My install is today and I'm wondering what kind of setups most are comfortable with. I only have one TV and record a lot. With my 722 I set up a custom channel and reversed my guides scroll direction. I transfer a lot to my EHD. Will that be as easy? Any suggestions as to how to best set up my new Hopper. Anything I should be aware of that the installer mught now touch on? How does the auto record for locals work? By that I mean if the locals recording is done on the sat tuner is it still worthwhile to get the OTA module or will I just be duplicating the local recording?
The Hopper's Ultimate Setup
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I am assuming you mean the Prime Time Any Time feature. It records the Big Four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) during primetime hours 7 pm to 11 pm on one tuner leaving the other two open for viewing/recording or pip if you use that. EHD and Guide setup is much the same as the 722, although the menu is quite different, but you should be able to figure it out quickly. In my case, I like having the addition ota tuner for use on the other channels, plus you may be able to get some worth while channels that Dish does not carry.
Thanks for the info. Am I correct in thinking that the prime time recordings are saved on a different hard drive than other recordings? Any other tips from someone already experienced in the nuances of the Hopper? I'll do plenty of experimenting but a map to the treasures would be nice. Is the channel skip option something I need to turn on and does it work on all recordings on all tuners? How about stuff watched from the EHD?Anybody but me using a Darbee to enhance the PQ? Naything special about hooking up the OTA module (the 722's is built in)
Just had mine set up on Sunday. I am getting the OTA tuner to add on because I like the sub channels and being able to watch another tuner without interupting anything.
I also have a EHD. Here is how my experience with that went.
Moved all my shows to EHD before the install.
Dish tech plugged it in before he left.
When I tried to view it that same night it said I had to activate it. (However this is not true as they don't require activation anymore).
Matt on the DIRT team sent a hit to my box which allowed me to see the EHD on the screen. (However there were no shows on it).
I then had to turn off the Hopper, unplug the EHD, Plug the EHD back in, and then power on the Hopper.
That worked and I now have all my shows. So yes, it does work, just not right away.
I also had to change the order of my guide since Dish insist on having it go from high channels to low channels (Which is so backwards to me).
The PTAT feature uses one tuner on the satellite to record as many of the four major networks as you wish. It is a great feature as you can go tell it to save the shows you wish to keep directly to the hard drive. The new menu system takes a bit of getting used to but is pretty straight forward.
I also have a EHD. Here is how my experience with that went.
Moved all my shows to EHD before the install.
Dish tech plugged it in before he left.
When I tried to view it that same night it said I had to activate it. (However this is not true as they don't require activation anymore).
Matt on the DIRT team sent a hit to my box which allowed me to see the EHD on the screen. (However there were no shows on it).
I then had to turn off the Hopper, unplug the EHD, Plug the EHD back in, and then power on the Hopper.
That worked and I now have all my shows. So yes, it does work, just not right away.
I also had to change the order of my guide since Dish insist on having it go from high channels to low channels (Which is so backwards to me).
The PTAT feature uses one tuner on the satellite to record as many of the four major networks as you wish. It is a great feature as you can go tell it to save the shows you wish to keep directly to the hard drive. The new menu system takes a bit of getting used to but is pretty straight forward.
I think I understand how the PTAT works regarding recording but am I correct in thinking that those specific recorded shows go to a secondary hard drive thus not using any of the main 1TB hard drive? If not I see no real advantage to the PTAT feature. For instance, on Friday night I record 4 different shows at 8PM on each major network. How will that work with the Hopper? PS, I'm waiting for the installer as I write this. Window of 10am-2pm. I was told I could not order the OTA module until the Hopper was activated.
There is only one HD in the Hopper. Everything PTAT and your chosen recordings all go to that same 2TB HD.... It's a pretty big drive, nothing to concern yourself with....
The bonus is you can record all 4 of them using only one tuner. The hopper contains a 2TB drive with seperate partitions for various things. For shows that you have timers set for, they will automatically be moved from the PTAT folder to your regular DVR folder. Any other PT shows will remain in the PTAT folder for 8 days then delete automatically.
Correct. Same hard drive, but the shows that you keep will be located outside of the PTAT folder.
Does this work pretty consistently? I thought I read about some issues people were having, but I could be confused.
Also, I can't remember is Auto hop still works if a recording has been moved to the DVR folder. Or does it have to be in the PTAT folder for Auto Hop to work?
All PTAT shows record automatically, I use it ALL the time. You can pick from the PTAT folder. If you want to keep something longer than 8 days, you can save it to your folder.
Autohop only works with PTAT, but yes, it is still working. You can only view a recording with autohop after 1 AM of the next day. I don't know if the autohop works if you move the program to a different folder.
Autohop only works with PTAT, but yes, it is still working. You can only view a recording with autohop after 1 AM of the next day. I don't know if the autohop works if you move the program to a different folder.
My understanding is that it's one hard drive with 2 1gig partitions. 1 for the PTAT the other for your personal recordings. This would mean that each partition is limited to 1 gig each. I reserve the right to be wrong on this.
As stated the autohop is only available on PTAT shows, but not all of them. You have to turn on the feature in the settings. You can choose to have PTAT recordings "copied" to your personal recordings partition, and yes the autohop seems to carry with it.
What I was curious about was if you set up a timer for certain shows, say NCIS, but also have PTAT enabled will the timered (I know not a word) recording automatically go to the DVR folder? If so, is it working well? Or will have to remember to save it from the PTAT folder each time? We generally save up several weeks worth of single shows (like 8 weeks worth of CSI, for example) and watch many episodes in one sitting, but I want to be sure that we wont miss any episodes.
See my post above, you do not have to remember to save each ptat recording. Just select "save the series" and it will store them under personal recordings. Be sure and set the episode limit appropriately. It defaults to 20, but you can set it to unlimited.
PTAT shows were originally saved to separate space on the drive, 200+G that has now been added, in a recent software update, to the original 1T of user space. Autohop shows autohop no matter where you play them from and no matter how you recorded them, PTAT or not.
Leave your EHD shows on the EHD because they play as easily from a drop down menu as do regular recordings. You don't run the risk of errors in tranferring.
Leave your EHD shows on the EHD because they play as easily from a drop down menu as do regular recordings. You don't run the risk of errors in tranferring.
After losing most of my programs on 2 EHD's, I too recommend NOT transferring to your Hopper. The only good to come of this is that a lot of the programs where recorded in SD, and I'm picking up a lot of the reruns now in HD.
Just to understand this, you could end up with a show recorded twice, correct? By the way, some really good info generated here. Thanks.
No. If PTAT is enabled and you select Save Series a copy of the show is put in My Recordings. Its not recorded twice. If you have a timer set up for a show that is in PTAT the timer will show as skipped because PTAT is in control. A copy will still appear in My Recordings.
And autohop will work for ALL primetime network shows if you have PTAT enbabled at all. If you only have PTAT set up for one day, all the primetime network shows recorded on other days will also have autohop...
