Channel Master CM-7000PAL HD DVR - AKA Dish DTVPal - Page 5

Fedex just delivered my CM-7000PAL from the Channel Master Store this morning. It took me about thirty minutes to set it all up and I am very pleased so far. Everything seems to be working fine and all my Cox Cable stuffed is boxed up and heading back in a few minutes. I was pretty upset that the remote control didn't work but it turned out that I had one of the batteries in backwards, I can be an idiot sometimes. Anyway, reading this thread before I purchased was very beneficial, thanks everyone for all the input.

It's done, the cord has been cut. No more cable or pay satellite for me. The OTA with DVR along with my free-to-air satellite system and my PS3 and Roku for streaming is more than enough, at least for now. There will certainly be content I miss, mostly sports, but not spending the $118 on cable every month makes me feel pretty good.

The Channel Master is humming along just fine. My only nitpicks thus far are that it if I'm watching live TV it changes channels to a show that begins recording. Also, I am only getting about 36 hours of information in the TVGOS, hopefully that will improve in the next day or so.

Do you see the TV GUIDE logo in the upper right hand corner of the Schedule page.

It should only change channels if you are recording two programs, since that requires two out of two tuners.

Does your display have a digital tuner? If so, put in a splitter to split the antenna between the CM and TV so you can watch the TV tuner when the CM is recording 2 channels. If you are worried about signal loss, get a powered splitter (a.k.a. distribution amp).

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, the TV Guide logo was present but no longer is. It looks like I lost TVGOS over night, they must be having some issues. From my experience with cable DVRs I knew about the two tuner thing but this unit actually tunes to a channel being recorded when it is the only event being recorded. I hit the recall button and it returns to what I was watching without further issue. It's not a big deal, just kind of annoying.

I have a splitter but I didn't even bother with it because the pass through works fine. I just turn the DVR off and am able to watch via the TV tuner. I was actually a little surprised that this worked.

Thanks again for the help, guys.

Passthrough also works just fine for me on a Dish-branded unit of this DVR, running F208, whether the DVR is off or it's on with passthrough enabled.  Curiously, some of the weaker stations come in on the DVR but not on the TV and that could be explained by saying there's some attenuation in the passthrough, but some others come in on the TV but not on the DVR.

I could easily live with that myself, but the catch for me would be the FTA - the one channel I'd want most is on C-band, as is the majority of everything else I'd really want, and the dish would be out of the question.

TVGOS is back, it now shows a week of listings for two channels but all the other channels indicate "no information" beyond about 36 hours.

That is not entirely true. There are ways around this rule that stops people from putting up antennas.

Sure, I can install an antenna on my back deck (back deck only - of course it is facing the wrong way), but I can't drill any holes in the brick wall to support it. If I can't drill the holes to support it, I can't get it high enough to receive the signal.

I suppose it is technically true that I CAN install an antenna outside, it will just be useless.

My Dish DTVPal does the same but not all the time. It is a little pain, but I live with it. It also will not let me change channels within one minute of a scheduled start of a recording. I must wait for the recording to begin, then I can change to a new channel (utilizing the tuner not recording obviously). Still, even with its' quirks, it beats a VCR!

I'm a newb. Just a quick question ... is the CM-7000PAL pretty much the same box as the DTVPal, and if so, can the DTVPal be updated to the same software as the CM-7000PAL?

Thanks in advance.

Yes to the same box (just different branding and warranty lengths). No to firmwares.

One could argue that we'll never know until CM puts out new firmware.

[CM-7000PAL dvr] Thanks guys for the still valid coupon codes for channelmasterstore.com (shopcmstore) ,and crutchfield.com (3a825) . Both sites have new and refurb./open box starting prices. Walmart has new units for $299 with free shipping to their store near you.....apparently. See: walmart.com

Has anyone used a free-to-air satellite system? Is it better than an OTA antenna? Can I hook up 4 TV's to one free-to-air satellite system?

Can you purchase the DTVPal than the CM-7000PAL? Does the CM turner work better than most TV turners?

I see that Amazon has it for $300 right now.

Thanks

Yes, but all 4 TV's will have to watch the same exact channel that the satellite receiver is tuned into unless you also buy 4 separate satellite receivers.

I have an FTA satellite system that is used primarily for my wife to watch Thai language channels. Johnla's above response is correct. As for being better than an OTA antenna, you're comparing apples to oranges. An antenna pulls in your local channels whereas a satellite dish pulls in stations from whatever satellite the dish is aimed at. Most of the unencrypted FTA satellite broadcasts are international and/or religous. You will not find a lot of traditional cable or broadcast channels available for free. There's also not a lot of HD available over FTA.

The CM-7000PAL does have excellent tuners, better than one of my TVs and on par with the other two.

Thanks Johnla & Buckeye911.

Looks like I'll stay with my OTA antenna instead of going for the free-to-air satellite system.

I have encounter a main issue with my antenna, when it gets windy....most channels go out. It's fine in the rain, just not the wind. To many pine trees around my house. In case you were wondering I'm using a RCA ANT751 antenna, AUDIOVOX TVPRAMP1R preamp & splitting it between 4 TVs. I have it on the top of my house which is a single story home with a 5ft mast.

Thanks again for the replies.

Has anyone seen the CM-7000PAL lower than $300 & if yes, where can you get it?

Thanks

Open box direct from channelmaster, $289.99 w/free shipping.
And if you use the coupon code "shopcmstore", on the order form, that will bring the price down to $260.99 w/free shipping.

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/HD...m-7000palr.htm

That's how I got mine, shipping from Arizona to me took six days. I'm very satisfied.

$299 at walmart

Same here as well, looked brand new and works perfectly.

Buy direct and save!

A guy at work wants to sell a ViP722. What advantages/disadvantages are there to cut the cable but still use a Dish branded box to receive and record OTA channels? I currently run a 722 and a 625 and it seems my OTA channels don't get the guide information without the Dish subscription. Thanks.

For a few more days, there is a Buy It Now on ebay for $295.99 and free shipping. There were 9 available and I bought one last night because it is a refurb and I decided I'd rather not trust a new unit anymore after having one die in only 2 months. I have always had better luck with refurbs of DVD recorders, so hopefully this will be the same.

According to http://camelcamelcamel.com/Channel-M...uct/B0033TJPJW ... you missed it a few weeks ago!

And still available.

^ Yep, got mine a month ago for $260.99, it has performed flawlessly. It was open box but appeared new, packaging appeared undisturbed and I couldn't find a single blemish anywhere.

I'd like to thank everyone in the forum that helped me. I got mine yesterday from CM for the nice price of $260.99 and it works & looks like new.

I do have something I was wondering if anyone else is having issues.

#1 Blocking channels that you'll never watch. I tried to do it by the manual, but when you do the lock out the way they say to do it....you lock out the whole unit, not just selected channels as the manual states.

#2 Anyone else having issue getting other remotes to work with CM remote?

I haven't tried to record anything yet....on my to do list this weekend. The tuner works better than all 4 of my TV tuners. Very nice.

Thanks

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.

I correctly set the timezone to Eastern, and select "Yes" to observing DST (side note: I tried "No", but it does not stay there, if I come back after selecting Done, it is back to "yes").

The current time as obtained automatically is one hour late (shows 17:00 when it is 18:00, as if DST is not engaged). Also, the times in the guide show all programs one hour early (the 18:00 news program is shown at 17:00). I tried changing the timezone to another one that would give me the proper time, but the system does not have any other timezone east of eastern, except Hawaï (wish I needed THAT timezone!). I can change the current time, but then with the guide times an hour early, the guide becomes useless.

I am guessing that the firmware is not up to date with the earlier DST change that started a few years ago and that it might clear up soon.

Questions:
- Is this a known issue? Is anyone else experiencing this?
- Does anyone know a work-around?

Thanks!

Dan.

P.S.: HDMI cable tip: When I initially inserted the HDMI cable, it seemed to go in, but in reality, it was not fully inserted. Had to use the composite output to do the setup since I saw nothing on the HDMI output. Only after a good deal searching for some non-existent HDMI output option did I double-check the HDMI cable and found I could insert it even further. I wonder if the first few posts that complained about no HDMI output were caused by this...