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Using SA TIVO on a DISH reciever. Can do?
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Posted by: seanboltman

Any and all help is welcome and appreciated.

I've perused the forums some, and have got some answers, but I want some confirmation via my own posting.

Currently, I run a Phillips SA TIVO off of a cable box. I like TIVO, I like my machine (hacked Twin 80).

However, I am thinking of getting DISH satellite. I have the ability to get a sweet deal on it (box plus subscription)... otherwise I would go with DirectTIVO.

So, I saw in a different posting of the same question that YES you can run a SA (standalone) TIVO off the back of a DISH receiver... much like I run the TICO today off the back (after) of my cable box.

Is this true?

If so, that leaves a couple questions:

1) My new DISH system would allow me to get pretty much all channels available (except PPV), east coast and west coast. Would be my SA TIVO be able to get at a correct listing of these available channels?

2) Is the hookup pretty standard between the TIVO and the DISH receiver? Right now I control the cable box channel selection via the IR emmiters. I would assume that remains the same? Use code 10110 or something like that.

3) So my SA TIVO would be getting a digital signal to record. Does it still record analog quality? I'm assuming so. No big deal. My TV isn't the greatest :)

4) Anything I am missing here? Any technical issues or the like?

I really appreciate any and all answers, opinions, tangents offered to go do further research on.

thanks!

Boltman

Posted by: Backhack

Yes you can run a SA on the Dish Net, my sister does this they will send you a modified 2.5.1 sw(2.5.1a) for the channels above 999. :)

BUT!!!

If you are going to GET a satellite system, I would recomend HIGHLY going the DTiVo route You can take your drives out of the sa and have much more recording time, the sound and PQ is great. The DTiVo records at better than best compared to the SAs so a 35 hr DTiVo is like a 125 HR SA if you add a 80 GB to the DTiVo you end up with 107 HRs thats like a SA with 400 HRs. And they have some real deals for New DTV customers.:D

Posted by: seanboltman

Who sends this software? TIVO themselves, via automatic download to my specific box?

I completely understand the DirectTIVO argument, but I have the ability to get every DISH channel possible (sans the PPV) for under $30 a month. Would you still choose DirectTV?

Posted by: feldon23

Send what software?

TiVos know how to control Dish receivers, DirecTV receivers, and cable boxes out-of-the-box. It just has to download the right channel line up and guide data.

Posted by: jdm5

The new software he's referring to is 2.5.1a -- this version is made specifically for DISH network, to enable 4 digit channel changing (DISH supports channels above 999 -- up until 2.5.1a TiVo did not).

Posted by: mthomasjr

You realize DirecTV and Dish networks are merging? Although it will be a little while til it's aproved and done I'd recommend going with a DTivo. Also you can get a 35hr DTivo for $0 + $19 shipping with a $25 rebate, meaning they give you $6 and a DTivo!

Installation is included.

http://www.getconnected.com

http://www.getconnected.com/V_Catal...19000&plan=2675

During checkout it lists the $25 rebate.

Posted by: stevel

I also recommend going the DirecTiVo route, especially as you don't currently have Dish Network. But if you did, your TiVo would work fine with it. All you would need to do is select the channels you receive in the appropriate menu.

Posted by: Jestyr

That's the setup I use. Dish Receiver -> SA TiVo -> TV. Control via IR blaster. Works great.

If I had to complain about anything it would only be the small delay between channel changes on the Dish receiver, but if you use a cable box now, then you're probably used to that.

Looks great, too. I've actually found that I can get away with a lower recording quality setting on the Dish channels than I use for my local Cable channels. Cleaner signal, I guess.

Good Luck,
Robb

Posted by: Saturn

Since everyone seems to be ignoring your question and instead recommending a DirecTiVo, I'll answer your questions for you.

quote:

So, I saw in a different posting of the same question that YES you can run a SA (standalone) TIVO off the back of a DISH receiver... much like I run the TICO today off the back (after) of my cable box.

Is this true?

Yes. This is absolutely true. The setup is basically the same

quote:

If so, that leaves a couple questions:

1) My new DISH system would allow me to get pretty much all channels available (except PPV), east coast and west coast. Would be my SA TIVO be able to get at a correct listing of these available channels?

Presumably, yes. Once you select your setup (Dish Network) you tell it what channels you receive. In your case, you'd select them all, except the PPV channels. You may have trouble getting the listings for both East and West coast, but playing with the zip code you enter might get you what you need. I don't know exactly, but it would be worth a try. If you have an SA TiVo already, go ahead and run guided setup and tell it you have a Dish system, and see what channels show up. Note that this will probably screw up your season passes and also take several hours, but you'd be able to see exactly what will happen when you actually get your Dish system.

quote:

2) Is the hookup pretty standard between the TIVO and the DISH receiver? Right now I control the cable box channel selection via the IR emmiters. I would assume that remains the same? Use code 10110 or something like that.

The code will probably change (to a Dish receiver from whatever brand of cable box you currently have), but the cable connections are exactly the same - RCA/S-Video connections and IR Blaster.

quote:

3) So my SA TIVO would be getting a digital signal to record. Does it still record analog quality? I'm assuming so. No big deal. My TV isn't the greatest :)

The TiVo would be getting an analog signal, actually, because the SA TiVo only has analog inputs (RCA/S-Video). The Dish receiver gets a digital signal, then has to convert it to analog to output to RCA outputs. The SA TiVO then converts (encodes) it back into digital (stores it on the hard drive), and finally converts it back to analog before it sends it to your TV. This DA->AD->DA mess doesn't happen with DirecTiVos, that is why everyone here is recommending them. Combine that with the DTiVo's dual tuners and no need for IR blaster, and you have a heck of a system. However, even with all that conversion, the signal coming out of the Dish box is pretty clean, as Jestyr said, it will probably still be better than your regular cable system (unless you have Digital Cable).

quote:

4) Anything I am missing here? Any technical issues or the like?

The system may be quite a bit slower since you will be receiving more channels, therefore the database gets bigger, etc etc. The DirecTiVos have twice the amount of RAM (16MB vs 32MB) to help to counteract the large amount of data it inevitably has to handle. It will probably be noticable, but not horrible.

quote:

Who sends this software? TIVO themselves, via automatic download to my specific box?

TiVo sends all updates to the SA TiVos - once you run guided setup and select that you have a Dish system, your box will be flagged in the TiVo database as one needing the new 2.5.1a software (to access channels >999), and it will download and update itself within a couple of days.