[RadRick]

I just got one of the HR20's from DTV which is my first use of a DVR. It is replacing my Hughes HTL-HD. So now I need 3 down lines (2 Sat, 1 OTA (soon?)) instead of 2 (1 Sat, 1 OTA) because of the 2nd tuner in the DVR. [I hope they get the OTA working soon for the HR20.] Lucky I have exactly 3 lines at this location. Anyway, with my old HTL-HD I used the Out to TV to to pass the signal back to some other tv's in the house on the unused 3rd line. I was surprised that there was no Out to TV on the HR20. So I instead pass the signal via the S-video & RCA's to my VCR which converts it to the Out to TV and now I can pass the signal back up the 3rd line. It appears that the VCR needs to stay on for this to work.

So is this the best solution/workaround to send the signal out to other non-HD TV's in the house with an HR20 or am I missing something?

Also once they enable OTA for the HR20, is there a way I can use it given the fact I only have 2 lines down and I am using the 3rd line to send the signal back up. - Thx

 

[litzdog911]

Actually, your best solution would be an "RF Modulator" that will convert the HR20's composite/S-Video outputs to an suitable RF channel that you can distribute to other TVs in your house. Using a VCR might work, but the power output is rather low, especially if your remote TVs are far away. And, of course, the VCR must always be On.

I'm not sure understand your current satellite/OTA cable situation. Each tuner in your dual tuner DVR needs its own coax cable from the dish to your DVR, so that's two coax cables. If you also have an OTA antenna, it needs its own cable. Your installer should have run a third coax cable from the dish for you.

 

[RadRick]

I will try to explain it better - I have 3 coax lines. 2 from the Sat for the dual tuner DVR and the 3rd is being used to send the HR20 output signal back to the distribution closet where I then distribute it to the other non-HD TV's in the house. Since the HR20 does not currently support OTA, I don't currently need to use a coax line for sending the OTA signal from my OTA antenna to the HR20, thus I can use line #3 to distribute the HR20 Output (via the composite/S-Video to the VCR Out to TV).

But if/when OTA is available with the HR20, I will then need a coax line for that. So I would need a 4th line with my current setup. Is there any way to accomplish all this with only 3 coax lines? Diplexor?

I understand an "RF Modulator" may be better than the VCR workaround, but the RF channel output from the RF Modulator still needs a Coax Line correct? -thx

 

[Steve0296]

I don't know if there's a way to accomplish that with 3 coax lines, but since you're in LA, you might be able to get away with a very small antenna like the Zenith ZHDTV1 that could fit in your distribution closet so you wouldn't need to run a new cable. This is what I have. The antenna sits on a shelf in the closet above all my equipment and it receives all the LA HD OTA stations perfectly.

The modulator I use is the Terk VS4MODPLUS. It has 4 inputs, and can switch among them remotely, so I can watch either of my DVR's, or a DVD on the remote tv's.

I ran four coax cables, and like you I'm running out. My second DVR can only use one tuner. Need to run another cable...