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Because of my work schedule I end up doing a lot of various shows off the dish as well as over the air. A question for those of you who have already bought one of the digital to analog TV conversion units: how has your experience been so far in taping shows?
Someone earlier mentioned one (LG/Zeinith?Insignia?) that could stay on and not turn itself off. And another told of one that would allow the analog channels to "pass through."
Any help or links would be appreciated. Oh, and does anyone know why there has not been (to my knowledge) any mention of a VHS unit with a digital receiver? I know there are ones that have DVD/VHS, but the one I have doesn't allow me to video tape off the digital channels.
michael
(by dish, I'm meaning a big dish, C-band, 4DTV,,,,, not the little guys)
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Honestly, short of a hacked Tivo, I suspect the best solution available is a standard cable/satellite DVR plus one of the new Hauppauge capture boxes. It's not ideal; you'd have to capture content you want to keep in real time (I don't trust the "DVR" functionality) after the fact, but it's a workable solution.
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
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I am not interested in studying the features of all boxes, but mine, a Digital Stream (Radio Shack) defaulted to turning itself off after an idle hour or so but it can be set to stay on, which you need to do to record your show. Hope all your shows for one night are on the same channel :-)
As to analog pass-through-- once you see the quality of digital you'll never want to see analog quality again. My box, though, had a wierd feedback hum when I tried pass-through. YMMV with other brands.
The best solution IMO is peer to peer or online viewing at the network site if available for missed shows.
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[quote mlfrank] Oh, and does anyone know why there has not been (to my knowledge) any mention of a VHS unit with a digital receiver?
Does anyone even make a stand-alone VCR anymore? Seems so 20th century. Why would you want to continue recording on VHS when DVD-Rs blanks can be had for $1 each or less? A VCR w/ a digital tuner seems as relevant as a MacBook with a 56K baud modem.
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[quote Chupa Chupa][quote mlfrank] Oh, and does anyone know why there has not been (to my knowledge) any mention of a VHS unit with a digital receiver?
Does anyone even make a stand-alone VCR anymore? Seems so 20th century. Why would you want to continue recording on VHS when DVD-Rs blanks can be had for $1 each or less? A VCR w/ a digital tuner seems as relevant as a MacBook with a 56K baud modem.
Oops, forgot to address that part . . . VHS has basically been abandoned-- try to find a stand-alone VCR with =any= tuner in it anymore . . . there was a thread about that a while ago.
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.............. so far no one seems to have any experience in taping off of the conversion boxes yet.................
michael
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[quote mlfrank].............. so far no one seems to have any experience in taping off of the conversion boxes yet.................
michael
I don't have "Taping" (Tape?? WTF is that?!?!) experience, I do record off the Zenith box.
I use ElGato EyeTV with various analog boxes, my primary one is the Plextor ConvertX PVR model PX-TV402U hooked to my Mac.
No problems running two, the convertors are on 24/7 and they have never turned off.
Digital Tuner & VCR??
Probably never gonna happen, maybe DVD Burner & Digital Tuner though.
The Zenith doesn't have analog pass-through which is a non-issue with my setup, was looking for picture quality first, all I do is change the input (Antenna/S-Video/Composite), to the Plextor via EyeTV software control.
If you need some "Been There/Done That" tech info, please feel free to post, or PM!
BGnR
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Analog pass-through is only necessary if you have low-power tv broadcasting in your area, as they aren't required to go digital next February.
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[quote mlfrank].............. so far no one seems to have any experience in taping off of the conversion boxes yet.................
michael
Huh? I was pretty unclear I guess.
I do, but the VCR is built into my TV. If it wasnt I'd have to pass through the VCR into the TV, or goof arouhnd with switching boxes and splitters.
The recordings come out beautifully. I have to select "video" for the channel in the program.
Is there something else specific you want to know?
