Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 684

Could be that my Panny was more discriminating than the Mags. I wonder if there is a difference between just burning and not finalizing and then erasing the titles versus burning, finalizing and reformatting?

In any event I only use the -RWs to transfer programming from my DVR downstairs to my upstairs TV. If there some minor problems it's no biggie. I'll probably just run the discs into the ground.

For video, that is very true. As long as the DVD player will handle the exception, a corrupt data block will usually manifest itself as a momentary glitch in the picture -- something you might not pay attention to.

Hi, I have been following this thread for a while and thanks to this thread, it was the reason why I purchased 2160A.

I know that there are firmware upgrades for 2160A, 513 and 515. I also know that the 515 firmware upgrade can be applied to the 2160A. I haven't done this because in the past, I have done firmware upgrade on other items and had problems but could not go back to the older version.

My question is that if I use the latest firmware upgrade, is there any way to go back to the older problem free firmware?

2nd question, does anyone know the last trouble free firmware upgrade for the 2160A?

Lastly, if someone knows of the problem free firmware upgrade for the 2160A, can some one please give me the link to find it. I know I can search through the the hundreds of pages to find it but I am hoping that there are some kind heart person out there that will go through the trouble to help me.

Also, if I don't care about the need to confirm all the questions asked by the 2160A during editing, is there any real reason to do the firmware upgrade? Just really worry about doing firmware upgrades due to my past problems with upgrades. Thanks for all your help.

Update on the RF remote control relay.

The replacement base unit came days ago, along with a new Infra Red blaster cable...

And no AC Adapter.

I had to wait for them to send me one. (It took even longer because the guy I'd been e-mailing with didn't reply, and I had to finally contact someone else at their company. The adapter was sent.)

Have had it for a few days but finally had time to test things out.

First tested the unit to control my 515, using the 513's remote. (The 513 remote has its emitter covered with black tape.)

The 513 remote again and again worked with my 515, even tho' the only way it was working was thru the RF relay and the Infra Red emitter cord.

The previous relay base unit must not have been working right. This one is.

I've attached the IR emitter head to the 513's clock display, and covered it all with black tape.

I've proved that the base unit is also giving off Infra Red flashes even while the emitter cord is attached, so the base unit will have to be sealed up with black tape, just like the 513's remote is covered up.

Even as it is, the base unit is far away enough from the 515 where it's not affecting it, but there's still daylight. In a dark room, the base unit may still mess with the 515, so the tape's on going before then.

I'm running a movie on the 515 right now, tho', so it won't be until that's over that I can use the TV to test out the control over the 513.

Hey, the relay's IR blaster cord worked on the 515. What am I worried about.

Once I know for sure it's all working, I'll let you know.

This will be a FLAWLESS way to operate two Maggie recorders in one room.

Movie's been over for a few minutes.

Played with the IR head's position a bit, but it's now working perfectly.

At first I thought there was a problem due to needing to press remote buttons more than once, but it's struck me I've barely used this remote and the buttons are a bit stiff. Gotta press a little hard for now.

Still gotta tape up the base unit's IR emitter, but that's trivial.

This thing is working.

Guys, if you want a good way of using two Magnavox recorders in the same room, this is it.

I can't remember who first mentioned this to us, but thanks go out to him. (Hey, remind me who you are, will 'ya?)

I suppose it might even be possible to run more than two, since the base units can be set for different frequencies, but I doubt it. The transmitter can't be changed that way. There'd still likley be cross-controlling.

Still, two in the same room without having to use IR blocks/barriers is pretty neat.

Two caviats-

My first unit was bad, so yours COULD be too. With this second one working perfect right out of the box, tho', maybe not.

I had to completely cover up the "window" on the 513, so no more clock. It's an acceptable casualty. The 515's clock is still visible, and since the 513's clock can be brought up onscreen, it's not all that much of a problem.

Now...

To tape up the base unit's IR emitter...

Hey gastrof, I'm glad you finally got it fired up. Keep us posted on your progress. I wasn't sure if the base was going to emit IR with the emitter on a wire plugged in, but I guess you have it handled. Kudos for the effort.

Thanks for the quick response. You are a wealth of information as usual.

I have just updated to the new 727V firmware for my 2160A and everything is fine except that my S-video connection now doesn't work.

I have Direct TV DVR and have hookup to my 2160A by using S-video out from the Direct TV DVR to the S-video input on my 2160A. I have been using this since I purchased my 2160A in 2009 without any problem. Now after the update firmware, I would still have audio however I no longer have video using Line 1 (no change have been made). If I use the Yellow video cable instead of the S-video connection, then I would have the video except the quality is not as good as using S-video.

Does anyone lose their S-video connection after the firmware update? I have tried 2 different S-video cables just to confirm that it is not the cable problem but it still doesn't work. Thanks for any help.

Thanks, that was the problem. As usual you seem to be able to help me with all my question. I really appreciate it.

The only other problem that's popped up was that my cable box's remote quit working.

I unplugged the (still not tape-covered) base emitter, and wouldn't you know...the cable box's remote began working again.

I covered the base emitter with tape and plugged it back in. No more problem.

I'm guessing it must have been giving off some constant infra red light that was messing with the cable box's remote being able to get thru to the cable box.

Strangely, tho', the 515's remote was still working.

Anyway, as said, the tape covering the relay's base unit solved the problem, and I'd figured that'd be necessary (just for a different reason).

Aside from this, there's no "progress" to report.

This thing is working perfectly.

I just have to move the 513 from a cardboard box it's been sitting on to the unit where the 515 is, and give it a permanent home.

Again, guys, this works perfectly. I've been changing channels, running recordings off the hard drive, even dubbing a DVD made on one of the 515s onto the 513s hard drive.

Everything's working, and it's not messing with the 515 one iota.

Neat little unit, neat idea, neat setup...

Gotta just make sure the special smaller battery in the remote stays charged.

Not difficult. They give you two.

Normally.

Because of the mess with the AC adapter and the fact the one in my base unit's charger slot never got returned, they sent me TWO extras besides the one I still had here. Keep one in the base all the time and if the one in the remote starts to die, just switch them.

I don't know what I'll do with the third. Oh well... Such problems.

I have an interesting scenario. About 1.5 years ago I had a problem with my 2160, the coax actually separated (the wire from the connector) I replaced the cable, but the tuner seemed to have stopped working. Luckily J&R had relisted more at that time, and I did buy another.

Long story short, I had a friend (with more knowledge than myself) look at it, and he actually discovered that the in & out coax ports seemed to be reversed. I don't know it it was always that way, and I unknowingly attached the coax, or if something had happened to the unit.

I ended up hooking that unit in my basement, (with an analog TV) but the reception still was not as good, but by replacing the cables (making sure they were all rg-6) that seemed to work for about 1 year.

Well now the tuner has gotten worse, I seldom can get a useable signal, so I've concluded that the tuner is shot. So now I have a unity, basically, without a tuner.

I still liked recording 2-3 programs that air at the same time as other programs I record, but I don't want to spend too much in working on a solution. I have a Service Electric Cable service (SE PA) and they require a converter box for all but basic cable channels.

Are there any devices out there that has a cable digital tuner that has timer capabilities? (maybe even one that converts a cable digital signal for analog) Or maybe a VCR or recording DVD that would still change the channel even though it would not have a take or disc? (I was thinking to try to find a broken one, since I only need the tuner and timer.

Otherwise my plans are to only record one channel and try to make sure that if we use the cable down stairs, we have to always leave it on that channel (I know that will cause problems, but what other choice to I have)

Thanks for any help anyone may have.

Just to show how all cable is local, I also have SECV. I don't know what headend you use, but I can get from 140 (17851) to 170 (17921) digital channels with over 20 in HD. Add your location to your UserCP since there may be someone closer to you than I am.

If you feel your tuner section is bad, there are fairly cheap QAM tuners on ebay. I have several I never use since I have all digital capable devices now. With the power consumption of most tuners, a timer would not save you a lot of money.

Of these web sites, which is correct?
www.secv.com
www.secable.com
www.sectv.com

If the above helps, more history can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Electric

BTW, I don't need a cable box, but I do have a cable card in my TiVo. I don't want to seem impolite, but have you done a channel scan directly from the rf cable? For me, "basic" means anything except premium, like HBO. I only have 26 analog at 17851, but 70 at 17921.

If that unit is a 2160 (A), here is the main AV assembly board. It includes the tuner and the DTV module which are the components you are having trouble with. All of the other parts you don't need to replace are modular and will plug in to this board. If your friend is inclined to help you, this can be installed easily.
The price may not be to your liking, but in my opinion would be better than trying to use another device to tune what you want to record.
You may be able to contact Funai and see if they have a better deal on it. If your Maggie is a 2160 non A model, the part # will be different.

Apologies if this has been asked before but I don't remember reading it, and I know I've never tried it:

I know you need to edit before dividing a title, but can a title be divided more than once without issue?

That is: I record 3 hours on HQ play speed but would like to divide it into 3 1-hour discs so I don't have to re-encode. Can I divide it into 1 & 2 hour titles and then divide the 2 hour title again?

I did the scan a few times, and even the analog channels are not all clear (fuzzy)

I am on www.secv.com and basic only includes the lower 25 channels. (the only ones on analog)

I also will look into a QAM tuner. (and by timer, I meant the ability to program channels/time)

Thank you so for for both your posts. I am only moderately tech savy. I really do appreciate it.

Did you ever try to receive OTA ATSC (antenna) channels with it? Just curious wether or not it's just being picky with your cable service.

Don't feel bad about being tech savy. I'm wrong most of the time. What is your zipcode?

You don't have a digital tuner on your TV? It's a good place to get a second opinion. Just run the rf cable from the wall to the TV's input and do a scan. That won't hurt anything.

The headends for secv.com don't service eastern PA past Birdsboro. The service tiers for sectv.com does include a "basic" tier that is only analog. That doesn't always mean they block digital. And if digital is blocked, you don't need a digital tuner. Your present STB (maybe a Pace RNG110?) already has analog RWY outputs that could feed your 2160.

But I could be wrong.

Great to know. I always assumed that the last thing you do is divide (once) and then anything else (such as dividing again or scene deleting) would cause issues.

I guess it's just deleting scenes after dividing that causes problems.

I've never had any problems doing scene deletes on divided titles.

It's the Birdsboro SECV.

I do know it's the tuner. I can take that unit to the living room and using my other 2160's connections it only works slightly better. I attribute it to the shorter coax.

Right now I do have Service Electric's cable box going into the DVR So 1) the coax I have is, probably fine, and 2) I can only record the channel it is set to. When this TV dies I will replace it with a digital one, but right now I am looking for a way best use the DVR. My plan B is that if I'm really set on this one program, I'll buy a QAM with RCA output just for this one show, then use SECV's box for a second program to record (through the coax input) or for the TV itself.

If that's the case, you can write a line to user rkg22 to scan the possibility to replace the damaged tuner with something like this:





http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-TD15...-/320864183790

That's a shame. On the lineup:
http://www.secv.com/cdocs/channel_birds.pdf
I get fewer of the "local advantage" channels in analog but all the "classic cable" in digital at 480i. The "locals" for me are Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and some NYC stations. These are 720p or 1080i.

Should you ever get the QAM working, my signal levels are always 92-96 on my 2160V and 515H.

I hope you can get things working. Analog really sucks.

If you are set on buying something new, please try looking into a digital TV with at least two HDMI inputs before anything else. You won't regret it.

I have a 3576 so I've never tried to divide then edit to see if it works... what exactly happens if it goes wrong?

If there is still interest in refurb unit stats: J&R 515 mfg Aug 2011, refurb Mar. 2012, fw 727V, time (dvd-wr): 0:00, (dvd-rd): 0:49, (cd): 0:06, HDD power on hrs 15.