Using deactivated HD-Tivo to record over the air HD? [Archive]

musiclover408

01-27-08, 01:25 PM

bt-rtp

01-27-08, 02:02 PM

I threw my old HD TiVo HR10-250 in the garbage yesterday.

I just turned off my HD Tivos and hooked up the new HD DVRs. My question is, how do you set them up to be able to record over the air HD only? When I go to the system set up menu and choose Over the Air antenna only as my choice...it does not find any HD channels which it did before.

I'd love anyone's help with this!!

Thanks so much!

Sirshagg

01-27-08, 02:04 PM

I threw my old HD TiVo HR10-250 in the garbage yesterday.

:eek2::eek2::eek2: WOW! Do you use hundered dollar bills as toilet paper too?

danielb6752

01-27-08, 03:19 PM

:eek2::eek2::eek2: WOW! Do you use hundered dollar bills as toilet paper too?

yeah dig that out and toss it on ebay before the trash man comes on Monday!

Knon2000

01-27-08, 03:46 PM

I just turned off my HD Tivos and hooked up the new HD DVRs. My question is, how do you set them up to be able to record over the air HD only? When I go to the system set up menu and choose Over the Air antenna only as my choice...it does not find any HD channels which it did before.

I'd love anyone's help with this!!

Thanks so much!

Sorry, you can't record anything without a subscription. You can view the channels, but that is it. If you want to record anything, you can call DTV, and add it back to your account as a mirror. For $5 it is well worth it, at least in my mind.

musiclover408

01-27-08, 07:19 PM

Before I actually deactivated the unit, but after I had already removed the satellite coax cables, the unit was saying that "My DVR service is not activated" so it would not show me my season passes, etc. So, my question is will D* activate the unit and my DVR service on it without having it actually hooked up with satellite feeds? Also, when I tried to re-run the set up...it doesn't tune in ANY OTA HD channels. So at the moment, it won't even let me see the channels. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks again for the help!

litzdog911

01-27-08, 07:44 PM

DirecTV will probably reactivate it just fine. They don't really know if it's connected to your dish or not. But nothing on the HR10-250 will change until it's connected to your dish and recognizes that it has been reactivated. Then you should be able to perform Guided Setup again and re-initialize your OTA HD reception too.

musiclover408

01-30-08, 04:53 PM

Michael D'Angelo

01-30-08, 04:59 PM

If I'm going to re-activate the HD Tivo and pay the fee, I'd like to be able to use it to record D* channels as well. The problem is my current multi-switch only has 8 outputs and I would need 2 more to hook up the HD Tivo. Is there a larger switch than 8? If so, can someone give me a model # or link so I can find how much it would cost.

Thanks much!

Yes there is a Zinwell WB616. That has 16 outputs.

You could also get a 2nd 8 output multi-switch and run them in a parallel setup with 4 splitters (dual power passing 5mhz to 2300mhz).

musiclover408

01-31-08, 01:22 PM

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if DirecTV will come out and swap out my multiswitch for free since it will involve them getting more money out of me per month by adding more recivers?

Michael D'Angelo

01-31-08, 01:24 PM

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if DirecTV will come out and swap out my multiswitch for free since it will involve them getting more money out of me per month by adding more recivers?

DirecTV does not supply the Zinwell WB616 that I know of. I believe the only way to get one is buying it from a online retailer. If you need more outputs I believe DirecTV normally uses splitters and will add a 2nd WB68.

musiclover408

01-31-08, 01:30 PM

Is there any beneficial reason to go with the larger switch, or just having them add a 2nd WB68? I don't want to pay $130 for something I don't have to or don't really need.

Thanks

Michael D'Angelo

01-31-08, 01:32 PM

Is there any beneficial reason to go with the larger switch, or just having them add a 2nd WB68? I don't want to pay $130 for something I don't have to or don't really need.

Thanks

It is powered which is nice but you really don't need it. I used 2 WB68's with splitters and never had a problem.

Ricka

01-31-08, 06:31 PM

You could always drop one feed from a tivo/dvr(use one tuner) and use that feed for the hd tivo(one tuner)

musiclover408

01-31-08, 09:47 PM

You could always drop one feed from a tivo/dvr(use one tuner) and use that feed for the hd tivo(one tuner)

Doesn't that cause problems with the tuner, constantly "looking" for signal on the input that is missing. I have had that problem come up before. And there's no way (that I know of) to clear that message from the screen, or to stop it from coming up in the first place.

Ricka

01-31-08, 10:19 PM

Go through the satellite guided set up and select one coax. It won't use the second tuner.

musiclover408

01-31-08, 10:21 PM

Go through the satellite guided set up and select one coax. It won't use the second tuner.

But will it let me use the 2nd tuner to record OTA HD? I mean, can I record 2 OTA HD channels at the same time with only 1 sat coax set up. Will the machine recognize both tuners for OTA.

That's the most important thing...

tonyd79

02-01-08, 06:55 PM

But will it let me use the 2nd tuner to record OTA HD? I mean, can I record 2 OTA HD channels at the same time with only 1 sat coax set up. Will the machine recognize both tuners for OTA.

That's the most important thing...

No, it won't. And unless they have updated the software, there is a bug where it tries to use the second tuner on timed recordings for satellite and puts the HR10 into a situation where it thinks it has two lines hooked up for some functions and doesn't for others.

You could put in one line, tell it that it is two tuners, let the satellite setup timeout then restrict yourself to using it for OTA and get two tuners that way. That is what I did for a while with my HR10 until I had to shut it down for space in my rack reasons.

musiclover408

02-01-08, 06:59 PM

No, it won't. And unless they have updated the software, there is a bug where it tries to use the second tuner on timed recordings for satellite and puts the HR10 into a situation where it thinks it has two lines hooked up for some functions and doesn't for others.

You could put in one line, tell it that it is two tuners, let the satellite setup timeout then restrict yourself to using it for OTA and get two tuners that way. That is what I did for a while with my HR10 until I had to shut it down for space in my rack reasons.

But if I do that, won't I get that annoying "Searching for satellite signal on input 2" all the time??

alwayscool

02-02-08, 10:47 PM

DirecTV does not supply the Zinwell WB616 that I know of. I believe the only way to get one is buying it from a online retailer. If you need more outputs I believe DirecTV normally uses splitters and will add a 2nd WB68.

D* provided BOTH a WB68 and a WB616 when i got my HR20-700 because i wired my house for 16 tv's or 8 dvr's.

jgriffin7

02-08-08, 08:49 AM

Sorry, you can't record anything without a subscription. You can view the channels, but that is it. If you want to record anything, you can call DTV, and add it back to your account as a mirror. For $5 it is well worth it, at least in my mind.

Not that I condone this (or really care one way or the other), but I believe there are some threads out there addressing this. I believe, before you deactive an HR10-250, you can disconnect it from the satellite, call for the deactivation, and it will retain some time of record functionality. Not sure of the exact sequence, or if I've just slept too much since I read about this, but I'm sure someone out there can correct me.

KSbugeater

02-08-08, 10:03 AM

It will work for a while (a week, maybe two) then it will pine for contact from the mothership and stop recording. You can then use it as a dual-tuner OTA receiver with 2 30-sec buffers... I can't remember if you can view recorded programs.

Back to the 2-tuners, 1-coax situation... if you just want the HR10 to record OTA, then remove all the SAT channels from Channels I Receive... TiVo won't try to record from those. OR, if you do want to record from SAT, make sure you manually tune the SAT-enabled tuner to the SAT channel you're going to record before the timer fires. Obviously, this won't work too well if you're trying to record several shows on different SAT channels while you're not available to babysit the unit, but it sounds like you have plenty of SAT tuner capacity (8 hooked up now) elsewhere in the house that you could work around this. Also, turn off Suggestions, as those will change the channel when you don't want it to (forcing your timers onto the non-SAT-enabled tuner).

musiclover408

02-12-08, 01:12 AM

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess if I am going to pay the additional receiver fee to just get OTA, I would want the sat channels too with the dual tuner. My problem is I called tonight to tell D* that I would hook up the additional 2 receivers if they gave me a multiswitch to do so and they said flat out no. Any suggestions??

Mike728

02-12-08, 07:37 AM

My problem is I called tonight to tell D* that I would hook up the additional 2 receivers if they gave me a multiswitch to do so and they said flat out no. Any suggestions??

Ebay

musiclover408

02-12-08, 11:11 AM

Ebay

I was asking the people that got the switch for free. I am not wanting to pay for it since they are going to get another 2 receiver fees out of me per month! I know I can buy the switch but would rather not since I think it's something they should provide.

litzdog911

02-12-08, 11:52 AM

I was asking the people that got the switch for free. I am not wanting to pay for it since they are going to get another 2 receiver fees out of me per month! I know I can buy the switch but would rather not since I think it's something they should provide.

You probably won't get the multiswitch for "free" unless you buy/lease the equipment from DirecTV and have their installers connect them for you. It would be cheaper to just buy the multiswitch yourself (http://www.solidsignal.com).