Recording Finishing before tap is done

[Ron Barry]

I am a recent 508 owner and I have noticed that on some programs the recording is finishing before the program is done. It seems to start on time, but will cut off before it is done. This happens on some of the locals and those always have commercials between programs so I would not expect a program being cut off. Since I am not around during the tape I not sure if this is because of the network or a timing issue with the PVR. Some programs I have actually had taping 5 minutes over and still get cut off. It does not seem to do it with all recordings and it is not station dependent.

Is this normal or is this a bug? Maybe the 1.95 version will fix it.


Cheers!

[Big Bob]

don't know if this is your case, but I do know that this happens in some markets:

Some stations will delay certain popular programs beyond their scheduled ending times. This does two things.
1, it gives them more commercials to sell in a popular show
2, it prevents views from changing channels and starting a different show from the beginning. For example, ER on NBC can be delayed just before the start of the local late newscast. The viewers are forced to watch NBC until 11:05 or so, so they miss the top news stories on the other stations and are forced to watch the NBC late news for the top story of the day.


It does happen. I have seen it.

[mjschuyler]

This is a common problem. I just tried to record the Sopranos on HBO on my JVC DVHS/5000. The recording stopped about two minutes early! I reset the tape and set up a manual recording for the HBOW2 1:00am time. I extended the ending by five minutes.

When you set a recording up, the 501 it gives you the option of starting one minute early and ending three minutes late . Usually this will get the whole program. It is easy to change either time. For example you think a game may go to overtime just put in extra time.

[BobaBird]

The 501 does not have a setup option for ending late but as you say it is easy to manually change the start and/or stop time by editing the timer (http://echostar.swiki.net/291#Timers).

[jacksg35c]

i have a 508 and here in NM i occasionally get a recording which is cut off a few minutes before the end. is there any way we can prevent this? i don't want to manually extend every program to do this. i don't think the program goes over the normal time but i am not sure of this either. it has happened on non-local programs.

[TomCat]

It sounds as if these problems are not the fault of the 501 stopping early. That is something that I've never seen reported. Almost always it is a discrepancy between what the guide says will be the start and stop time for a program (which is what the PVR keys on) and the actual running time, which in such cases is usually different. If a regular program is consistently getting cut off at the end, I usually pad it by a minute or two.

For instance, FOX is notorious for running a minute or two late. A show such as "That 70's Show" usually has its final segment up to and throughout the end credits which abut the next show directly (known in the industry as a "seamless transition"), and without padding, you won't always get all of it.

As stated earlier, the 50X can do this but it involves editing the timer. The 721 makes this a lot easier by presenting the padding options in its timer screen.

[MediaMills]

don't know if this is your case, but I do know that this happens in some markets:

Some stations will delay certain popular programs beyond their scheduled ending times. This does two things.
1, it gives them more commercials to sell in a popular show
2, it prevents views from changing channels and starting a different show from the beginning. For example, ER on NBC can be delayed just before the start of the local late newscast. The viewers are forced to watch NBC until 11:05 or so, so they miss the top news stories on the other stations and are forced to watch the NBC late news for the top story of the day.

Friends is particulary bad about this. It's supposed to be on from 7:00 to 7:30 (central) but they fill the show with extra commercials and the show sometimes doesn't end until 7:33 or later. Pisses me off because the guide can't make up for this kind of scheduling.
Oh, and by the way, NBC can take their "Super Sized" episodes and shove them where the transmitter don't reach! :)