Magnavox 557, 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575
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My neighbor used to use RCN and needed a box for everything digital - one per tv. That may have changed after the must carry fed regulations were finalized, but when she switched from analog to digital a few years back they insisted on a RCN box per tv even though she had a new digital tv with QAM tuner, Interestingly enough, I was considering RCN because they have just inked a deal with Tivo for co-branded dvrs but now that the 2160s are set up, doubt I'll need to switch. http://hd.engadget.com/2009/08/04/rc...latform-in-20/ There was a problem with tivo cable card enabled dvrs not being able to scan QAM, as I recall -- it was either cablecard/or scan for QAM, but not both. That was about a year ago, though, so it may be working better now.
My neighbor used to use RCN and needed a box for everything digital - one per tv. That may have changed after the must carry fed regulations were finalized, but when she switched from analog to digital a few years back they insisted on a RCN box per tv even though she had a new digital tv with QAM tuner, Interestingly enough, I was considering RCN because they have just inked a deal with Tivo for co-branded dvrs but now that the 2160s are set up, doubt I'll need to switch. http://hd.engadget.com/2009/08/04/rc...latform-in-20/ There was a problem with tivo cable card enabled dvrs not being able to scan QAM, as I recall -- it was either cablecard/or scan for QAM, but not both. That was about a year ago, though, so it may be working better now.
RCN is currently in the process of moving all cable channels (non-locals) to encrypted QAM. Cable channels will no longer be available with 357x/2080/2160 unless you're viewing the analog output from a cable box.
RCN is expected to use a new/updated version of the TivoHD, so we'll have to wait and what improvements are made. RCN's TivoHD will support their VOD.
As far as the current TivoHD, there still is a semi-bug with its ClearQAM support. During setup, TiVo asks whether you will be using digital cable with a CableCard. If you choose no, the TiVo only scans QAM channels up to 115 or so, and misses all QAM channels above that. If you choose yes, with the option to install CableCards later, then the TiVo does scan the full 135 QAMs. Thus, one needs to choose yes regardless of whether they plan to install a CableCard.
Once a CableCard is installed, all QAM frequencies are mapped to the official numbers in the cable company lineup (i.e. channels 1-800, 1-1000, etc rather than 83-2, 104-4, etc) with program information. This goes for both the Moxi and TiVo.
RCN is currently in the process of moving all cable channels (non-locals) to encrypted QAM. Cable channels will no longer be available with 357x/2080/2160 unless you're viewing the analog output from a cable box.
RCN is expected to use a new/updated version of the TivoHD, so we'll have to wait and what improvements are made. RCN's TivoHD will support their VOD.
As far as the current TivoHD, there still is a semi-bug with its ClearQAM support. During setup, TiVo asks whether you will be using digital cable with a CableCard. If you choose no, the TiVo only scans QAM channels up to 115 or so, and misses all QAM channels above that. If you choose yes, with the option to install CableCards later, then the TiVo does scan the full 135 QAMs. Thus, one needs to choose yes regardless of whether they plan to install a CableCard.
Once a CableCard is installed, all QAM frequencies are mapped to the official numbers in the cable company lineup (i.e. channels 1-800, 1-1000, etc rather than 83-2, 104-4, etc) with program information. This goes for both the Moxi and TiVo.
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PAUSE LIVE TV (PLTV) & AUTOSTART RECORDING (PLAY/SAVE/DUMP BUFFER)
Jump To:
Old Pause Live TV (PLTV) - 3575/3576/2080
New Pause Live TV (PLTV) - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
Play & Rewind Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
Save Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
Dump Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
Turn Buffering Off - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
Old Pause Live TV (PLTV) - 3575/3576/2080
The 3575/3576 has a PAUSE LIVE TV (PLTV) and the Mag 2080 has a Time Shift (TS) button, that starts making a temporary recording of a live show you're watching so you can come back, while it's still recording, and start playing from the point you paused it.
You have two options for activating PLTV, depending on whether you want Live TV to continue playing or pause on screen while you're away/busy:
1. Press PLTV/TS button ONCE -- Live TV CONTINUES on screen while being recorded in the background. Press PLAY to continue watching from the point you pressed the button.
2. Press PLTV/TS button TWICE -- Live TV PAUSES on screen while being recorded in the background. Press PLAY to continue watching from the point you pressed the button. (Instructions for going to Live TV or stopping PLTV are displayed on screen, if needed at that point... not!)
While playing the temp. recording with the INFO/DISPLAY screen up, an on-screen display, lower left, shows the play status (> for playing, ll for paused) plus PLTV time vs Live TV time counters in upper right. INFO/DISPLAY screens do not get recorded during PLTV... in fact, if you have the 1st screen up on a digital channel, that menu goes away immediately on pressing the PLTV button.
Recording will stop when/if the disc runs out of space, the total time exceeds 12 hours (not 6 as in one national review), or 2-minutes before a timer recording is scheduled to start.
If you plan to be away for awhile or not sure, instead of Pause Live TV or Time Shift, you can press REC several times, in 30-minute increments, until you've set the remaining time for the show you're watching. Using the REC button gives you two options:
1. If you're still there while it's recording, you can start Chase Playing immediately from where you pressed REC... just press PLAY... without worrying about time limits and the temporary nature of the Pause Live TV function.
2. If you can't make it back in time and the remaining show completes recording per the time you set, the portion you missed will have been recorded to the HDD so you can play it back whenever you do have time.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
New Pause Live TV (PLTV) - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
- The drive you left the unit on when you shut down is the drive it'll start up on. You must be on the HDD drive to bring up the AR menu and verify buffer start.
- Don't press the DISPLAY button while on a digital channel since the 1st screen with the signal-strength indicator will get recorded in the buffer. To see DISPLAY-type menus use one of the normal AR-activating buttons (PAUSE, REW, etc.), then press DISPLAY for the normal menu(s) or RETURN to exit the menus.
- If you notice that your 2160A or 513 doesn't always start AR immediately on power-up, and you regularly use AR and rely on it, make sure you're on the HDD drive and on live TV, then press PAUSE after ~10-sec or so to check the AR status. If the AR menu does not appear, AR has not started so change channels to activate the buffer. If AR has started and the AR menu is on screen, press STOP to go back to live TV, then get rid of the menu with the RETURN button. There is a FW update for the 2160A and early-513 to correct this problem and install other refinements described here. The original 2160 and 515 don't have this problem and don't need a FW update.
The Mag 2160/2160A/513/515/53x doesn't have the simple Pause Live TV like the 357x or Time Shift like the 2080. It has Autostart Recording (AR) instead... greatest thing since sliced bread!
Every time you turn on a Mag, it automatically encodes the channel(s) you tune and stores that video in a temporary buffer on the HDD of up to 6 hours. It does this in the background and in 2-hr-SP rec mode, which can't be changed.
If you change channels, the Mag keeps buffering whatever channels you tune and keeps replacing the oldest portion so the buffer is always the LAST 6 hours.
Certain actions will dump the accumulated buffer, but resume AR afterwards. One of those actions is setting the Mag on Source L3 (DV input)... that not only dumps the buffer but also keeps buffering off while on L3.
This brings up an AR menu (shown below) with some icons, time counters in upper left corner (your "GPS guide"), and a progress bar at the bottom. In the far-left-bottom corner, you'll see the Pause symbol to indicate you're Paused in the buffer at that point. The AR menu is only a visual aide, it's NOT REQD for playing or saving the buffer (unless you need the time counters)... you can get rid of the menu at ANY TIME by pressing the RETURN button, and bring it back up with the DISPLAY button.
To Resume Watching, Press PLAY
Press PLAY to enter Chase Play mode and see what you missed, even if you were away too long and the paused frame reverts to live TV (1-hour +). (See next section for more details on playing the buffer.)
Alternate between PLAY and STOP
You can alternate between PLAY and STOP while catching up... PLAY to playback the buffer and STOP to go to Live TV, if desired. STOP leaves playback in the Resume condition.
Switch to Different Channel
IF you've Paused Live TV and are catching up in Play mode, and you know the show has ended, but you suddenly want to record or watch something else on a diff. channel, Save the remainder of the buffered show to HDD by pressing REC then STOP 2X. You're done and can find the saved buffer remnant as a HDD title. If the show hasn't ended, there's no way to preserve the entire remainder of the show you paused and change channels for the other show.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
Play & Rewind Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
- The drive you left the unit on when you shut down is the drive it'll start up on. You must be on the HDD drive to bring up the AR menu and verify buffer start.
- Don't press the DISPLAY button while on a digital channel since the 1st screen with the signal-strength indicator will get recorded in the buffer. To see DISPLAY-type menus use one of the normal AR-activating buttons (PAUSE, REW, etc.), then press DISPLAY for the normal menu(s) or RETURN to exit the menus.
At any time while watching live TV thru a Mag, you can go back and watch things you've tuned in the past 6 hours, if desired. To start your trip back in time, press ONE of these buttons:
PAUSE - pauses the live TV pic and continues background recording live TV. This is a good place for beginners to get "oriented" before starting backward moves for Playback or Save to HDD. Press PLAY to get out of the PAUSE mode, then any of the other Play-mode buttons to play the buffer or record it, as described below. PAUSE backs up ~1 sec from what you see on screen when pressing the button, but that's 30 frames so just be aware of that.
PREV (chapter) - immediately goes back thru the buffer in increments of 5-min. If you press multiple times quickly, you can go back FAST (watch the clock), but you won't be able to see the content. NEXT works same way forward.
REW - immediately begins rewinding the buffer.
REPLAY - immediately moves back the amount of time you set as your default replay move.
Once the AR menu is up/active, a play-mode symbol will appear in the lower-left corner to indicate you're in the buffer, and you can now use the PLAY/REW/PREV/REPLAY and PAUSE buttons and watch the buffer normally. Press STOP to leave playback in RESUME mode and go to Live TV (with "Live" replacing play-mode symbol). Press PLAY to Resume playback.
The AR menu is only a visual aide, it's NOT REQD for playing or saving the buffer (unless you need the time counters)... you can get rid of the menu at ANY TIME by pressing the RETURN button, and bring it back up with the DISPLAY button.
To go to the very beginning of the buffer at 0:00:00, you can press PREV (chapter) multiple times fast until arriving there, or use the Display menu to enter a specific time in the top time counter, as follows:
- Press PAUSE.
- If Display menu is not up, press DISPLAY button.
- Press OK on the auto-highlighted "?" icon under the top counters.
- Arrow right and change HH:MM:SS numbers to 0:00:00 with up/dn arrows or direct-entry (or set to any other time you want to go back to).
- Press OK.
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Save Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
- The drive you left the unit on when you shut down is the drive it'll start up on. You must be on the HDD drive to bring up the AR menu and verify buffer start.
- Don't press the DISPLAY button while on a digital channel since the 1st screen with the signal-strength indicator will get recorded in the buffer. To see DISPLAY-type menus use one of the normal AR-activating buttons (PAUSE, REW, etc.), then press DISPLAY for the normal menu(s) or RETURN to exit the menus.
- Once you save any portion of a buffer to the HDD, that entire buffer is wiped out and it starts fresh from that point on!
If you want to save one or more buffered shows to the Mag HDD as a normal title, here are the "normal" steps. Other steps for "Odd Situations and Procedures" follow this procedure.
- Make sure at least the start of the 1st show you want to save to HDD is in the buffer.
Using the STOP button gets a little "tricky" once you get to Step 4 and press REC, so this procedure is much simpler if ALL the titles you want to save are already in the buffer (i.e., have ended).
- Press PAUSE to bring up the AR menu.
Once you're in the buffer with the AR menu, you can get rid of the menu now, or at ANY TIME, by pressing the RETURN button, and bring it back up with the DISPLAY button. The AR menu is only a visual aide, it's NOT REQD for playing or saving the buffer (unless you need the time counters).
- Press PREV / REPLAY / REW / REPLAY or enter buffer time directly to move to the approx. starting point of the show... you can trim later.
You can move back FAST by pressing the PREV button multiple times quickly or by entering a specific time (even 0:00:00) in the time counter (press OK on 1st ? icon, enter digits directly or use arrow up.dn keys, press OK).
You can use the Play-mode buttons to get to a "perfect" start point, if desired, but getting the exact start point is not critical here since you'll have a chance to do a Front-Cut on the title once on the HDD... AND you WILL have to do an End-Cut anyway. Besides, you can't press REC in next step while on PAUSE.
DON'T PRESS STOP or you'll go to Live TV and lose your exact place in the buffer (the Resume point). Use PAUSE instead. If you do press STOP, you can get back into the buffer with the PREV/NEXT/REW/REPLAY button, but you'll get back in at some time fwd of where you left it (the diff. between the time you pressed STOP and the time the backwards move takes you to). Your only hope to get back to the exact spot is to remember the time you left the buffer and go there.
- In PLAY mode (not PAUSE), press REC to mark the approx. starting point of your show(s)... you can trim later.
You can't press REC while on PAUSE, so press PLAY, then press REC while playing... or try slo-mo with PAUSE > FF/REW or frame-advance with PAUSE > NEXT/PREV. After pressing REC, you can press STOP 1X ONLY without an intervening PLAY command, but don't press STOP 2X in a row yet. It's OK to alternate between STOP and PLAY as many times as you want.
Just remember that if you press STOP 2X in a row prematurely or accidentally, before all your show(s) are in the buffer, that will wipe the entire buffer, which is not recoverable.
- If all your show(s) have ended and are in the buffer, press STOP 2X in a row. The entire buffer, from your marked starting point to its current end, will be saved to the HDD... you don't need to find or mark an end point. If you pressed STOP once in Step 4 WITHOUT an intervening PLAY command, ONE press here will save the buffer.
Once pressed, you should see a short "Writing to disc" message and progress bar to confirm the Save. The buffer from your start point to the current point of live TV has now been saved to the HDD, ready for Front- and End-Cut in Edit.
If all your shows have not ended and you marked the start point with REC, be careful now with the STOP button...TWO presses in a row at any time will save only the portion already in the buffer, which may not be what you want, i.e., one or more shows still to come. If all your shows have not been buffered yet, you're stuck with chase play where you can alternate between PLAY and STOP w/o triggering the SAVE function... just don't press STOP 2X in a row.
- Do Front- and End-Cuts as needed on the new, saved HDD title(s).
Odd Situations and Procedures
- Entire Show Has Not Ended Yet
If the desired end-of-show has NOT been buffered yet, and you can't or don't want to watch live until end, you've got a problem. You must leave it on that channel to buffer the rest of the show, but you could go into the buffer as described above and mark the beginning of the show by pressing REC, but you'll still have to wait for the end of the show before pressing STOP 2X in a row. Your only option now is to Chase Play the show while it's in REC mode and buffers the remainder of the show. While chase playing, you canalternate between STOP and PLAY w/o triggering the SAVE function... just don't press STOP 2X in a row until you really want to SAVE the buffer from your REC point to its end.
- Switching from Chase Play to the Other Tuner
IF you've Paused Live TV and are watching a buffered show in Chase Play mode, and you know the show has ended, but you suddenly want to record or watch something else on the other tuner, which will wipe the buffer, Save the remainder of the show you're watching to HDD by pressing REC then STOP 2X. Watch for "Writing to disc" message to confirm the Save to HDD. You're done and can find the remainder as a HDD title so you can finish watching that show. If the show has NOT ended, no way to preserve the remainder of the entire show since that buffer will be deleted once you switch to the other tuner.
Remember: if you're just watching LIVE TV on a DIGITAL channel and you press the DISPLAY button once at any time, the DTV menu appears first and THAT gets recorded in the AutoRec buffer, so if that happens, press RETURN quickly to get rid of it. Only way to prevent that is to never press DISPLAY while watching a digital channel if there's any chance you'll want to save that part of the buffer to the HDD. The menu you see when pressing one of the AR-activating buttons does NOT start with the same recordable DTV menu.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
Dump the Buffer - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
IMPORTANT: If you want to retain an accumulated Mag buffer, DO NOT do any of the actions listed below!
AR will dump the buffer when:
- Machine is powered off.
- Recording or dubbing.
- Opening the Edit menu or editing titles.
- Opening the Disc Edit or HDD Menus.
- Deleting titles (DVD only).
- Switching between tuners (analog/digital).
- Switching Source to L1, L2 or L3. (Switching and remaining on Source L3 (DV) also stops background recording and is a working fix for the 2160A Finalize/Format/Erase bug... FW Update is the permanent fix, as described here.)
- Using the following menus:
- General Setting > Display > V-Chip > Downloadable Rating
- General Setting > Channel > Auto Channel Preset
- General Setting > Channel > Manual Channel Preset.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
Turn Buffering OFF - 2160/2160A/513/515/53x
There's no "switch" or menu option to turn the Mag's AR off completely. Those actions listed above will dump the buffer but then restart buffering. Only one setting can turn the Mag AR off while the machine remains in that set condition: switch Source to L3 (DV) input and leave it there.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
I have a digital tv and receive comcast. I was able to attach my tv directly to cable company rf output. I scanned the digital channels and a 120 subchannel gave me a picture of one of my extended basic channels. I just bought a mag 2160mw9a and it got one 120 subchannel but not the one that I wanted after the complete analog/digital scan. I then have tried stopping the scan by setup/return and pulling the cable. I went to the manual procedure and did the add. Nothing tuned when I did it. I then hit return and setup twice . I then scanned 120 digital with channel +/- All I got was a scrambled indication from 1 all the way up to 120.13 which showed a picture but this was beyond where the channel should be. I believe that this should be tunable even though it says scambled. I got the 120 after comcast had given me 2 free DTA's for tuning my extended channels. This is not optimum for me to do timer recordings. Any suggestions?
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Time for an "All-or-Nothing" (AON) Manual Channel Preset procedure, as described here.
Since you've done an Auto Channel Preset already, you can start with Step #2.
P.S. Your 2160 is 1st on the coax, right?
Since you've done an Auto Channel Preset already, you can start with Step #2.
P.S. Your 2160 is 1st on the coax, right?
Just as added info re all or nothing -- I had previously set my 2160A to receive all (did not clean up since I knew a channel switch was in the works). Yesterday, they did it and some but not all of the channels appeared, even with A o N . I rescanned a second 2160A machine and wrote down the new numbers (which, by the way, changed again by the time I got home from work - they seem to have eliminated the two digit addons such as 114-34 and reassigned to single numbers after hyphen (at least as far as I can tell). But... the new numbers appeared with re-scan. Then, checking on the machine that had a o n ALL channels enabled, I discovered that many of the newly assigned subchannels DID NOT show up even though all main channels were 'on'. I manually entered the sub channels, then they stuck. In one case I had to delete the main channel # for QAM (115) and start fresh to get the numbers I knew existed (from the other machine).
I thought that leaving a o n complete channel list set to active and not cleaned up would eliminate the need to reenter separate subchannels, but that didn't seem to work for me. It recognized the main numbers it previously knew to be good, even if scrambled, but didnt know about some of the other subchannels til I punched them in. For example, on 115 -4 it jumped up to 115-8 but I knew that there also now was a 115-6 and 115-7 in between. No luck with clicking through. The good news is, after entering them with the remote manually (not with add/delete channel in set up) , it recognized these new sub-channel numbers. Only found em cause I knew they existed from the other machine's rescan. So, after a total reallignment, if things seem to be missing, it might be worth just manually entering -1 -2 -3 - etc after the channels that have something 'scramble program' or not, and see if anything shows up. CC in my area is lumping a lot of subchannels together -- eight or ten in one place, then nothing for five channels, etc. You only would need to do it in a few places - ours, for example are clumped around 103, 104, 110, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 then a few random things above that and music in the high 120s (cant recall exactly). Also, our 'old' channels are still coming in 1 - 70 analog -- presumably they will go away, but they activated the digital first before unplugging analog. (encouraging policy!)
Every one is a little different, but that's what happened to me yesterday. Haven't looked today yet -- who knows if any are still left?
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I imagine if I had cleaned up and done another autoscan they would have been found, but then I'd lose the AON everything on setting, and since things are still in flux, decided that prbably wasn't wise.
I thought that leaving a o n complete channel list set to active and not cleaned up would eliminate the need to reenter separate subchannels, but that didn't seem to work for me. It recognized the main numbers it previously knew to be good, even if scrambled, but didnt know about some of the other subchannels til I punched them in. For example, on 115 -4 it jumped up to 115-8 but I knew that there also now was a 115-6 and 115-7 in between. No luck with clicking through. The good news is, after entering them with the remote manually (not with add/delete channel in set up) , it recognized these new sub-channel numbers. Only found em cause I knew they existed from the other machine's rescan. So, after a total reallignment, if things seem to be missing, it might be worth just manually entering -1 -2 -3 - etc after the channels that have something 'scramble program' or not, and see if anything shows up. CC in my area is lumping a lot of subchannels together -- eight or ten in one place, then nothing for five channels, etc. You only would need to do it in a few places - ours, for example are clumped around 103, 104, 110, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 then a few random things above that and music in the high 120s (cant recall exactly). Also, our 'old' channels are still coming in 1 - 70 analog -- presumably they will go away, but they activated the digital first before unplugging analog. (encouraging policy!)
Every one is a little different, but that's what happened to me yesterday. Haven't looked today yet -- who knows if any are still left?
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14,210 Posts
I'm so glad you left one machine with all-open channels cuz I now realize that an Auto-scan is REQUIRED to get new SUBchannels in the CH+/- memory so you can surf them normally.
I think the AON *might* still be worthwhile tho as a way to "teach" the tuner to "acknowledge" a signal in primary channel GROUPS, like an Auto-scan does, and the procedure's follow-up Auto-scan sets only the tunables in CH+/- memory?
I know these tuners get "smarter" the more you Auto-scan.
It's just the "leaving the channels all open" part that doesn't work, by itself, to get a surfable tuner for all subchannels with CH+/-?
I'm so glad you left one machine with all-open channels cuz I now realize that an Auto-scan is REQUIRED to get new SUBchannels in the CH+/- memory so you can surf them normally.
I think the AON *might* still be worthwhile tho as a way to "teach" the tuner to "acknowledge" a signal in primary channel GROUPS, like an Auto-scan does, and the procedure's follow-up Auto-scan sets only the tunables in CH+/- memory?
I know these tuners get "smarter" the more you Auto-scan.
It's just the "leaving the channels all open" part that doesn't work, by itself, to get a surfable tuner for all subchannels with CH+/-?
It would be cool if we could follow up with an autoscan for all channels and NOT lose the ones that are not (yet) activated. Like we said on the wishlist -- select ALL.
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I was hesitating to autoscan after A O N , cause I didnt want to have to do the entire sequence again. Dont think I'll bother just yet since I am manually adding the subchannel numbers I know to exist. It did pick up some (but not all) of the new subchannels, and I'm not certain if that's because previously there was something else in that slot.
It would be cool if we could follow up with an autoscan for all channels and NOT lose the ones that are not (yet) activated. Like we said on the wishlist -- select ALL.
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14,210 Posts
I learned on my refurb 3575 that I needed multiple Auot-scans to get all my digitals back after wiping them from CH+/- memory. I started with just ONE of my 13 digitals, did a 2nd auto-scan and got a few more, then the 3rd auto-scan got them all back.
So, I encourage people to try more than one auto-scan, esp. when they KNOW not all their "normal" digitals are not there.
I think it's good to remember also that an auto-scan just places good digitals in CH+/- memory... all available channels can *always* be tuned directly or in a timer program, they might not be surfable however.
The guy I'm helping via PM has only a few channels in CH+/- memory but he's timer recording just fine.
When you decide to do an auto-scan to clean up, you might find a similar situation?
Quote:
Originally Posted by artwire /forum/post/17693782
It would be cool if we could follow up with an autoscan for all channels and NOT lose the ones that are not (yet) activated. Like we said on the wishlist -- select ALL.I was hesitating to autoscan after A O N , cause I didnt want to have to do the entire sequence again. Dont think I'll bother just yet since I am manually adding the subchannel numbers I know to exist. It did pick up some (but not all) of the new subchannels, and I'm not certain if that's because previously there was something else in that slot.![]()
I learned on my refurb 3575 that I needed multiple Auot-scans to get all my digitals back after wiping them from CH+/- memory. I started with just ONE of my 13 digitals, did a 2nd auto-scan and got a few more, then the 3rd auto-scan got them all back.
So, I encourage people to try more than one auto-scan, esp. when they KNOW not all their "normal" digitals are not there.
I think it's good to remember also that an auto-scan just places good digitals in CH+/- memory... all available channels can *always* be tuned directly or in a timer program, they might not be surfable however.
The guy I'm helping via PM has only a few channels in CH+/- memory but he's timer recording just fine.
When you decide to do an auto-scan to clean up, you might find a similar situation?
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How does this all work if my cable box doesn't have an RF Out, it only has a Cable in, but I did like you said and the Coax cable is first to the 2160 box, then to the cable box.
I can record if I leave it on something like f1 and then record what is on the tv, I'm just not sure if I'm using it correctly or not. I just want to get all the recorded shows off of my DVR and then get rid of that box. The cable box is an HD DVR but it doesn't have an HDMI connection, it used 6 wires, 4 video and 2 audio which are plugged into my TV which has that type of connection for HD.
I can record if I leave it on something like f1 and then record what is on the tv, I'm just not sure if I'm using it correctly or not. I just want to get all the recorded shows off of my DVR and then get rid of that box. The cable box is an HD DVR but it doesn't have an HDMI connection, it used 6 wires, 4 video and 2 audio which are plugged into my TV which has that type of connection for HD.
you don't need RF out from your cable, but you do need video /audio out to plug into your recorder. What type of OUT options do you have from cable box? Does it have VIDEO out (two audio and one video and possibly an Svideo) , or component 5 cable output)? It has to have SOME type of out option -- just look around. Antenna IN to the 2160 and passthrough to Antenna IN to the cable box should be enough. Then video/audio back IN to the 2160 from the cable box. Then output from 2160 to the TV.
you don't need RF out from your cable, but you do need video /audio out to plug into your recorder. What type of OUT options do you have from cable box? Does it have VIDEO out (two audio and one video and possibly an Svideo) , or component 5 cable output)? It has to have SOME type of out option -- just look around. Antenna IN to the 2160 and passthrough to Antenna IN to the cable box should be enough. Then video/audio back IN to the 2160 from the cable box. Then output from 2160 to the TV.
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14,210 Posts
If you've got the coax 1st to the 2160 then on to the box, that part is correct (if you don't order PPV or VOD thru the coax... if you do, you need to split the incoming cable with one output to the 2160 and one to the box cuz the 2160 will block the return path for ordering PPV/VOD).
Next, you need separate OUTPUT connections from the box to your TV and from the 2160 to your TV. Since the box doesn't have coax out, use one of the outputs it DOES have... composite YWR, S-Video+ L/R Audio, Component RGB+L/R Audio, or HDMI (whatever connections your TV has).
Then do the same for the 2160 OUTPUT > TV connection.
To see the 2160 stuff and the box stuff separately, just set your TV to the input each box is connected to.
Finally, you need another connection from one of the outputs on the box to an input on the 2160 to record stuff only the box can tune (scrambled channels). If you use S-Video connected to the normal back S-Video connector, change the 2160's Video > Video Input for L1(Rear)) to "S-Video"... if you use Composite YWR for this connection, the 2160's default setting is "Video In" so it's ready to receive the composite signal (unless you've changed that Video Input setting. To record from the box, set the Source on the 2160 to L1 using the Source button on the remote.
If you've got the coax 1st to the 2160 then on to the box, that part is correct (if you don't order PPV or VOD thru the coax... if you do, you need to split the incoming cable with one output to the 2160 and one to the box cuz the 2160 will block the return path for ordering PPV/VOD).
Next, you need separate OUTPUT connections from the box to your TV and from the 2160 to your TV. Since the box doesn't have coax out, use one of the outputs it DOES have... composite YWR, S-Video+ L/R Audio, Component RGB+L/R Audio, or HDMI (whatever connections your TV has).
Then do the same for the 2160 OUTPUT > TV connection.
To see the 2160 stuff and the box stuff separately, just set your TV to the input each box is connected to.
Finally, you need another connection from one of the outputs on the box to an input on the 2160 to record stuff only the box can tune (scrambled channels). If you use S-Video connected to the normal back S-Video connector, change the 2160's Video > Video Input for L1(Rear)) to "S-Video"... if you use Composite YWR for this connection, the 2160's default setting is "Video In" so it's ready to receive the composite signal (unless you've changed that Video Input setting. To record from the box, set the Source on the 2160 to L1 using the Source button on the remote.
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Thanks artwire & wajo, I will try this out tonight when I am home. I was actually surprised I got anything to work last night as it was late when I tried to hook it up.
Only thing I did notice is that my OnDemand doesn't work anymore, is that what you mean when you say VOD? I don't order PPV.
My TV (32inch Sony CRT HD) does have an HDMI slot but not sure how that would work with the 2160. I was usiing that slot for my Sony DVD player but disconnected it to fit this player in my setup so that connection is currently not being used.
Thanks again for all your help (and patience).
Only thing I did notice is that my OnDemand doesn't work anymore, is that what you mean when you say VOD? I don't order PPV.
My TV (32inch Sony CRT HD) does have an HDMI slot but not sure how that would work with the 2160. I was usiing that slot for my Sony DVD player but disconnected it to fit this player in my setup so that connection is currently not being used.
Thanks again for all your help (and patience).
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14,210 Posts
You'll need a bidirectional 2-way digital splitter on the incoming coax with one output to box and one to 2160 for ANY service you have to "order" like PPV/On Demand (VOD), etc.
For the splitter, look for at least 5-1000MHz bandwidth, 5-42MHz return path, and each output marked -3.7dB loss.
You can connect the 2160 to the TV with any of the four types mentioned or all 4 of them at once and test each one for what you like.
One thing with the 2160 is that, if you set Progressive Scan (PS) ON in the Video menu, there won't be any output from the AV/Composite or S-Video connections. PS is only for Component RGB connection anyway since the AV/Composite adn S-Video cables can't handle a Progressive signal. You CAN, however, still use Component RGB with PS OFF and prob. not see much if any diff, depending on lots of factors.
If you use HDMI, press the HDMI button to activate that connection for 1st use, then you can continue to press that button to cycle thru the four HDMI formats (480p, 720p, etc.) and any formats your TV can't handle will not "take" (be ignored).
You'll need a bidirectional 2-way digital splitter on the incoming coax with one output to box and one to 2160 for ANY service you have to "order" like PPV/On Demand (VOD), etc.
For the splitter, look for at least 5-1000MHz bandwidth, 5-42MHz return path, and each output marked -3.7dB loss.
You can connect the 2160 to the TV with any of the four types mentioned or all 4 of them at once and test each one for what you like.
One thing with the 2160 is that, if you set Progressive Scan (PS) ON in the Video menu, there won't be any output from the AV/Composite or S-Video connections. PS is only for Component RGB connection anyway since the AV/Composite adn S-Video cables can't handle a Progressive signal. You CAN, however, still use Component RGB with PS OFF and prob. not see much if any diff, depending on lots of factors.
If you use HDMI, press the HDMI button to activate that connection for 1st use, then you can continue to press that button to cycle thru the four HDMI formats (480p, 720p, etc.) and any formats your TV can't handle will not "take" (be ignored).
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69 Posts
You just lost me...what is this splitter you are talking about and where can I get one. I hope they aren't too expensive as I already need to grab a few sets of component wires. I didn't know exactly how expensive this was going to be.
As far as the HDMI wires, can I run those from video out on my cable box right to the TV like I was doing before? Will this allow to set the player on PS?
Thanks again for your help.
You just lost me...what is this splitter you are talking about and where can I get one. I hope they aren't too expensive as I already need to grab a few sets of component wires. I didn't know exactly how expensive this was going to be.
As far as the HDMI wires, can I run those from video out on my cable box right to the TV like I was doing before? Will this allow to set the player on PS?
Thanks again for your help.
Joined
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14,210 Posts
Radio Shack or Walmart, maybe $6 or so for a good one. Make sure the output ports are marked with "-3.7dB" and something says "Bidirectional."
Not sure what you mean. You can run any cables the cable box allows from it to the TV. That only allows you to see stuff from the box and has nothing to do with a "player" or the 2160. Consider that System 1... box to TV.
For System 2, 2160 to TV, you can also run any of the four connection types on the back of the 2160 to the TV, depending on availability of those connections on the TV.
Setting the 2160 (not sure if that's what you mean by "player") with PS ON will be ONLY if you use Component RGB cable (three cables with RCA end connections and Red/Green/Blue colors on those fittings). And PS not really required to use Component cable... it sometimes produces a better picture than leaving PS OFF. Just be aware that if you DO turn PS ON, nothing will be output from the Composite or S-Video connections of the 2160.
If you use Composite Yellow/White/Red (YWR) or S-Video +L/R Audio, just make sure the 2160 is still on its default PS setting of "Video In"... NOT "S-Video In."
System 3 is the connection between the box and 2160, as I described above. That connection isn't needed if you don't want to record scrambled channels on the 2160, but most people do. The box will unscramble the picture and send it thru the output you connected to the 2160 and the 2160 will record that picture if you set the 2160 to Source L1 (assuming you use the back connectors).
The Audio L/R OUT connection on the back of the 2160 supplies Audio for all the other Video cables/connections except HDMI. There's a way to turn HDMI audio off and use the Audio L/R cables but enough info for now.
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Radio Shack or Walmart, maybe $6 or so for a good one. Make sure the output ports are marked with "-3.7dB" and something says "Bidirectional."
Not sure what you mean. You can run any cables the cable box allows from it to the TV. That only allows you to see stuff from the box and has nothing to do with a "player" or the 2160. Consider that System 1... box to TV.
For System 2, 2160 to TV, you can also run any of the four connection types on the back of the 2160 to the TV, depending on availability of those connections on the TV.
Setting the 2160 (not sure if that's what you mean by "player") with PS ON will be ONLY if you use Component RGB cable (three cables with RCA end connections and Red/Green/Blue colors on those fittings). And PS not really required to use Component cable... it sometimes produces a better picture than leaving PS OFF. Just be aware that if you DO turn PS ON, nothing will be output from the Composite or S-Video connections of the 2160.
If you use Composite Yellow/White/Red (YWR) or S-Video +L/R Audio, just make sure the 2160 is still on its default PS setting of "Video In"... NOT "S-Video In."
System 3 is the connection between the box and 2160, as I described above. That connection isn't needed if you don't want to record scrambled channels on the 2160, but most people do. The box will unscramble the picture and send it thru the output you connected to the 2160 and the 2160 will record that picture if you set the 2160 to Source L1 (assuming you use the back connectors).
The Audio L/R OUT connection on the back of the 2160 supplies Audio for all the other Video cables/connections except HDMI. There's a way to turn HDMI audio off and use the Audio L/R cables but enough info for now.
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