Dual Tuner Series 2..Why do they become single tuner?

[hokiegl]

I tried to search, but could not find an answer.

Can someone please explain on a technical level, why the dual tuners become single tuners if they are connected to 2 cable boxes? (Or any other combination of satellite, OTS, DTA converters, etc..). Let say:

1. I send the output from one of the boxes to channel 4 on the Coax/RF. I tell the Tivo that its connected to Cox cable for instance. (even though its not). I always leave the Tivo tuned to channel 4. And use manual recording of shows. I would change the channels on this box using its own controller.
2. I send the output from the other box to the S-Video. I configure the Tivo to control this box and record shows as normal.

So, my question is, why can’t I do this? What is preventing the Tivo from recording off both sources at the same time? The first box goes into the RF input and the second into the S-Video.

[Stephen Tu]

Yes, what you describe will work. But it would be considered a hack. It's not really standard Tivo season pass easy as you are doing manual recording and have to change channels on one box manually or by setting timers on the box. Many/most people wouldn't want to do this all the time, and in any event it's a lot more complicated than the situation before with analog channels available, using the box only for digital channels. So most people, if their cable company goes completely digital, would consider their DT S2 effectively single tuner.

[Dan203]

Why not just get a TiVo HD? You can get a refurb for ~$200 install a couple of CableCARDs (or just one if your cable co support M cards) and the TiVo will take care of all the cable box functionality internally. Even if you don't have an HDTV the ease of use is just so much better then what you're proposing to do.

Dan

[hokiegl]

What I really want to do is:

1. Connect and HD Antenna to an analog converter and attach it to the RF connector on the TIVO
2. Connect the Dish Network Satellite to the S-Video connector on the TIVO.

And I would like to be able to use both tuners if I want to record two shows at the same time (one off the antenna and the other off of the Satellite)

As an added bonus, I would love for the Tivo to be able to control both of these boxes using its IR controls.

[pdonoghu]

What I really want to do is:

1. Connect and HD Antenna to an analog converter and attach it to the RF connector on the TIVO
2. Connect the Dish Network Satellite to the S-Video connector on the TIVO.

And I would like to be able to use both tuners if I want to record two shows at the same time (one off the antenna and the other off of the Satellite)

As an added bonus, I would love for the Tivo to be able to control both of these boxes using its IR controls.

1. The Series 2 dual tuner does not support an OTA digital to analog converter. It never supported OTA.

You can only control one set top box at a time with a Series 2.

To do what you want, you would need a Series 3 model. No need for a digital to analog converter or a cable box as the Series 3 have digital cable and OTA tuners.

[gonzotek]

1. The Series 2 dual tuner does not support an OTA digital to analog converter. It never supported OTA.

You can only control one set top box at a time with a Series 2.

To do what you want, you would need a Series 3 model. No need for a digital to analog converter or a cable box as the Series 3 have digital cable and OTA tuners.Unfortunately that doesn't help the OP, if they want to connect it to the Dish SAT receiver.
2. Connect the Dish Network Satellite to the S-Video connector on the TIVO.

And I would like to be able to use both tuners if I want to record two shows at the same time (one off the antenna and the other off of the Satellite)

[hokiegl]

How does the Series 2 "know" the signal is coming from an OTA? As far as its concerned there is an analog signal on channel 4 on the RF input. Its can jsut as easitly be coming from analog cable from the wall

[CuriousMark]

How does the Series 2 "know" the signal is coming from an OTA? As far as its concerned there is an analog signal on channel 4 on the RF input. Its can jsut as easitly be coming from analog cable from the wall

If the S2DT officially supported OTA, it would have guided setup choices for that and it would then know it was OTA. As it is now, it doesn't and cannot know any such thing. You can fake it as described, but you have to lie to it during guided setup to make that work.

[Dan203]

You should check with your local cable company. Some of them offer a "life line" service that allows you to receive the same channels you could get via an antenna (2-13) for like $10-$15/mo. The bonus being that on cable they are converted to analog so you could continue to use the DT portion of your box.

Other then that your out of luck. S3 units don't support DSS and S2DT units don't support multiple boxes, so there is no way to do what you want with any TiVo currently available.

Dan

[Stephen Tu]

1. Connect and HD Antenna to an analog converter and attach it to the RF connector on the TIVO
2. Connect the Dish Network Satellite to the S-Video connector on the TIVO.

And I would like to be able to use both tuners if I want to record two shows at the same time (one off the antenna and the other off of the Satellite)

As an added bonus, I would love for the Tivo to be able to control both of these boxes using its IR controls.

Connecting them this way is no problem. It's the control part that can't be done, because of the design of the Tivo software. You have to do everything manually on the OTA converter, won't have guide data & the shows won't be correctly labeled.

How does the Series 2 "know" the signal is coming from an OTA? As far as its concerned there is an analog signal on channel 4 on the RF input.

It doesn't know. No one's saying you can't hook it up this way and get it to record shows for you. It's just that recording on the RF is a painful manual process compared to if you had an analog cable feed. Most of us either:
-get TivoHD, use cable or OTA and get dual tuner capability
-if satellite, get the satellite company's DVR with dual tuners (in some cases dual sat + OTA, triple recording possibilities). Maybe get locals via satellite.

The S2DT was always a product best for analog cable users.

[samo]

What I really want to do is:

1. Connect and HD Antenna to an analog converter and attach it to the RF connector on the TIVO
2. Connect the Dish Network Satellite to the S-Video connector on the TIVO.

And I would like to be able to use both tuners if I want to record two shows at the same time (one off the antenna and the other off of the Satellite)

As an added bonus, I would love for the Tivo to be able to control both of these boxes using its IR controls.
If you have Dish (or intend to get Dish) you can get Dish DVR that will get you two tuners plus OTA. It will also have two independent outputs (one HD and one SD) so you can watch different shows on two different TVs.
The sub fee is only $5/month and if you are new Dish sub you most likely will get DVR for free.

[classicsat]

I tried to search, but could not find an answer.

Can someone please explain on a technical level, why the dual tuners become single tuners if they are connected to 2 cable boxes? (Or any other combination of satellite, OTS, DTA converters, etc..). Let say:


There really is no technical limitation, in the hardware, if both boxes would use different IR codes, or one uses serial, the other IR. Single tuner series 2s can be set up for any two sources, so long as one is satellite, even if the other source uses a box (it is a given satellite has a box), but will tune/record only one at a time.

It is purely logistical why to TiVo chose not to support two different sort of boxes. Logistically, the 2nd tuner supports only analog RF cable.


1. I send the output from one of the boxes to channel 4 on the Coax/RF. I tell the Tivo that its connected to Cox cable for instance. (even though its not). I always leave the Tivo tuned to channel 4. And use manual recording of shows. I would change the channels on this box using its own controller.
2. I send the output from the other box to the S-Video. I configure the Tivo to control this box and record shows as normal.

So, my question is, why can’t I do this? What is preventing the Tivo from recording off both sources at the same time? The first box goes into the RF input and the second into the S-Video.

You can do that, but are limited to manually recording and and changing channels on the one box. You cannot set it up for full support, because that model TiVo only supports one box at all, and does not support OTA directly or with convertor boxes.


How does the Series 2 "know" the signal is coming from an OTA? As far as its concerned there is an analog signal on channel 4 on the RF input. Its can jsut as easitly be coming from analog cable from the wall

It doesn't "know" the signal comes from an antenna, it just cannot be told an antenna or an antenna converter box is what is connected, nor any box of any sort if you are using a box on the A/V input. Yes it is counter intuitive to not support two separate boxes on a dual tuner DVR, but that is just the way it was designed.