5/9 Tech Chat Summary

[BobaBird]

Very nice job Sean. Nice to see formatting used on the forum, it make a long post easier to follow. Have to ask though, what is USB "two point oscar"?

It's been a while since I wrote a summary but I made myself do it. If I didn't have a DVR I wouldn't attempt it. Mine can be found elsewhere (specifically, http://ekb.dbstalk.com/Tech0505.htm) with plenty of bullets .

They said the 942 "Outputs 480p, 720p or 1080i, will upconvert 480i." I thought it would also output 480i to TV1.

Also, the 942 can record from all 3 tuners at once.

Larry, the DPP44 solution may have been better than the "unsupported" SW64/SW21 cascade for the questioner's future setup. I cranked the volume WAY up to hear the first part of the answer and it seems he will later need 61.5° on at least 3 tuners. That will make the DPP44 install much cleaner then but doesn't change that he actually could add the SW21(s) to his SW64 now.

If programming on an external HDD can only be played through the receiver it was copied from, what happens if there is a repair swap? Or when there is an MPEG4 swap?

 

[dogpoobob]

Did they give any idea when the OTA program guide issue will be resolved. rather than, "working with broadcasters?"

 

[larrystotler]

Larry, the DPP44 solution may have been better than the "unsupported" SW64/SW21 cascade for the questioner's future setup. I cranked the volume WAY up to hear the first part of the answer and it seems he will later need 61.5° on at least 3 tuners. That will make the DPP44 install much cleaner then but doesn't change that he actually could add the SW21(s) to his SW64 now.

It was still a cop out. They should have referred him to someone to do the installation or here to one of these boards. I realize that legacy gets more complicated when you go past 3 sats or 4 tuners, and that DP+ is easier, but that doesn't neccessarliy make it better. Aside from the complexity, it is actually cheaper to do it by adding to his system than replacing.

 

[KE4EST]

Excellent Recap

 

[Mike4HDTV]

I watched the Tech Chat today and they showed the PocketDish. It looked great. It reminded me of the PSP only in silver. I wonder how much these will cost.

As for the USB port with adding an external harddrive, you will be able to transfer programs stored on a DVR and move them to the harddrive. They will only play on the drive when its connected to the receiver. I think you will be able to use the harddrive on multiple boxes but you will only be able to watch the program stored on the external harddrive when its connected to the orginal box that it came from.

 

[Stargazer]

They said that the 7" screen one (the best one) would be $699. The other ones will be cheaper but such smaller screens.

I like the USB transport to external hard drives idea. I just hope that when these units fail that we can play the data back on the replaced reciever. The only way they would be able to achieve this is by entering a unique code with some program onto the external hard drive to match the data on the new reciever or write the old reciever numbers to the replacement reciever. They might even be able to have dual codes on the replacement reciever containing the old numbers and new numbers. They may have to retire the old numbers to the new/replacement reciever if they go this route.

A simpler process would be a device to put in between the usb port and external hard drive which would marry both together. If a replacement reciever is needed they could program the external hard drive to work with it through that device that is placed in between it.

 

[shanewalker]

I agree with you 'Stargazer', after rewatching the Tech Forum last night, I was most impressed/excited about the USB/External HD expansion of the 942. That goes a ways to address the lack of firewire for D-VHS archiving and the low 25hr HD storage ceiling of the box. I could easily see a large (say 500GB-1TB) USB drive being added to my component rack to 'offload' HD material I want to keep around. I've only had my 942 for two weeks and I already felt the impulse to throw away a couple of things so that I didn't get my HD recording capacity too low. I hope this feature is activated soon.

 

[larrystotler]

Keep in mind that with the FCC's ruling about controlling recorded content shot down by the courts, that E* may have to release the encryption of the content on the DVRs, and we may be able to start adding our own HD's(at least for those of us who own them) for extra storage.

 

[DucTape]

Sounds good to me Larry and then they can get rid of the USB crap and go back to Firewire which is much better for this material in my OP.

 

[larrystotler]

They should have just went with Ethernet. It's the best out of all of them and the most suitable.

 

[John Kotches]

Larry,

For this type of data transfer, USB and Firewire are better suited and have less resource overhead.

Cheers,

 

[jstroup]

Giving away a 942/Explaining Dual/Single Mode.

Question to win a 942: At what frequency our UHF remote operate?


copyright of Satelliteguys.us [/QUOTE]

i didn't see the answer to this in the thread, is it a continuing question that needs resolved, or was the 942 given away already? my curiosity is really the frequency, though, as that will help with identifying interference?
thanks, jgs

 

[korsjs]

the 942 was given away.

 

[jstroup]

the 942 was given away.

so where would i find the frequency . . of the UHF's ??

 

[BobaBird]

From http://ekb.dbstalk.com/Tech0505.htm the answer was 369.5 MHz.

 

[Stargazer]

I'd love to have a 942 but the pricetag and release of MPEG-4 soon makes me not want to invest a lot of money into MPEG-2 right now.

 

[jstroup]

From http://ekb.dbstalk.com/Tech0505.htm the answer was 369.5 MHz.

Thank you, sir

 

[Smith P.]

From http://ekb.dbstalk.com/Tech0505.htm the answer was 369.5 MHz.

offtopic, but regarding receiver's comparision table at EKB - iLINK [Sony TM] should be corrected to DishLink.