Questions about upgrading to Hopper

[olfenite]

I posted this in the Hopper zone but I did not get any replies. So I apologize if it is in the wrong forum.

I am just doing a little research on the Hopper. I need to know what equipment I need as well as what the changes would be to the bill.

First, a little background. I have a 722k, a 211k with an external hard drive, and a 211k without a hard drive. The 211k's are both on their own HDTV. The 722k has one tuner to an HDTV and the second tuner on two SDTVs that share the signal.

My goal would be to have the same situation. I would like to have a hopper for one HDTV, a joey for each the other two HDTVs, and a Joey for the two SDTVs to share. Thing is I don't know if this is possible.

From what I gather, I would get 1 hopper and three joeys. If I wanted to get it where I could access primetime anytime, I would need 1 hopper, 2 joeys, and 1 super joey. Am I reading this correctly?

Furthermore, I want an OTA adapter so I can receive OTA channels throughout the home. Hopefully this is possible.

If someone who can answer my questions could contact me, I'd be greatly appreciative. Thank you.

 

[navychop]

I don't know why you think you need to add a Super Joey for PTAT. It will work just fine on the Hopper alone.

You could keep the 211s if you own them.

It is possible to run connections to the SDTVs if you want to save on Joey costs.

 

[KAB]

Super Joey only adds two more tuners to the system. Nothing to do with PTAT...that's all in the Hopper.

 

[nsafreak]

As long as you're ok with watching the same program on the SDTVs then what you describe can be done with a Hopper and three joeys. The hopper would be hooked up to one HDTV, the other two HDTVs would each have their own Joey and then the two SDTVs would be serviced by a single joey. You'd probably want to get a modulator to easily hook up the joey to the two SDTVs or use an RCA splitter box. Keep in mind that as far as I'm aware there's not a way to have multiple remotes paired with a Joey although you could enable IR on the unit and have one universal remote in the room with the Joey and the paired remote in the other room with the other SDTV.

 

[ChadT41]

You can have multiple remotes paired to a joey. I hve had up to 3 at one time.

 

[garys]

The ota adapter would give you only one ota tuner on the Hopper, you could run lines from your ota antenna to tv's directly if they have the tuner built in, most HD TV's do today, and you may be able to get ota dvrs such as Tivo if you want to record more.

 

[Hall]

Do the 4 TVs absolutely need independent viewing (their own tuner) ? I don't mean "it would be nice", I mean, are there 4 people in the house who watch their own thing?

 

[olfenite]

The reason I was thinking a super joey would be required for PTAT is because I was under the impression that if you have three joeys on one hopper that Primetime Anytime would not be able to work. That's why I thought an extra tuner would be needed.

No, they don't need to have individual viewing. Only three TVs (each of the HDTVs) would need independent tuners. But of course like you said, it would be nice.

I didn't even think about the whole remote issue for the two SDTVs. Being that they are in two different rooms, would there be issues for changing the channels in the room that does not have the joey in it?

So about the OTA thing, from everything I've read is that I will be able to see the OTA channels on the Joeys, but I will only be able to view one OTA channel at a given time. If that is the case, its not the best scenario, but it is acceptable. There's only one OTA channel I really want so I can live with it.

 

[ChadT41]

The PTAT acts similar to any other DVR timer, except it records all 4 channels for the 3/4 hour time period that is alloted, using just one tuner. Also it takes priority over anything else on the box. So a single hopper will do it just fine, however, it will only leave two tuners for live viewing. Either way, I would recommend the super joey just to have the additional 2 tuners available.

 

[Hall]

No, they don't need to have individual viewing. Only three TVs (each of the HDTVs) would need independent tuners. But of course like you said, it would be nice.

The 4th person can always watch something DVR'd

 

[JSheridan]

The 4th person can always watch something DVR'd

Or On-Demand.

 

[boba]

How about 2 Hoppers isn't it only $2/mo more to have a Hopper instead of a SJ and you gain 1 more tuner and a second Hard Drive.

 

[dwarren2]

Here's a question for the OP. Look at your viewing schedule. How many days a week are there when you would use PTAT along with Dish feeds for recording? With the recording integration with 2 Hoppers, I would rather just record individual network shows rather than whole blocks.

 

[olfenite]

Personally I don't watch a bunch of network television, especially at primetime. My viewing habits consists mainly of ESPN and other sports channels.

That said, the rest of the family does watch it. Big Bang Theory, 2.5 men, 20/20, Jimmy Kimmel (although I am not sure if that is covered on PTAT), and more.

Honestly, the DVR is used a bit unconventionally here. Mostly live television is watched, and the DVR is used to just pause it when someone is on the phone or missed something. Shows are not recorded to store on the hard drive a lot. It's one of the reasons why I don't feel having two Hoppers is necessary. PTAT might also not be needed because of this, but because this is a new feature for all of us, we might end up using it.

The biggest reason I want to upgrade is because I want to be able to access OTA on all TVs. Long story short, the FCC does not allow me to get the stations that are actually local to me. Despite San Angelo, TX being 40 minutes away, I only qualify to receive Abilene, TX (which is 80 minutes away) locals because I live in Runnels County. While I could "move", San Angelo does not have ABC in HD. I am unable to drop a wire to receive OTA channels on the HDTV in the living room because of the way the house is built. So as far as I can tell, a Hopper is likely the best option to get OTA in all the rooms.

 

[Hall]

The biggest reason I want to upgrade is because I want to be able to access OTA on all TVs .... I am unable to drop a wire to receive OTA channels on the HDTV in the living room because of the way the house is built. So as far as I can tell, a Hopper is likely the best option to get OTA in all the rooms.

The Hopper (and Joeys) will certainly provide that. I had to re-read your original post and then saw that you had a 722k. I was going to tell you you can add an OTA module to that, but it will only give OTA to the 1-2 TVs that it's hooked up to. You could also add the same module to the 211k receivers but they'd require an antenna feed to each.

Yeah, the Hopper is probably the cleanest and simplest route to this !

 

[dwarren2]

Can you receive the ota's that are closer to you with an antenna? If so, the ota module would give you both cities locals. Here my Dish locals are Rochester NY, but with my roof top antenna I get Syracuse crystal clear. We have 2 Hoppers and 3 Joey's even though tere are only 2 of us. Gives us felexibilty as to where we want to watch TV. We also watch very little Prime Time network tv so we do not use PTAT. With the integration, as of the last software update, if we run out of tuners on 1 Hopper, it will automatically ask us if we want to use a tuner on the other Hopper.

 

[renegade734]

So forget. about Hoppers and Joeys, and get rid of the 722k, and save yourself the DVR and other related FEES and put 211ks on each tv ... you'll only have to pay the additional receiver fees, and you will have DVR capability on all sets. You will only have to acquire EHD for all receivers.
The 211k has OTA built in.

It seems to me that the whole notion of PTAT has become worthless with the Autohop hobbled under the CBS and ABC agreements.

Just my two cents ...

 

[dwarren2]

What a stupid idea. With 211's there is no ability to watch what was recorded on one dvr in another room. The whole idea of a Hopper is to be able to watch hdtv in any room, no matter where it was recorded.

 

[Hall]

The 211k has OTA built in.

And he'd have to run a 2nd coaxial cable to each receiver. He might be able to use diplexers and use the "Dish" coaxial though... ??

 

[renegade734]

What a stupid idea. With 211's there is no ability to watch what was recorded on one dvr in another room. The whole idea of a Hopper is to be able to watch hdtv in any room, no matter where it was recorded.

I'm not impressed with that.

Personally I don't watch a bunch of network television, especially at primetime. My viewing habits consists mainly of ESPN and other sports channels.

That said, the rest of the family does watch it. Big Bang Theory, 2.5 men, 20/20, Jimmy Kimmel (although I am not sure if that is covered on PTAT), and more.

Honestly, the DVR is used a bit unconventionally here. Mostly live television is watched, and the DVR is used to just pause it when someone is on the phone or missed something. Shows are not recorded to store on the hard drive a lot. It's one of the reasons why I don't feel having two Hoppers is necessary. PTAT might also not be needed because of this, but because this is a new feature for all of us, we might end up using it.

The biggest reason I want to upgrade is because I want to be able to access OTA on all TVs. Long story short, the FCC does not allow me to get the stations that are actually local to me. Despite San Angelo, TX being 40 minutes away, I only qualify to receive Abilene, TX (which is 80 minutes away) locals because I live in Runnels County. While I could "move", San Angelo does not have ABC in HD. I am unable to drop a wire to receive OTA channels on the HDTV in the living room because of the way the house is built. So as far as I can tell, a Hopper is likely the best option to get OTA in all the rooms.

211k will allow this without all the additional FEES.

Show me what good a Hopper is if the broadcasters (ABC & CBS, with the others soon to follow, no doubt) won't allow it to HOP. CBS' new agreement calls for AutoHop to be disabled for the first seven days. Hopper only holds, what? Eight days' worth of primetime? You can still manually skip the ads, but I can do that with 211k without all the added FEES.

If the OP already has 211k with external hard drive enabled, it's logical to add that type of receiver to his account, unless he wants to incur additional monthly charges. It's certainly his choice. All I did was offer an alternative to what he was asking. Dish is not very likely to refund the $40 charge for making his 211k a DVR. I am simply reminding him that additional reveivers will not require the payment of additional FEES.