Connecting Tivo to DirecTV receiver

[nirisahn]

I have 2 Tivos, and I'm considering switching from cable to satellite. I've searched and haven't found answers to these questions:

Can a Tivo be hooked up to a DirecTV receiver via serial cable?

If IR blasters are the way to go, what experience have people had with this? Is it reliable?

From what I've read, if I have a S2 DT, there's no way to connect anything to the second tuner, unless I can find a way to hook up an analog antenna (rabbit ears or something similar) since I wouldn't be keeping basic cable for the purpose. Is that correct?

[Idearat]

You'll have better peformance and picture if you were to buy a couple S2 DirecTivos on Ebay rather than connecting a standalone to a DirecTV box. The DirecTivo will give you dual tuners, much better picture quality with less space taken up. ( no re-encoding ), Dolby Digital audio also ( if the program uses it ).

With the Zipper hack you'll get most of the HMO features, and you'll pay only $6 a month in TiVo (DVR) fees for the pair rather than whatever TiVo charges these days.

If you have a newer Dual Tuner standalones you might be able to get the DirecTivos for about the same price as your existing ones would sell for on Ebay.

[goony]

From what I've read, if I have a S2 DT, there's no way to connect anything to the second tuner, unless I can find a way to hook up an analog antenna (rabbit ears or something similar) since I wouldn't be keeping basic cable for the purpose. Is that correct?Yep, here is text from Tivo site about the DT boxes:

* Record from two basic cable channels, or one basic cable and one digital cable channel, at once. Does not support recording from two digital cable or satellite channels at once. Supports recording from cable and satellite sources only; does not support recording from over-the-air antenna.

If you go looking for "DTivos" (nickname for integrated DirecTV receiver and Tivo-based DVR) and decide you do want to 'enhance' them with networked features, avoid the R10 model of DTivo. (See my sig - link to the Zipper thread will link you to http://www.mastersav.com/tivo_zipper.html which lists the DTivos that can be Zippered).

Having dual-tuner DTivos is really, really nice - and having them networked is even nicer... and at $6/mo for DVR fee, it's a no-brainer.

[nirisahn]

I have 2 Tivos, an S2 with DVD and an S2 DT, both with lifetime service. Even at only $6 a month for DVR fees, I'd really hate to spend money on more boxes and service when I have everything already paid for. I have Comcast right now, but my introductory price ran out and the regular price is way too much to pay. I can have the same level of service and save $30 a month by switching to DirecTV. If I start buying boxes and paying $6 a month per receiver for DVR fees, I'm not saving anything and might as well keep what I have.

I tried calling Comcast and asking them what they would be willing to do for me so I wouldn't have to switch service, but they said all I could do was downgrade my service. I guess I have some thinking to do before I make any decisions.

This is off topic, but it's all part of the decision making process as my original question. I also have my internet and phone with Comcast. Does anyone know of a cable company that provides high speed service that's as good as Comcast's? If I could find cheaper, reliable high speed internet and switch my phone to Vonage, I could possibly save enough so that I would not have to switch from cable to satellite and my original question would be moot.

[TiVoMoJo]

The DVR fees from DirecTV would be $6 total for both DTivos (since you only pay for the first receiver), but you would have to pay the mirroring fee of $5 for the 2nd receiver. That'd be $72/year just for DVR fees, but an extra $60/year if you include the mirroring fee. Also, most any cable internet, if not "bundled" with cable service, is going to be more expensive than if it were "bundled". So, the savings from using Vonage (depending on your current phone bill) might not be that much if it's offset by the $10+ hike in cable internet per month.

[goony]

There are some DirecTV receviers that have serial control; try this topic (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=52414&highlight=serial) for a start. Also, try http://www.dtvcontrol.com and select the link compatibility (http://www.dtvcontrol.com/page.aspx?content=compat) and it may suggest receviers that have a serial port/serial control.

I can certainly appreciate your desire to protect your investment in your Tivo gear.

[nirisahn]

Thank you all for your help. I called Comcast a third time, and spoke to customer retention. He was able to work out a deal for me. I guess the trick is NOT to talk to customer service, but to ask for customer retention right off the bat. He even gave me his name and extension, and told me when to call back before my bill goes up again and he'll work something else out. So, my original question is now moot, but I appreciate the help.

[NCMike]

I just got off the phone with DirecTV regarding this situation. I also have a Series 2 DT TiVo with 3 years of prepaid service. At the moment I can record only one satellite channel. I can only watch a recorded program if another is being recorded. I cannot watch one channel and record another at the same time or record two channels simultaneously.

After an hour on the phone with DirecTV, they are going to come out and run another line (at no charge) to the satellite box (D11) that is hooked up to the Series 2 DT that will allegedly fix the problem and allow me to record a channel while watching another or record two satellite channels. Does this sound feasible, given the fact that TiVo says "Does not support recording from two digital cable or satellite channels at once."?

I agreed to this only because they will have to run the additional line if I decide to go with a DirecTV dual tuner DVR and pay the $6 bucks a month. In that case I'll hook up the Series 2 DT to another TV and record programs that I either want to watch on that particular TV or things that I want to network and burn to DVD's.

[John T Smith]

The DirecTv Tivo has 2 coax inputs on the back, and is designed to use those 2 inputs to 2 tuners to record one and watch another

>have a Series 2 DT TiVo

Do you now have 2 lines going to the 2 inputs on that unit? (I'm a bit confused here... but that could be 'cause I'm home sick with a cold today, and not understanding well)

[JimSpence]

I believe the discussion is about the dual tuner standalone TiVo, not the DirecTV dual tuner DVR.

[NCMike]

The Series 2 DT only has one set of component AV/S-Video inputs. It does have an "RF IN" coax connection, but I've read that it cannot be used with a satellite connection, only Cable.

[bidger]

After an hour on the phone with DirecTV, they are going to come out and run another line (at no charge) to the satellite box (D11) that is hooked up to the Series 2 DT that will allegedly fix the problem and allow me to record a channel while watching another or record two satellite channels. Does this sound feasible, given the fact that TiVo says "Does not support recording from two digital cable or satellite channels at once."?

No, it doesn't.

The only time that the S2 standalone DT TiVo is really a dual tuner is when you have cable and you can either run one analog cable feed and connect a digital cable box, or you have analog cable and a satellite box, or 2 analog cable feeds.

[classicsat]

No, it doesn't.

The only time that the S2 standalone DT TiVo is really a dual tuner is when you have cable and you can either run one analog cable feed and connect a digital cable box, or you have analog cable and a satellite box, or 2 analog cable feeds.

Not quite. All you need is analog cable, on one feed (you can split to your cable box, if desired). You generally don't need, or get two cable feeds, unless you such wired your home to home run very cable connection, or have A/B cable.

[bidger]

I'm sorry, you're quite right classicsat.