D* Arrived Today... Learning curve with setting recordings

[sparksals]

My D* was installed today and I happily called E* to say Buh-byeeeeeeeee!

So, I'm fiddling around trying to learn the new system. I'm confused about a couple things and hopefully someone here can help. I have looked in the manual and it isn't that explanatory.


I'm a bit confused about the terminology in the recording options. Many of the shows I record, when recorded on E*, would not necessarily record on first run because something else was higher priority, but the 2nd or 3rd run of it would - take Real Housewives. I know RH has many chances to record, so I want my network shows to record above that since they typically air once. Eventually RH was picked up on a repeat run even if I set E* to record only new eps, it still knew to skip by priority until it could record that repeated new ep. How do I set that in my D* HD DVR? Both? First Run?

If I set the episode type to 'both', if it skips a first run, will it know to record the next available repeat and only record it once? Or can I set it at first run and it will know to record the episode on 2nd or 3rd run if it misses the first?

Also, the number of episodes to keep - what does that refer to- single episode or the series of episodes? I don't want 5 of the same episodes of RH to record. I want one to record and I want to keep that one until I delete it. Sometimes I take a long time to watch some shows. I had about 8 episodes of Army Wives on my prior DVR. I wouldn't want it to be deleted when 5 episodes are reached. So, I don't understand how this aspect works.

Can someone please explain?

 

[badtlc]

Good luck. I just switched last weekend, too. I am having the same problems. If there is a conflict, it records the higher priority recording and fails to pickup the 2nd run of the program that got passed over the first time.

The "both" setting records every episode regardless of original air date but not the exact same episode multiple times.

The number of episodes refers to the timer, not the specific episodes. That number limits the amount of episodes on the hard drive recorded by that series timer. For example, if you have an entourage timer set to 5, it will only save a max of 5 different episodes. If a 6th records, the oldest gets deleted.

D*'s DVR functionality is quite poor compared to E* especially with the queuing/priority issue, but other than that it has been great.

 

[cparker]

Sometimes I think we rate these things based on what we're used to. I'm a recent switcher as well. We're learning. Is it really a matter of one being better or is it just that they're different?

I actually went through my E* DVRs and wrote down everything we were recording. I put it in a spreadsheet. I then scheduled it between the 2 D* DVRs so that we could always watch live TV on both DVRs because only 1 thing was recording on each.

Did I miss anything? Yeah... my fault though. My wife watches some crime shows that have similar names and I missed one series. (ooops)

It's just different.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

look on your menu,go to manage recordings,then go to series manager. This has all of your program series listed in order of importance.You can arrange your series recordings in priority order. What I do is prioritize by day of the week starting with Saturday. Program series recording on Saturday are at the top of my priority list.I follow through with other recording priorities going with day of the week. If you have more than one HD DVR & multi-room viewing you can set up both DVRs to record if you want to record 3 or 4 shows at the same time. You can also reschedule the time of a recording to a later time if you know the program will be broadcast more than once a week. You have to set up your priority list(if you do like I do by) setting up your program series that are hiatus first(green button to top of list) & then work your way backwards,Friday,Thursday,Wednesday,Tuesday,Monday,Sunday,& then Saturday.
Again,like I said earlier,if you have 3 or more programs that you want to record at the same time......on the SAME DVR,then reschedule the 3rd &/or 4th program that will be rebroadcast later that night or week.

 

[sparksals]

What I want is for it to automatically bump to the next available airing of the show. Shows Amazing Race only air once. Real Housewives episodes air frequently. I want to do one scheduling of the series 'Real Housewives' and if RH is on at the same time as 2 other shows, it will be bumped by priority. I don't want to have to re-schedule it. I want it to automatically record the next episode that doesn't conflict with others.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

What I want is for it to automatically bump to the next available airing of the show. Shows Amazing Race only air once. Real Housewives episodes air frequently. I want to do one scheduling of the series 'Real Housewives' and if RH is on at the same time as 2 other shows, it will be bumped by priority. I don't want to have to re-schedule it. I want it to automatically record the next episode that doesn't conflict with others.

To be honest,I'm not sure if the DVR will automatically reschedule the "odd episode out(it never has for me)," I have always manually rescheduled the particular episode. However......if you had more than one HD DVR AND multi-room viewing,you'd be able to eliminate a LOT of hassle by using both DVRs to record more than 2 programs playing at the same time. I have 2 HD DVRs(HR22 & HR23) & I have MRV unsupported because I don't have a DECA set up [yet]. I understand where you are coming from because I had Charter Cable &,for all of its faults,it would record the next available episode,even if I already saw the episode in the first place & deleted it. I just understand the limitations of my D* HD DVR & adjust accordingly. I'm still a happy D* customer after one year of switching from Charter.

 

[sparksals]

This is what I did with E* Dual DVR:

Network show like, say Amazing Race with only one viewing... It is higher on the priority list than say, Real Housewives which has multiple airings. Say TAR and RH air at the same time, with RH as a lower priority so it doesn't record b/c another programme is higher than that. RH airs again the next day. I set it to record 'first runs'. It missed the first run b/c TAR and X show recorded above it. Does the DVR bounce to the next available airing to record Real Housewives or if I miss it, do I have to manually set? If I set it as a series, I woudl think that when it airs next, it will record... at least that is what E* did.

 

[hupptoy]

I have my series manager set up exactly how you are asking. And yes it will pick up the next showing if the 1st one gets bumped due to higher priority. So if I had a USA show bumped (and set to 1st run) at say 9pm, it would then record the next showing (usually midnight for USA). This works the same for all the series that I record that show an episode multiple times in a week.

 

[joed32]

If you end up getting multiple recordings of the same show the best work around is a recurring manual recording. Go to Menu-Manage recordings-Manual and you can set it up just like a VCR and record that time slot every week or every day or whatever.

 

[badtlc]

I have my series manager set up exactly how you are asking. And yes it will pick up the next showing if the 1st one gets bumped due to higher priority. So if I had a USA show bumped (and set to 1st run) at say 9pm, it would then record the next showing (usually midnight for USA). This works the same for all the series that I record that show an episode multiple times in a week.

What are your settings? Mine is not working like that for me. If I set mine to "first run" only, and my show I watch on TNT that gets played 10 times a week.... The first time that episode airs during the week is the same time as 2 other programs with higher priority so it gets skipped. It then does not record that episode any of the next 9 or so times it is played.

If I set it to "both" instead of first run, it records like all 4 or 5 different episodes shown during the week even though only one episode was new for the week.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

This is what I did with E* Dual DVR:

Network show like, say Amazing Race with only one viewing... It is higher on the priority list than say, Real Housewives which has multiple airings. Say TAR and RH air at the same time, with RH as a lower priority so it doesn't record b/c another programme is higher than that. RH airs again the next day. I set it to record 'first runs'. It missed the first run b/c TAR and X show recorded above it. Does the DVR bounce to the next available airing to record Real Housewives or if I miss it, do I have to manually set? If I set it as a series, I woudl think that when it airs next, it will record... at least that is what E* did.

If you are trying to record 2 shows at the same time,don't you get the warning on screen that the dvr recording is about to start on the channel you are watching? Both shows will record at the same time,you just won't be able to watch live TV from that dvr until at least one of the recordings has stopped. D* DVRs don't have the ability where you can record two shows(one + one OTA or one + one & watch OTA TV) & continue to watch live TV.

 

[badtlc]

If you are trying to record 2 shows at the same time,don't you get the warning on screen that the dvr recording is about to start on the channel you are watching? Both shows will record at the same time,you just won't be able to watch live TV from that dvr until at least one of the recordings has stopped. D* DVRs don't have the ability where you can record two shows(one + one OTA or one + one & watch OTA TV) & continue to watch live TV.

That isn't what he is talking about. He is talking about trying to record 3 things where the one with the lowest priority is reshown multiple times a week. He wants to know if the next showing of that 3rd program (that was skipped due to priority) will be recorded since it isn't technically the "first run."

 

[sparksals]

What are your settings? Mine is not working like that for me. If I set mine to "first run" only, and my show I watch on TNT that gets played 10 times a week.... The first time that episode airs during the week is the same time as 2 other programs with higher priority so it gets skipped. It then does not record that episode any of the next 9 or so times it is played.

If I set it to "both" instead of first run, it records like all 4 or 5 different episodes shown during the week even though only one episode was new for the week.

This is exactly what I want to avoid. I want it to pick up the next available run of the show without recording multiples of the same episode.

 

[sparksals]

If you are trying to record 2 shows at the same time,don't you get the warning on screen that the dvr recording is about to start on the channel you are watching? Both shows will record at the same time,you just won't be able to watch live TV from that dvr until at least one of the recordings has stopped. D* DVRs don't have the ability where you can record two shows(one + one OTA or one + one & watch OTA TV) & continue to watch live TV.

Yes, I realize that. I'm not wanting to watch a third show while two are recording. I want to record another show that has multiple runs and I want the DVR to pick up the next available episode to record and record it only once.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Yes, I realize that. I'm not wanting to watch a third show while two are recording. I want to record another show that has multiple runs and I want the DVR to pick up the next available episode to record and record it only once.

How many receivers do you have from D* ,what kind are they,& do you have multi-room viewing? I ask because,like I said before,if you have 2 or more DVRs(HD DVRs) & multi-room viewing,you can use both DVRs for recording & with multi-room viewing,you can watch recorded shows from both DVRs on any receiver(that is MRV certified) in your house. If you don't have MRV but you can afford to upgrade to it(along with getting a second DVR if you don't have one),it will be well worth it,& it will definitely solve your dilemma that you are talking about. Short of going MRV,I personally have no other solution.

 

[badtlc]

I can't answer for him but I have the same issue/question. I have two HR24 connected via DECA with MRV enabled.

 

[hupptoy]

What are your settings? Mine is not working like that for me. If I set mine to "first run" only, and my show I watch on TNT that gets played 10 times a week.... The first time that episode airs during the week is the same time as 2 other programs with higher priority so it gets skipped. It then does not record that episode any of the next 9 or so times it is played.

If I set it to "both" instead of first run, it records like all 4 or 5 different episodes shown during the week even though only one episode was new for the week.

All of my series are set to 1st run. I have the shows that only run once at the top of the priority list and the shows on the others (TLC, USA, MTV, etc.) lower in the list. If there are any conflicts, the lower ones get bumped and picked up later automatically.

If I look at the "To Do List" when this conflict exists, there will be a red circle X next the the program that is bumped and then it is listed a little further down the list with the triple record symbol next to it.

 

[badtlc]

All of my series are set to 1st run. I have the shows that only run once at the top of the priority list and the shows on the others (TLC, USA, MTV, etc.) lower in the list. If there are any conflicts, the lower ones get bumped and picked up later automatically.

If I look at the "To Do List" when this conflict exists, there will be a red circle X next the the program that is bumped and then it is listed a little further down the list with the triple record symbol next to it.

Mine definitely isn't working like that. It will show the conflict but then doesn't show the triple record symbol next to the next airing.

Thanks for the reply! Maybe i'll delete the timers and reset the receiver and see if that helps. It sounds like it should work if I can get it setup.