Direct's HMC vs. DISH's Hopper

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I believe this is a hardware limitation as there are only five encoders to record any combination of five tuners.
The content is already encoded before it is uplinked; it doesn't need to be re-encoded. OTA content is also encoded before broadcast.

The content is encrypted by the DVR, but that doesn't apply to OTA content.
 
You only have 5 tuners max.....be it OTA or Satellite.

You CANNOT record more than 5 shows at the same time. As someone who has a AM21 and has tried it numerous times on Saturdays (for college football) the max is 5
0 OTA 5 sat
1 OTA 4 sat
2 OTA 3 sat

thats it....You cant record more than 2 OTA channels at same time
 
If you ever record seven shows at the same time let us know.

The only time it could remotely record "seven" shows is with the overlap

as example technically tonight between 6:59 and 7:01 I am recording 6 shows...but two are on Fox (6:29-7:01 and 6:59-8:01) so for 2 minutes it records the overlap so it "looks" like its recording 6 shows.....but in theory again you have 5 tuners max
 
You only have 5 tuners max.....be it OTA or Satellite.

You CANNOT record more than 5 shows at the same time. As someone who has a AM21 and has tried it numerous times on Saturdays (for college football) the max is 5
0 OTA 5 sat
1 OTA 4 sat
2 OTA 3 sat

thats it....You cant record more than 2 OTA channels at same time

Thanks Iceberg.
 
tonight is a night I wish the AM21 added one extra tuner ;)

LOL, I have been in a situation before where I needed five tuners to record at the same time but not six. Do you know if there is a way to tell what Direct TV dish is used for my home? I see that Direct dishes have a three and five LBN models. When I look at TheList bird 99 and 103 are not listed.
 
The 3 LNB sees 99,101, 103
the 5 LNB sees 99,101,103,110,119

99 & 103 is for HD
101 is for SD
110 is vacant.....been vacated for a while now (there is only 3 TP's there)
119 has Spanish channels, locals (in SD) for some markets and a handful of the SonicTap channels

thelist is grossly outdated for D* because Directv uses their own system it is very hard to try to decode the maps (unlike Dish which uses standard DVB)

As to which LNB you have....the 3 LNB looks like one giant eye. The 5 LNB has 2 LNB"s offset from the "giant" one......or tune to channel 368 Hope Channel
If it shows up then you have the 5 LNB as that channel is on 119
If it doesnt then you have the 3 LNB
 
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LOL, I have been in a situation before where I needed five tuners to record at the same time but not six.

last Friday I had 8 things I wanted to record at same time
network programming on CBS, ABC & FOX
Timberwolves season opener on My29 (local station)
Nascar truck race (watched replay on Monday)
2 college hockey games
WWE Smackdown (got pushed to the replay on Saturday

This is where something like the "Hawpa" thing that records the Big 4 nets during prime time and only uses one tuner would be nice on Directv. The "Hawpa" couldnt even support the above with its puny 3 tuners ;)
 
The 3 LNB sees 99,101, 103
the 5 LNB sees 99,101,103,110,119

99 & 103 is for HD
101 is for SD
110 is vacant.....been vacated for a while now (there is only 3 TP's there)
119 has Spanish channels, locals (in SD) for some markets and a handful of the SonicTap channels

thelist is grossly outdated for D* because Directv uses their own system it is very hard to try to decode the maps (unlike Dish which uses standard DVB)

As to which LNB you have....the 3 LNB looks like one giant eye. The 5 LNB has 2 LNB"s offset from the "giant" one......or tune to channel 368 Hope Channel
If it shows up then you have the 5 LNB as that channel is on 119
If it doesnt then you have the 3 LNB

I am still with Dish but might switch to Direct. If I get a HR34 and two HR24's would I need a SWM-8 or SWM-16 Multi-Switch?
 
last Friday I had 8 things I wanted to record at same time
network programming on CBS, ABC & FOX
Timberwolves season opener on My29 (local station)
Nascar truck race (watched replay on Monday)
2 college hockey games
WWE Smackdown (got pushed to the replay on Saturday

This is where something like the "Hawpa" thing that records the Big 4 nets during prime time and only uses one tuner would be nice on Directv. The "Hawpa" couldnt even support the above with its puny 3 tuners ;)

I had thought you were with Dish TV. So I take it you like Direct better!
 
I had thought you were with Dish TV.
nope. Have been with D* for 33 months now

So I take it you like Direct better!
The 5 tuners for me works the best. I use to have 2 HD DVR's and another receiver. Dropped all of them in Feb and upgraded to the HR34 (Genie)...added 1 extra tuner for recording and dropped the bill $12 (going from 3 receivers to 1)

Now with Dish's "Hawpa" while it looks nice the fact that I record maybe 5 shows on Big 4 nets during Prime Time their "Prime time any time" thing dosnt work for me. I need tuners as I record a lot of satellite channels, sports and such. 3 tuners with their setup wont work for me

Original reason I got D*? They had my RSN in HD and Dish didnt (they still dont 24/7 but at least have most games in HD) and the locals I wanted were in HD (Dish didnt even carry them)
 
nope. Have been with D* for 33 months now


The 5 tuners for me works the best. I use to have 2 HD DVR's and another receiver. Dropped all of them in Feb and upgraded to the HR34 (Genie)...added 1 extra tuner for recording and dropped the bill $12 (going from 3 receivers to 1)



Now with Dish's "Hawpa" while it looks nice the fact that I record maybe 5 shows on Big 4 nets during Prime Time their "Prime time any time" thing dosnt work for me. I need tuners as I record a lot of satellite channels, sports and such. 3 tuners with their setup wont work for me

Original reason I got D*? They had my RSN in HD and Dish didnt (they still dont 24/7 but at least have most games in HD) and the locals I wanted were in HD (Dish didnt even carry them)

WOW, that was a good deal. I never have a problem for a lack of tuners with two 722ks and one 722 all with OTA modules (11 tuners). All three DVRs are fed in to my home distribution system that feeds 10 TVs including the TVs where the three DVRs are. I am happy with the SD quality at the older TVs. I have another 722 in the kids room and he is fine with just 3 tuners. Does the HR34 have a home distribution port by any chance? I know the Hopper doesn't.
 
Does the HR34 have a home distribution port by any chance? I know the Hopper doesn't.
None of the DIRECTV HD equipment has had RF modulators since the introduction of the Plus series in 2005. The other downer is that their networking system clashes with UHF broadcast television so diplexing is not an easy option.
 
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