[wmccain]

My sincere apologies for starting a new thread just to ask questions that are surely answered in the discussion threads. But I stopped actively monitoring the discussions shortly before 0x104 was released, and they have grown way too long for me to "catch-up" by reading through hundreds of posts. And my questions are not easily pinned-down by a "search", either.

I've had 0x10B since it was released nearly two weeks ago, but I just got around to hooking up a local antenna (and also downgrading my DirecTV service to Total Choice Premier no locals, since all my receivers are HD models, I get excellent OTA reception, and the HR20 was my last remaining receiver that needed to get the locals from the satellites).

Everything works to my personal satisfaction, but ...

1. Is there still no way to edit the satellite channel list to eliminate the channels that I do not receive? I noticed that this is supported for the OTA channels, but I tried without success to find a way to do it for the satellite channels (although I saw a tantalizing on-screen message somewhere, which made me suspect that the function exists but that I just haven't "figured it out").

2. Is there any way to add an OTA digital channel that I get but which is not "known to DirecTV's APG for my zip code"? From my other receivers, as well as the HR20, I know that DirecTV's "local network" list is not always accurate-and-up-to-date. But the other DirecTV receivers (e.g. LG 3200A and TiVo HR10) all offer the ability to add local channels that are not in the APG.

Background: One of my local PBS stations, KCSM, gave up their analog ATSC channel (60) over a year ago. They broadcast ATSC-only on channel 43 (and consequently, they no longer map their channel number to 60 via the PSIP). They broadcast two subchannels, 43-1 and 43-3 (why they skipped 43-2 is a mystery). However, for more than a year the DirecTV APG has had them incorrectly listed at 60-1 and 43-3. With my other receivers, I can simply add 43-1 manually and delete 60-1, and (except for the lack of guide info), all is well. With the HR20, I have been unable to find a way to add 43-1, and 60-1 does not work (it shows a strong signal strength in the Setup menus, but when you try to actually view it, you get nothing).

Comment: When I saw, a couple of weeks ago, that Viiv was supported by the new firmware, I decided to "give it a whirl" (even though Viiv, by all accounts, has been a marketing disaster for Intel, and most of the PC makers no longer promote it). As it happened, I was going through my bi-annual "computer upgrade cycle", and I was upgrading three computers with brand-new Intel motherboards, two of which had Viiv capability. I had to "jump through some hoops" to build upgraded computers that actually support Viiv, and it wasn't in my original plans, but I managed to do so. (Would you believe that Viiv requires that your hard-drive, even if there is only one of them, uses Intel's RAID chipset and RAID device driver?)

I was able to get a Viiv computer to communicate with the HR20, but I was very disappointed in the results. Mainly because I don't actually have any music or photos on that computer, and I'm not into collecting them. The lady of the house is into music and photos (mainly photos), and the new Viiv-upgraded computer is her "kitchen computer", so it will certainly acquire some photos (probably as soon as I copy her stuff over from the old hard drive). But her main photo collection is on her iMac, which works fine with the standalone TiVo Series 2 in the living room, just not with the HR20.

Somehow, I was expecting more from the Viiv-HR20 connection. I know that DirecTV has not announced any MRV or upload-to-PC features (only transfer to DirecTV-sanctioned portable devices via USB, not yet enabled). But I guess I fooled myself into thinking there would be more to this "Viiv thing".

William C. McCain
Palo Alto, California

 

[veryoldschool]

Everything works to my personal satisfaction, but ...

1. Is there still no way to edit the satellite channel list to eliminate the channels that I do not receive? I noticed that this is supported for the OTA channels, but I tried without success to find a way to do it for the satellite channels (although I saw a tantalizing on-screen message somewhere, which made me suspect that the function exists but that I just haven't "figured it out").
William C. McCain
Palo Alto, California

I can only help with the "easy" one. You need to make a custom guide list. Go into the setup menu for favorites, then select custom one. Here is where you can select which channels you want to "filter" for your guide.
The Viiv part is something I haven't worked with, but some people are have luck with "non" Viiv PCs using Microsoft media player 11 [as it seems to act as the server needed].
For your OTA channels, I can't find a way with my HR-20. There has been a thread started for the guide info to be corrected. Look for ATSC/OTA take 2, where you can post "what is" & "what should be" for correction.

 

[Tom Robertson]

The OTA one is also very easy to answer. And like most easy answers, this one is very unhelpful, but "No, the current software does not let you tune to OTA channels not in the guide. Sorry. We hope Directv will develop the ability to scan for channels and use them even without guide data, I haven't seen any comment regarding that future feature.

Have a Happy New Year,
Tom

 

[jonaswan2]

For Ch's I Receive, we all should be good to go when all of the standard receivers (all models of the D10s and D11s) get the latest update. That may be a while though .

 

[Spanky_Partain]

If you want to keep the MAC in play, look into Twonky. Search the threads for "twonky". It should provide the altennative you are looking for.

 

[wmccain]

We hope Directv will develop the ability to scan for channels and use them even without guide data, I haven't seen any comment regarding that future feature.

How odd. The ability to manually add OTA channels has been a standard feature of every HD DirecTV receiver I have personally used or tested (about a dozen models, all the way back to the RCA DTC-100).

Bill

 

[Tom Robertson]

How odd. The ability to manually add OTA channels has been a standard feature of every HD DirecTV receiver I have personally used or tested (about a dozen models, all the way back to the RCA DTC-100).

Bill

Indeed, very odd! My theory is that the H20 and the HR20 are the very first truly specified, coded, and built by Directv. The rest were all designed and coded by their respective manufactures to operate on Directv's system.

But then I could be wrong.

I expect we will soon see low power digital channels for small local use and the Directv tuners won't be able to receive until they make the change.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[wmccain]

You need to make a custom guide list. Go into the setup menu for favorites, then select custom one. Here is where you can select which channels you want to "filter" for your guide.

Many thanks for the tip, this did the job for me!

I had never investigated the "Favorites" option, and in doing so, I also discovered where they hid the facility to edit the "Channels I Get". That facility is not enabled yet, but there appears to be little difference between that and using "Custom 1" or "Custom 2" (which makes you wonder why you can't yet edit "Channels I Get", since it would appear to use the exact same code).

There are a few strange bugs in that editing, but nothing of consequence:

• When you mark a channel, the cursor sometimes stays put, sometimes jumps back one channel.

• You can scroll forward when editing the channel list, but not backward.

I found that when setting the current guide to "Custom 1", it also affected the Channel Up/Down buttons, which is good, as it is the same thing that the "Channels I Get" list would (presumably) do. So the only difference that I can think of between "Channels I Get" and "Custom" would likely be in areas such as "searching for a program to record".

Bill