[msmith]

I got one of these yesterday to add to my new (replacement for broken HR20) HR21 receiver.

This is REALLY easy to use.

I opened the box and got ready. I pulled the plug on the back of the HR21. Plugged in the OTA antenna (a Silver Sensor), USB cable, power to the HR21 and put the power from the wall into the AM21.

The first boot took a little longer than usual. It prompted me to do antenna setup. I accepted the zip code (it was already right) and during the "searching for market" it spontaneously rebooted.

On the 2nd boot I repeated the steps, confirmed the selection of my market, and then it reloaded the guide.

After that it was just like using an HR20. Piece of cake.

 

[mhayes70]

That's great to hear.

 

[msmith]

Yeah - this AM21 really is an elegant little box. DirecTV got this one right.

 

[EricJRW]

msmith:

Do you recall if you had to power up the HR21, or did it power up (meaning video output) on its own?

The reason I ask (not that it really matters, but curiosity gets the better of me), is that after I plugged everything in (power to the wall being last) nothing happened... Or rather nothing happened quickly enough that I didn't think I needed to press the power button on my remote... But again, nothing happened (quickly)... It took several presses before I got a picture.... But maybe the HR21 was still booting (internally).

Now I've come to realize that, after loosing power, the HR21 has to boot, but I was always curious if what I saw was normal? This was the only time my HR21 ever "lost power", as it is plugged into a UPS.

But in the end, everything is functioning beautifully, and I too am a happy AM21 user.

 

[mhayes70]

If I am understanding you correctly. That is normal. Once you plug the power to the AM21/HR21 it will take several seconds for it to power up. That is just the HR21 booting up.

 

[msmith]

msmith:

Do you recall if you had to power up the HR21, or did it power up (meaning video output) on its own?

I was surprised that the video didn't come on immediately, so I hit Power on the front of the HR21. I saw the blue Almost There screen at that point.

 

[EricJRW]

Thanks :up:

Sounds like we saw the same thing...

Since the HR21 was just 5 days old when I installed the AM21, I had zero cold-boot experience... Like I said, no big deal, but for some reason I'm always curious about these things.

 

[TigersFanJJ]

It will show a picture (such as the welcome screen, etc.) if the receiver is left on when it loses power. However, it will go through the whole boot process without a picture if you had it turned off before you disconnected the power. Unless you hit the power button during the boot up process, as msmith did. Then it will turn on and show the picture wherever it is at in the process.

My guess is that you turned it off before unplugging.

I hope this makes sense. :lol:

 

[msmith]

It was in standby when I unplugged it.

 

[davros74]

I got one of these yesterday to add to my new (replacement for broken HR20) HR21 receiver.

This is REALLY easy to use.

I opened the box and got ready. I pulled the plug on the back of the HR21. Plugged in the OTA antenna (a Silver Sensor), USB cable, power to the HR21 and put the power from the wall into the AM21.

The first boot took a little longer than usual. It prompted me to do antenna setup. I accepted the zip code (it was already right) and during the "searching for market" it spontaneously rebooted.

On the 2nd boot I repeated the steps, confirmed the selection of my market, and then it reloaded the guide.

After that it was just like using an HR20. Piece of cake.

Good to hear. My AM21 is on its way from D*. Just got an HR21 a few days ago. Can't live without all my locals, especially during bad storms. I kinda like to know where the tornados are (I live about 30 minutes from Parkersburg, IA which got hit with an EF5 earlier this year.) We also get really high straight line winds here (70mph+) during storms, so add that to the rain fade, and it's pretty hard to keep the sat signals (esp Ka band) during these storms, even with a perfectly aligned dish.

I agree, DirectTV did this right - cheapened the unit for most people, the add-on isn't that expensive, looks nice, doesn't require a second AC output, and works better than the integrated HR20 OTA tuner from what I hear.

Now if they would just put Todo List back in the Playlist Options. :bang

 

[EricJRW]

My guess is that you turned it off before unplugging.

Of course I did.

It was in standby when I unplugged it.

Is there a difference?

 

[TigersFanJJ]

Is there a difference?

Depends on who you talk to.

The average person will tell you that it is off when you push the off button and the picture and lights go out. The average person around here will tell you that it is in standby (because most of the electronics are still on and working) and the only true way to turn it off is to unplug it.

 

[msmith]

Depends on who you talk to.

The average person will tell you that it is off when you push the off button and the picture and lights go out. The average person around here will tell you that it is in standby (because most of the electronics are still on and working) and the only true way to turn it off is to unplug it.

Also, when the unit is in standby (lights are off), the buffer continues recording whatever you were watching when you put it into standby ("turned it off").

Of course, it records what it's supposed to in standby.

 

[EricJRW]

Gotcha... That what I was thinking... Yes, the unit is "off", but it's still doing its job... I could see how this could be considered standby, as its "standing by" ready and able to do work... It's not really "off" in the conventional sense...

Thanks, just wanted to make sure I was no missing some subtle point.

E