Satellite TV and TIVO - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Doncat · RV-Dreams Family Member

Satellite TV and TIVO

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

With the Motosat system you can sign up with Direct TV. They offer a DVR (Tivio).
I think we pay $5 extra a month for it.

Fred

Howard · Host

Hey Don,

I hate to do this, but let's look at the terminology a little first. I think it will help understand my answer a little better. smile

For those who like the Short Answer, skip to the bottom. smile

First of all, "Direcway" no longer exists. The company is now "Hughes". The names are still used interchangeably, but officially it is Hughes and they are the company that provides satellite internet service. They are the ISP or internet service provider.

"Motosat" is the manufacturer of numerous dishes and antennas, both for satellite internet and satellite TV. A satellite dish is also referred to as an antenna in the business. smile

The "Datastorm" is the brand name of Motosat's automatic rooftop satellite internet dish.

Hughes does not support mobile users, so you have to go through a "Value Added Reseller" or "VAR" to purchase the internet service if you want support. Motosat as well as numerous Motasat-certified installers/dealers are Value Added Resellers for Hughes.

With a Datastorm satellite internet dish, you can get a separate "arm" that attaches to the receiver on the dish to get either DirecTV or Dish Network. The arm is called an "LNB" or a "Bird On A Wire" and costs under $100 - even I installed one. smile

The LNB you need depends on the satellite you are assigned for internet service AND whether you choose DirecTV or Dish Network.

The satellite TV service is provided by either DirecTV or Dish Network completely separate from Hughes/Direcway. It's an additional monthly cost.

We pay for our internet service through our VAR/installer/dealer (Mobil Satellite Technologies), but we pay DirecTV separately for our satellite TV. However, some VARs (including Mobil Satellite Technologies) now have the ability to bill for both in one package even though the services are from completely separate companies.

So that sort of answers your first question. Satellite TV service and TiVo are NOT Motosat or Hughes products.

So what do you need to record TV shows on the road? If you have a Datastorm and the necessary LNB, then you just need a "DVR" or "Digital Video Recorder" receiver for your satellite TV service.

Both DirecTV and Dish Network have DVR receivers. You can buy the receivers from them directly or pick them up at stores like Best Buy, etc.

Now "TiVo" is a separate brand and is sort of an "enhanced DVR". It used to be included in DirecTV DVR receivers and it is built into ours. We pay $6 a month additional for the DVR capability with TiVo.

But I believe TiVo parted ways with DirecTV after we bought our receiver. You can still get TiVo service with either DirecTV or Dish, but I think you have to pay TiVo directly now and they charge more.

Some say TiVo got ****y and some say deservedly so. Many people believe that once you have had the TiVo experience, the satellite TV DVRs from DirecTV & Dish do not measure up. I suppose it's like anything else - if you've never had it you never miss it. biggrin

This ends another long-winded answer to a couple simple questions. biggrin

Short answer: Digital Video Recording (DVR) is available from both DirecTV and Dish Network for a small monthly fee and all you need is a satellite TV receiver with DVR capablity (assuming you have a satellite TV antenna).

Doncat · RV-Dreams Family Member

Howard,
That was just the right amount of information I needed, considering that I was considering buying a book on the subject for answers. Now I don't need one biggrin biggrin

Thank you, I am going to copy and past that whole post over into my Onenotes notebook on RV research. I am sure that when I start to purchase my system I will refering back to it often. smile .................. Don

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

A small addition to Howard's excellent reply.

DVR (TIVO) service is available with the use of a Datastorm Internet dish and the Bird On A Wire (BOW) add-on for TV. A Hughes DVR will work with almost any TV dish system, including the domes from Winegard and TracVision, or the HD dish from Motosat.

Mike

Doncat · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Mike, I kept hearing how everyone was recording tv programs, just couldn't picture how it was done. Thanks for the information. smile

...... Don

Floridariz · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have a quick question about the dvr...can I unplug it from my home and take it with me and watch my recorded shows on another TV (that doesnt have cable hook up)? I dont have cable in our mt cabin and would like to take it with me

Paula in Fl

Howard · Host

Floridariz,

I couldn't find much information on your particular question, but it seems that you can disconnect your DVR and watch recorded programs. The level of hassle depends on the type of DVR from what I can find.

If you have a standalone DVR which will work with any TV, cable, or satellite signal, it is supposedly a piece of cake. But if you have a DVR that came from a satellite TV company or cable company, it seems you will get an annoying message ("Searching for satellite", etc.) that can be hard to get rid of.

That's about all I can find. I'd recommend contacting your DVR service provider and ask how to take your DVR and watch recorded shows "on vacation". smile

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

Short answer,

no problem. We are doing that now. The DVR (from Hughes) was in our house. We put in the bedroom of our new-old MH and can watch anything previously recorded on it.

The reason we are not recording anything is that I have yet to hook it up. Reason, we don't watch idol or lost or even survivor but mostly movies, news and weather even though we have national channels. We got them so my wife can watch NFL games.

Mike

Floridariz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, silly me... called and they told me it must be attached to the cable that comes into the box (does that mean the shows are stored somewhere on their side?).

I have a feeling it was a canned response so I wont take it somewhere else!

Here I am in the mountains without my DVR!!!!

Paula in Fl

Floridariz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, silly me... called and they told me it must be attached to the cable that comes into the box (does that mean the shows are stored somewhere on their side?).

I have a feeling it was a canned response so I wont take it somewhere else!

Here I am in the mountains without my DVR!!!!

Paula in Fl

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

Howard wrote:

Floridariz,

I couldn't find much information on your particular question, but it seems that you can disconnect your DVR and watch recorded programs. The level of hassle depends on the type of DVR from what I can find.

If you have a standalone DVR which will work with any TV, cable, or satellite signal, it is supposedly a piece of cake. But if you have a DVR that came from a satellite TV company or cable company, it seems you will get an annoying message ("Searching for satellite", etc.) that can be hard to get rid of.

Howard,

I hope this question is still 'on topic', but I wonder, if you "tivo" a show on the rear TV receiver, can you watch that show on the front TV or do you have to go back into the bedroom to watch shows recorded on that DVR?

thx...

Howard · Host

Hi JC,

We can only watch the TIVOed shows on the receiver that they have been recorded on. Unless there is something I don't know about! biggrin

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

Howard wrote:

Hi JC,

We can only watch the TIVOed shows on the receiver that they have been recorded on. Unless there is something I don't know about!

Well, I've heard that you can attach your DVRs to your LAN (home network), so that would seem to me to imply that the data (recorded shows) could be moved around on your network. But I've not been able to find confirmation about that (the networking part I know is true, the moving around of the data I don't know). I'll keep digging and if I find the answer I'll post...

brucedelta · RV-Dreams Family Member

jcw wrote:

Howard wrote:

Hi JC,

We can only watch the TIVOed shows on the receiver that they have been recorded on. Unless there is something I don't know about!

Well, I've heard that you can attach your DVRs to your LAN (home network), so that would seem to me to imply that the data (recorded shows) could be moved around on your network. But I've not been able to find confirmation about that (the networking part I know is true, the moving around of the data I don't know). I'll keep digging and if I find the answer I'll post...

Actually the answer to this is not so simple.
The ReplayTV system which was(is) a competitor to Tivo allowed transfer of shows over a LAN. Since they got sued over this feature it bacame widely known.
Tivo does not support this feature out of the box, but it can be done with added software. On the other hand if you are asking this question it is unlikely you have the knowledge to "hack" the system to enable this feature. I have the knowledge and tools and still have not done it because it is too much of a bother to do.

If you want to know more look in the underground section here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/

Also I believe DirectTV recently reached a new agreement with Tivo and we may see a new Tivo branded DTV unit.

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

If your TVs are connected by an AV switchbox, then the Tivo (or any AV device for that matter) can play through any or all the TVs. So, it all depends on how your TVs are wired.

My TVs are on an AV switch so I plug my Tivo into that switch like a regular device and watch my recorded shows anywhere.

You can also download the free Tivo Desktop software from Tivo and move any Tivo'ed show (via a wireless LAN) from the Tivo to your PC where you can view it on the PC, burn a DVD (for a $$ upgrade) or plug your PC into any TV and play the program from the PC to the TV.

It's all in how you are wired. Watching TV ain't all that simple anymore!

-- Edited by RVDude at 16:48, 2008-01-23

SoCalToolGuy · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is an interesting thread. We are just getting ready to head out on our great adventure and I have been trying to figure out how I want to wire our system up. We have a DirecTV DVR in our livingroom and a basic receiver in the bedroom. We also have a Tivo stand alone 180 hour dual tuner unit that I was going to install in the bedroom so my wife can watch what she wants to when she wants to. Our rig came from the factory wired up for satellite but only one input. I am going to have to add a second input for the DVR and another input for the bedroom receiver. We have a switchbox in the livingroom that has three sections to it. They are main tv, 2nd tv, and vcr or other device. I think I have a handle on what to do but I am not sure how to get the two extra inputs into the trailer. I am hoping to find a professional installer along the way to help me figure it out. If any of you folks can suggest anything to help me out I would love to hear from you. Thanks,
Ray