Trick DVR into signal to watch recorded programs during outage

[fred franken]

Intro: I have no TV, Internet or Phone days after power has been restored in North Idaho, and still no sign of TWC (Time Warner Cable) and first 'appointment' available is next week (although the problem is not at my house).

Tech support said their technicians are off for the holiday- must be nice; I am a retired telephone technician and we worked many a holiday because thats what service people do.

So- I am not trying to rip off the cable company, just watch the shows recorded on my DVR that I am paying for.
However, when the DVR doesn't sense a signal on the line it won't even allow viewing recorded shows.

Is there some voltage/signal I can introduce to the DVR to allow me watching my shows? I have very sketchy cellular service here.

Thank you.

 

[Jimbo]

Intro: I have no TV, Internet or Phone days after power has been restored in North Idaho, and still no sign of TWC (Time Warner Cable) and first 'appointment' available is next week (although the problem is not at my house).

Tech support said their technicians are off for the holiday- must be nice; I am a retired telephone technician and we worked many a holiday because thats what service people do.

So- I am not trying to rip off the cable company, just watch the shows recorded on my DVR that I am paying for.
However, when the DVR doesn't sense a signal on the line it won't even allow viewing recorded shows.

Is there some voltage/signal I can introduce to the DVR to allow me watching my shows? I have very sketchy cellular service here.

Thank you.

Interesting...
Do you know if your cable TV is on a Switched type network ?
If so, I believe the signal comes from the hub to your recvr as you ask for it, unlike the old days when ALL the channels come in, inside the box.
I'm just thinking here, but if the DVR portion is also at that company hub, then your recordings are not on the box in your home, but on the companies hub.

I don't know if this is the way your set up is or not, but in this scenario, you would not have the DVR or the TV channels when the line outside goes down.

 

[primestar31]

Intro: I have no TV, Internet or Phone days after power has been restored in North Idaho, and still no sign of TWC (Time Warner Cable) and first 'appointment' available is next week (although the problem is not at my house).

Tech support said their technicians are off for the holiday- must be nice; I am a retired telephone technician and we worked many a holiday because thats what service people do.

So- I am not trying to rip off the cable company, just watch the shows recorded on my DVR that I am paying for.
However, when the DVR doesn't sense a signal on the line it won't even allow viewing recorded shows.

Is there some voltage/signal I can introduce to the DVR to allow me watching my shows? I have very sketchy cellular service here.

Thank you.

We lost power Thursday morning 12/24 8am, and it was out over 51 hours. Because Consumers Power sent everybody home for a 4 day weekend. There's still people further North of us that still have their power out. Companies from OHIO and further are coming up into Michigan just to fix the damage from the high winds that night... I have a HUGE pine tree in the backyard, with a broken monster-sized "widow-maker" branch hanging down one side from 50ft up. Not sure yet how I'm going to get that down without dying...