Question about international satellite use and DVR

[Aviknox]

I know next to nothing about satellite TV and DVR's so please forgive me in advance for my question. I've never used cable or satellite TV before and have never owned a DVR (I know, I am way behind the times).

I am interested in subscribing to a GlobeCast WorldTV home satellite system but because of the time differences between Asia and the US, I want to be able to record the programs on a DVR. I will apparently receive a satellite box that receives the signal from the dish and then connects to the TV. My question is, “Is it possible to record the output from the satellite box for play at a later time? And if so, will just any “satellite” enabled DVR work?” If I can't find a way to record the programs, I probably won't go ahead with the subscription.

I also currently still have a very old analog TV and am using a digital/analog converter. I'm guessing I would also need to buy a digital TV, right?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[Mr Tony]

I am interested in subscribing to a GlobeCast WorldTV home satellite system but because of the time differences between Asia and the US, I want to be able to record the programs on a DVR. I will apparently receive a satellite box that receives the signal from the dish and then connects to the TV. My question is, “Is it possible to record the output from the satellite box for play at a later time?

yes you can record off the Globecast receiver. You can use a VCR, Tivo, DVD recorder

And if so, will just any “satellite” enabled DVR work?” If I can't find a way to record the programs, I probably won't go ahead with the subscription.

those sat DVR's are for Dish or Directv only and wont work with anything else. LIke I say a VCR or DVD recorder will work too.

I also currently still have a very old analog TV and am using a digital/analog converter. I'm guessing I would also need to buy a digital TV, right?

nope. The receiver outputs it to analog just fine. I have a receiver on my 32" Sharp analog TV

Globecast requires you to use their receiver if you subscribe. What channels were you looking to get? Some channels on there are free and you can use any free to air receiver (and some have capabilities to record

 

[Aviknox]

Hi Iceberg,

You may not believe this but I was hoping you would answer this. I read an earlier thread on the forum and was impressed with your helpfulness and answers. Thanks for the answers.

I am interested in AmritaTV which is a paid subscription.

Are you ABSOLUTELY SURE I don't need a digital TV? I was hoping to convince my wife of the necessity

I know there are different Tivo's for antenna, cable, satellite. Would I need the one for satellite (or are they just for Dish, etc?), and if so, is there a way to record both from the satellite and antenna?

Thanks again for you help. I am truly grateful ...and encouraged!

 

[Mr Tony]

yep you're right. Amrita TV is a subscription service. Just checked

I'm sure you dont need a digital TV. That is if you got into hi definition programming or you want to get rid of that pesky converter box since all digital TV's have a digital tuner in them. Otherwise you can hook the World TV receiver to the existing TV

Tivo is actually a specific DVR that works with cable or antenna TV but requires a subscription. the DVR's that cable companies, dish and direct sell only work with their systems.
If I remember correctly, some older Tivo's would record but you have to set up a manual timer for each one and they dont require a subscription. Hopefully someone chimes in if this is possible

I personally use a DVD recorder/hard drive to record anything off my free to air system.

one thing I noticed from reading the globecast site is the channel is on a delay for US audiences

Amrita TV broadcasts 7 days a week – 24 hours a day on a 10-½ hour time delay for US audiences.

 

[gillham]

Some of the early TiVo units supported manual "VCR" recording. TiVo quickly realized this is useful so they disabled it in newer units unless you pay a fee.

You can get a standalone TiVo with lifetime service, but I don't think you'll get any guide data out of TiVo for your Globecast channels. It might also be tricky to get any channels defined and channel switching to work.

You can buy an older TiVo with DVD that has "Lifetime Basic" service as well. Those are usually cheaper as Lifetime Basic is a fairly limited DVR service.

You could also use a PC with a tuner card & software to provide your DVR, but that is a lot of extra work for only a few channels.

I see at least one TiVo Series1 with Lifetime service on eBay for $99 + $20 shipping. I got a Series2 for around $200 and they are much better units to buy, but it depends on what you're willing to spend. Do not buy the Series3 or "HD" units as they do not support encoding from external satellite tuners anymore.

The Series2 DT (dual tuner) might be what you would want to do globecast on one tuner and OTA (via converter box) on the other.

But the caveat is that with the TiVo you would be doing manual recordings (time based, VCR style) for Globecast. The PC might get guide data as I see Globalcast as an option in Schedules Direct.

 

[Aviknox]

Thanks Iceberg. I appreciate your researching the time thing. As it turns out, the programs I am interested in are still only available at relatively inconvenient times.

I have tried in the recent past to do some research on DVR's, but it seemed at the time that every one was advertised as working with Dish or some other system, such as cable, etc. I noticed that you use a DVD player/recorder. I was hoping some day to get a digital TV and possibly even spring for BluRay (don't mean to get off topic here) so I guess my question goes something along these lines. Does anyone make a generic DVR (not DVD player) that can record from satellite and doesn't require a subscription? Or if I don't want to pay for Tivo, than my only other choice would be a DVD player recorder such as what you use, in which case, it would either have to record in BluRay specs or I would need both a regular DVD recorder and BluRay DVD player. Hope you can follow my question. Thanks.

 

[Aviknox]

Thanks Gillham. I will do some research on the Tivo series you mentioned. They might just be the answer I am looking for. Thanks again.

 

[Aviknox]

OK, I've done a bit more research on DVD recorders, but I still don't know for sure what I should be looking for. If I get a DVD player/recorder with a built in tuner, does that prevent me from using it for other sources like satellite?

Thanks again for all the help. I think I am getting close to knowing what I need to set the system up that I want.

 

[Mr Tony]

dang. I just found something that might work for you and most definitely would work for me if I needed one.

Walmart.com: Magnavox 160GB DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner: DVD & Blu-ray Players

160GB hard drive
input for an external source (globecast box)
digital tuner (so you wouldnt need that converter box)
and no fees

you wouldnt even need to use the DVD recorder part if you dont want to

 

[Mr Tony]

and now I found one on Ebay for much cheaper and its the same one I have (two of them actually)

link of item

Its a 80GB Hard drive which for me (at 2 hour speed) is about 38 hours storgae time. It doesnt have a digital tuner but you could hook the converter box to it. I have 2 of these and they are AWESOME!

I have my converter box and a FTA receiver hooked to one and my Shaw Direct subscription hooked to the other. The other input on the 2nd one is for my VCR as I am copying VHS tapes to DVD's

I know if you put the HDD on a different speed (which if you dont record programs to DVD wont make a difference picture wise) you can get over 100 hours on the drive. So if you dont need the bigger hard drive and dont mind hooking the converter box to it to record this would be a great deal.

 

[Mr Tony]

OK, I've done a bit more research on DVD recorders, but I still don't know for sure what I should be looking for. If I get a DVD player/recorder with a built in tuner, does that prevent me from using it for other sources like satellite?

in most cases no. Most have an external input option to plug another item into it

 

[Aviknox]

Hey Iceberg, you the man! I've just the spent the past hour or two, googleing and using Amazon.com (which I like for the customer reviews as much as anything) looking at different DVD recorders but nothing I found had as many reviews as the Walmart Magnavox unit. And it was rated as high or better than anything I found in that price range on Amazon. It looks like it may be the unit I'm looking for. Great find.

Thanks for taking so much of your Sunday to help me out. I am very, very happy! Once I get my system up (it may be awhile) I'll try to repost how things are going. Thanks for everything and have a great rest of your day!!

 

[Mr Tony]

Hey Iceberg, you the man! I've just the spent the past hour or two, googleing and using Amazon.com (which I like for the customer reviews as much as anything) looking at different DVD recorders but nothing I found had as many reviews as the Walmart Magnavox unit. And it was rated as high or better than anything I found in that price range on Amazon. It looks like it may be the unit I'm looking for. Great find.

the only thing I noticed is that unit isnt in many stores. So it will have to be shipped to ya

Thanks for taking so much of your Sunday to help me out. I am very, very happy! Once I get my system up (it may be awhile) I'll try to repost how things are going. Thanks for everything and have a great rest of your day!!

let us know how it works out. Happy to help

 

[jerwucef]

Of DVR's.

Hmm. I'm kinda surprised Walmart is still selling that hard disk based Magnavox DVD recorder. I thought that had been discontinued long ago.

Hard disk based DVD recorders are a funny thing. In other parts of the world, they're available with HD tuners, terabytes of storage, network connectivity and bluray disc burners. In America? Not so much. And you all know why.

I have an old Panasonic hard drive based DVR recording RTPi nearly 24/7. If there's something interesting, I put it onto a DVD. Basically video scrap booking. And I'm wondering how I'm going to live without it when it breaks down (it's already acting up). It's the only piece of electronics I have that I'm willing to send out to get repaired because it's so great.

But I'm also trying to figure my options. People swear by Media Center. And for my application since the tuners locked down, I'd just run the receiver into some sort of hardware h264 encoder into a computer and use some sort of DVR type software to keep it organized and fire the video scraps to my home server. But the problem is 1) I've had bad luck having general computer operating systems handle such specific tasks and 2) will anyone else in my house be able to use it?

Walmart.com is telling me a local store has that thing in stock. I might check it out. Even if it's horrible, it's better than not having the thing.

 

[Tron]

I use two Philips DVDR3576H 160GB DVD recorders for most of my DVD recording tasks. These units also have an ATSC tuner (downconverts HD to SD, of course, for DVD recording) and the 160GB hard drive. They do NOT, however, have component inputs, which are important for achieving the highest quality from sources capable of delivering component video. For component recording, I use a Philips DVDR-3400, which does not have an ATSC tuner (only analog) or a hard drive.

 

[Anole]

Not to inject a sour note, but I believe BluRay was left behind in all the solutions above.
I'd be shocked if you find any combo unit that'll play them, much less record them.
Of course, that could change any day. - :up - ... for a price.
Which just means you'd need the extra BluRay player.

. . . Or if I don't want to pay for Tivo, than my only other choice would be a DVD player recorder such as what you use, in which case, it would either have to record in BluRay specs or I would need both a regular DVD recorder and BluRay DVD player.

 

[Tron]

I have yet to see a standalone BD-R recorder for sale anywhere in North America. I'm sure that will change soon, but as of now the only way to burn your own BD discs is on a PC with a drive such as the LG GGW-H20L...

 

[sorchard]

I have yet to see a standalone BD-R recorder for sale anywhere in North America..

Panasonic finally released one over here in the UK, with twin Freesat (DVB-S/S2 with proprietary EPG) tuners. Has HDD/BD-R, and can record the one or two FTA HD channels available.

The cost? Panasonic are offering interest-free credit, it costs somewhere in the region of £1000. It might have been worth it if you could record from component or HDMI, but you can only record HD from a USB camcorder or the twin sat tuners.

 

[Tron]

The cost? Panasonic are offering interest-free credit, it costs somewhere in the region of £1000. It might have been worth it if you could record from component or HDMI, but you can only record HD from a USB camcorder or the twin sat tuners.

That's over $2000 US... No thanks, not at this time, thank you very much ... I'll stick with my GGW-H20L.