Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD DVR Questions

[gtsgts]

Hello everyone. I actually have two questions if anyone could help me out. I'd really appreciate it.

Question # 1

Hi, I'm a Time Warner cable New York subscriber. I have the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD DVR. In the users guide it's says press list, and press B to display the preferences screen, which displays the percentage of space used. I however don't have that option. The B in list just shows the scheduled recordings. I was wondering if there's anyway I could go about checking to see how much recording space do I have?

Question # 2

I want to buy a western digital My DVR Expander to add more storage space to my dvr. It's compatible with Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVRs. It would be connected via the SATA port. Is the SATA port active on the 8300HD DVR that time warner provides, or did time warner cable disable the port?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer.

 

[Hall]

1) You're probably reading a user's manual for SARA-software equipped 8300HD units. Your box runs Passport Echo and does NOT have that option.

2) Some areas have the support for external drives enabled while others don't. Go to AVS Forums and try this thread, SA 8000HD & 8300HD w/ Passport software (TWC) - AVS Forum. I'd actually start at the LAST page and start reading (scanning) backwards.

 

[gtsgts]

Thank you for for posting that. That's a big thread I better get the reading. :haha One more thing does anyone know how much space are you suppose to have? I can have 6 hours of HD program recorded, and maybe 2 hours of SD program recorded, and it will start deleting things on it's own.

 

[Hall]

I don't remember the numbers anymore but I'm 100% sure it's MUCH MORE than that. Seems to me something like 20 hours of HD or ?? hours of SD. Note that it's either/or. You do NOT get 20 hours of HD and ?? hours of SD. You can mix HD and SD programs, of course, but then the numbers are thrown out.

Something may be wrong with the box.... Return it and get a different one.

 

[Bigguy]

Thank you for for posting that. That's a big thread I better get the reading. :haha One more thing does anyone know how much space are you suppose to have? I can have 6 hours of HD program recorded, and maybe 2 hours of SD program recorded, and it will start deleting things on it's own.

You need to change the length of time( I think it can be up to 14 days) the shows are saving for or turn off the auto earse.

 

[Hall]

Being a TWC customer, he most likely has Passport Echo software. It does NOT auto-delete after a time period. It only auto-deletes when space is low. I suspect you have SARA and it operates that way.

 

[Bigguy]

I am also TWC costumer and have SARA software on my 8300HD, others us around use the passport software.

 

[stevenl]

It can record 50Hours of STD programming, HD eats up alot more.

If you have a program you want to keep I suggest marking it as "SAve until manually deleted" Otherwise the box guesstimates your free space, based on What you already have, and what upcoming you have. THen it assigns a length to the program ie: 4 days left, 3 days left, etc it counts down. So it does not only calculate what you already have recorded but what is in your que to be recorded.

 

[nateman99]

While it won't tell you how much "record time" you have (that would be too easy, right?), if you are more technically inclined you can see space utilization on an 8300HD running Passport. To do it, go to channel "999" and then scroll down to "DVR AVFS". I am currently using 137.1 GB with 13.4 GB free. Hope it helps!

 

[Hall]

Remember, the channel # that accesses the diagnostic menus varies by division. In mine, it was channel 611, not 999.

 

[mou353]

Time Warner 8300hd Problem In Ny

I just got the new 8300 HD DVR from Time Warner. I hooked it up and find that when I change stations and the resolution changes from station to station, the picture on my TV goes from picture to black to picture to black and stays black for about 5 seconds. I called Time Warner about this and they said they don't support HDMI (or DVI) and to use the component cables I was given. I told them that the cable doesn't give as sharp a picture as the HDMI. They said they couldn't help me and that is the way the box works. I called Scientific Atlanta and they said I have to go into the service menu in the box and I can choose just the 1080 resolution and that should solve the problem. I am not sure that I believe this but I am willing to try it. The problem is that Time Warner has the code (what buttons to press either on the box or the remote to get into the menu) and they won't give it out. They say the box shouldn't be changed. Considering the amount of my cable bill each month I am not willing to accept second rate cable. Is anyone else having this problem and what can I do about it? It is extremely annoying and I am considering going to Direct TV.

 

[terryfoster]

I'm not sure that switching to component video cables would resolve this problem anyway. I'm not sure what software you're running, but on the Passport software you can open the settings menu, press the button for more settings, and then find the menu option for display resolutions. If you make sure that 1080i is the only resolution selected, then you should be set.

Personally I prefer using the internal scale on my HDTV and putting up with the couple of seconds it takes for the resolution to change on the box.

 

[broncobri5]

I used to install TWC boxes, and where I worked all passport boxes would show you the diagnostic menu if you held the front select and ext buttons at the same time for a few seconds (until "bing"), and then pushed exit again.

 

[stevenl]

You can change the resolution on the Passport software without going into the Diagnostics menu. Just click on Settings (then A for more settings) Then scroll through the list until you get to the part with the resolution information. It will be next to the location you can change the aspect ratio as well. I recomend setting it to allow only 1080i By default the boxes come with all the options checked 480/720 etc etc. The menu to change this is in the same spot the Parental controls, and all that is.

 

[Hall]

Sounds like he got a broken-a** SA8300HDC box that's running Navigator and not Passport. Apparently being able to change resolutions is a minor oversight TW forgot to consider....

Actually, I expect it's a bug in a recent s/w update. I've read others having the trouble all over the country. One suggestion is to hook it up with component, set it to the resolution you want, then re-connect it with HDMI/DVI.