there via *D's MPEG-4 as well. But *D's transcoding to MPEG-4 doesn't seem to have made it any worse.

Rams and Raiders tonight, no HD though. :(

Interesting. In fact, when kSDk makes those nasty (cunch-crunch) transitions from SD to HD during local cut-ins, the image on E* will momentarily freeze -frame and/or macroblock for a few frames. Not a big deal really, but it illustrates how important it is for the source to be a clean as possible.

Is there something going on with channel 4? According to the program guide, PGA Golf is supposed to be in HD but is showing up in SD (on both the D* MPEG 4 and OTA). Did someone over at KMOV forget to flip the switch??

My understanding is that the techs were keeping a written list of customers that needed bumped back up after the problem was fixed. I received a message from a local tech while at work, he is calling back in the morning to check on things. I will ask him for particulars.

I'm still at 6 meg. Guess I'll give him a call tomorrow to see what's up. Thanks for the news.

Mike

I'm still at 6 meg. Guess I'll give him a call tomorrow to see what's up. Thanks for the news.

Mike

Don't Call! :( I had problems on Friday and had to be dropped back to 6 meg. Luckily I had a local phone number or else I would have been on dialup until Monday or Tuesday. :eek:

Don't Call! :( I had problems on Friday and had to be dropped back to 6 meg. Luckily I had a local phone number or else I would have been on dialup until Monday or Tuesday. :eek:

I was afraid it was too good to be true! :rolleyes: Thanks.

Mike

Just as an FYI: DirecTV VOD has been activated for the test releases. The official public release will follow in 2-3 weeks. A High Speed internet connection is required for most (but not all) VOD programs.

DirecTV VOD includes both Pay and Free programs, as well as HD and SD programs. The content is downloaded to the DVR. Some programs are pushed to a reserved space on the DVR and immediately available. Other programs are streamed over the Internet. Depending on your bandwidth, viewing is available as quickly as 1 min (SD programs) or longer (15-30 minutes) for HD programs.

Program content includes movies, popular TV shows, sports replays, etc.

Let me know if there are any questions - otherwise, DBSTalk is a good source for information on this topic.

Chris

I have had intermittent drop-outs on my HD channels (Discovery HD, etc). It will be fine one minute, then I get bad pixelization, then a black screen. Today there is not a cloud in the sky and there is no wind. This is the second day in a row I lost all the channels in the 70's. Then a few minutes later they are back. On sat 99 I get 53% on the meter. On 103 I get 59%. All 3 of the other ones are at 95%.

If a couple of you guys with the HR20 could check you signal strength on 99 & 103, I'd appreciate it. FWIW, I have the HR20-700 and the Slimline 5 LNB dish. The installer was back out a second time to peak the signals but 53% & 59% is not cutting it if I my HD channels come & go.

Thanks in advance guys.

I have had intermittent drop-outs on my HD channels (Discovery HD, etc). It will be fine one minute, then I get bad pixelization, then a black screen. Today there is not a cloud in the sky and there is no wind. This is the second day in a row I lost all the channels in the 70's. Then a few minutes later they are back. On sat 99 I get 53% on the meter. On 103 I get 59%. All 3 of the other ones are at 95%.

If a couple of you guys with the HR20 could check you signal strength on 99 & 103, I'd appreciate it. FWIW, I have the HR20-700 and the Slimline 5 LNB dish. The installer was back out a second time to peak the signals but 53% & 59% is not cutting it if I my HD channels come & go.

Thanks in advance guys.

All current channels (except the St. Louis locals) are on 101, 110, and 119 satellites. 99 and 103 are the ka band satellites which are used for HD locals and slots reserved for the new MPEG4 satellites. With that said, 99 I get 50s and 103 I get 50s on odd and 90s on even transponders.

If you were having problems with the STL locals I'd think it might be signal quality - but the national HDs are up with all the SD channels right now - so it doesn't sound like thats the issue. Cabling, bad receiver, etc might be more likely (unless you are seeing the problem with some SDs).

Chris

Another FYI for those DirecTV interested parties (with HR20s):

Remote Scheduling has also moved to the public realm and should be widely available in 2-3 weeks. It requires an internet connection and an account on Directv.com. You can schedule both live programming and VOD downloads. DBStalk.com has more information - or if you want to ask some general questions fire away.

Chris

semi-long story and question.

Today I started running an additional satelite RG-6 to my living room to prepare for my HR20 installation on Tuesday. Anyway, while moving my TV away from the wall, I forgot about the almost guitar-string tight component video cables running from my surround receiver to the TV (never could find cables longer than 6' locally and then forgot about replacing the cables with longer ones later). Long story short, I screwed up the component cable inputs on my TV. I do have 2 sets of component inputs, so all is not lost, but since I was using both of them, I'd rather not use the component switching capability of my receiver, since I ofter watch TV without powering up the receiver.

Question: Are there any recommended repair places that do on-site service? (My 64" RPTV is really too big for me to move, weighs somewhere around 350 lbs)

For those who have not seen the listings, Discovery HD began airing their episodes of Blue Planet. It is produced by the same who did the Planet Earth series.

I've watched the first two episodes...excellent and recommended.

They're really good shows. I find myself watching a lot of the new Dish HD channels - Discovery, Animal Planet, etc. Many of shows are just upconverts, although there are quite a few true HD. Even the upconverts are better than trying to watch the SD equivalents. I really like the science, travel, documentary shows, and it's encouraging to have access to even more of those channels in HD.

Just a note about recording HD from satellite - apparently, Nextcom, the company that makes the mod to my Dish 211 that allows me to record HD satcasts (legally), won't be able to modify the new D* receivers, so D* subscribers are stuck with only the MPEG2 satcasts until those receivers are phased out.

I don't know about the Dish 722, but I suspect it may not be possible to mod it as you can the 622 (just a guess). When new technologies are introduced, they sometimes consolidate the chipsets in such a way that the signal cannot be intercepted the way Nextcom does with many of its mods. Apparently, this is the case with the new D* receivers.

No one seems to talk much about the inability to record HD shows the way we used to be able to record cable and satellite programming to VHS (which can still be done, of course). I think it's fortunate we still maintain the ability to record even the new MPEG4 HD channels with receivers like the Dish 211/411/622.

Well, it certainly was worth the wait. And, that virtual demo...that rocked, for sure.
Somebody got off at the wrong stop :eek:

Should you happen to pop in again, I'm assuming this Moxi also had DLB's, SbS PiP, a single box can power 2 TV's with simultaneous independent of DVR functions, seamless OTA/EPG/DVR integration, and of course, record 3 HD events while viewing a 4th...yes?:D

I have wondered about this though, if Paul is the CEO of Diego and of Charter, why it is Charter experienced such a shortage of Moxi's, having to offer the 3416's in their place? You'd think he'd have *some* pull, ya?

kdg,

We get it. You love Dish and everything about it, and your willingness to share your knowledge here is certainly appreciated. However, coming down on a manufacturer's rep (who should be encouraged to participate in these forums) who accidentally drops into the wrong forum, or mis-reads a post isn't necessary. MoxiMessenger is a frequent and helpful contributor to the Moxi thread, and didn't deserve that.

And not that you were expecting a reply, but I believe the shortage of Moxi's has to do with the hardware manufacturer, not Digeo.

I don't know about the Dish 722, but I suspect it may not be possible to mod it as you can the 622 (just a guess). When new technologies are introduced, they sometimes consolidate the chipsets in such a way that the signal cannot be intercepted the way Nextcom does with many of its mods. Apparently, this is the case with the new D* receivers.

The 622/722 are almost identical. Differences are a newer gen Broadcom all format decoder (MPEG-2, MPEG-4/H.264/AVC, VC-1) and a larger disk. I don't think this will preclude the 722 from modifications.

Regardless; I'm still wanting to get my 211 out for mod so that I can use that to archive stuff I really really want to keep :D


No one seems to talk much about the inability to record HD shows the way we used to be able to record cable and satellite programming to VHS (which can still be done, of course). I think it's fortunate we still maintain the ability to record even the new MPEG4 HD channels with receivers like the Dish 211/411/622.

The perceived value of HD content is higher; plus we've moved over to a digital era which means they'll try to block our record option at every juncture.

Don't forget there were some serious lawsuits floating around which helped come up with the concepts of fair use in the analog domain.

Cheers,

Just as an FYI: DirecTV VOD has been activated for the test releases.

Thanks for the heads up :)
I downloaded the CE this weekend and forgot all about it.

Thanks,
Kent

Finally something to actually make people want to pay for the NFL Superfan Package: Directv SUPERCAST (http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=P4330048)

"With DIRECTV SUPERCAST, you get live streams of every NFL SUNDAY TICKET game right on your PC, anywhere in the world."

This could be promising.

Token

semi-long story and question.

Today I started running an additional satelite RG-6 to my living room to prepare for my HR20 installation on Tuesday. Anyway, while moving my TV away from the wall, I forgot about the almost guitar-string tight component video cables running from my surround receiver to the TV (never could find cables longer than 6' locally and then forgot about replacing the cables with longer ones later). Long story short, I screwed up the component cable inputs on my TV. I do have 2 sets of component inputs, so all is not lost, but since I was using both of them, I'd rather not use the component switching capability of my receiver, since I ofter watch TV without powering up the receiver.

Question: Are there any recommended repair places that do on-site service? (My 64" RPTV is really too big for me to move, weighs somewhere around 350 lbs)

I would call Schneider TV. They are located on Olive (I believe) just past 170.

Tim

The 622/722 are almost identical. Differences are a newer gen Broadcom all format decoder (MPEG-2, MPEG-4/H.264/AVC, VC-1) and a larger disk. I don't think this will preclude the 722 from modifications.

Regardless; I'm still wanting to get my 211 out for mod so that I can use that to archive stuff I really really want to keep :D




The perceived value of HD content is higher; plus we've moved over to a digital era which means they'll try to block our record option at every juncture.

Don't forget there were some serious lawsuits floating around which helped come up with the concepts of fair use in the analog domain.

Cheers,

Any rumors of interesting things to be announced at CEDIA?

Any rumors of interesting things to be announced at CEDIA?

Nope :( It's unlikely Dish will announce anything big -- they have no press conference schedule that I'm aware of.

Best,

Seems to be a really light time right now for good HD news. Have you seen this

Project to help people build a HTPC (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=891768)

It may fall flat, but it's a great idea.

Joe:

Yes; I've seen the thread. I voiced concerns about licensing.

What are the concerns with licensing?

I would call Schneider TV. They are located on Olive (I believe) just past 170.

Tim

Schneider doesn't service Pioneer :mad:

They pointed me to A-1 Antenna TV Service Co.

More suggestions?

Schneider doesn't service Pioneer :mad:

They pointed me to A1 Video.

More suggestions?

Personally? I'd just route everything through your AV Receiver. Don't worry about fixing the TV. Besides, I'm sure the sound from the Stereo speakers sounds better/clearer especially at low volumes. :) BTW, awesome TV!

Scott

What are the concerns with licensing?

Each copy of the OS needs to be individually licensed. To make this plug and play the license data has to be entered. If he images out with an already licensed copy of XP he is pirating software :(

It's a very slippery slope and that's why I gave the heads up about it.

Cheers,

C'mon all you D* guys with an HR20, please let me know what signal strength you're getting on 103 & 99.

I always seem to post at the bottom of the page :rolleyes:

Schneider doesn't service Pioneer :mad:

They pointed me to A-1 Antenna TV Service Co.

More suggestions?


Kurt, I have had Schneider replace a couple of light engines on my old Samsung. I was very pleased with them. With that said, I was not impressed with the folks who answer the phones. I think they are just too busy and it seems kind of crazy there. I would contact Pioneer and ask them for authorized service centers, call a couple of places and talk to the tech. In my case, the guy who did all of my work went to classes last year and became a Samsung Field Engineer (on top of his many years experience). Ask Pioneer about an equivalent credential and go from there when you talk to an authorized service center. Also look for any comments about a shop on Google or the BBB. Finally, I would use the Internet to learn a little about how your issue would be fixed so you feel comfortable when your set is opened up. Hopefully, the inside connectors are not a part of an expensive module.

C'mon all you D* guys with an HR20, please let me know what signal strength you're getting on 103 & 99.

I always seem to post at the bottom of the page :rolleyes:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11429907#post11429907
:)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11429907#post11429907
:)

Okay, I guess I need another Diet Coke or glasses! :o