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Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Yahoo Message Number: 62201
WE have a in motion tracstar dome satilite with directv TV. Would like to add a DVR. WAs told at camping world that they fail do to all the shaking? Is this true? We do use our in motion TV at times while driving across the nevada desert where we spend a lot of time and would not want to give up that feature. Looking for advice, ideas, do they work? How about old fashion VCR ???? Thanks

Mike Spinetti
las vegas

2008 allure #31619

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62204

Mke:

The hard drive in the DVR is not designed for mobile use like a lap top HDD would be.
Nevertheless we move our home DVR into the coach and record but only when parked. I believe your question was in moton recording - I can't easily do that plus the HDD spinning (as in on or recoding) is more prone to a failure. WIth the heads parked it is less prone to hitting the platter(s) in the HDD.
We have had to replace our DVR twice in 6 years. I have no idea if use in the moho was a contributing factor. Now that customers are being forced to lease DVRs from DirecTV I don't care much. If it dies they replace it.
So can you do it? There is nothing technically insurmountable to hooking it up and recordng in motion or stationary but the DVR will be more likely to fail than at home and motionless.

Bob (rthandren@...)
'05 Inspire 51178

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62205
We've been using one (it's always plugged in & we do record while in-motion) since '06.
We had one fail but that was due to excessive heat which is the biggest problem that you're likely to face. We added intake and exhaust fans to the cabinet and haven't had a problem since.
BTW, we have travelled most of the time thorugh the southwest including a few weeks ago in Nevada with the temp (in the shade) hitting 109 on some days without a problem.
You definitely want to make sure that you add cooling to the cabinet.

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62206
Makes sense. It is a computer.

Having said that, we've had ours for four years.

Jw

06 inspire 51544

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62207
We changed out both Directv receivers for new HD units with DVR two years ago. While they don't provide HD, the DVR works great. Never been a problem.
G Brown

2007 Allure 31447

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62211
Hi Mike:

You mentioned you wanted to get a DVR. I don't think DIRECTV makes SD DVR's anymore. They only provide HD DVR's, so, you have to be able to receive HD signals.
We had DIRECTV install a new free HD DVR in our 2006 Inspire which like your coach has the TRACSTAR in-motion satellite dish antenna It didn't work out. We couldn't get local stations sent in HD and lost the capability to receive stations that were sent in HD/SD. Which meant we couldn't get local channels, CNN, the Golf Channel and many other of our favorite stations. I called TRACKSTAR in FL and local experts who told me that I need to change my satellite dish antenna to get HD. Also the TRACKSTAR tech thought my current dish antenna may pick up HD if I switched to DISH TV, but he thought that was about to be change when DISH TV switched to it's new system.
The bottom line is, if you want a DVR you probably need to change your dish antenna to one that can pick up HD signals. DIRECTV will give you a free antenna on a tripod, or a sled that you can set up outside the RV. If you want an automatic roof mounted dish antenna, I have been told by many, that Motosat is the best choice, because it can pick up HD signals from DISH or DIRECTV. While the roof mounted dish antennas from Camping World are only good for one or the other. Right now, I don't know of any in-motion dish antennas that can pick up HD signals from DIRECTV. Roof mounted Motosat and Camping World's Wingard are only good for static use.
Someone who uses DISH TV and has the same hardware should know if they can get HD or not. Hopefully, they can add to this.
We have never watched TV going down the road. My reason for using a roof mounted dish antenna is: I don't want to go outside to set up a dish antenna. I would like to get HD; however, I don't want to spend $1700 to $2700 on a new roof mounted dish antenna. For the time being, I have installed a new DIRECTV SD receiver which works great . It may not be perfect, but for me it is light years ahead of rabbit ears and fuzzy black and white. When a roof mounted automatic HD dish antenna costs less than my HD TV, I may rethink my decision. You may not want to wait that long.
A VCR does work OK to record, but as you probably know, it is limited compared to a TIVO or DVR.
Sorry to get so long winded, just didn't want you to spend two weeks getting the run around by Camping World and DIRECTV, like I did.

Dennis Clayton, 2006 Inspire #51581

On Sun, 8/8/10, m8221949s wrote:

From: m8221949s Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] Does DVR work in RV with directv ??To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.comDate: Sunday, August 8, 2010, 2:21 PM
WE have a in motion tracstar dome satilite with directv TV. Would like to add a DVR. WAs told at camping world that they fail do to all the shaking? Is this true? We do use our in motion TV at times while driving across the nevada desert where we spend a lot of time and would not want to give up that feature. Looking for advice, ideas, do they work? How about old fashion VCR ???? ThanksMike Spinettilas vegas2008 allure #31619

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62225
The HD DVR's will take in SD channels fine and OTA HD channels as well...taht's what we do all of the time.
We have the in-motion and while it may be able to pick up some HD we tell the DVR that we want only SD in the guide. The antenna for over the air (OTA) is fed in as well and local channels that are OTA will come in HD.
Now, getting SD means that you need to be able to get all of your channles on DTV on the 101 sat. If your local DTV channels (nto referring to OTA) aren't available as SD on taht sat you won't be able to get them other than via the OTA input.
Also, on our rig it was wired to feed 1 LNB to the front and 1 to the rear for a second DTV receiver. We disconnected the rear DTV receiver and used that 2nd LNB input as the second sat in for the DVR. This allows us to record 2 DTV programs at the same time. If you don't do this you can only get a single channel.

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62227
This is the Only In Motion HD MPEG-4 DIRECTV Antenna but it is designed for a boat or yacht over 30' but could be used for an RV but it would require a special mount as it can't sit on the roof as it is 36 inches tall. You could mount it on the back but it would probably look stupid but would work and it ain't cheap.
http://www.kvh.com/Leisure/Marine-Systems/Television/High-Performance/TracVision-HD7.aspx

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62244

I am not aware of DirecTV DVR's being able to record OTA stations from an antenna. A signal can be passed through but requires the DVR to be off. All recordable signals must be from DirecTV sats, or so I thought. How do you record OTA stations on a DirecTV box? Or do you mean networks provided by DirecTV? That's not OTA/antenna.

What model DirecTV DVR are you using?

Bob (rthandren@...)
'05 Inspire 51178

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62245
DIRECTV has an AM21 OTA Tuner that you can buy for $50 that can be plugged into your HR2X Directv DVR via USB connection that will Allow you to receive the OTA Channels and will integrate them into your Channel Guide as if they came from Directv.
Of course you have to have an OTA Antenna in order to receive the OTA Signal which has a Coax that plugs into the AM21 OTA Tuner.
I am a DIRECTV Software Beta Tester and a Member of several Forums that support Directv so I have alot more knowledge about these things than the average Directv User.

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62252
Please do NOT use a DVR while driving! It is not a "lap top" hard drive! It is NOT built for vibration, it is like a PC "desk top" hard drive. You will make it fail (hard drive goes south) if you use it while driving! You've been warned!

Gordo

99 Allure 30344

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62276
Ours is an HR20-100 DVR that has built in OTA antenna inputs...this is not an OTA tuner, just the antenna inputs.

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62279
My experience with DVR's in my rig goes back 10 years. The ones I have used were no more prone to failure in that rig than at home. In that time I have had one failure - the UltimateTV unit that I started with bit the dust after 6 years of use, including about 3 of fulltiming ( and a trip to Alaska). I'm not sure what the failure mode was, it would reboot after 20 or 30 seconds. It could have been the hard disk or some other problem.

For the last two years, I have been using a Dish VIP 722 without problems. I have taken two winter trips (about 5 months each) to Mexico, one to the west coast mainland and one to the Yucatan. Total travels in that time of about 17,000 mi, some of it on some pretty bad roads - and no trouble with the DVR.

I do not have the unit powered on while moving - stationary only - and that may make all the difference.
Just my results - YMMV.
Les

2000 Magna

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62292
However, the newer HD HR2X Series of Directv DVRs does not include an OTA Input Port so you have to buy the AM21 OTA Tuner Module if you do not have the older HR2X DVRs that do have that input along with an OTA Antenna to connect to the Coax Input Port on the AM21.
Also, the biggest enemy of DVRs is Heat and the second is Vibration and the third is Instant Power Down such as Power Outage and that is why I keep my DVRs on APC Battery Backups to give them clean power, regulated power and enough battery backup time to allow them to be powered down Gracefully so as not to harm the Hard Drive.
I use a PC Laptop Cool Pad underneath my DVRs to cool them in an enclosed area.

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62308
Be sure to turn off power to the DirecTV DVR from the breaker! Turning power off the the front panel on the unit does turn it off, if programed to record something, it will spin the disk, yes you do lose the setup.
John Tanzi 05 Aullure
 

Re: Does DVR work in RV with directv ??

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 62312
Or you can just unplug the Power Cord that plugs in the back of the DVR. Using the Power Button to turn it off just disables the output jacks and turns off the lights for Power Saving and puts it in standby mode so yes the hard drive will still spin so it can record when it needs to.