Various Questions about Hopper and Joey, please advise

[happy hopping]

You use the same amount of electricity no matter what you do, PTAT on or off, unless you physically unplug the the Hopper. It is always on, and uses very little electricity, anyway. All PTAT self delete in 8 days..... Not to worry, the Hopper has a 2TB hard drive....

actually, talking to a dealer off the street, these are called "vampire electronics", it's harmful to the environment as it wastes electricity. Anything that you don't use, and the machine override and decided to turn on by itself, is sucking up electricity. Inside that box, there is a power supply that feeds different current to different part of the unit. So the current goes to the hard drive is not the same as the current goes to other parts of the main circuit board say, there are separate wires, separate current. As you use the hard drive, you are sucking up extra electricity, as supposedly, your unit can be OFF if you don't use it. Or say if you go on holiday or say it's christmas time, and all those main channels are all repeat shows so you don't need to record anything.

This is the 2nd time I've heard of a device that override human, the 1st time was in Terminator

PS: it wears out the hard drive a lot faster too

 

[Grandude]

actually, talking to a dealer off the street, these are called "vampire electronics", it's harmful to the environment as it wastes electricity. Anything that you don't use, and the machine override and decided to turn on by itself, is sucking up electricity.
PS: it wears out the hard drive a lot faster too

I have 16 solar panels on the roof so I can use all the electricity that I want. My two hoppers are just a drop in the bucket compared to oven and clothes dryer.

I'm not saying I'm stupid, I'm just saying I've got bad luck when it comes to thinking

 

[bigjohnok]

Just like directv, if you ever get free or reduced equipment added on(not a simple replacement for the like equipment) a 24 month commitment takes place.

this depends on customer.
I have done many hopper upgrades where the only thing required was to sign a service order no contract required.

 

[ChadT41]

Those are exceptions made by the OOP. And they are not a very likely option. There has to be a reason(long term customer that really just does not want a commitment but has had aep the last 10 years). Or a major screwup somewhere. Or my favorite, supposed to have a commitment, but one is never put in place, so they end up getting it waived(again by OOP)

 

[happy hopping]

A few new issues have surfaced, and I have read thru the manual and quite frankly the manual doesn't the answer:

1) If I turn OFF Prime Time Any Time, how many channels can you record w/ just the Hopper? Should you be able to record ANY 3 channels?

2) If Prime Time Any time is ON, and you lost HD signal, will Prime Time Any Time switch over to SD? As I have seen under bad weather, this old dish box says something like losing HD signal, switching to SD of the same channel.

 

[Bobby]

The answer to number one is, yes, you can record any three channels...

 

[ChadT41]

The answer to number 2, is no. PTAT will only record the one set of channels.

 

[dare2be]

Also, I don't think this is answered anywhere, but if you have PTAT turned off, you can still record all BIG 4 networks with just one tuner, just by using traditional timers. That can be done any time of day, not just during primetime, and regardless whether PTAT is on or off.

 

[Bobby]

Also, I don't think this is answered anywhere, but if you have PTAT turned off, you can still record all BIG 4 networks with just one tuner, just by using traditional timers. That can be done any time of day, not just during primetime, and regardless whether PTAT is on or off.

That is correct.

 

[happy hopping]

Also, I don't think this is answered anywhere, but if you have PTAT turned off, you can still record all BIG 4 networks with just one tuner, just by using traditional timers. That can be done any time of day, not just during primetime, and regardless whether PTAT is on or off.

You 2 are life savers. I don't know why noone else mention that. I'm an environmentalist, I don't do vampire electronics waste, not to mention 4 to 5 hr. per day on your hard drive will drastically worn out your hard drive a lot faster than not taping anything.

 

[JSheridan]

Also, I don't think this is answered anywhere, but if you have PTAT turned off, you can still record all BIG 4 networks with just one tuner, just by using traditional timers. That can be done any time of day, not just during primetime, and regardless whether PTAT is on or off.

Does Auto-Hop still work for prime time shows with PTAT turned off?

 

[jerryez]

My last electric bill was $307 for one month. How much of that was from my Hopper, tv, av receiver as compared to my pool filter, central ac, electric dryer, and stove. I bet my oven uses more in a one time use than all my electronic gadgets use in a month. Anyone know?
Do you environmentalist hang out your clothes to dry or use an electric clothes dryer. MY, what a waste!

 

[Bobby]

Does Auto-Hop still work for prime time shows with PTAT turned off?

Yes, it does, for saved programs. I have PTAT shut off on Sundays and record Unforgettable, Good Wife, etc. and they auto hop....

 

[n0qcu]

Does Auto-Hop still work for prime time shows with PTAT turned off?

No, PTAT must be on at least 1 night of the week for autohop to work. Autohop will then work for all nights

 

[Bobby]

No, PTAT must be on at least 1 night of the week for autohop to work. Autohop will then work for all nights

Ah, now I see how that works....

 

[dare2be]

You 2 are life savers. I don't know why noone else mention that. I'm an environmentalist, I don't do vampire electronics waste, not to mention 4 to 5 hr. per day on your hard drive will drastically worn out your hard drive a lot faster than not taping anything.

Good point about hard drive usage, but if your concern is vampire electrical waste, you should know that most all DVRs use about the same amount of electricity whether on or off (standby). For the Hopper, that's about 50 watts.

 

[JSheridan]

No, PTAT must be on at least 1 night of the week for autohop to work. Autohop will then work for all nights

In the interest of further clarification, must PTAT be on for all four networks on that one night or will just one network do it?

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

 

[n0qcu]

In the interest of further clarification, must PTAT be on for all four networks on that one night or will just one network do it?

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Just 1 network is all that needs to be on for autohop to work.

PTAT can even be turned on after a recording has been saved and autohop will work.

 

[happy hopping]

My last electric bill was $307 for one month. How much of that was from my Hopper, tv, av receiver as compared to my pool filter, central ac, electric dryer, and stove. I bet my oven uses more in a one time use than all my electronic gadgets use in a month. Anyone know?
Do you environmentalist hang out your clothes to dry or use an electric clothes dryer. MY, what a waste!

I haven't use a dryer for 15+ years, I just hang them on the rails and hangars in different parts of the house. I don't use central AC, I just open the windows, and I have no pool. Oven is overrated, as you have seen in many commercials, they now use convection oven, a 2 hr. chicken cooking in an oven can be done in 15 min. using convection oven, and they taste much better w/ no carbon deposit. My electricity bill is $60.

All these vampire electronics really adds up, such as the hopper