Voom and Series 2 TIVO

[rhouston]

Ok, here goes again.

I have my Series 2 connected up to my Voom receiver but I'm not sure if everything is setup up correctly.

Should I be able to watch one show will another is recording? Can I watch 1 show and record 2 other shows?

Here's my wiring scheme:

Coax from Voom dish to Voom receiver (One coax, do I need 2?)
Composite cable from Voom receiver to Series 2
Composite cable from Series 2 to TV

What am I missing?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[CDH]

Hi Rhouston,

The way you have things connected is fine, but I don't believe there is a way to record one live program and watch another live program via the TiVo. I could be wrong on this though. I think that the limiting factor is only one satellite tuner on the Voom STB

It is definitely possible to watch something already recorded on the TiVo while recording something else.

Perhaps some day they'll recognize that the Voom STB can deliver locals, but it doesn't appear to work right now unless you "trick" it. For example: tune the Voom STB to channel 100 via the TiVo then use the Voom remote (or the Voom program planner) to change the channel on the STB to a digital local. The TiVo then thinks it is still receiving channel 100, when in fact it is receiving a digital local.

I have a split in my OTA antenna so that I can receive my local channel's analogue signal through the tuner built into the TiVo. There is no other way that I know of to receive/record locals on the TiVo.

Maybe someone else who is more TiVo-knowledgeable can help! This was one of the attractions of the ReplayTV: though I couldn't get it to work, it is supposedly possible to get the Replay unit to download guide information for both locals and satellite and receive both sets of channels (satellite and digital local) from the STB.

I wish the TiVo would support having an external (digital) OTA tuner.

CDH.

 

[barth2k]

Here's the trick I found for recording the digital OTA (DTV) stations. With this, you can record HD programs in widescreen at least.

1) Trick Tivo into adding the DTV station into the channels you receive. First, click say, 7 (on the Tivo remote). This will tune to analog channel 7 using Tivo's own internal tuner. Click 7 again. Tivo will now switch to channel 7 on Voom's box, which will be 7.1 (DTV). You'll see "no info available, click select to record". Click Select or Record to record. (It doesn't matter what the program is; you NEED to do this).

2) Now go into Tivo msgs & Setup -> Preferences -> Channel Lineup -> Channels you receive (I'm going by memory here so I may be wrong; but I'm sure you can find it.) Now in the list, you'll be able to see "7 sat". Select that as a channel you get.

3) Now to record, you need to do a manual record by time/channel and select "7 sat". Voila.

It's a klutz, but at least you don't have to sit there and change the channel yourself. Just remember to lave the Voom box on, which I do all the time anyway.

 

[CDH]

Hey,

That is a neat trick. I have set up the local channels I record off as valid through the TiVo (4 sat, 7 sat, etc), though I can't get any Program Guide information for them. How annoying!

I wish there were a way to transfer the program guide for the analog OTA locals over to the digital ones through the STB. That would allow all the TiVo functions on the digital locals. If there were a way to do this then I'd really be very happy while waiting for the Voom DVR.

Can one set up a repeating manual record? (I.e. Wednesdays at 9pm? - West Wing!)

CDH.

 

[Tvlman]

My neighbor says he has Tivo working on VOOM just like it did on DirecTV. I'll have to find out what he's doing. Will get back on this when I find out.

 

[CDH]

My neighbor says he has Tivo working on VOOM just like it did on DirecTV. I'll have to find out what he's doing. Will get back on this when I find out.

Oh it works... mostly. My Tivo works very well to record all the Voom Satellite content as well as time-shift. It isn't HD, but it is better than using my Sony VCR.

The problem is that officially Tivo doesn't support recording digital locals through the Voom STB, and doesn't provide local program guide information for those channels. Tivo's answer is that you should set up a second antenna connection to the Tivo box and use the Tivo's internal antenna to watch/record locals. That works, but the reception I get of locals through the Voom STB (digital) is vastly superior to the analog versions through the Tivo.

Barth2k's solution adds satellite locals to the channel list on the Tivo, but there is still no program guide information for those channels, meaning that to record programs off digital OTA channels requires setting up manual record events. The cool features that I never knew I wanted until I got a Tivo such as the season pass feature won't work for digital locals and neither will the wish list or search functions.

CDH.

 

[Scotty]

tivo should get their program guide information for voom from TitanTV. They have the guide setup to show my digital OTA's, and the rest of the Voom satelite channels. Only slight error is they are showing WQED on 13-1, when it is really broadcasting on 13-2.

I use the USB network connection to get my guide info, so technically this should be possible.

 

[CDH]

tivo should get their program guide information for voom from TitanTV.

Well, presumably that would require TiVo to pay Titan TV for the information. They already have the Voom channel information, they already have the local program guide information for analog locals. The problem is that their system won't link the "sat" locals (digital locals via STB) with the program information for the analog locals.

I am guessing that with Voom's much heralded future DVR they aren't cozying up with TiVo to help them out with guide information for each of their local DMAs. (Dish Network does this: you can set up your Tivo to receive program guide information for locals received through the STB, but these are via satellite not OTA.)

Sigh.

But! I will say again that barth2k's work-around is a lot better than the system I was using before because it elminates the Voom program planner part of the equation. I just tell myself that it is an interim solution.

As much as I love the TiVo box I'll gladly replace it with Voom's in-house HD-DVR when released.

CDH.