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DVR's on a cable that brings satelitte signal to my room

2K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  legrec 
#1 ·
I work in a big minning facility in Canada and we have a coax cable in each room with a satelitte signal without a set top box (about 50 channels). We have a sheet with all the channel numbers to help find the right chanel on the TV we provide ourself when we are on site (we don't get the same room every time). I was looking for a DVR without subscription to hook on the coax and then to the TV that would work. can someone tell me if it would work and what type of chanel guide I would get doing this.
 
#4 ·
legrec said:
Not sure. Bell express vu or Shaw
You would need to get one of their receivers then (whichever is appropriate) ... and subscribe since both are subscription services. That is assuming a satellite signal reaches your room.

It sounds like the facility is using the Bell/Shaw feeds to create their own cable system. In that case you would need a non-satellite DVR ... something along the lines of a Tivo unit ... that is designed for cable.
 
#7 ·
I am not sure how they are setup. They probably have a room with 40-50 set top box each on a specific channel and they send the signal via coax cables to all the room. We just have to connect our TV and select the channel that we want based on the list of channels provided on a card in the room. All I want to know is if I buy a non subscription DVR that is used for a OTA antenna, will it work? or do I need a satelite enable DVR of sorts. I found some DVR's that also convert analog signal to HD like this example. Not sure if it would work. https://www.amazon.ca/Mediasonic-HW-150PVR-HomeWorx-Converter-Recording/dp/B00I2ZBD1U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475083161&sr=8-2&keywords=dvr+and+converter
 
#8 ·
legrec said:
I am not sure how they are setup. They probably have a room with 40-50 set top box each on a specific channel and they send the signal via coax cables to all the room. We just have to connect our TV and select the channel that we want based on the list of channels provided on a card in the room. All I want to know is if I buy a non subscription DVR that is used for a OTA antenna, will it work? or do I need a satelite enable DVR of sorts. I found some DVR's that also convert analog signal to HD like this example. Not sure if it would work. https://www.amazon.ca/Mediasonic-HW-150PVR-HomeWorx-Converter-Recording/dp/B00I2ZBD1U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475083161&sr=8-2&keywords=dvr+and+converter
See if you can get your hands on a OTA digital box and do the scan to see what happens. This way we can tell alot. ask the manager of the establishment.
 
#12 ·
An OTA DVR may work, the only issue you may have is guide data. You may age do rely on just manual recordings.


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#13 ·
some of these OTA DVR's have programmable schedules. I guess I would have to be on the right channel to program the recording but I could chose the time. If I have to be there to push the record button it won't be very practical. Thanks for the info I will try that I guess.
 
#14 ·
legrec said:
some of these OTA DVR's have programmable schedules. I guess I would have to be on the right channel to program the recording but I could chose the time. If I have to be there to push the record button it won't be very practical. Thanks for the info I will try that I guess.
The better DVRs have a tuner in them where they can tune a different channel than what you are watching. If you are using the TVs built in tuner you should be able to tune channels independently of the TV. If you have a separate converter box you may or may not be able to tune independently.
 
#15 ·
legrec said:
some of these OTA DVR's have programmable schedules. I guess I would have to be on the right channel to program the recording but I could chose the time. If I have to be there to push the record button it won't be very practical. Thanks for the info I will try that I guess.
"OTA" DVR's get their guide data off the cable. What you describe sounds like a SMATV system (satellite master antenna system). I doubt that kind of system would carry the data channel to correctly populate the DVR's guide.

Chances are your system is not HD either, especially if the channels are numbered 2-55. My late wife had been in several nursing homes with these types of "cable" systems. While the rooms had flat screen TV's all the channels were in SD and stretched. They did not evn have the proper remote controls to change the stretch, they used universal remotes that did not access all the menu items. This led to many channels having the sides of the picture cut off in an effort to fill the screen.
 
#16 ·
One thing you could consider - I'm assuming you have a laptop ?
Get something like this
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1955.html

it can tune OTA (analog and digital) and cable (analog and clear qam) and FM radio - it would be able to tune what your "cable" is sending and it has an MPEG encoder for the analog tuner. You can even add an external harddrive to your laptop to store your video on. You would have to use manual timers for recording.

You would have to use either Windows Media Center or Hauppauge's WinTV program to watch / record / playback. Perhaps your TV can accept output from your computer ?
 
#21 ·
Do you bring your own TV or is it a TV that's already in the room? If it's the latter, it's possible nothing 3rd party will work if they use Pro:Idiom encryption or Lodgenet or OnCommand like many hotels do.

If it's an analog thing powered by banks of receivers, it should work. Guide data will be another problem though since it's very rare for out of the box DVR solutions like Windows Media Center or Tivo to have lineups for that unless the building itself has a deal with the listings provider. Your best bet is to do a channel scan and manually map the listings using the lineup for whatever provider they use like Shaw Direct, Bell TV or a local cable system.

If you do buy a DVR, you'll need to make sure it has a built in hardware encoder to support analog cable ready channels. Some models are now digital only.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for all the info, I bought the Mediasonic 180HTB witch is almost the same as the ivew. It is also an analog converter and DVR. We do bring our own TV so no worries on that part. I will get the device this monday and I am leaving wednesday for 14 days over there. I will try it and let you know if and how it works.
 
#23 ·
Looking at the specs of that and the manual, it's a digital only box, it will not tune analog cable channels. Unless you have access to antenna and are close enough to a major Canadian city to get digital OTA reception, it pretty much will just be an expensive paper weight for you.

The "analog converter" just means it outputs an analog signal on RF channel 3/4 or via the RCA outputs so it will work on older TVs with no digital tuner or HDMI inputs.

It also doesn't have the ability to download EPG data from the internet, so even if you use it for OTA, it will be limited to just what the stations provide with their signal, which most of the time is way too barebones to use reliably for a DVR. (i.e. most stations just do 12 hours of listings and many times it's missing things like episode titles, etc)
 
#24 ·
I tried the Mediasonic 180HTB and it doesn't work. The signal comes in CATV and it doesn't see the channels at all. I have an antenna at home and it works well. So I am back to square one. I pluged my new HD TV with the provided Coax cable in my room and my TV gets 56 channels that I have to select with a provided list that gives me the correspondance. So as mention before we are hooked on a Bell express vu satelite dish with probably (I didn't see the actual setup) 56 boxes each on a specific channel and they just send all these signal throught a Coax cable for each room.
My chalenge is still to be able to record some of the shows that I like while I am on the job witch is 14 hours a day.
If you have some options for me I would be glad to hear them. Thanks!
 
#25 ·
Well - I told you that you needed something that tuned analog cable and could record.

IF you can take a laptop, you might look at that Hauppage boxes I was talking about earlier. Run the coax from the wall into the Hauppage box and the box / WinTV software will do your recording / playback. A schedule is somewhat of an issue - if you know what channels you receive (like Discovery, CNN, etc.) and have internet available - you should be able to get program schedules online.
 
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