Looking into the Hopper after losing Distant Networks

[andreah1]

Is there a link that explains exactly what the Hopper does (and doesn't do)? With the loss of Distant Networks, our current set up is falling short recording-wise. We used to be able to record a lot of the prime time shows at a later time (we're on the east coast and taped the west coast) so that we were still able to watch other shows. We currently have 2 722k's with 2 tv's on each one. The two extra tv's aren't watched often but like having them there. Just about everything we record is between the hours of 8-11, exactly when we want to watch something while other stuff is taping. To have the two 722k's, we're paying 17.00 + 7.00 - is the hopper a lot more? I just don't understand how it works either. If we had two hoppers, would they be available from all tv's or more like the 722k's, where just two tv's each can access it. Does it really tape 6 shows at once? There's a night or two when we have 4 shows taping and wish we could tape at least one more. Some are network and some are discovery/a&e/history, etc. Reason we went with Dish years ago is that we could get the 722k's and not have a box on each tv (a total pain in the rear to me), we have 2 tv's on the wall and there isn't anyplace to put a box, so how would the joey work? I don't want anymore wires all over the place, I detest it. I've heard something wireless is coming but doesn't help us out here in the boonies that don't have wireless networks, very limited data each month, don't want to use it up by tv's talking to each other.
I've tried to read up on the hopper on dish but really want a more detailed explanation on how they work, etc. Tried looking thru here and there's lot's to read but couldn't find the answers to some of the stuff above.

 

[satjay]

There is a sticky link on Scott's review of the Hopper, good information

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[david_jr]

You could accomplish 1 Hopper & 2 or 3 Joeys for $26 & $33 respectively. Sounds like you'd be better served with 2 Hoppers & either 1 or 2 Joeys. That would cost $33 & 40 respectively. I suggest if 4th location is infrequently used mirror 1 of your Joeys to the 4th set to save $7 in either scenario. You could even go wit 2 Hoppers an just mirror each to one of your other TV's. That would only be $24 a month which is what you're paying now.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my iPhone 5 using SatelliteGuys

 

[andreah1]

Thanks, it does help, I don't understand the mirroring part though, is that something the installer would know (I assume he/she would). Still trying to find the sticky review, I must be blind, geez. I just see the review for the hopper with sling.

 

[JSheridan]

Thanks, it does help, I don't understand the mirroring part though, is that something the installer would know (I assume he/she would). Still trying to find the sticky review, I must be blind, geez. I just see the review for the hopper with sling.

Mirroring is watching the same thing on an additional TV. The 722 was designed for it but with the Hopper you need an additional wire and a modulator. The labor, wire and modulator are not part of the free installation.

 

[andreah1]

Still doing lots of reading, holy, I could spend a week non stop reading everyone's questions and answers about the hopper! I am adding questions here as I think of them. With the mention of being able to just get 2 hoppers and mirroring the other two lesser used tv's to them I wanted to know how exactly that works. First, do the two hoppers talk to each other, meaning, even if I have a hopper on the tv I view the most, would I be able to pull up something that was taped on the other hopper that my husband uses the most? Or are they totally separate entities? Could the lesser used tv's each be mirrored to both hoppers or just one for each? And would that mean less wiring (yay)? Is this something the installer would be knowledgeable about? Would mirroring be similar to what we have now with the two 722k's and one of each lesser used tv is viewed from each 722k?
I'm reading that primetime channels are all on one tuner, not sure how that works? I always thought one tuner could only do one channel at a time? Can I still set it up to only tape the primetime shows we want or do we have to tape ALL primetime? I'm worried about for example taping on a Wednesday 8-10 on cbs and abc and also taping on a&e and discovery (or similar) at the same time AND watch live on another channel..can one hopper do all that or better with two (would rather have two just in case) and can it be set up so that we can watch either hopper on any tv at any time?

 

[andreah1]

JSheridan, just read your reply after submitting my last question, so sounds like mirroring wouldn't work as when we use those other tv's something else is playing on the two "main" tv's. Geez. Why can't life be easy?

 

[Scherrman]

Still doing lots of reading, holy, I could spend a week non stop reading everyone's questions and answers about the hopper! I am adding questions here as I think of them. With the mention of being able to just get 2 hoppers and mirroring the other two lesser used tv's to them I wanted to know how exactly that works. First, do the two hoppers talk to each other, meaning, even if I have a hopper on the tv I view the most, would I be able to pull up something that was taped on the other hopper that my husband uses the most? Or are they totally separate entities? Could the lesser used tv's each be mirrored to both hoppers or just one for each? And would that mean less wiring (yay)? Is this something the installer would be knowledgeable about? Would mirroring be similar to what we have now with the two 722k's and one of each lesser used tv is viewed from each 722k?
I'm reading that primetime channels are all on one tuner, not sure how that works? I always thought one tuner could only do one channel at a time? Can I still set it up to only tape the primetime shows we want or do we have to tape ALL primetime? I'm worried about for example taping on a Wednesday 8-10 on cbs and abc and also taping on a&e and discovery (or similar) at the same time AND watch live on another channel..can one hopper do all that or better with two (would rather have two just in case) and can it be set up so that we can watch either hopper on any tv at any time?

You would be able to select the other Hopper and view it's recordings just fine. The only thing it doesn't do is show a fully integrated list of all the recordings between the two Hoppers. You have to select the other Hopper from a drop down box in the DVR screen to see it's recordings.

 

[andreah1]

Schermann, that would work for us, it's now trying to figure out what to do with the other tv's that we don't view often. I don't mind hooking a joey to one of them (not sure how as it's on the wall and there aren't really any spots to connect it on to the tv, it's a small one in the kitchen) but the one in the bedroom, no way, I've read they can run during the night to cool off, etc, the last thing I want is something to wake me up at night. Can mirroring be done easily enough without an installer?

 

[sparc]

Can mirroring be done easily enough without an installer?

depends on your existing wiring. usually you can get away with putting a joey in a central wiring closet.

you can skim through some of the old satguys threads here to get an idea: https://www.google.com/search?q=hop...u1k&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb

 

[david_jr]

Andreah1, the VIP722K’s you have now are dual tuner and serve the main TV in HD and a second TV in SD using Tuner 2 and outputs through coax cable to an SD TV on a modulated channel. You have 2 such setups that allow independent viewing at TV1 and TV2 with the caveat that TV2 is SD. There is no viewing or connection between the two 722’s. With a Hopper system you could have a couple of ways to mirror your Hoppers: The Hopper has HDMI, Component and Composite outputs. These are all active at the same time, but only show whatever is on the main TV connected (usually) to the HDMI directly from the Hopper. So you could either run the component outs directly to your TV 2 location if that TV is HD and you would see the same thing in HD on that TV as you see at the main TV connected to the Hopper, or you could run the Composite (red/white/yellow) output to an inexpensive RF Modulator (usually under $20) and just plug the same coax cable that runs from 722 to TV2 into the modulated coax output. You could place a Hopper at each 722 location and just use 2 modulators to get what’s on each Hopper to the lesser used TVs over existing coax wiring, but you will not have independent viewing at the TV2 remote locations, only what is showing on the Hopper those TVs are connected to. To answer your last question, you could get 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey and mirror from the Joey to the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] TV using a modulator from the composite outputs of the Joey. This might not work with your existing wiring, but shouldn’t be too difficult and would give you access to everything the Joey has access to at the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] TV location, which would mean all recordings on both Hoppers and ability to tune to an available tuner. Keep in mind the 722 was designed to mirror to TV2, but the Hopper system is designed to mirror to a Joey with much more flexibility than TV2 on a 722 system, with the downside being the added cost of $7 month per Joey.
In a regular Hopper setup, the “TV2 locations” would be served by additional Joeys at each additional location. Joeys can see all recordings on both Hoppers. Joeys can connect to either Hopper at any given time and view an available channel or recording, join a program or channel someone else is watching, or set up timers on whichever Hopper it is connected to at that moment. In a 2 Hopper setup, Hoppers can see the other Hopper’s recordings, but cannot view channels or set recordings on the other Hopper. A 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hopper costs an additional $12. Add 2 Joeys and that’s $14 more. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hopper carries a $12 Whole Home DVR fee. That is why many people mirror to lesser used TVs that either don’t need independent viewing (the ability to watch something independent of the host, or Hopper in this case) or don’t need HD and independent viewing at that location to save on fee costs. Each Hopper has 3 tuners and 1 Over The Air USB tuner can be added to each Hopper.
As far as your question regarding Prime Time or PTAT as most refer to it: A Hopper can be set to record PTAT, which can record all four main networks during Primetime hours 7 days a week, using only 1 of the Hopper’s 3 tuners. You can also set it up to record only the days you want it to and only the networks you want it to record, for instance you can set it to record only ABC and FOX on Friday. PTAT recordings are kept in a separate PTAT folder and deleted after 8 days. PTAT can also be easily set to save instead of delete. Most PTAT recordings will also be able to Auto-Hop over commercials. Another nice feature is that If PTAT is on even for only one day, most Prime Time recordings will be able to Auto-Hop even if they are not part of PTAT.

 

[andreah1]

Thanks David, that pretty much answered everything. To "have it my way" would cost 38 bucks a month, which is just too much. Going to ponder how I can work around things. All this because of a day or two of too many recordings darn it. I REALLY miss the distant networks, they were a God send for us folks in the boonies. I can't even get anything OTA, have tried but too many hills/trees, etc. Thought of one hopper, a super joey and a regular joey but not sure that would cover it either. Seems the two hopper, one joey would probably work in the long run but trying to go thru getting two hoppers looks like it might be a bit of a pain. And still costs more than what we pay now, I hate that part, especially with the raise in programming lately. Although, guess I can argue we're not paying almost 15 a month for distant anymore!

 

[sparc]

If it were me, i'd get 2 Hoppers and zero joeys (there are tips in this forum on how to get it done).

After the tech leaves, I would then mirror one of the Hoppers with an RF modulator to the other two TV locations that aren't used often. That's not an easy setup though as you have to have a second coax line that goes from the hopper back to other two TV locations (may not be possible for most people). You would obviously have to be somewhat handy to set it up on your own and understand the wiring.

With the Super Joey coming out, you could probably have a similar setup with one Hopper and one Super Joey. Then mirror one of those back to the additional two TVs. Same wiring complexity though as you'll likely have to have that extra coax line to feed back to those other TVs. Another negative here is dealing with a new device like a Super Joey where we don't have any experience with the reliability.

This advice is assuming you want HD on the two primary TVs and SD on the two little used TVs via the RF modulator. Also, techs would only be responsible for installing Dish equipment. This whole mirroring thing is definitely outside their responsibility.

 

[andreah1]

NOT handy when it comes to that stuff.

 

[bwexler]

When the wireless Joey comes out SOOOON, you could use that on one of your seldom used TVs. The Wireless Joey uses its own wireless network with a router conected to the Hopper. It has nothing to do with your internet connection or other in house WiFi. I would also recomend a Hopper with Sling even with no internet connecection because of its faster processor and larger memory. The sot is the same, and if you ever get a high speed internet connection you will be all set.
The simplicity or difficulty of mirroring the secondary TVs depends a lot on how your home is layed out. One home I lived in had only one wall between the living room and bedroom, the TV in each room were back to back only a foot apart. a simple cable through the wall did the job. A different home the bedroom was upstairs with a cathedral ceiling and the TV onted high on the wall, not at all easy but it got done.
If the secondary TVs are close to the main TVs I would run the 5 component cables to the main TV and the HDMI single cable to the secondary TV if it is Hi Def with HDMI.
It is just like a jigswa puzzle, you have to know the layout of the hose, the placement of the TVs and their capabilities.

 

[dare2be]

You MIGHT be able to get by with 1 Hopper and 3 joeys ($33/mo). Any recordings on the local channels will only use 1 tuner, so even if you record multiple local channel shows at a time (from the big 4 networks), you will still have 2 free tuners to use otherwise. None of the tuners are tied to any particular TV, so any available tuner can be used at any TV. Keep in mind that watching an already recorded DVR title will not use up a tuner either. If 2 of the TVs are seldom used, then that might be enough.

As far as cost goes, your 2 722s are costing you $24/mo now, so that would be a $9 increase, but how much were you paying for distant networks before they disappeared?

 

[dare2be]

...or, if you wait a month or two, 1 Hopper, 1 Super Joey and 2 Joeys will get you 5 integrated tuners for $36/mo

 

[andreah1]

Think we may be waiting til summer, we have two dishes on the roof (one I believe was pretty much for the distant networks) and are having a new roof put on this summer...so thinking we should wait and tie it all together and have the one dish removed the same time the roof is done AND do the hoppers. I'm leaning towards two hoppers, more for the reason of if one fails we have the other, have had the 722k's fail a few times since we've had them. And because I'm just not adept enough to do all the other mirroring would probably have to get 2 joey's as much as I don't want to. Are the super joey's going to be totally wireless? I sooooo detest the though of all those stinking wires. it's so nice now with the 722k's - just one cable each up from the basement and of course the connection to the tv. I hate wires. Hate them.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Super Joeys are not wireless. They'll be connected with a cable like any other receiver. Also, Dish will not allow them to be installed behind wall mounted tvs like the regular Joeys as they must have proper air flow.

Also, from the pics of the wireless Joey that Scott and them took, it's larger than a normal Joey and may not fit behind a wall mounted tv even if Dish allows it.

 

[bwexler]

If you plan to wait the wireless Joeys can be mounted behind the TV especially if it is tilted out a bit at the top.
That would allow for the only visible wire to be the power cords on the TV and Wireless Joey.