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HDTV receivers - can you record stuff when you're not home?
11 Dec 2006 11:41:32 -0800
rec.arts.tv
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fred_h_haddad...
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Is a HDTV receiver
(a) Like a cable box. You have to manually change the channels?
(b) Like a VCR. Can change itself to different channels (tnt, scifi,
back to tnt) at preset times, even while no one's home?
LindaY...
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Ours (Dish Network) is like a VCR. You find the upcoming show on the
channel guide and set a timer by clicking on the show. It will either
record directly to the VCR (but not the DVD recorder, darn it) or
change the channel when the program you want to see is about to start.
It also will pop up a reminder without changing channels, but I've
never used that.
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Deke...
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You still have cable? How quaint.
fred_h_haddad...
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Newsflash. I'm the original poster & you insulted ne. Lay off.
Deke...
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And if you reread you'll find I wasnt talking to you.
fred_h_haddad...
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Yes, you were talking to me. Read your old messages.
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Ty Ford...
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Fred,
I'm guessing a timer on a high end machine or computer would probably work.
Do you have the sort of money that would let you buy a machine capable of
recording such a stream?
Are you talking about cable or over the air received programming?
Ty Ford
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fred_h_haddad...
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You PAY for trash you could get for free (antenna)?
I get around 30 channels (including the sub-channels) totally free & no
$600 a year bill.
Ty Ford...
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I use rabbit ears on the Sony 10801i HDTV I bought just before the Utah
WInter Olympics about 5 years ago. People keep saying, "Huh? You can get HDTV
on rabbit ears? How is that possible?"
Apparently, there is a great dearth of information about DTV and HDTV.
Ty Ford
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and look at the DVR 942. HD OTA reciever, and HD DVR from satellite. Will
not record OTA HD.
Dish also offers more HD channels than any other HD programmer. HTH.
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Default User...
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Kind of a false dilemma. Many cable boxes can be set to switch at
fred_h_haddad...
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Oh I was thinking of the OLD cable boxes like I've got. Only changes
manually. I can record TNT or Scifi during the day but not both, since
I'm not home to change the channel.
I thought HDTV receivers might work the same?
Default User...
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Difficult to say for sure, but I'd suspect that the HD boxes from cable
or satellite would be fairly new tech. My digital cable box works with
the online guide information to set reminders or to switch channels at
fred_h_haddad...
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I was looking at the over-the-air antenna receivers which would not
have a guide (no cable). If they included auto-channel-switching they'd
be manually programmed. Like
ON 10am
OFF 1pm
CHN tnt
You're probably right; it's probably automated like a vcr---- not
manual like my ancient cable box.
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a designated time. You can also hard code a time/channel switch.
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~consul...
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My girlfriend has DISH, in Athens, GA. For hers, I had to manually change the
channel to whatever I was going to tape.
fred_h_haddad...
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Sounds like the answer to the question is 'depends'. They ought to
build the tuner into the recorder like a VCR. Then the recorder can
self-tune to whatever channel it needs to capture.
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Bill's News...
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Not pertinent to your GF's recordings, probably - BTW, I wish
mine was in Athens, Greece!
I've a couple Moxi HDVRs. They like to switch the "now viewing"
to the second channel recorded, if it would be the third - as
they only have two decoders. So, when I want to capture a
program scheduled on the Moxi, I add a second (low res, half
hour, toss-away) to the schedule one or two minutes in advance,
which FORCES the STB to switch to the channel I want to record
when it starts. No blaster required - sadly, as it sounds like
something I'd really like to have!!
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Bill Steele...
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Most VCRs these days come with a little infrared transmitter. You hang
that in front of the cable box and it mimics the remote to change
channels. You can also find programmable remotes.
fred_h_haddad...
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Good call. That would probably work effectively enough to change my DTV
tuner and feed the correct channels into my old analog VCR even while
I'm not home.
Now I just gotta remember where I put that doodad. ;)
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THO...
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I never heard of such a transmitter before. Any idea what brands supply
that?
Anim8rFSK...
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My Sonys have 'em
Bill Steele...
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As do my JVC and my Phillips DVD recorder.
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Rob Jensen...
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I don't know about which models of VCRs that have that, but my HP
m377n Media Center's TV Tuner has the infrared intercept doohickey to
change the station on my DISH sat receiver.
-- Rob
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preset times.
David Johnston...
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Not the one I was renting from my cable company up to a couple of
years ago.
Default User...
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Most likely the hardware had the capability, not the software. I got
the capability without a hardware change, obviously some sort of
software download to the box.
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seriousfun...
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Of course.
I rent an HD DVR from Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles for $15/mo. This
includes HD service for all of the local stations that offer it OTA,
extras like iNHD 1&2, DiscoveryHD, TNT-HD, and pay services like
Showtime and HBO (if you pay for them), and a few HD iN Demand movies
and shows.
~consul...
It is a Motorola box with two ATSC tuners and a hard drive. You can
record up to two shows at one time and watch a third already-recorded
on the DVR - you can't watch a third live show while you record on both
tuners, but you can watch one show while recording one other (recording
two shows at once has been surprisingly useful). It can store hundreds
of SD shows (I recorded most of yesterday's Twilight Zone marathon on
SciFi) and about 30 hours of HD content. It has a guide which goes two
or three weeks in advance, and allows you to record shows or series of
shows. You can set it to remind you of a show and allows you to choose
to switch channels to watch it.
Anim8rFSK...
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You make me jealous. Our guide only goes for one week (a bit less
actually) and the 'search by' function is only for that day, and we max
out at 50 hours of SD.
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My place doesn't get good OTA reception, so at least basic cable or
satellite is necessary to get anything other than fuzzy local stations.
Bill's News...
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Please tell me the model number used by Time Warner. My two
Motorola HDVRs originally provided by Adelphia, now provided by
TW after the acquisition, have 80 gig HDD and record but 8.5
hours of 1080i or 17 hours of 720p HDTV and then ONLY if nothing
else is saved past the time of the latest recording.
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TWC is right now, for me, a better deal than DTV or DISH, but they both
provide good service with some sort of DVR available.
~consul...
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Now this seems weird to me. Why are you getting fuzzy anything if you have a OTA
HD reception? It should be a clear signal or not.
~consul...
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Never mind, I see you meant fuzzy for sd ota, not hd ota.
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Anim8rFSK...
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Yes. Our OTA HD is either there or it's not, with an error message
Ty Ford...
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Right. You either get a digital OTA broadcast (maybe some minor pixelating)
or it mutes.
I had to drop from a rooftop antenna to Radio Shack rabbit ears because my
old antenna was picking up too much reflected RF and it caused the receiver
to mute. A friendly CE at a local station suggested I knock down the RD to
the set a bit. Rabbit ears did the trick.
Ty Ford
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displayed. ABC cut out last night just as IN CASE OF EMERGENCY began.
They may have been trying to tell me something.
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Anim8rFSK...
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Our 30 year old roof antenna gets WAY better HD reception than what we
get through COX.
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