Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I have a
few questions for you folks.
Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about various
quality settings in the past.
I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the entire
book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only one
quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time vary.
Does it use variably bit rate?
And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person will
fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes. With the
dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time. I can record
two shows at the same time but can not watch a different channel while recording
2 shows. Is this correct?
The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>
I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any help.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"DanR" <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote in message
news:W3l8e.3687$VA3.68@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com...
>I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA
>receiver.
> Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I
> have a
> few questions for you folks.
> Is there just one quality setting?

Yep. The DirecTivo records the satellite signal directly as received -- no
digitization or additional compression necessary, so what you'd see from the
receiver is what you'll see from the DirectTivo.

>I seem to recall people talking about various
> quality settings in the past.

Those are stand-alone models that digitize analogue signals.

> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
> entire
> book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only one
> quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time
> vary.

Because MPEG, which is the storage format used, will generate smaller files
for some material than others.


> Does it use variably bit rate?

Yes, it does.

> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO?

Well, lots -- getting 2 weeks of programming information, the ability to
record by program name, rather than time and channel, wish lists that look
for programs that you want,etc. Believe me, you'll be happy you have Tivo.

> Could I still pause
> live TV?

Yes, if your DVR's programming supports it. However, the Version 2 Tivos do
not, as far as I know.

> Could I still record selected shows?

No.

> Would I not have the "guide"?
> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person
> will
> fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes. With
> the
> dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time. I can
> record
> two shows at the same time but can not watch a different channel while
> recording
> 2 shows. Is this correct?

Not exactly. You watch a show that you've previously recorded while the
Tivo is recording 2 new shows.

> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to
> show
> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family
> member
> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>

It's in my series 1, and I'd assume in a series 2 as well.

> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
> help.
>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <W3l8e.3687$VA3.68@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>, DanR
<dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA
> receiver. Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10
> 80GB drive. I have a few questions for you folks. Is there just one
> quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about various
> quality settings in the past.

There is no quality setting on a DirecTiVo. The unit records the
digital signal exactly as it comes in from the satellite, so the
quality is (for want of a better word) perfect.

> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned
> max recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from
> reading the entire book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm
> wondering... if there is only one quality setting and the hard drive
> is 80GB why would the recording time vary. Does it use variably bit
> rate?

Pictures with lots of motion take up more disc space than pictures with
little or no motion. That's in the nature of MPEG2, and that's the
variable they're taking about. An 80 GB drive will allow you to record
around 72 hours of programming, maybe a little more.

> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to?
> What functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I
> still pause live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not
> have the "guide"? At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next
> week installation person will fix me up so I can use the dual tuners.
> Silly question but here goes. With the dual tuners I can record a
> show and watch a show at the same time. I can record two shows at the
> same time but can not watch a different channel while recording 2
> shows. Is this correct?

With a DirecTiVo and two lines going into it, you can record two things
and watch a third recording, or you can record one thing and watch
another thing live.

The unit will not work without a subscription. Some older units will
permit manual recordings and so forth, but not yours.

> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>
> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any help.

You can set up a Favorite Channels list, but only one. You don't have
the RCA's multiple-favorites option.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Thank you PTRAVEL and Dr. Personality for sharing your knowledge.

DanR wrote:
> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
> Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I
> have a few questions for you folks.
> Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about
> various quality settings in the past.
> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
> entire book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only
> one quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time
> vary. Does it use variably bit rate?
> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
> live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person will
> fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes. With the
> dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time. I can
> record two shows at the same time but can not watch a different channel while
> recording 2 shows. Is this correct?
> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>
> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
> help.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <W3l8e.3687$VA3.68@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>,
"DanR" <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
> Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I
> have a
> few questions for you folks.
> Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about
> various
> quality settings in the past.


Thats for the Standalone models. DirecTivo have just one "perfect" it
copies the digital stream, and decodes on playback,.


> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
> entire
> book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only one
> quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time vary.
> Does it use variably bit rate?
> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
> live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person
> will
> fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes. With
> the
> dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time. I can
> record
> two shows at the same time but can not watch a different channel while
> recording
> 2 shows. Is this correct?
> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>

yes

> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
> help.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual tuner
DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one older RCA
receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or just a
splitter or whatever they are called?
If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that the
one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he will have
to do and how much prep I will have to do.

DanR wrote:
> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
> Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I
> have a few questions for you folks.
> Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about
> various quality settings in the past.
> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
> entire book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only
> one quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time
> vary. Does it use variably bit rate?
> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
> live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person will
> fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes. With the
> dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time. I can
> record two shows at the same time but can not watch a different channel while
> recording 2 shows. Is this correct?
> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>
> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
> help.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

DanR wrote:
> Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual tuner
> DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one older RCA
> receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or just a
> splitter or whatever they are called?

A regular dish has two outputs, so all it takes is running a new cable.

> If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that the
> one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he will have
> to do and how much prep I will have to do.

No, splitters do not work with DirecTV. If you plan on adding another
DirecTV receiver or two, you will need a multiswitch. But until then,
just two cables is all you need.
-Joe

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Joe Smith wrote:
> DanR wrote:
>> Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual
>> tuner DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one older
>> RCA receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or
>> just a splitter or whatever they are called?
>
> A regular dish has two outputs, so all it takes is running a new cable.
>
>> If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that
>> the one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he
>> will have to do and how much prep I will have to do.
>
> No, splitters do not work with DirecTV. If you plan on adding another
> DirecTV receiver or two, you will need a multiswitch. But until then,
> just two cables is all you need.
> -Joe

I just did some goggling and from what I read I couldn't possibly have a single
LNB dish because I currently have 2 receivers hooked up and working. When I said
single LNB I was going by how the dish "looks" to me. It just has ONE of those
thingies in front of the dish part.
So... the tech will only have to run another line to the 2 tuner DVR. Where will
it run from? The dish antenna? When this job is complete I will have the dual
tuner DVR and the old receiver in the basement running from a dual LNB dish.
Does that seem correct?

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <YXE8e.155$%L1.69@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>, DanR
<dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

> Joe Smith wrote:
> > DanR wrote:
> >> Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual
> >> tuner DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one
> >> older
> >> RCA receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or
> >> just a splitter or whatever they are called?
> >
> > A regular dish has two outputs, so all it takes is running a new cable.
> >
> >> If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that
> >> the one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he
> >> will have to do and how much prep I will have to do.
> >
> > No, splitters do not work with DirecTV. If you plan on adding another
> > DirecTV receiver or two, you will need a multiswitch. But until then,
> > just two cables is all you need.
> > -Joe
>
> I just did some goggling and from what I read I couldn't possibly have a
> single
> LNB dish because I currently have 2 receivers hooked up and working. When I
> said
> single LNB I was going by how the dish "looks" to me. It just has ONE of those
> thingies in front of the dish part.
> So... the tech will only have to run another line to the 2 tuner DVR. Where
> will
> it run from? The dish antenna? When this job is complete I will have the dual
> tuner DVR and the old receiver in the basement running from a dual LNB dish.
> Does that seem correct?


The tech will have to install a multiswitch. Each one of the two lines
from the dish goes to one of your RCA units. The tech will take those
two lines and use them as input for the multiswitch. The multiswitch
will allow at least four output lines. Two of these will go to your
DirecTiVo. You didn't say whether you were replacing your other RCA
unit, too. If not, the third line will go there and the fourth will
wait until you get a second DirecTiVo to replace the remaining RCA
unit. You could also use that fourth line with the RCA box you're
replacing, and have DTV in another part of your house.

What's important about the single LNB is not its number of outputs (it
has two), but the fact that it can only see one satellite -- the one at
101 degrees W, which has almost all the standard-definition stuff DTV
carries.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Dr. Personality wrote:
> In article <YXE8e.155$%L1.69@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>, DanR
> <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:
>
>> Joe Smith wrote:
>>> DanR wrote:
>>>> Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual
>>>> tuner DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one
>>>> older
>>>> RCA receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or
>>>> just a splitter or whatever they are called?
>>>
>>> A regular dish has two outputs, so all it takes is running a new cable.
>>>
>>>> If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that
>>>> the one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he
>>>> will have to do and how much prep I will have to do.
>>>
>>> No, splitters do not work with DirecTV. If you plan on adding another
>>> DirecTV receiver or two, you will need a multiswitch. But until then,
>>> just two cables is all you need.
>>> -Joe
>>
>> I just did some goggling and from what I read I couldn't possibly have a
>> single
>> LNB dish because I currently have 2 receivers hooked up and working. When I
>> said
>> single LNB I was going by how the dish "looks" to me. It just has ONE of
>> those thingies in front of the dish part.
>> So... the tech will only have to run another line to the 2 tuner DVR. Where
>> will
>> it run from? The dish antenna? When this job is complete I will have the dual
>> tuner DVR and the old receiver in the basement running from a dual LNB dish.
>> Does that seem correct?
>
>
> The tech will have to install a multiswitch. Each one of the two lines
> from the dish goes to one of your RCA units. The tech will take those
> two lines and use them as input for the multiswitch. The multiswitch
> will allow at least four output lines. Two of these will go to your
> DirecTiVo. You didn't say whether you were replacing your other RCA
> unit, too. If not, the third line will go there and the fourth will
> wait until you get a second DirecTiVo to replace the remaining RCA
> unit. You could also use that fourth line with the RCA box you're
> replacing, and have DTV in another part of your house.
>
> What's important about the single LNB is not its number of outputs (it
> has two), but the fact that it can only see one satellite -- the one at
> 101 degrees W, which has almost all the standard-definition stuff DTV
> carries.

That's exactly the information I was looking for. Currently I have a lot of coax
cable in the ceiling of my basement. The 2 DTV lines and an antennae line from
outside. The DTV and antennae lines run to each of my 2 DTV receivers and TV
antennae inputs for bad weather backup. A third antennae line runs to a 3rd
bedroom along with an RF out from the downstairs DTV box. I will have to decide
whether to allow the tech to use the existing antennae line for the 2nd line to
the DTV tivo. (upstairs) Otherwise he must run new cable through the floor.
(downstairs to upstairs) I guess that's what they get paid to do so should just
let him do that.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <SoO8e.275$l45.219@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com>, DanR
<dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

> That's exactly the information I was looking for. Currently I have a
> lot of coax cable in the ceiling of my basement. The 2 DTV lines and
> an antennae line from outside. The DTV and antennae lines run to each
> of my 2 DTV receivers and TV antennae inputs for bad weather backup.
> A third antennae line runs to a 3rd bedroom along with an RF out from
> the downstairs DTV box. I will have to decide whether to allow the
> tech to use the existing antennae line for the 2nd line to the DTV
> tivo. (upstairs) Otherwise he must run new cable through the floor.
> (downstairs to upstairs) I guess that's what they get paid to do so
> should just let him do that.

It's good policy to have the installer do the work for you. Most deals
call for you to have him run up to 100 feet of coax at no extra charge,
so if this is in place for you, take advantage of it.

If you have any intention of getting a second DirecTiVo in the future,
and you know where you're going to put it, have the tech run the second
line to that location now. We did that, back six years ago when we
first got DTV and only needed one line to each of our two RCA units.
We had him run the second line then. It didn't cost us anything, and
when we got the DirecTiVos about a year and a half later and they
finally upgraded the OS to handle two tuners, all I had to do was
connect the multiswitch and the second input on each unit. Ten
minutes, tops.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <9LCdnfAKBdKEif7fRVn-iw@comcast.com>, joe@inwap.com says...
> DanR wrote:
> > Tuesday a technician is coming out to install the 2nd cable for the dual tuner
> > DVR. I currently have a single LNB dish with the new DVR and one older RCA
> > receiver connected. Will the tech need to install a different dish or just a
> > splitter or whatever they are called?
>
> A regular dish has two outputs, so all it takes is running a new cable.
>
> > If a splitter is all that is needed can it be located near the DVR so that the
> > one cable Ys into two cables? I'm just curious about how much work he will have
> > to do and how much prep I will have to do.
>
> No, splitters do not work with DirecTV. If you plan on adding another
> DirecTV receiver or two, you will need a multiswitch. But until then,
> just two cables is all you need.
> -Joe
>


Yes, splitters do work with directv, provided they can handle the
correct frequency range.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 03:52:22 GMT, "DanR" <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

>I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
>Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today.

Too bad. It will be obsolete in a few months.

Sean