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Panasonic DMR-EH55 User Review and Questions - Page 2

post #31 of 881
6/5/06 at 9:27am
smack,

thanks for the info. glad to hear you got it working. tonight when I get home will be 24 hours so if the guide is not there, I will start from scratch with your suggestions

Thanks.
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post #32 of 881
6/5/06 at 3:17pm
Plugging the cable box to IN3 is only if you want the TVGOS to get guide info from the cable box (along with having to use ir blaster ..by the way does that come with the eh55?) is that correct? If i use analog RF to get TV guide info then cable box cab be plugged into any line in for just dumping stuff to the HDD right?
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post #33 of 881
6/5/06 at 4:49pm
zen -

the ir blaster does come with the eh55. i beleive the answer is yes to your second question if i understand correctly.
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post #34 of 881
6/5/06 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smackbottom View Post

Hello All,
Ok, here is where I am today.
Will try to answer as many questions as possible. Just remember this my first HDDVR and the manuals tend to be clear as mud. They tell you what to do but I like to know why and how things go together, so I will be trying other things to get more familiar with the box.

1. Westly-C


This is the setup I have resorted to at this point. I have manually recorded from the cable box successfully. Am using input1 from DVR at this moment. But, want to try switching again to input 3 to see if I can get irblaster to change to channel I want to record. Don't know if this possible since ir blaster wants to use tvgos thru cable box in order to work.

2. Ripper64
Cant compare anything to EH50 since I have never owned one. smile. sry

3. Owl1234
Are using a digital high definition cable box? Mine is the Motorola 3412 which is ALL digital now. There were analog channels being pumped through until about a month ago when they went purely digital.

4. tleipelt
Yes according to what I have read so far the same thing is required for dual discs.

And now for my and questions.

Something in their manual confuses me. It says that no video or audio is passed thru the rf cable from the dvr rf out. But practically every setup has the rf out being connected to the TV or vcr or cable box as well as the usual video and audio cables. Why would this be necessary?

Also, although is not related to what I am trying right now, but is related to statement above ,does anyone know why an rf modulator is needed when the tv has no audio/video inputs? This the same for other model setups I have seen and I am curious as to what that accomplishes.

Anyway, I shall solder (err soldier) on. Thanks for your input.


Yes, I use a HD cable box from Cablevision (I'm in NY). It's from Scientific Atlanta. It pumps through analog and so-called digital channels. I'm pretty sure that the DVD recorder gets its TV guide information from one of its TV Guide channels because I often find the TV tuned to a channel that just shows the listings 24/7 when I turn it on the morning. That's why the RF connection is not necessary (at least in this case).
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post #35 of 881
6/6/06 at 6:24am
Hi All,

I just purchased a Panasonic DMR-EH75V - which I'm guessing uses the same TV Guide set-up as that EH55 - the questions so far are exactly the same as my set-up.

I am also confused somewhat on the set-up and not sure if I have it correct.

You made 2 changes to get yours to work -
1. You split the RF (but the set-up diagrams do not show this) - did they tell you to do that ?

2. You added "antenna" in addition to "Cable with Cable Box" - as the instructions call for - do you think this single step is what actually "fixed it"?

(I confess I missed that in my set-up and only used "Cable with Cable Box" - looks like I might as well skip waiting 24 hours and add antenna right away)

You made 2 changes to get yours to work -
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post #36 of 881
6/6/06 at 1:37pm
Does the eh55 have a fan? If so how noisy is it? Thanks.
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post #37 of 881
6/6/06 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MorrisonHiker View Post

As vferrari and Westy stated:

On the E80, the auto chapter marks were automatically inserted if you did a real-time dub from HDD to DVD. If you did a high speed dub, you had to put them in manually. Typically, I would just put in chapter points every 10 minutes by using the Time Slip button.

I don't even bother with timeslip. I call up the insert chapter page and press the fast forward button four times, putting the EH50 into 70x mode. I keep an eye on the timer and every ten minutes that goes by, I press enter. The machine never slows down and I get a tic mark on the "fuel gage" showing the chapter marks. You don't get them exactly every ten minutes, as in 10:00, because you are doing it by sight, but you get close, and with practice, you get very close: within a few seconds. It takes very little time and effort to do it this way.
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post #38 of 881
6/6/06 at 9:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZZen View Post

Does the eh55 have a fan? If so how noisy is it? Thanks.

there is a fan but I could not hear it. I only hear a click noise from the HDD when I turn on the recorder and off.
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post #39 of 881
6/7/06 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 
Doh!!!
Thought no one had written for a couple of days. Then I realized that there was more than one page. Maybe I shouldn't be allowed near complex electronics!! LOL!

Anyway, I understand that the Panny doesnt use harddrive to record EPG but uses RAM. So far it has been very quiet as far as I am concerned.

Steve 1214, TVGOS working impeccably so far. It seem to try updating at regular times ie: 6:30am and in afternoon which is convenient for me.

Have recorded some shows and tested a burn. But, spent most of yesterday reprogramming my universal remote to leave cable box on so DVR could do its update. Been three years since I programed it, so had to relearn everything. sheesh Also spent some time getting used to all the options and the menu system on the DVR.

Bought some R+dvd dual layers for testing. Couldnt find any dvd-rams. May have to get em online.

Siesta Jim, I split the RF before the two boxes because the pass through on the panny seemed to screw up picture from my digital cable box. And since the panny gets its TVGOS info from in3 It didnt matter. Bottom line, it worked for me. Also it allows me to get analog cable direct to the panny for recording shows to box when wifey wants to watch cable while I am recording as you cant watch another channel while recording from cable box. Is that clear as mud?

Good luck Siesta , let me know if it works.
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post #40 of 881
6/7/06 at 10:14am
smack,

so far no luck, but i still havent split the cable. it seems to me an unnecessary (i will still try) step if the setup directions have the cable going to the eh55 first (analog).

now that you have it working with a split before the boxes, does the tvgos have listings for all your channels that you would normally recieve on your cable box or just the analog ones it can pick up?
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post #41 of 881
6/7/06 at 11:36am
smack,

Thanks for the help!

So far no luck for me - but I'm a day behind you. (on my initial set-up I didn't pick BOTH Antenna & Cable w/box - just Cable w/box - and it didn't work).

last night I reset with BOTH Antenna & Cable w/box - and will see if that is the trick later tonight.

I have not split the RF and input it to both the DVR & Cable Box (as you did) - but that will probably be my next try if this doesn't work.

(Did Panasonic tell you to do that or did you just try it on your own?)

Under RF OUT Terminal - my manual says, "The picture and sound signal from this unit does not go through the RF OUT terminal to the television" - (HUH???)

This may be a 'typo" - or perhaps means something different than it says. (The writer may have meant to say that ...SHOULD NOT be connected to the television".)

I'm with steve1214 on this....It seems to me that the picture and sound DO come out thru RF OUT - since it is the only input into my cable box - and since I can see all 2-500 or so channels from my cable box - back into my TV - the picture & sound MUST be coming out of that RF output!

BUT - having said that - if it is because the signal looses to much and it will only work by splitting it - of course I'll split it! (I worry about this as my cable is already split as it enters my home (half to broadband & other TV's in other rooms), and half to big Screen TV - (which is then split again half to the TV - half to the DVR) - (So I can which TV while recording)

I have considered that my problem is being split to many times already - however, you'd never know - the picture is strong and clear.

We'll see what tomorrow brings!
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post #42 of 881
6/7/06 at 12:00pm
Hey Guys - one other thing...

As I went thru 2 Pioneer 531's with these set-ups - it seems like I've spent half my life waiting the 24 hrs for them to see if they worked. It just seems it should be easier to tell "early on" if it will work or not, for example...

On my Pioneer 531 (same TV Guide on Screen system), as soon as you reset - set-up - and put the Pioneer into "Standby" to get the EPG data - it would...
Switch my cable box to 01 - then 'walk up" all channels 02-03-04 etc. in 3.45 hours! Then it would restart thru all channels again - also it's initial step set the auto clock.

What I'm asking is (if you remember) - how does the Panny behave during its 24hrs?

My new Panny EH75V goes into standby - and very - very slowly walks thru all 1-999 channels taking 15-24 hours or so. So right away, since it is behaving differently than the Pioneer - I'm thinking it is not working correctly.

Also - it's clock (which I set manually during the set-up - right???)

- continues to be a minute off of the cable box time (which is automatic) - so appearently it has not yet found a PBS channel to get the time from (although it has already passed up all of them)?

I'm thinking once again - it is not working! We will see...
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post #43 of 881
6/7/06 at 12:30pm
SiestaKey,

I hope you get your TVGOS working, but you appear to be in a "unique" situation if your Host Channel is a PBS station.

The closest PBS stations to you are in Tampa (antenna in Riverview):
WEDU OTA Channel 54
WUSF OTA Channel 34

WEDU is a "normal" PBS affiliate, while WUSF is run by the Univ. of South Florida...but both use the SAME ANTENNA! I've not seen that before, probably just using the same structure?

If you don't get good results, I think you'd be wise to turn OFF whatever channel you receive WUSF on (look for call sign). That way, you will have a "clear" TVGOS signal from WEDU. (If that doesn't work, reverse the procedure, leaving WUSF on?)
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post #44 of 881
6/7/06 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SiestaKeyJim View Post


Under RF OUT Terminal - my manual says, "The picture and sound signal from this unit does not go through the RF OUT terminal to the television" - (HUH???)

This may be a 'typo" - or perhaps means something different than it says. (The writer may have meant to say that ...SHOULD NOT be connected to the television".)

I'm with steve1214 on this....It seems to me that the picture and sound DO come out thru RF OUT - since it is the only input into my cable box - and since I can see all 2-500 or so channels from my cable box - back into my TV - the picture & sound MUST be coming out of that RF output!

The RF OUT is a pass-through for the cable signal only. What the manual means is that when you play a DVD or a program recorded on the HDD you need to have additional hookups to your monitor (ie HDMI, component, etc.). They will not be inserted onto the RF signal.
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post #45 of 881
6/7/06 at 12:40pm
"The picture and sound signal FROM THIS UNIT does not go through the RF Out..."

The incoming RF signal is passed straight through, as has been pointed out. The picture and sound that the recorder itself generates is not sent to the RF Out.
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post #46 of 881
6/7/06 at 1:49pm
wabjxo - actually you just reminded me - I have no idea of what my host channel is - somewhere I (thought) I read that PBS channels were the hosts for TV Guide on Screen?

When I had the Pioneer - at setup - it asks to input a channel to set the auto time - so I had heard that PBS channels had the time - so I always entered 03 (WEDU) & the time always set correctly.

I never did the internal code to look at the host channel - until my Pioneer would lose it's listings - then when I did look to see the host channel it was blank (of course). (I should have looked to see the host when it was working - then I would have known).

On the panasonic set-up - it had me enter the time manually - it ended up off by a minute - and that was 9pm yesterday - now I'm about 20 hrs into this 2nd attempt - and the clocks still off by that minute - so I'm not hopeful this puppy will get set up - but I'll wait the full 24 hours.

I know what you're saying about turning one pbs station off - but until this thing gets some initial data - I have nothing to turn off

thanks!
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post #47 of 881
6/7/06 at 1:51pm
bry999 - bobkart - thanks guys, wish you two would have wrote the manual!
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post #48 of 881
6/7/06 at 3:11pm
I see that most of the connections of the recorder is through cable, can I connect my Directv satellite service directly to the recorder? or do I have to connect my Directv DVR receiver to the recorder in order to burn DVD's? thanks
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post #49 of 881
6/7/06 at 3:44pm
The Panny's TVGOS is supposed to work with satellite now, so there should be an option in the setup for Direct. You most likely will have to use the IR blaster to change the channels on the D* tuner. The manual should tell you the correct way to hook it up for it to work (how it gets the guide info from Direct, I haven't a clue - you might need to be hooked up to an antenna for that, but I'm not sure).

Anyway, with or without the guide, you can record directly from your D* tuner to the Panny, as long as your D* tuner is outputting at 480i.
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post #50 of 881
6/7/06 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

The Panny's TVGOS is supposed to work with satellite now, so there should be an option in the setup for Direct. You most likely will have to use the IR blaster to change the channels on the D* tuner. The manual should tell you the correct way to hook it up for it to work (how it gets the guide info from Direct, I haven't a clue - you might need to be hooked up to an antenna for that, but I'm not sure).

Anyway, with or without the guide, you can record directly from your D* tuner to the Panny, as long as your D* tuner is outputting at 480i.



I haven't purchased the recorder yet, I decided on the Panasonic over the Pioneer 640 recorder because of the DV input on the Panny, so that's one question solved with the recorder being able to be used with Satellite,
now after seeing your last sentence, how can I tell if my D* DVR is outputting at 480i(is that a Digital cable)? can't I just use S-Video and Red/White Audio cables to transfer over the recordings to the recorder? thanks
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post #51 of 881
6/7/06 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
Hey All,

1. Steve1214 I all the channels (digital) and analog. The panny box gets its info from teh cable box . Not from the rf on the cable. But thru in3.

2. Siesta, I split it on my own. That was cuz passthru from analog panny to digital cable box seemed to scramble my video signal somehow. Not related to TVGOS issue I dont think.
3. Yes picture and sound do come thru the rf . It is a passthru though. For example if you hook that cable from panny to your tvs rf input and that is input 1 you would receive analog signal.
The TVGOS and video and sound from the panny, IE dvd functions, recorded playback and television watching come from your cable box thru the panny box in3 to your tv from panny output.

What they meant was that no pany box video or sound comes thru that rf output, just passthrough direct from cable company.

Actually BRY999 said it much more clearer than I did. see his post above.

Also, other than first successful setup, I havent seen it change channels to update. It shows 9:30 am and I am not home then and behaves fine at night. Might have to stay home one of these days and see what it actually does.

By the way, so this doesnt confuse anyone. I don't think that splitting and going to the boxes separatly(sp) affects the TVGOS. It was just my choice since I have a digital cable box.
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post #52 of 881
6/7/06 at 5:30pm
ok smack, i split the cable and redid the setup as you suggest. we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
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post #53 of 881
6/7/06 at 7:01pm
OK Smack - me too!

After (2) separate 24 hour trys - NO TVGOS - nothing.

(2nd try was with BOTH choices Cable with Box & Antenna)

Tonight I will disconnect everything from my cable except the Pan 75, (to make sure my signal is not too weak), split the cable and connect to both DVR & Cable Box -

Tomorrow I'll be calling Panasonic (Lucky me!)
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post #54 of 881
6/8/06 at 7:23am
Thread Starter 
Good Luck Siesta
One other thing, was your cable box listed in the choices in setup?
Also, after setting up and letting it do its search thing for about 3-4 hours, I came home and the screen was giving me about 6-7 different cable choices. Seems there are several flavors of comcast in this area. I had to pick one before it continued.
If you get that far, look in the TVGOS setup menu and look at setup progress.
It had gotten the time and the station, but said that listing download was scheduled for 6:31 am next morning. So I watched tv that night then made SURE cable box was on and Panny box was OFF. When I came home the next evening everything was working. And has been working since.
Interestingly, every morning I get up, the cable box is on channel 108 which is PBS station. Wonder if that is where channel listings are downloaded from? Will have to ask wifey if she was on that channel the night before.

One, last thing guys, if you cant get it to work and call Panasonic, call again and again until you get someone willing to walk you through it and escalate it to TVGOS if necessary. Their support people are very varied. Some know a lot more than others. The last was willing to do this for me. Although, I ended up not needing it.

Once again, good luck. I will keep trying to feed ya any info I think will help. From what I understand from them (Panny) this should work with digital cable.
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post #55 of 881
6/8/06 at 8:18am
ok smack if it comes to it i will call panny. what number did you use to contact them?
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post #56 of 881
6/8/06 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smackbottom View Post


Anyway, to male a long story short, I decided to try again. With these exceptions.

1. I split the rf cable with one going into the dvr and the other going into the cable box.

2. When selecting "cable with box" I also selected antenna as instructed in the manual. I hadnt done this the first time.

I let it go and by morning TVGOS was fully loaded. The box even tells you what time next update will be.

Thanks for all the information, Smack. I just got the EH-55 and your experimentation is very helpful. I was having issue getting the (Comcast) digital cable box to play nice with the DVR, so right now I took the cable box out of the picture and have the cable line going directly into the DVR. That setup works perfect but we cannot tape\\watch the digital channels (channel 100 and up). I'd like to try what you are doing.

Sorry to repeat what you've been saying, but want to be very clear on the steps (and am electronically challenged). I have a VCR in my setup but for the moment would like to take that out of the equation:
1. RF Coax Cable line from wall is being split. (Lets call line A and line B). I understand that step, but then my questions begin..
2. Line A is going into RF IN on Panny. Panny RCA jack Line Out 1 is going to TV??
3. Line B is going into Dgital Cable Box RF In. RCA jack Line Out on Digital Cable Box is going to Panny RCA Line In 3??
4. Where is the RF Line Out of the Cable Box going to?
5. Sounds like you are still using the IR blaster in this setup?

Thanks in advance for any help that you or anyone can give.
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post #57 of 881
6/8/06 at 11:21am
wickerman,

while i still haven't got the infamous tvgos to work yet, i think i can help with your connection questions.

my original setup followed the manual exactly: cable from wall to rf in on panny, rf out on panny to rf in on cablebox, rf out on cable to rf in on tv. then r/l audio and svideo from cablebox to in3 on panny. the panny is then connected to the tv via r/l audio and component video (in addition to the rf out from cable).

i have since tried smackbottom's suggestion to split the cable from wall, so my setup is now:

cable from wall to splitter, one cable to rf in on panny one to rf in on cablebox. rf out on panny not connected. rf out on cablebox to tv. the rest is still the same.

i am also using the ir blaster.

your setup above seems to be similar and is correct. in answer to you specific questions above, you dont want to connect the rf out from panny to anything. the rf out from cablebox should go to the tv. i would also reccomend removing the vcr from the loop of rf in/out and use the rca in/out of the vcr and connect them to either the panny or your tv or a combo of both.

while i am pretty good with this stuff i am no expert so if anyone has any better suggestions for hooking this stuff up please chime in. im always eager to learn something new.

hpe this helps,

steve
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post #58 of 881
6/8/06 at 11:46am
Hey Guys - I'm still trying & failing with the TVGOS!

I did the splitter thing - didn't help

I called Panasonic (about 4-5 times to get the "hang" of it). 800-211-7262 - here's the way it worked best (Their machine wants you to talk to it) - answers...

"Tech Support" > DVD Recorder > choice 7 (wait for 20-40 mins)

The first time I got an absolute beginner who I doubt could program a VCR. Have to answer all the obovious questions as he read them to me. But he finally got me a "case" number and told me he would escalate it - and a "Product Tech" guy will call me back in 24-48 hrs!

So a half hour later I called again (trying to get someone else) I got a "supposed" Tech person who also clearly didn't know beans - asked endless dumb questions - with a 5 minute pause between each question - after about 45 mins of this she finally decided I need to escalated again to the "TVGOS" team. So know I get to wait 24-48 hours cause I don't know a phone number for TVGOS.

Meanwhile - I'm also simplying everything to see if anything works. I'm skipping the cable box and have a total simple setup.

1. Wall Cable feed into RF In on DVR
2. DVR RF Out to TV - Rf In.
3. Phono plugs(Yellow/While/Red) from DVR "Common Output" into TV input.

(This is the simplest set-up they show)

In the DVR set-up - I selected "Cable - No Cable Box" - it Autochannels and sets the time automatically - and I shut it off and will just WAIT (Again - and again ).

I think either it gets some channel listings inside of the TVGOS (I'm not even waiting for actual data listings - I've never got anything at all) - or - I have a broken machine - or - there is NO HOST CHANNEL here (That is really what I think the probelm is).
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post #59 of 881
6/8/06 at 12:09pm
Hey guys - On my EH75, here is how my Setup Screen for the TVGOS looks - does yours look the same?

(When you press TV Guide on the remote - the TV Guide screen comes up and in the middle says)

TV Guide on Screen Setup process

STEP........................................................ ......STATUS

[X] Search for time.........................................Done: (current time)

[ ] Search for TV Stations with
TV Guide Data.........................................In Progress

[ ] Search for Channel Line-up.....................In Progress

[ ] Listings Transmissions.............................In Progress

I have never got past step one - it always looks like this - from the time I just finish the set-up - and 24 hours later when I first look at it.
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post #60 of 881
6/8/06 at 12:43pm
**Have you been using the recorder since you got it? After set up, the unit must be left completely off for at least 24 hours, and sometimes a bit longer-no turning on and off, no timer recordings, no peeking to see if everything downloaded...in order for guide info to d/load.
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