Wannabe question 2: OTA stereo

[harsh]

Do any of the DishPVR units record from the OTA antenna input in stereo? I know they don't pass them through in stereo (I believe the competition does).

I have two motivations:

1. I already get flawless analog reception of all of the locals (including the WB affilliate that Dish doesn't carry)
2. I don't think I should have to pay (or create some hopelessly complicated cabling setup) to get stereo.

[TNGTony]

Neither Dish nor DirecTV DVRs record OTA channels. Neither the DirecTiVo nor the DishPVR units have an encoder to take the OTA signal and digitize it. Stand-alone TiVo units which work with both Dish and DirecTV do.

As to stereo pass-through...Dish does have a stereo pass-through on OTA channels. What it DOESN'T have (neither do DirecTV recievers) is stereo OTA RF outputs. The difference is if the receiver is turned OFF or the TV/Sat button is set to TV, the receiver just passes through the OTA or Cable stereo signal. If the receiver is turned on or the TV/Sat swith is in the Sat setting, then the RF modulator on the satellite receiver is activated (channel 3 or 4). The RF Modulators on Dish or Direct receivers do not have stereo capability (yet). If you want to get stereo, your "hopelessly complicated set-up" consists of one wire with three jacks on each side colored red, white and yellow. This also provides a MUCH better picture than RF. S-Video (a second cable with one connector on either side) would be even better.

See ya
Tony

[scooper]

Well said, Tony.

[Neil Derryberry]

Actually, if you want to pass through an outside source and you can live with composite video, the front panel jacks of the 721 pass through in stereo, the composite video signal is output on the 721's svideo jack, and the stereo input sound is output as pcm on the 721's digital audio connector.

This is a really cool feature! You can easily pass through a vcr using those jacks. My only lament is that the front panel video in isn't svideo. Oh well.

[Scott Greczkowski]

And while none of the Dish PVR's can record Off the Air signals, I should note that the upcoming 522 receiver will output audio in MTS stereo to your television. :)

This is the first satellite receiver that I know that will have this feature.

[ChrisPC]

I saw an RF modulator in Radio Shack the other day that says it has MTS stereo too. I guess it was true, since it cost more than a mono one.

[harsh]

I saw an RF modulator in Radio Shack the other day that says it has MTS stereo too. I guess it was true, since it cost more than a mono one.

I saw a stereo RF modulator at a local electronics supplier (not Radio Shack) for $29.95. Really cool was that it offered both RCA and S video inputs.

[harsh]

Neither Dish nor DirecTV DVRs record OTA channels. Neither the DirecTiVo nor the DishPVR units have an encoder to take the OTA signal and digitize it.

Ouch! This isn't what I had envisioned at all. After your explanation, the ad copy turns out to be carefully worded. For me, the OTA content may be as much as half what I'm interested in recording. This is also where the commercial skip features would be the most helpful. Looks like I'm barking up the wrong tree with inboard PVR.

Stand-alone TiVo units which work with both Dish and DirecTV do.

With the attendant compromises in quality and disk space usage.

As to stereo pass-through...Dish does have a stereo pass-through on OTA channels. What it DOESN'T have (neither do DirecTV recievers) is stereo OTA RF outputs.

I'm glad to hear that this is beginning to change with the 522. I can see the motivation with the 522 as the second television is uniquely connected to the RF output.

If you want to get stereo, your "hopelessly complicated set-up" consists of one wire with three jacks on each side colored red, white and yellow. This also provides a MUCH better picture than RF. S-Video (a second cable with one connector on either side) would be even better.

It is considerably more complicated than a baseband connection to the television if you intend to record the OTA stuff in stereo (RF direct to recorder tuner). There will be lots of programming discipline for the VCR (or full featured DVR) using baseband in (for the DBS) and RF (so you can watch satellite while recording stereo OTA) and switching sources on the TV between RF (for OTA stereo while recording satellite) VCR baseband and DBS baseband.

Then there's the issue with the Dish receivers only having one S video output which adds a requirement for either a DA or an A/B switch as the recorder won't pass satellite while it is recording OTA. I guess with a fancy home theater receiver, you could use its video functionality to handle this but you would have to remember to leave it on the DBS function and powered up for unattended recording of satellite programming.

My position now is that there isn't much to attract me to IRD-based PVR. I'll probably have to pursue the Replay TV solution or stick with the VCR.

I appreciate the help.

[dishrich]

And while none of the Dish PVR's can record Off the Air signals, I should note that the upcoming 522 receiver will output audio in MTS stereo to your television. :)

This is the first satellite receiver that I know that will have this feature.

Acutally, there were a couple of C-band satellite receivers that had this, HTS & Chaparral - I still have a Chaparral Monterey 95 that does. ;) ;) ;)