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Channel Master CM-7000PAL HD DVR - AKA Dish DTVPal

192K views 858 replies 155 participants last post by  P Smith 
#1 ·
Channel Master is distributing and retailing a High Definition HD Digital Video Recorder (DVR) model number CM-7000PAL HD DVR for dual tuner Over-The-Air (OTA) use. The rem "pal" in the model number is a synonym for "friend" and not a reference to the European broadcast standard.

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/CM...cm-7000pal.htm

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...dingMethod=rr&


Question: As of the initial date of this original post, May 24, 2010 has anyone acquired the hardware unit yet ? Does anyone know if the original equipment manufacture is Funai or whoever ?


Given that the MSRP price point is as mentioned in the above two URL's ... and that it records "only" thirty (30) of HD ... it seems a bit pricey. Yet it is an available option in year 2010.


Does anyone know the quality of the HD recording ?


The following URL is a review authored by David Reinhart:

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/DT...-7000PAL.shtml


Note: Mr. Reinhart indicates the hardware is a clone of the (discontinued) DISH Network DTV-pal.


A cached webpage indicates it is the EchoStar TR-50.


Thanks for your time and consideration.



Leo Henton
 
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#177 ·
Wish I knew about this thing before I purchased my Magnavox MDR-515H. Now I have to return it and get this. Recording to HD is something I've been looking for to go along with my new ST30 Plasma TV. And the dual HD tuners feature is cool.

EDIT:Nevermind, this thing cannot interpret basic cable signals in addition to Digital OTA...disappointing as that is a deal breaker for me...oh well, back to the drawing board. Anyone got a recommendation for a HD DVR that has a QAM tuner ( in the $200-$300 range)?
 
#178 ·
Well I'm really liking the performance of this machine. Have the antenna split out between this and my hdtv tuner. Very Fast channel changer and nice Guide. I esp like recording 2 shows while watching a third thru the tv tuner. The only thing I'm not liking so much is the hard drive size.....OTA is all I watched for the past 8 years. Family and friends ask way I dont have dish or cable, and over the past 8 years I can give them at least 6700.00 reasons why if you know what I mean....


Has anyone modded one of these CM with a larger hard drive and which one did you use that worked. I looked at the DTV-PAL thread at HD drives that work for that model, but the post is so old that the Hard Drives listed I cant seem to find one currently available...


I'm not to worried about voiding the warranty since I do alot of parts changing with my desktops and never had a problem. I think if this thing craps out it will be the hard drive anyway or a storm surge, rather than quality defect....
 
#179 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelo M /forum/post/20331455


I think if this thing craps out it will be the hard drive anyway or a storm surge, rather than quality defect....

If you're right, then why would you want a bigger hard drive? Anything you save on it will be GONE. I am still mourning the loss of the over 20 hours of things that were on the DTV Pal that died recently. Now I watch things ASAP and never put anything on there that I want to keep a copy of, because I never get around to transferring it off to a disc or tape. I record "keepers" directly to my DVD recorder.
 
#181 ·
Seriously, who wouldnt really want a bigger hard drive, in anything that uses one? Gaining more recording time is what I'd like to do with this unit, and it would all be in Hi Definition. I would rather use only 1 device to record to, and to watch the recording in Hi Defintion. If its recorded to DVD its only Std Def and that definitely doesnt interest me at all. I'd rather watch live than record it......


Sorry your DTV-Pal gave out How long was it in use before it died? What was it that failed on it?
 
#184 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelo M /forum/post/20331916


Seriously, who wouldnt really want a bigger hard drive, in anything that uses one? Gaining more recording time is what I'd like to do with this unit, and it would all be in Hi Definition. I would rather use only 1 device to record to, and to watch the recording in Hi Defintion. If its recorded to DVD its only Std Def and that definitely doesnt interest me at all. I'd rather watch live than record it......


Sorry your DTV-Pal gave out How long was it in use before it died? What was it that failed on it?

One of them died within 2 months, was still under warranty, so I lost everything on the hard drive when I had to send it in for a refund.

The older one was one of the originals, so was used about 2 years, and that's the one that had a ton of stuff on it that I wanted to save. Since I don't know what happened to make either of them just stop working while they were turned off, I'm keeping that one in hopes I can transfer the drive one day to a working unit to see if my recordings are still there. Haven't been able to find anyone to try to diagnose/repair it yet, because I've been sidetracked by a refurbed CM Pal that keeps randomly rebooting. Before that one ends up dying too, I am trying not to record much on it, and watch the recordings ASAP. Waiting for a CM tech to call me back, but I will probably just end up calling the warranty dept and swapping it out. :-(

I still will always want one of these as long as I have older TVs that need a converter box, and I especially love to be able to control live TV, I just don't trust them for saving recordings anymore, so a bigger hard drive would be too tempting to store things to watch later, resulting in eventually never being able to watch them if the hard drive fails.
 
#186 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by phildaant /forum/post/20332643


Why turned off?

They were still plugged in, I just meant I wasn't using them at the time. Found one with both red and green lights on when it wasn't even set to record anything, and when I turned it on to see what was up, there was no display.

The newer one just wouldn't respond to the remote to even get the green light to turn on. There was a ticking sound coming from the right side, but that's all it would do when plugged in. I tried the remote from my other unit, so I know it wasn't low batteries.
 
#188 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelo M /forum/post/20331916


Seriously, who wouldnt really want a bigger hard drive, in anything that uses one?

It really is a curse, isn't it. one can never have enough HDD space or RAM -- whether you really need it or not isn't the issue -- you just gotta have it. I just can't stand to see a bay sit empty or a RAM slot unoccupied. Just doesn't seem right.
 
#189 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by LuvMyDVR33 /forum/post/20331664


If you're right, then why would you want a bigger hard drive? Anything you save on it will be GONE. I am still mourning the loss of the over 20 hours of things that were on the DTV Pal that died recently. Now I watch things ASAP and never put anything on there that I want to keep a copy of, because I never get around to transferring it off to a disc or tape. I record "keepers" directly to my DVD recorder.

How do you transfer from DVD PAL to DVD or computer?
 
#190 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by joel27nc /forum/post/20337276


How do you transfer from DVD PAL to DVD or computer?

You need to hook the output of the DVR up to either a DVD recorder or an encoder box for a PC and play the title from the DVR in real time into the recording device. This involves a D to A to D conversion and you may also be limited in having to record in down-converted SD. Both of which will impact the PQ of the transfer.


Only a TiVo offers ethernet transfers of recordings in HD/5.1 without analog conversions.
 
#191 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson /forum/post/20337461


You need to hook the output of the DVR up to either a DVD recorder or an encoder box for a PC and play the title from the DVR in real time into the recording device. This involves a D to A to D conversion and you may also be limited in having to record in down-converted SD. Both of which will impact the PQ of the transfer.


Only a TiVo offers ethernet transfers of recordings in HD/5.1 without analog conversions.

Do you have a encoder box recommendation?
 
#193 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelo M /forum/post/20331455


Well I'm really liking the performance of this machine. Have the antenna split out between this and my hdtv tuner. Very Fast channel changer and nice Guide. I esp like recording 2 shows while watching a third thru the tv tuner. The only thing I'm not liking so much is the hard drive size.....OTA is all I watched for the past 8 years. Family and friends ask way I dont have dish or cable, and over the past 8 years I can give them at least 6700.00 reasons why if you know what I mean....


Has anyone modded one of these CM with a larger hard drive and which one did you use that worked. I looked at the DTV-PAL thread at HD drives that work for that model, but the post is so old that the Hard Drives listed I cant seem to find one currently available...


I'm not to worried about voiding the warranty since I do alot of parts changing with my desktops and never had a problem. I think if this thing craps out it will be the hard drive anyway or a storm surge, rather than quality defect....

True, the list on the PAL site is old! Stick to a 1tb drive - the max with current software in your CM. Western Digital AV-GP drives work. A replacement for the WD10EACS and WD10EADS is the WD10EURS. Read the description for the drive on Amazon. You want a drive manufactured for DVR use. Amazon does list an incorrect replacement for one of the above drives - the WD10EARS. I got it because it was cheaper but decided to check with WD techs. They don't recommend it for DVR use, so I sent it back and told Amazon of their error. The WD10EVDS ($70 at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/5400RPM-Buffer...9&sr=8-2-fkmr1 ) also works and is still available. I have 2 of them for my 2 DVR Pals! Ignore the comments from previous users on NewEgg about this drive. It sounds like they were using them as a replacement for a PC drive. These AV drives are slower than many others because speed is not needed for use in DVRs - longevity and reliability is! They are meant to be run 24X7 and not have constant spinning up and down as PC drives do. I have had no problems in 9 months with either. I also believe folks purchased them w/o realizing they are set up for use in DVRs not PCs. If you read the notes concerning replacement drives for the DVR on the DTVPal forum, you have an inkling of what I am talking about.
 
#197 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gary-in-dc /forum/post/20341350


... Ignore the comments from previous users on NewEgg about this drive.

It seems to me that the Newegg and Amazon links are pointing to the same drive. What am I missing?


Newegg: Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive -Bare Drive


Amazon:Item model number: WD10EVDS
 
#198 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete-N2 /forum/post/20344522


It seems to me that the Newegg and Amazon links are pointing to the same drive. What am I missing?


Newegg: Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive -Bare Drive


Amazon:Item model number: WD10EVDS

The WD10-EVDS is available at both places for the same price. The NewEgg reviews might scare someone off but I believe folks were trying to use this in PCs. The WD10EURS is a newer AV-GP drive replacing the old hard-to-find discontinued models of AV-GP drives. I didn't give the link to it on Amazon because I have not used it personally - WD site lists the current AV-GP drives ( http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/librar...879-701250.pdf ). Of course, the DTV_Pal DVR has a 1TB limit on size - I imagine the same for Channel Master unit.
 
#199 ·
I have several questions about the Channel Mater DVR before I purchase it:


1) When recording a show from the guide such as "House" which is from 8pm to 9pm, if I schedule it to begin recording 2 minutes early (7:58pm), when it has completed recording will it show in My Recordings List as "House" or will it be listed as the show that was on at 7:58pm? (for instance as "The Office" if it is on from 7:30 to 8:00).


2) I have read that if you have the unit scheduled to record 1 show (say from 8 to 9) and then have 2 shows scheduled to begin at 9 that it will only record 1 of those 2 shows scheduled at 9 (someone recommended that you should record an extra earlier show so as to go from 2 recordings to 2 recordings so as to avoid this problem). Is this a constant problem with this unit or a rare fluke?


3) I have also read that this unit has problems with its clock syncing up to maintain the correct time and also adjusting to Daylight Savings Time. Are these a constant problem with this unit or a rare fluke?


Any info that you can provide as to the above will be appreciated.
 
#200 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrw1 /forum/post/20365455


When recording a show from the guide such as "House" which is from 8pm to 9pm, if I schedule it to begin recording 2 minutes early (7:58pm), when it has completed recording will it show in My Recordings List as "House" or will it be listed as the show that was on at 7:58pm? (for instance as "The Office" if it is on from 7:30 to 8:00).

Assuming that you select "House" from the Guide and have the default padding set to start 2 minutes early and to include 2 minutes extra at the end, the recording will be labeled "House" and shown as 64 minutes long. You can adjust the padding for start and end times (I have mine set for 1 minute early and 2 extra minutes at the end. Titles are always correct).

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrw1 /forum/post/20365455


I have read that if you have the unit scheduled to record 1 show (say from 8 to 9) and then have 2 shows scheduled to begin at 9 that it will only record 1 of those 2 shows scheduled at 9 (someone recommended that you should record an extra earlier show so as to go from 2 recordings to 2 recordings so as to avoid this problem). Is this a constant problem with this unit or a rare fluke?

The DVR has two tuners. If you have padding at start and end (as you should because shows often aren't precisely on time), then one tuner will still be recording the first show (until 9:02 in your example), so only a single tuner will be available at 8:58 to start recording one of the 9 o"clock shows. The other will be missed.


A workaround I use if the 8 PM show and one of the 9 PM shows is on the same channel is to manually set time for that channel to record from 7:58 to 10:02 PM (like a VCR timer). Both shows then are recorded in one 124 minute recording (you lose the titles, so again, it is similar to a VCR recording). The second 9 PM show can then be selected from the Guide normally.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrw1 /forum/post/20365455


I have also read that this unit has problems with its clock syncing up to maintain the correct time and also adjusting to Daylight Savings Time. Are these a constant problem with this unit or a rare fluke?

I've read dozens of posts in the other forum about time shifts in some parts of the country. Unless you set time on the DVR manually, and I certainly don't want to do that, you are at the mercy of the local station which transmits TVGOS in your area. The time shift problem, when it occurs, is the fault of the station, not the DVR (garbage in, garbage out, don't shoot the messenger). In my case, the local PBS station transmitting TVGOS has worked flawlessly. I have never found the time to be off, not even by a minute.


I can offer no input on Daylight Saving Time, other than to say my CM-7000PAL switched correctly last month. That's the only changeover that has occurred since I bought my DVR.


AJ
 
#201 ·

Originally Posted by info_dan View Post
Hello to all,
New CM-7000PAL owner here. Got the unit yesterday, I am overall pleased. I do have one issue I wonder if others are having. I did read the first post of the Dish DTVPal DVR forum, but not all 400+ pages... A piece of important information: I am located in Montreal, Canada, therefore I do not have the TVGOS, only the PSIP channel information.

Hi info_Dan,


I have the same problem as you. I have my pal since last May. During the normal time period, everything is good for the time and the guide. When we get back to advance time, the problem was back. I ask Channel Master to exchange my unit to solve my problem. I receive the new unit yesterday, test it and found that I still have the problem.


Maybe our five station transmit something bad in their Psip, or there is a bug in the firmware of the Pal, witch affect the control of the LST when generating guide from Psip information.


Is there someone that have a CM-7000Pal, live in the Montreal, Quebec, Canada region, and have no problem with the time and the Psip generated

TV guide?


darmand
 
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