Are there any NON-HD sat. receivers or PVR/DVR's that would allow me to record Satellite AND OTA programming? I sold our HD set and am still using our 811 with our new analog set, recording with our VCR. I want to be able to hook up our OTA antenna directly to sat. box, like with the 811. Then I could sell the 811. I have our old 301, but there is nowhere to connect the OTA antenna. Thanks for any advice.
Recording satelite and OTA signals
- Thread starter JimMcC
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Tivo
I'm confused. So I could use my 301 receiver and a Tivo unit? The Tivo would just be used for the OTA programming? How would I hook these up? Would the OTA programming show up on the guide from either unit? I'm sorry, but I know NOTHING about Tivo. Which Tivo unit do you recommend, and where to buy it? Thanks for any advice.
I'm confused. So I could use my 301 receiver and a Tivo unit? The Tivo would just be used for the OTA programming? How would I hook these up? Would the OTA programming show up on the guide from either unit? I'm sorry, but I know NOTHING about Tivo. Which Tivo unit do you recommend, and where to buy it? Thanks for any advice.
Why don't you buy a DVD recorder? Many of them have antenna connectors and even integrated program guides (like my Panasonic E-95). When you want to record an OTA show you can select the program from the DVD recorder's integrated guide.
When you want to record a satellite program you can set up a timer recording for the S-video (or composite) input on the DVD recorder. Then in your 301's guide you can find the program you want to record, select it, then mark it to auto-tune. That way your 301 will automatically tune to the program at the right time, and the DVD recorder will start recording. I think it's also possible to set up the 301 to IR blast the DVD recorder to make it record, but I haven't tried that yet.
When you want to record a satellite program you can set up a timer recording for the S-video (or composite) input on the DVD recorder. Then in your 301's guide you can find the program you want to record, select it, then mark it to auto-tune. That way your 301 will automatically tune to the program at the right time, and the DVD recorder will start recording. I think it's also possible to set up the 301 to IR blast the DVD recorder to make it record, but I haven't tried that yet.
DVD recorder
Thanks Redline. I am considering a DVD recorder, but I don't want to spend too much. What you suggested sounds too complicated to me. Do you use your's to watch DVD movies also? Would it be easier to use one with the 811 or 301(recording satellite and OTA programming)? As you can tell I know nothing about DVD recorders. I'm thinking of spending about $150, if they work decent. Thanks for any advice.
Thanks Redline. I am considering a DVD recorder, but I don't want to spend too much. What you suggested sounds too complicated to me. Do you use your's to watch DVD movies also? Would it be easier to use one with the 811 or 301(recording satellite and OTA programming)? As you can tell I know nothing about DVD recorders. I'm thinking of spending about $150, if they work decent. Thanks for any advice.
Maybe I'm wrong, folks, but I believe the only way you can record HD, at least for archiving, is with a D-VHS recorder. I have one and have a couple of movies that were shown in HD OTA. I don't think there's such a thing ... yet ... as a HD-DVR or HD-DVD recorder.
Yup, you can you both easily. Your OTA antenna goes directly into the TiVo, and the 301's output goes into the TiVo's inputs. The TiVo guide will include all your OTA channels plus whatever Dish channels you tell the TiVo that you receive.JimMcC said:
You don't have to pay a monthly service fee to TiVo -- you can pay a single lifetime fee up front. (That's for the lifetime of the unit, not you.) If you look at it that way, the TiVo box becomes a moderately expensive purchase with no monthly fees.
I have a Panasonic E85-H that I feed S-Video from my Voom & Dish stb's and the downrezzed HD looks very good, even on my big screen. Plus I can edit out commercials & add a thumbnail for the menus. I love this thing, I've already burned around 500 DVD's with it over the past year. My Panny uses an OTA guide that is free of charge from your local PBS station and it will record a show regularly. It won't do name based, but it does recognize when a show is longer like last night's Amazing Race.
You will get a better OTA picture with the 811 because it's got a digital tuner. If you use the OTA tuner in a DVD recorder you will be limited to analog OTA, which can look pretty bad depending on your signal. I don't know that either the 811 or 301 would be easier to use with a DVD recorder, they both will provide you with an S-video output that you need to capture with some sort of recording device (whether it be a TiVo or DVD recorder). However, I'm not sure if the 301 will give you program listings for your analog OTA like the 811 does with digital OTA.JimMcC said:
If you don't care about archiving shows to DVD, it might be best to consider the TiVo unit. From what carload says about it, it will most likely be easier to record shows with TiVo than a DVD recorder.
The DVD recorder really isn't that complicated to use once you do it a few times and figure out which one of the recording methods works best for you:
- satellite receiver --> IR blast the DVD recorder
- DVD recorder --> IR blast the satellite receiver
- set a manual timer recording
If you think there might be shows or movies you want to save on DVD, or if you have home videos you'd like to transfer to DVD it might be worth looking into. And yes, I use my DVD recorder to watch DVD movies also.
