E*: is it THAT hard for an option to choose what tuner you want to record on? (pics)

[sdschramm]

Inspired by this post and many others that have requested this feature, I decided to have a little fun the other day and make something to ILLUSTRATE what we all want from Dish.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll catch you up. Currently, when you go to make a timer on your DVR, one of two things will happen. If you have "record plus" turned off, the timer you create will be recoded on the TV you make it on. So if you are watching TV1 and create a timer, it will record on TV1. But like most people, we have "record plus" turned on, So no matter what TV you create the timer on, it always gets pushed to TV2. The problem is, there is no way to MANUALLY tell the receiver what tuner you want something to record on. For example, You want to record a show from 9:00pm - 10:00pm on a channel. You create the timer, and it gets set for tuner 2. It's now night time and you're lying in bed watching a good movie that isn't set to be over until 9:30pm. Its now 8:59pm and you get the countdown clock on the screen that means the channel is going to change so it can record the other show. You're nice and cozy in bed and the only way to finish the movie it is if you went downstairs to watch it on the big screen, but you don't want to do that. Sure, you could create a timer to record the end of the event, but then it would record on TV1 because TV2 was already set before hand. The only way to prevent all this is to cancel BOTH timers, then first set the one for your movie upstairs on TV2, then recreate your old timer that would be set for TV1. By the time you do all this, you just spent more time than if you were just able to WATCH the last few minutes of the movie and go to bed.

The solution? Create an option PER timer that lets you choose what tuner you want it on. That way if you have a timer set for late at night that would go to TV2, and you know that your going to be watching TV2 at that time, you could tell it to do it on TV1 because no one would be watching it at that time.

Also, there could be a "smart" option added so the receiver doesn't choose the tuner to record it on UNTIL the event starts. That way, if the receiver sees that TV2 is in use, then it would AUTOMATICALLY start the recording on TV1 - and vice versa. An even better idea would be to create a way to "transfer" programs/tuners. That way, if you turn on a TV and it is currently recording, a message would come up to say that a recording is in progress and that it can either be transferred to the other TV that is not in use (swap tuners), stopped, or you could could push cancel and it would continue recording on the same tuner it was when it started.

Now for the pictures. Although I did make the album art for the SatelliteGuys podcast (yes, thats me) I am in no way a pro at Photoshop, so please excuse my bad editing job.

The first pics is what currently comes up, the second pic is what SHOULD come up in the future.
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So what do you guys say? Is my logic right in all this? I say we send this to the developers at Dish so they could work on this and hopefully release a software update to enable such features.

If you agree, please reply! Lets get this thread full of pages of people saying they would like to see this!

Also, if anyone would have the appropriate email address to send this to at Dish, please PM me.

Thanks!
Scott

 

[KAB]

This has been discussed for about three years. And unless Dish developers live in a vacuum, I am certain they are aware. It's easy to find faults and complain. Not always as easy to address them. New receiver is coming out soon. Maybe then.

 

[csschrot]

Another way to solve your problem. Buy a second 6.3 remote. insert the green 1 uhf pro tab with the black number 1. go to sys info screen and program the tv 2 reomote and tv 1 remotes to differnt UHF remote addresses. go to the modulator screen and activate tv 1 output to what ever channel you want. now when you are in bed and tv 2 goes to record use your new tv1 uhf remote to continue your program on what ever channel you have choosen. dont forget to change your current IR tv 1 remote to the remote address you choose for the tv1 uhf remote.

This is a cheap solution that doesn't require you to wait for new software.

Hope this helps.

 

[harshness]

Do you know when you set something to record that you (or someone else) won't be watching anything on the TV in question? I can see the fallout when someone schedules something to record on tuner 1 and someone watching TV1 gets cut off because they didn't go to bed on time.

The logic should certainly seek out a tuner that appears to not be in use, but figuring that out may be problematic for those who refuse to turn "off" their TV1 (or TV2).

 

[sdschramm]

Another way to solve your problem. Buy a second 6.3 remote. insert the green 1 uhf pro tab with the black number 1. go to sys info screen and program the tv 2 reomote and tv 1 remotes to differnt UHF remote addresses. go to the modulator screen and activate tv 1 output to what ever channel you want. now when you are in bed and tv 2 goes to record use your new tv1 uhf remote to continue your program on what ever channel you have choosen. dont forget to change your current IR tv 1 remote to the remote address you choose for the tv1 uhf remote.

This is a cheap solution that doesn't require you to wait for new software.

Hope this helps.

Yes, that makes sense. So now I can CONTROL TV1, but how do I see the TV1 picture on TV2?

That would require me to go downstairs, open the receiver and push the mode button to set it to Single, activate picture and picture, swap sources, turn off PiP, set mode back to dual, go back upstairs, and THEN it would work.

 

[sdschramm]

Do you know when you set something to record that you (or someone else) won't be watching anything on the TV in question? I can see the fallout when someone schedules something to record on tuner 1 and someone watching TV1 gets cut off because they didn't go to bed on time.

The logic should certainly seek out a tuner that appears to not be in use, but figuring that out may be problematic for those who refuse to turn "off" their TV1 (or TV2).

Yes, that is why I said a "smart" option should be made, so if the TV your watching is set to record, and your watching it, you can easily transfer it to the TV not in use.

And yes I can see a problem if you don't have a habit of "turning off" your TV. That is when code could be written to say "if no activity has been made (sitting on the same channel too long, not pushing any buttons, etc) then it would consider the TV not used and could then transfer the program to that TV.

 

[harshness]

Yes, that makes sense. So now I can CONTROL TV1, but how do I see the TV1 picture on TV2?

Tune the upstairs TV to the UHF/CATV channel that you chose for TV1, of course.

 

[n0qcu]

Yes, that makes sense. So now I can CONTROL TV1, but how do I see the TV1 picture on TV2?

.

Originally Posted by csschrot
Another way to solve your problem. Buy a second 6.3 remote. insert the green 1 uhf pro tab with the black number 1. go to sys info screen and program the tv 2 reomote and tv 1 remotes to differnt UHF remote addresses. go to the modulator screen and activate tv 1 output to what ever channel you want. now when you are in bed and tv 2 goes to record use your new tv1 uhf remote to continue your program on what ever channel you have choosen. dont forget to change your current IR tv 1 remote to the remote address you choose for the tv1 uhf remote.

This is a cheap solution that doesn't require you to wait for new software.

Hope this helps.

See bolded text in above quote.

 

[harshness]

That is when code could be written to say "if no activity has been made (sitting on the same channel too long, not pushing any buttons, etc) then it would consider the TV not used and could then transfer the program to that TV.

Not good enough. Would you have it break out in the middle of a long program (like a sporting event or movie marathon) and switch you to something that someone wanted to record?

Different people use their devices in different ways and there are going to be collisions. Resolving those collisions to everyone's satisfaction will never be possible.

 

[sdschramm]

See bolded text in above quote.

Opps, my bad. I already knew what he was going to say, so i guess I didn't read it that carefully.

 

[sdschramm]

Not good enough. Would you have it break out in the middle of a long program (like a sporting event or movie marathon) and switch you to something that someone wanted to record?

Different people use their devices in different ways and there are going to be collisions. Resolving those collisions to everyone's satisfaction will never be possible.

True, but it could be an OPTION. If you don't like it, then don't set it. Meanwhile it could helps others out. (just like they did with the "remote warning" popup. --- if you don't like it, turn it off, otherwise, that feature could help non technical people fix there own problems.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

If you agree, please reply! Lets get this thread full of pages of people saying they would like to see this!

Also, if anyone would have the appropriate email address to send this to at Dish, please PM me.

Thanks!
Scott

I agree they should let you choose the tuner At the record screen. Or just do what the D* receivers and the 612 do and record a program on the tuner thats not being used. But E* 2 room DVRs really should have 3 satellite tuners IMO. That way your not always trying to find a way to record something while the wife is in the bedroom trying to watch something.

 

[TheKrell]

How is it that you guys have a "record once" as the default? My SD DVR receivers all default to "all" which is dumber than dirt in my opinion. Much worse than fighting over which tuner is doing the recording.

BTW - thanks for putting me onto the best answer (for now), which is to disable "record plus."

 

[sdschramm]

How is it that you guys have a "record once" as the default? My SD DVR receivers all default to "all" which is dumber than dirt in my opinion. Much worse than fighting over which tuner is doing the recording.

BTW - thanks for putting me onto the best answer (for now), which is to disable "record plus."

When you want to record something, say in the guide....are you pushing SELECT or the REC button to click on the hi-lighted box? I found that (not official) that if you push the REC button, it assumes you want them all and does what it is doing for you, but if you just push the select button on just that one program, it sets it for "once". This is true for me, most of the time. Sometimes it plays tricks on me and I have to go back and re-setup the timer.

I wish they'd just fix the situation and make it consistent no matter what program you select, or how you select it.

 

[StonesCat]

If I've got something that I want to record on another TV than the one I'm watching, I'll just wait until the start time begins, hit record, then it gives you the option for either TV. The only thing you lose is the couple minutes before and after that auto record picks up(if that is preset). Mostly, I'm recording movies and all you miss is all the ratings stuff anyway. Usually, I'll set the auto record to remind myself w/the countdown timer to switch recording methods.

 

[TheDishDr]

if your recording movies "once" is the default.... if you are recording a series "all" will be the default... its not that hard to change.. i doubt people will know where they will be watching tv when a show is set to record,... as was stated above, so its really not a great option for MOST people, if you disagree you probably the exception, but if you talk to millions of customers all the time you get a good idea of what you are dealing with.. it wouldnt help much... stones cat has it figured out, set a reminder, if you know you are going to be watching tv at that time, and then you can set it to recorder remainder of event right then

 

[sdschramm]

If I've got something that I want to record on another TV than the one I'm watching, I'll just wait until the start time begins, hit record, then it gives you the option for either TV. The only thing you lose is the couple minutes before and after that auto record picks up(if that is preset). Mostly, I'm recording movies and all you miss is all the ratings stuff anyway. Usually, I'll set the auto record to remind myself w/the countdown timer to switch recording methods.

Good Idea! Only problem is you have to know that you'll have the TV on then, and you have to reminder to be watching it so when the reminder comes up, you can set it to record.

But if you are paying attention to it, then that is a good idea, byt for me, I can see me doing that, forget to have the TV on, or maybe something will come up and the next thing you know I'm not there to see the time, and when I get back, the show is never recorded.

 

[Aqualung812]

To me, the idle TV issue is a PITA that shouldn't be part of this conversation. What I would like to see, and what I think would make many people like sdschramm happy, is just the plain ability to set tuner when you set a recording.

Let me give you an example. I record NFL games in HD. I'm always going to watch those on my TV1, since it is the HD one. So, I always want those to record on TV1. Otherwise, what ends up happening is that I get home 30 minutes after the game starts, start watching it on TV1, and then my family turns on TV2 and sees that I'm now using both tuners for my show. Not cool.

The opposite can be true. I only want Spongebob Squarepants to record on TV2. If TV2 is busy with another recording, then use program priority to resolve what gets recorded.

What we're looking for is 3 schedules: TV1, TV2, and then the default of TV2->TV1.