Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 507

Ok enough of this Love the Mag stuff , My Mag and I had our first Tiff last night.

Admittedly it was I who was naively thinking a function would behave in a way not described on page 49 of the 515 manual.

And this function is the skip function.

I happily have two programs stored in the Timed recording schedule with the show names entered in.

I have been falling behind on watching these recordings.

So I thought why don't I skip them for awhile until I and the better half get caught up on the ones that I already have on the hard drive so I just don't fill up the whole drive with these two shows.

So about a week ago I put both of them in Skip mode assuming they were now being skipped.

Then yesterday morning I decided I wanted to start a timed recording of another show that came on at 10am in the morning. So I set it up, gave it a name, then went to the skip column. Since I only have the three shows set up as timed recordings I quickly looked at the skip column and chose the opposite choice for skip that I saw on the existing timed shows.

Well was I surprised last night when I went to watch the show and it was not there but the other two shows were there plus yesterdays and the day before and so on.

Well all of a sudden it dawned on me what I did and page 49 confirmed it. The skip only skips one event and then switches state and goes back to recording

So skip is working as it is suppose to and I was expecting something else from it.

In all honestly I wish there was a "Skip forever" or some way to save my timed recording shows that I do not want to presently record but may want to in the future. I trust a timed recording that I already set up and no works more than I do reentering the same info and screwing it up.

The only work around I can think of is to write down the programming on a piece of paper, removing the show from the timed recording line up, and at a later date when I want to record it again enter it back in manually.

Either that or get a second 515 and leave it unplugged until I want to record the shows again.

As a heads up, I was not too good at skipping as a kid

If you leave it unplugged for too long you will lose the timer recording schedule.

You could change the recording schedule so the show records at the lowest quality. That would help conserve HDD space until you get a chance to delete the unwanted shows.

Wajo,

"Just set the skip-once again?" I think I would have to be Pro- Active and each day reselect "Skip".

I do not think I am that Proactive

There is still a lot of room left on my HD.

For all I know the shows I have been recording are already being repeated. I probably already have the same episode on the HD drive more than once.

I guess I need to get Proactive and watch some of them.

Darn "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and similar shows keeps tying up the evening entertainment slot with the better half

I never thought I would complain about having too much media to watch

So. Ca

I know this is a bit off topic, but one of our Maggie members suggested using a coax splitter as a combiner. Comcast is implementing its migration to full digital this month and I've gotten 2 DTAs from them which just has coax inputs and outputs, no composite outputs. Would using the combiner allow the Maggie to record channels 2, 4-....20 from its tuner and the flexibility of recording off the DTA by selecting channel 3? Please don't suggest using a switch as an alternative since I can't be around to throw it.

Thanks,

Jim

PWL is based on the theory (unproven) idle HDD heads floating over a specific point on the platter, causes wear.

Soooo.......WD built into their FW instructions that after fifteen seconds of idle time, the drive controller moves the heads one track, eventually traversing the entire disk area, so that no area of the disk has heads sitting over it for a long period of time. They neglected to mention it takes about three hours for the entire surface of the disk to be traversed. (I wonder how many Maggie owners leave their unit turned on, when it's not recording or playing a program?)

Unfortunately, someone at WD also forgot about Newton's Third Law (you know..."for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"), but they soon discovered their new PWL caused a lot of "clicking" and "clunking" noises in the drives, so it was back to the drawing boards and......another FW change to reduce (not eliminate) those loud annoying "clicks" and "clunks".

If that DVR in your bedroom keeps you awake at night, you can blame WD and their PWL.

Sweet dreams.

It's always recording unless you have it on the L3 input.

Jim, first I assume you have a digital TV and no Comcast boxes installed now. If so, I would do nothing at this time. You may get a better signal by not using the DTA if Comcast doesn't really make such a drastic change. They have been reported to do this change, but then you will need to change your wiring.

Draw a picture. See what wires you will need. Do you have two feeds? If not, is Comcast going to provide a splitter?

If you end up with the worst case scenerio, then having the DTA tuned to the channel you want to record will be your only solution. But wait until you verify that the Mag can not detect the new digital channels.

If you need to use a STB for your TV now, please ignore my advice.

Well, Verizon is about to lose my $600/year landline business. BrightHouse Networks phone service is about $260/year, and has unlimited US long distance, and many more included features. (Just need an extra UPS to back up their modem. And if cable goes out, oh well, have to use the c-phone.)

BrightHouse response time to my lightning strike issues was 90 minutes, and the tech replaced a splitter, some other connectors, and my internet modem, in about 15 minutes! A surly Verizon tech showed up SIX DAYS LATER, gave me lots of nasty attitude, fixed nothing, and said it wasn't their problem. BH wins on customer service alone!

Now, if I could just hook up with that other power company... oh wait, it's a total monopoly within my City limits!

JoeKustra, I have attempted to use a splitter as a combiner with two antennas. It did not work for me maybe it would be different with cable.

The problem I had was that stations would step on each other and stations that previously came in great now were poor. And the one station that I was trying to combine did not get better at all. Part of the problem was that the weak strong stations were right next to each other in frequency. I got another device that was suppose to isolate out one of the channels and that did not help either.

Not sure how this all would apply to Comcast which could be bi directional.

I finally had to resort to one you don't want us to mention although I made it a little more tolerable by getting a wireless version so I did not have to keep getting up and flipping the switch. But again I know this does not work for timed recordings that could be coming from two different sources.

The hard drive is always running when the unit is not turned off (in standby mode). Recording may not have any effect on the WD "movement" when idle. True, L3 as the input means not continously writing to the HDD, and probably means the head "idle detection" would not kick in.

Or so says my Kill-A-Watt.

I think he meant have it turned "off" standby. A WD would not operate properly because it was off more than it was on? It was designed to be on all the time, but would turning it off and on twice a day be worse for it than leaving it on all the time? Some people are awakened @ midnight, because the "boot" process turns the drive on to get a clock. Leaving it on all the time would mean no "boot" process. However would the constant "noise" if any cause a person to eventually get used to it, and thus let them sleep, but wear the thing out by constantly being on? I say that today's drives do better being left on, than being turned off and on several times a day.

I'm not sure I understand all of your post, but I'm pretty sure a splitter is just a splitter. To combine two signals you need to consider phase and level changes. I don't think it's a good idea even for low frequency audio.

I have several manual A-B switches. Gravity can suck sometimes.

I have three Sony DVR units that have drives that run when power is applied. They were made in 2005. As 234 has said: the MTBF is quite long these days.

The 515H is quieter at midnight. I think it's a quieter fan. If the 515H needs the fan to keep it cool, put your hand near the fan and tell me if you can feel any air, cool or warm.

Errrr, wajo told me the HDD does not turn on the HDD to check the clock. It's just the fan you hear.

Joe,

When Comcast goes total digital I will only get local channels on the Maggie (so-called basic cable.) Using the DTA I will continue to get the channels that I'm paying for (basic and extended cable). I had envisioned the DTA on one of the combiner inputs and straight cable on the other with the output feeding the Maggie.
See Below:

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/238175.html
Jim

Don't feel bad. Working with RF is a "black art".

All components having RF input or output connections "leak". Connect an antenna to your TV or 515 and it not only takes in the RF signal, it also radiates its own RF signal. This was the basis for the original FCC Part 15 certification requirement you see on most electrical equipment. (If I recall correctly, the maximum radiation level such equipment can radiate is 1mv per meter at 100' distance)

To quote the experts "Most EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) problems are cable related". Why?

"Because most electrical cables are long compared to printed circuit board traces they are more efficient at radiating electromagnetic fields and picking up electromagnetic energy from the environment. As a result, most EMI problems occur because of the cables that are necessarily connected to the circuit. Even very small levels of radio frequency energy on the cable conductors can cause interference with other electronics. Similarly, radio frequency energy induced on the cables can cause circuitry to malfunction or have degraded performance." In other words, don't use cables, but if you have to, keep them as short as possible and wherever possible do not use RF splitters, combiners, switches, amplifiers or like components.

I was the one to combine with a splitter, and I had mixed results with some interference one day, though I was combining OTA digital with analog Dish coax output (similar to a DTA feed, I suppose). Perhaps you'll have better luck with no interference as all the signals/channels will be coming from the same provider?

Jim, page one of this thread has wiring diagrams to handle cable & splitters & STB & DTA &.... But, while you can plan ahead, don't do anything until after the change. THEN scan the channels with your TV to see where everything went. I have a DTA in an unopened box. I could get another, But my TV has a pretty good "Favorites" function, and I use the 515H as a recording device, not as a tuner. I doubt I watch more than a dozen of the 600+ channels on my TVGOS grid or the 125 clear QAM channels found by my 515H.

Your "basic" is my "local" and your "extended" is my "basic". I get my "local" NBC channel on analog 3, SD on 73.6603 and HD on 84.1401. You want all your channels to have a pretty number like 503, then go for the DTA and record everything on the channel 3/4 output of the DTA. It's your decision. I suffer with strange numbers that may change and get 1080i with little or no work. I like it. I do have a STB for some HD & scrambled channels that I record with the 515H RWY input. Better than nothing.

I have read in other places that when you do that sort of thing, one of the consequences is that you are now broadcasting that cable or sat feed out of your antenna. Under the proper conditions you could get some neighbors pissed off at you for screwing up their OTA signal.

Normally I'd believe that, but seeing I have a small indoor antenna, I doubt any signal would be too weak to make it very far from the confines of my house/walls. I don't believe that would qualify as "proper conditions."

Quick question without looking it up...if I set up an instant timer (hitting record multiple times in 30 minute increments), what happens at the end of the timer? Does the recorder power off, or remain on? I set up a 3 hour timer and I'll be asleep by the time it finishes.

EDIT: Nevermind, found it:

When the recording is completed, the unit will ask
you whether to turn off the unit except under
conditions listed below.
- If a timer recording is programmed to start in 4 minutes.
- During playback of HDD or DVD.
- While displaying menus or information on the screen.
• The unit will be turned off automatically if you select
“Yes” or if you do not reply in 1 minute.

On older VCR's I read that using the Channel 3 coax out that if you hook and antenna up to it you can receive on another tv whatever is playing on the VCR, Never did try it but it makes since.

I am talking about the channel 3 coax that you use to hook a cable up to and then connect directly to coax "in" on your tv so you could watch the shows on the VCR.

Sort of a poor mans TV transmitter.

It's true, but the signal is weak and depends on your antenna. Impedance matching and SWR are a factor for the VCR and you need a good antenna on the TV too. I'm sure there is a reason for doing this, but I have to wonder.

I recently bought the 'best' antenna I could find with a built-in amp and tried to get channels from 50 miles away. I didn't get any but I received a lot of cable NTSC leakage, mainly PBS. It was snowy, but I had no trouble seeing the logo of the the station. I don't know who is doing it since the signal was pretty much 360 degrees.

I terminate all my rf lines. I don't want to interfere with myself.

Joe, Question on Termination. If you have a 5 way splitter and are only using four do you put a terminator on the fourth one? What if it was a powered splitter.

You don't hear too many folk talking about terminator.

One of my college professors use to run a second cable next to the cable running through his dorm and pick up cable for free. I am sure it was not perfect reception.

I have the Radio Shack 1 to 4 rf splitter (several) and they come with terminators. Any unused output ports on the splitters or devices are terminated. You can also get the little things from Amazon.

I also use one on the input on some items that have both cable and antenna inputs. On my Sony DVR, an antenna scan finds 15 NTSC stations unless I use a terminator. Probably a piece of foil would do the same thing.

Home Depot also sells them in a 10 pack for under $6.

IDEAL F-Connector Terminators (10-Pack)
Model # 85-038
Store SKU # 324202

wow, that's quite a clip. Word must be spreading. It can't be ONLY us buying!

I think this is great - they said no one wanted these recorders, and yet...

" if you build it..."