We will be on vacation for 18 days.

Because we live in a high-Thunderstorm area, I want to unplug the unit during vacation.

I do have a small UPS (which I don't trust), but I want the UTV off regardless....it will also give the unit a rest (which is good for it).

QUESTION: What was the longest you unplugged your UTV for ?

....and still had your programs?

Since they are stored on the hard drive there should be no limit to how long you can unplug the UTV.

Since they are stored on the hard drive there should be no limit to how long you can unplug the UTV.

Just a bit of support to this comment.


As long as the OS/Hard Drive remains intact... Those programs will remain... Be it 18 days or 10 years (I suspect). Now if the UTV has been off a VERY long time... The Access Card might need to update itself to allow full featured access to the Guide,etc. ... But it will likely continue to work normally "offline" (disconnected from SAT) for quite some time with out issue.

Might I suggest when you power down the UTV... You disconnect from the wall outlet after doing a Manual power down (Switch off at the UTV front Panel) and wait for the UTV to complete it's shut down. I also usually prefer having both tuners set to channel 1020 (and not recording) when possible. IMO this allows for a "safe" power off configuration.

That's exactly what I did- place both tuners on 1020 (which is my normal routine) power down and unplug from the wall.

We'll check back in 18 days when I return.

Thanks to you both. :)

I had one UTV unplugged for over 3 months. When I connected it to the TV and plugged it in, no problems. I was able to watch everything I needed to see.

(Also, I cancelled service on that UTV while it was unplugged. When I reconnected I made sure to not connect the Sat cable -- since I didn't want the UTV to "know" it was off service.)

Well, I've returned from my nearly 3 week vacation and all my recorded programs are still there...as all of you have said.

Of course, the programs I had scheduled to be recorded did not record, but that's to be expected with the entire unit being unplugged.

Being unplugged is probably a good thing for the unit as well.

Thanks all !