Yes, a Manual Timer gives the customer the opportunity to set the start and end time so as to allow for other desired recordings NOT to be missed. I've posted before the NUMEROUS other unique uses for Manual Timers, and YES for those OTA that don't have EPG data.
I have to think that at some meeting to review the features of the 922/Hopper, they must have said,"let's drop the manual timers. Who really uses it anyways with our DVR's EPG doing the work, and besides, we aren't really supporting EXTERNAL devices anymore, like how uses a VCR or DVD Recorder, and certainly NOT our Pocket Dish flirtation, and that only supports SD anyway. So, shall we cut manual timer?" The engineers cheer, "Here, here. Let's save ourselves the trouble and dump it. Moving on. Next feature to review/dump?"