# Suspended DirecTV service: HR22 as OTA receiver?



## michael1248 (Feb 14, 2002)

I am going to suspend my service for 6 months because DirecTV is not an option in my new apartment complex. (It may become one within 6 months according to management.) I plan on watching my saved recordings during that time.

I know I can use my HR10 as a stand alone OTA receiver without a guide or recording capabilities. Can I do the same with my HR22 using the AM21 OTA tuner DirecTV sent me? I never activated it and it is still new in the box.


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## Runch Machine (Feb 7, 2002)

Once you deactivate the receiver it will not funcion as an over the air receiver or even allow you to watch recorded programs. I recommend you watch anything you recorded before you suspend your service.


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## the_scotsman (Jul 28, 2005)

I dropped an HR23 off my account over a year ago and I can still watch everything that I had previously recorded, just not in HD. Why would the HR22 be any different?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Depending on the order in which you do things, some people find that they can continue to watch old recordings on an HR2x after removing service, but most cannot. I suggest disconnecting the HR22 from the satellite dish before suspending service.

As for OTA, the HR2x relies on the satellite guide data to tune channels, so can't be used without active service.


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## michael1248 (Feb 14, 2002)

Thanks Stevel. Excellent advice. I didn't think to disconnect the HR22 prior to deactivation.

Will I be able to watch my saved recordings in HD if I follow your advice? 

Any additional suggestions?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I don't know if you will be able to watch your recordings. I suggest that you expect not to be able to do so.


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## michael1248 (Feb 14, 2002)

Stevel,

I was able to access my HR10 recordings , no problem. However, I can't seem to get the HR10 to act as a standalone receiver (with the buffer). The screen says I have to acquire the satellite info, which I obviously can't do since I moved. Do I have to repeat the setup using only the scan for digital channels?

Thanks for your always "on target" advice.

(Haven't unpacked the HR22 moving box yet.)


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

michael1248 said:


> Stevel,
> 
> I was able to access my HR10 recordings , no problem. However, I can't seem to get the HR10 to act as a standalone receiver (with the buffer). The screen says I have to acquire the satellite info, which I obviously can't do since I moved. Do I have to repeat the setup using only the scan for digital channels?
> 
> ...


You need to run the Guided Setup and tell it you have OTA only.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

michael1248 said:


> I didn't think to disconnect the HR22 prior to deactivation.
> 
> Will I be able to watch my saved recordings in HD if I [do that]?
> 
> Any additional suggestions?


As far as I've observed, the shows will play. It will be interesting to see what happens after a power failure or after the unit spontaneously reboots. I've never had firsthand experience with that (by the time I was consulted in these situations other steps had been taken and the situation had become confused).

Let us know what happens!


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

The rumors a year or so ago were, over at DBSTalk, that a disconnect would cause the DVR to stop playing back eventually, which was a new "feature" of a particular software up rev, IIRC. There was some consensus that 13 hours was the magic number (but real-world experience reveals something different). That number made some sense because DTV was attempting to balance out what would be an unusually-long power outage with folks loading up DVRs with pay TV movies and then disconnecting service for a few months, or so the discussion went.

I replaced a dying HR20-100 with another HR20-100 in January. The PS was dying and causing spontaneous reboots (but I was able to move a lot of content to a Philips DVDR which preserved the 16:9 aspect ratio, at least). When the new DVR arrived I had only a few shows to go, and when I activated the new/deactivated the old, I was still able to play shows from it for 3 or 4 days, but then it would no longer allow playback after that.

This may fit the above strategy, as they want to prevent the load up/disconnect scenario, but they also don't want to have a flood of calls from, for instance, an area that had a 3-day power outage, which requires the receivers to get reactivated.


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## playa (Aug 2, 2010)

whitepelican said:


> You need to run the Guided Setup and tell it you have OTA only.


THIS


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