I own a Pioneer 640 DVR. I have digital cable. I have set up the recorder to record on channel four, the channel that is tuned on the digital cable box. Then, I can watch analog cable while the recording is being made.
I have seen many offers for DirectTV and Dishnetwork.. I would like to have the same ability as above, if I would subscribe to these services. I have gone to their web sites and have not seen how I can connect my DVR the way I have it with the cable company. That is, to record a station while watching another analog station. I am not very technical savvy, so can anyone advise if and how I could set up the above configuration?

You can't with DBS - all tuning is done in the STB and you can't see anything other than what the STB is set to.

More specifically, with DirecTV or Dish, you would need two receivers, one tuned to the channel you want to record, the other to the channel you want to watch live. There is no way around the need for multiple receivers. Each receiver must have its own satellite antenna feed, you can't just split the antenna signal like you could cable TV. Some single boxes have two receivers in the one box, but it is no different, just a little more convenient. These dual receiver boxes have two satellite inputs, one for each receiver.

I would have to disagree with the responses, on the assumption that I understand your question. I own an "older" Dish 942 High Def Sat Box, and routinely watch one show and record another. And it is one box that has two tuners so that two TVs can be tuned to different shows. I would think any sales rep could confirm this. I do not have a DVD recorder connected however, but I would think you could record directly from the Sat box too.
Maggie.

My answer was based on the assumption of a single tuner STB. The correct answer would be that you can't directly tune any DBS signal without an STB.

Best thing would be to get a Dish 322 dual-tuner, have Dish set it up as if it will be used at two TV's in different rooms (like they normally would), and then just either don't even bother hooking up the 2nd tuner to the other room - or - put an A/B switch on the output, and one lead can go into the other room, and the other can stay in the main one (for DVR'ing). And, as long as the dual-tuner is continually connected to a phone line, you won't even have to pay any access fees, since the first single or dual-tuner is free.

Of course, this is assuming that all you care about is standard def fare, since the 322 is only SD. (You did only mention "digital" and "analog" cable, and not specifically HD or downconverted HD.) Otherwise, the only two-tunered model they currently have with HD (at the main TV only) is the 622, and that's a DVR, and would defeat the purpose.

If you don't want to set timers manually, swap that Pio DVR out for a Panny E75H or E55H - the TV Guide on Screen feature (9th generation) works great with the 322 tuner (I know - I have that setup). The TVGOS doesn't acquire guide info for the channels, but you just highlight the shows in the Dish guide, and the recorder receives the signals from the Dish tuner and automatically turns on and off to record them - and even titles the recordings!

Where there's a will, there's a way ;).

(edit: If you DO have an HD Dish tuner, it HAS to be set at 480i going into the recorder in order for it to send the "signals" and titles.)

I have a dish 322 rcvr and it works well with the separate outputs. I can watch one channel and record a different channell on the DVR. However, last month the Panny EH75 stopped getting commands from the 322 for timer recording. I can still do manual recording, but that means that I have to set up the rcvr and the DVR for timer recordings. The downside to this is that the title/data portion of the recording doesn't label the recording on the hard drive. This worked quite well when the rcvr was "talking" to the DVR. Now I have to enter that info manually.

I have a dish 322 rcvr and it works well with the separate outputs. I can watch one channel and record a different channell on the DVR. However, last month the Panny EH75 stopped getting commands from the 322 for timer recording. I can still do manual recording, but that means that I have to set up the rcvr and the DVR for timer recordings. The downside to this is that the title/data portion of the recording doesn't label the recording on the hard drive. This worked quite well when the rcvr was "talking" to the DVR. Now I have to enter that info manually.
It sounds like your Panny has the "DST bug." Read more here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=846731)

Update:
The problem with my Panny DMR-EH75 was the daylight savings setting. Now that I have set DST to off, the Dishnet 322 rcvr and the Panny DMR work together just as they should. Timer
recordings are triggered through IR and the title info is written to the file too.
I had to do a factory reset to be able to set the claock manually and change to DST off, but that was easy to do.
Thanks to wabjxo for the answer.
bobcat 743

My EH75 just stopped getting the "signal" to record from my 322 Dish tuner a couple of days back.

Does anyone know how to completely wipe out the TVGOS settings, so that I can reset them from absolute scratch? I tried using the 00000 for the zip code, and it brought me back to the beginning of the setup, but as I went through it, all the "enter yes" settings were still all set on the same choices that I had set them on (other than the zipcode).

I also tried resetting the DVR itself back to it's original default settings through the setup menu, but that didn't help. I've checked all the settings on my Dish tuner (like "out to external device" being enabled), and they're all set right.

What I need to do is get back to where I can reset the unit's clock - and then I can also try setting the DST to "off", like the poster above did. The unit will not allow me to get back to this point in the setup.

I've also tried rebooting/unplugging the Dish tuner, but I have yet to see if that helped any.

I hope that Dish isn't pulling a fast one and didn't just decide to take this feature/ability away from there tuners altogether, just to try and get people to rent their DVR.

If I can't get this thing to work smoothly with it anymore (and title the recordings, like it did before EVEN using manual timing, but it won't do now), I'm going to return it, as I already have two other units I can use and set the timers manually on just as well. The 400 bucks I spent on it could certainly be put to better use.

My EH75 just stopped getting the "signal" to record from my 322 Dish tuner a couple of days back.
Not sure how to reset a EH75, but you've got to disconnect any inputs ftom the Dish box first. That might even allow you to get to the clock setting or do a normal reset?

Nevermind - I got it working again. I found out how to reset the clock from the manual (duh), and that seems to have done the trick. (Plus, I made sure the DST was set to "off".)

I remembered I had accidently unplugged the unit the other evening, and that somehow must've screwed something up, even though it kept the time and the "Dish" settings.

Just in case anyone else ever needs to do it on the EH75, you just have to press the "channel up" and "down" buttons on the front of the unit simultaneously for 5 seconds.

Thanks.