The Official AVS Dish DTVPal DVR Topic! - Page 518

I would try "JP-1" kind of remotes - unlimited possibilities to get your remote really universal and versatile. Connect by simple connector/UART adapter to your PC and voila !

Now confirmed with my 2nd Pal, tvgos data from WKRC in Cincinnati only goes out to Sunday morning. Looks like they've pulled the plug.

Happy New Year!

Chicago reception area. I just checked. My guide still goes out a full 7 days.

The Ion affiliate in DFW just added a new subchannel 68.4. Weirdly, my DTVPal DVR added 68.4 just fine, but the CM-7000Pal DVR didn't. That might make sense - Ion had a 68.4 long ago and I probably deleted it from the CM-7000Pal back then - what's weird is that I can't get it added back with the "add a new channel" option. That always works with other channels when I want to add back a deleted channel, and it did add back 68.2 Qubo which I'd also deleted; just not 68.4

It's no big deal - the channel is titled "Shop TV" which doesn't sound like anything worth watching, let alone recording. Last night it wasn't even showing shopping - it was just a simulcast of 68.3 Ion Life. It's just odd that I can't add it on one of two essentially identical DVRs.

I wonder what would happen if you delete all 68.x channels then do a "Find New Channels" scan ?

That's would be close to what I would do - killing all sub-channels and main channel to test full station's recovery.

I had similar issues years ago. A factory reset will fix the deleted sub channel.

I know this has probably been asked before, but could someone PLEASE tell me how to open the DTVPal so that I can upgrade the hard drive. Maybe provide a link to instructions on how to do so. I've gotten the obvious 4 screws removed, but I don't know where the other screws are. I just pulled this thing out after dumping TWC back in June. I bought it back in '09, but only used it for about a month. It works great.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1099071/the-official-avs-dish-dtvpal-dvr-topic
and

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1099071/the-official-avs-dish-dtvpal-dvr-topic/4260#post_16292799

The other guys might have better links that have more pictures. I know it exists somewhere.

Also ask the guys which Hard drives work in the dtvpal dvr. Many don't

Please read the big blue block in the first post of the thread.

Question: Is there a way to delete a channel with out going through the menu? Can you just go to the channel and delete it?

Thanks

No, and it takes less than 30 seconds to go through the menu to do it.

NO but rather than delete it - it's better to "lock" the channel and lock the DVR - that way - "locked" channels do not get displayed AND they won't keep popping back in as "new" channels.

Hymmm Does locking still show the Channel as you tv surf? Also does locking the DVR also prevent it from finding new channels?

Is it possible to post the steps to lock a channel and dvr?

Thanks

@ keyboard21, wow, thanks! I didn't even need more pictures. It only took me about 10 minutes to get it open. Thanks.

"Locked" channels are not shown while surfing
Locking does NOT prevent the DVR from finding new channels

It's pretty straight forward from the setup menu - also pretty intuitive.

Glad the info worked for ya. What new HD did you use? Number? Size?

I experimented last night and got weird results. First, I tried deleting all 68.x channels, then adding them back with "Add a New Channel" on RF 42. It added back 68.1, 68.2, and 68.3 - but no 68.4. Also, nothing showed up in "services added" (normally this shows the number of subchannels added). It was almost as if it added 68.1-3 then choked trying to add 68.4!

So next I deleted all 68.x channels again, then did a "Find New Channels." Naturally, this added back every channel I'd ever deleted (forcing me to delete them again), until it got to RF 42. At that point it added 68.1-3 again, then the whole channel scan stopped!

Thanks. I'll try that if there's ever anything worth watching on 68.4. Right now it's not worth the trouble since 68.4 is just a copy of 68.3, which already works.

Edit: As of 1/1 68.4 is living up to its name, Shop TV So I'm not going to bother with a factory defaults reset just to add it.
Edited by JHBrandt - 1/2/13 at 7:05am

Has anyone ever lost all their recordings when deleting a single recording? This has happened to my wife twice. She likes to watch & delete, but yesterday when she watched a show & deleted it, everything got deleted except for one recording.

This also happened a few months ago. At that time I just changed my timers to protect my recordings, figuring she just hadn't been paying attention and had deleted my recordings by mistake. But then it happened again yesterday, wiping out protected (mine + some of hers) & unprotected recordings alike.

I know she didn't get into the diagnostics and reformat the drive because there was still one of her recordings left (which she then watched & deleted).

Anyway, I decided to turn lemons into lemonade. Since the drive was now empty, I swapped out the factory 250GB drive with a WD 750GB drive. Over 106 hours of HD recording time now, provided they don't all get deleted again

Oddly I've never had a problem with deleted channels (either local ones or ones picked up during tropo) popping back in on their own. Once I delete them, they stay gone unless I "find new channels" (as when experimenting as described a couple of posts ago).

But I may try locking channels anyhow, just so I can "find new channels" without adding back my deleted channels.

BTW, does locking the DVR also lock "dangerous" menu options (like factory defaults reset)?

Same here. My deleted channels have never come back. I have deleted several channels that I never watch.

Same here.

I only delete whole numbers, not sub-channels. My PBS channels are 3.1, 3.2, & 3.3. If I delete just 3.2, then timers set for 3.1 start disappearing and have to be repeatedly reset. So I stopped deleting 3.2 and the problem disappeared. I've never tried locking 3.2; perhaps I should.

Again we have an inconsistency. MY PBS is 15.1, 15.2, 15.3. I deleted 15.2 over two years ago and have never had a problem. Just out of curiosity is the .2 a center-cut SD version of .1?

No, 3.2 is children's programming. I record The NewsHour and Charlie Rose on 3.1. If I delete 3.2, I start missing those recordings on 3.1.

No, factory defaults ignores the lock. I periodically run a factory defaults whenever something starts acting weird. With the DVR locked (with several channels locked so they don't display in the guide) the Factory Defaults does its thing without having to unlock first.

You are a lifesaver, thank you so much for sharing this tip! My CM-7000 PAL tuner is back from the dead!

I also want to add, for the sake of anyone else who might be going through this with their unit where their Channel Master OTA DVR suddenly can't receive any channels, and you power cycle it and scan and rescan and it still finds no channels, you may have to do the unscrew/re-insert motion a few times. I was about to give up, actually, I had maybe done it a half-dozen times, and then magically it suddenly worked!

I let it start the scan with the antenna lead screwed in, then unscrewed it, then screwed it back in when it was about halfway through the scan and then it magically started discovering channels. I can't imagine what could be wrong that makes it do this but I can't help but wonder.

Maybe a loose antenna connection inside the case...

Or, depending on the hookup cable, I've seen some RG-59 type cables that have a very tiny gauge center conductor. Maybe the center contacts in the ANT connector on the DVR don't fit snugly to the center conductor of the cable making an intermittent connection when you move it.