Latest HD DVR

[1953]

Due to serious cognitive health issues I have been away from DBSTALK for quite some time. I have a couple of simple questions that I hope someone can answer.

1. My HD DVR is an HR20-700 which I'm confident has the latest DTV automatic software upgrade. Is there a newer/better model that has more disc capacity or some other DTV auxiliary storage drive?

2. Having been with DTV for over 14 years and one of the first HD customers in our area I have the excellent standalone DTV Off-Air HD Antenna which was of course installed by DTV. Over the past few months we have noticed that when moving to the HD antenna feed for our Dallas HD stations we sometimes encounter the 'Searching For Satellite' message or bouts of pixelization. This is especially true when tuning to Dallas' PBS affiliate. In fact, while the PBS station, both on and off the sat feed, is received in HD yet the station's audio is not in Dolby Digital. Should I have DTV Tech's out to evaluate my off-air antenna?

Note: I use very high quality HDMI cables from my DVR to Denon AVR and from the AVR to Sony HDTV.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Louis (1953)

[rudeney]

Due to serious cognitive health issues I have been away from DBSTALK for quite some time.

Luis, I hope things are going better for you health-wise!

1. My HD DVR is an HR20-700 which I'm confident has the latest DTV automatic software upgrade. Is there a newer/better model that has more disc capacity or some other DTV auxiliary storage drive?

The HR22 and HR23 have larger drives (500GB, vs. 300GB for your HR20), which actually provide about twice the recording capacity. However, some people report that those newer units have slower response time for guide displays, etc. Having four HR20-700's humming along just fine, I can't see any reason to "upgrade". Especially since D* really doesn't offer any upgrade path. You can pay another $199 up-front lease fee to get an HR22/3, but they won;t give you any credit for returning the HR20. If you need more capacity,m the eSATA port is enabled. It's officially still in "beta test", but it seems to work very well. And the HR20-700 seems to be compatible with more eSATA drives than the other units.

2. Having been with DTV for over 14 years and one of the first HD customers in our area I have the excellent standalone DTV Off-Air HD Antenna which was of course installed by DTV. Over the past few months we have noticed that when moving to the HD antenna feed for our Dallas HD stations we sometimes encounter the 'Searching For Satellite' message or bouts of pixelization. This is especially true when tuning to Dallas' PBS affiliate. In fact, while the PBS station, both on and off the sat feed, is received in HD yet the station's audio is not in Dolby Digital. Should I have DTV Tech's out to evaluate my off-air antenna?

It's likely that the local station has changed from VHS to UHF (or vice-versa) and that is causing some issues with the antenna as most are better at receiving one band than the other. Except for replacing the antenna, there's probably not much to do there. With regards to the DD issue, that sounds like a local station problem.

[sptrout]

Based on information from a friend that lives in the Dallas area, you will need a VHF & UHF antenna to receive all OTA channels. Dallas, like most big cities, has a mix of VHF and UHF stations.

[Rich]

1. My HD DVR is an HR20-700 which I'm confident has the latest DTV automatic software upgrade. Is there a newer/better model that has more disc capacity or some other DTV auxiliary storage drive?

That's the best DVR that D* has released. If you want larger capacity, put an eSATA on it.

Rich

[Capmeister]

I have two HR20-700s and one HR21-200. The HR21 has a 1TB eSata drive on it. It performs excellently. I honestly believe that the HR2x series rivals TiVo's HD DVRs in their abilities and stability.

[dettxw]

According to Wikipedia Dallas' PBS station KERA broadcasts on UHF 14, but at relatively low power (475 kW). They used to be on VHF 13.

What kind of antenna do you have, and how far from the transmitter in Cedar Hill (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.57875,-96.953611&spn=0.002,0.002&t=h&q=32.57875,-96.953611)?

[1953]

According to Wikipedia Dallas' PBS station KERA broadcasts on UHF 14, but at relatively low power (475 kW). They used to be on VHF 13.

What kind of antenna do you have, and how far from the transmitter in Cedar Hill (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.57875,-96.953611&spn=0.002,0.002&t=h&q=32.57875,-96.953611)?

We are only about 5 miles away from the towers in Cedar Hill.