Still on pre order but it's an OTA PVR, bit more than 5 bucks though.
I saw the $49 and was excited. Unfortunately that is pre-order. At $399, I would rather build a HTPC. If you have a way to pull the drives and hook them up to your computer plus add drives to the box, then it could be nice for those that don't like computers.
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 12:59 pm Post subject:
Sounds like it. You may be able to use the guts for a HTPC. Maybe just swap out the TIVO board for a regular PC Mobo. May not be worth the effort, though.
Thats just ridiculous. You should be able to buy the box and use it with any service you want, cable, sat, OTA. The guide info should be free for OTA, and a small fee from a pay tv service. What a racket. _________________ ~Paul
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:14 pm Post subject:
ecrabb wrote:
Mac,
Yes, I had several of this exactly model - Hughes HR10-250 - for several years before DirecTV made the move to MPEG-4 and obsoleted them. I had all three modded with the PTVnet/InstantCake mod software. The modded kernel allowed decryption of the recorded streams and ran an FTP server so I could pull the MPEG TS files directly off the hard drive over the network to Mac or PC for archiving. It was slow, but it worked perfectly. Even though the HR10-250 was kind of a POS (it the slowest guide of any STB I've ever had), I was pretty disappointed when DirecTV starting transitioning to MPEG-4 and finally forced the switch and I lost my archiving capability.
So, trust me when I say the [i]DirecTV[i] HD Tivos specifically will NOT be usable without a satellite connection. Without a satellite connection, there will be no guide info. Without any guide info, the DVR can't function. Without a card, you can't get a satellite connection. No card, no satellite, no DVR. Period. Not even with the modded software.
It is NOT like the Samsung SIR-TS360 or other non-DVR DirecTV receivers with OTA tuners... With most (or all) of those, you could press a key combo, or stick any old card in the slot (valid or not), and bypass satellite signal verification to get to the menus to switch to OTA-only mode.
The DTV HD Tivos were much more locked-down then their non-DVR counterparts because of the recording capability.
SC
Well I agree with some of this. This software you describe was to enable the USB port on the receiver so you could hook it up to a PC and transfer data between the 2. I think it also allowed to hook up a second hard drive or recognize a larger drive then originally designed. The latter could of been from a different software. There was a bunch of other software also but dont care to remember what it was.
The software I'm talking about is for when the receiver is set for OTA only and a sat connection is or is not connected. It would allow for OTA recording. Actually this receiver would record for 30 minutes OTA when set to OTA only and then stop recording. This was because the original software required a command from TIVO to continue and would dial out into Tivo land somewhere to get it. Without it, it would stop recording. The "Special software" would interrupt the request command and not allow a dial out. It would then return the correct command and the DVR would continue recording. In its day it worked but I have no idea if it still works or not and have no desire to find out.
I have been involved in Directtv since the H card days, Dish since Rom2 and also FTA. Involved in both hardware and software along with repair. I didnt mess with Tivo much because like you said its a PITA. Plus there was not much OTA HD at that time, especially where I lived. Dish DVRs I messed with some more on the recording part and I think I posted a program here not to long ago to retrieve recorded stuff to a PC and it was very simple. Hardware and software I was deeply involved.
Anyways, I agree on the part that it may be difficult to get to the required menu to set the receiver to OTA. Well difficult for some. But once set to OTA only the receiver does not need a sat connection to work. This is confirmed in this models manual. I agree that the DVR will not work by itself (without special software). I agree that the guide wont work but you should still get channel ID and station call letters. So it will work as a OTA HD tuner with HD outputs.
So how do we get into the menu to change it to OTA only? Let me explain to others what SC and I are babbling about.
The sat receiver is like a PC in that it has to boot up like a PC to work. And at any point during that bootup it doesnt receive the proper return it will stop and never come to full operation.
Lets say you hook up this receiver to a tv without a sat connection or card. When you turn it on the the first nag message that will come up is "please insert a card". Now at this point some receiver if you hit the menu button would go to the menu. Some if you hit a certain button sequence would go to a menu. Lets say this one wont. So you have to insert a card. 3 option apply. the original card married to the receiver, an unmarried card or any old card. (There are other devices too but I wont get ito them here). So lets say you only have any old card. You insert that card. Now oyu get a nag message saying " please insert a valid access card". No valid does not mean a subscribed card, it means a card that has the proper software to communicate with the receiver. This software could be Directtv installed or software installed by "other means". At this point some receivers, if you hit the menu a few times would go to the menu or the button sequence may also get you there. If this wont work then you need a married to this receiver card or an unmarried card. So lets say you have one of these and insert the card. Now you will get the nag message "searching for sattelite signal". At this point on some receivers, if you hit the menu button a few times or hit a button sequence it will get you to the menu. Some receivers, if you just let them search for a while, say 3 to 5 minutes would nag message "unable to aquired a sat signal" and would then flip to the menu. If this does not work then you will have to have a sat signal to procede to full bootup and allow you to get into the menu.
Now here's my point. Once you get into the menu and select "OTA only" it disables the searching for sat signal nag and will allow operation of the receiver for OTA HD without a sat connection. Again, this is confirmed in the manual. It may also disable the access card nag but I'm not completely sure.
Now I still have a half a box of unmarried cards and other "special stuff". But I'm not about to start mailing these around just to see if it works.
Here's what I am will to do. Since there are a couple interested in using this box for OTA HD viewing, if someone wants to send me their box, I will dig out my box of "special stuff" and see just what is required to get into the menu and select OTA only and then see what it needs to then continue to work and what features it has. But again, NOT AS A DVR. If I find a simple procedure that one of my cards will solve then I would mail it around.
So once it is set to OTA only, you dont need a sat signal to receive OTA programming. You wont have a guide and it wont record. You should get channel id and you "may" get channel info" but no Directtv guide. HD output would work.
If you want to look for the old software to get it to record and see if it still works then have at it. _________________ macgyver566@gmail.com
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:35 pm Post subject:
Spanky Ham wrote:
Mac,
If you know some service menu work around, then I would love to hear it. I would love to be able to use mine for OTA.
That box of info is still 700 miles away, Spank. I'm hoping to get that stuff in a few weeks but even then I may not have the specific info for this receiver. The option I presented above is probably more viable. _________________ macgyver566@gmail.com
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: Carlsbad, CA
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:44 pm Post subject:
Mine came with a card that I'm pretty sure is married to it. If it lets me set it to OTA only then maybe I'll give it to a someone for them to use as an OTA receiver, but I do not need another one. I was only hoping to have a DVR box for OTA.
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:55 pm Post subject:
If it can't do DVR OTA or provide guide info, what's the point? You don't need a special receiver to decode OTA HD if you have an HD TV. Seems like a wasted effort for no gain to me. _________________ ~Paul
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 5:12 pm Post subject:
Sparky015 wrote:
If it can't do DVR OTA or provide guide info, what's the point? You don't need a special receiver to decode OTA HD if you have an HD TV. Seems like a wasted effort for no gain to me.
This is the point exactly. If your device cant decode OTA HD then its a cheap option. Not everyone needs a recorder but can desire OTA HD. Its a great option for projectors, CRT RPTV and even some HD capable direct view tv's.
I know I could care less about recording OTA HD but I could sure use one of these for my JVC RPTV or one of my projectors when I get one hooked up.
It would basically be an OTA HD tuner. I know I dont sit there watching guides. I get bored quick. If I need a guide to see whats on I just look up my local guide on the net. Of course I dont watch a lot of tv so I know what programs I like to watch and I know when they are on and what channel they are on. Or just surf around. I dont get a guide now with my plasma. Just channel id, channel call letters and current program info. _________________ macgyver566@gmail.com
Link Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 5:42 pm Post subject:
Ah, good point around the prejector. That's pretty much why I have digital cable today. I still have standard TVs and didn't want to buy converters, and I needed a tuner for my projector, which is my main TV.
It's too bad someone didn't make software so that you could enter the code for the show like you could with the later VCRs. Then you wouldn't need the guide in order to record a show. It would be a basic DVR. Maybe that's how that $400 box works. There's just something about having to pay for guide info that pisses me off, when I get it free in the Sunday paper every week. _________________ ~Paul
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