# Is there a market for old DirecTV analog TIVO's?



## RBerryman (Sep 17, 2002)

Cleaned out a closet and found a
Samsung SIR-S4080R EN
Hughes HDVR2
Hughes GXCEBOT D
all were working when we pulled them out and went with the newer DirecTV system


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

RBerryman said:


> Cleaned out a closet and found a
> Samsung SIR-S4080R EN
> Hughes HDVR2
> Hughes GXCEBOT D
> all were working when we pulled them out and went with the newer DirecTV system


I dont see any of those on the list of receivers that use MPG data which has been shut down so they all should still be usable. They will NOT be able to receive HD and you may have issues getting them activated now


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

All generations, all models of DirecTV TiVos are digital, not analog. I'd assume you were going for "standard definition", but then you list the HDVR2.


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

One additional note, all MPEG2 DirecTV receivers which is all SD receivers and the early HD receivers that are now SD only will be obsolete sometime in 2019 when DirecTV shuts down MPEG2 broadcasts. With that in mind I would probably just recycle your receivers as they have a remaining life of less than a year


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> All generations, all models of DirecTV TiVos are digital, not analog. I'd assume you were going for "standard definition", but then you list the HDVR2.


Heh, yeah, that's a bit confusing; but the "H," in this case. represented "Hughes" ... and it is a SD-only model.

TiVopedia - Hughes HDVR2 for DIRECTV


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

krkaufman said:


> Heh, yeah, that's a bit confusing; but the "H," in this case. represented "Hughes" ... and it is a SD-only model.
> 
> TiVopedia - Hughes HDVR2 for DIRECTV


Ah yeah, I was thinking of the HR10-250. I actually have both... long since retired.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

they can be recycled at best buy.


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## Oakland1000 (Jun 1, 2018)

I just got an old (2006?)Hughes HDVR2 for Direct TV use and I read somewhere that its not really HD but SD. Do you know if that is analogue and is it totally worthless?

Does anyone have any experience with the Hughes HDVR2 for Direct TV to suggest whether it is of any use without subscription to Direct TV. I am just exploring it and trying to see if the Satellite inputs can be converted to RF signal/OTA. I believe that there is an RF signal input but it says for "pass-through only" -- evidently not for recording but I have no idea what it would be useful for. I have yet to hook it up to see what can be done with it. Any ideas?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

No and no. The RF input is just an antenna pass through, it doesn’t get recorded and there is no NTSC tuner. Also, DirecTV won’t activate an HDRV2 if it wasn’t already on your account, and maybe not even then as it can’t see the 110 satellites nor record MPEG4.

The “HD” in the name means Hard Disk, not High Definition.


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

The issue of HD vs SD is that when the HDVR2 came out all signals were broadcast on KU band but now all HD signals are on KA band which that unit cant receive. Also all HD channels use MPEG4 while the HDVR2 can only decode MPEG2. The box is useless without a DirecTV subscription. The sat inputs cannot be modified to OTA, you might still be able to use the OTA tuner but only as a tuner, no DVR functions. Considering that all the remaining MPEG2 - SD channels will be shut down on DirecTV within the next year or so that box is really only good for recycling


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

stevel said:


> No and no. The RF input is just an antenna pass through, it doesn't get recorded and there is no NTSC tuner. Also, DirecTV won't activate an HDRV2 if it wasn't already on your account, and maybe not even then as it can't see the 110 satellites nor record MPEG4.
> 
> The "HD" in the name means Hard Disk, not High Definition.


I was not aware of the fact the HD referred to Hard drive but the rest of my post applies to any of the early HD receivers/DVRs (pre MPEG4/ KA band)


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

stevel said:


> The "HD" in the name means Hard Disk, not High Definition.


Thought "H" just == "Hughes" ... as in Hughes DVR #2 ? (edit: "This was Hughes' second DirecTV TiVo, and the first of the second generation of TiVos for DirecTV." [link])



longrider said:


> you might still be able to use the OTA tuner


I don't believe the HDVR2 has an OTA tuner, and it's so old it wouldn't know what to do with digital OTA if it had a tuner. Further, unlike ReplayTVs and retail TiVos of the era, it lacks the encoders that allow those other devices to digitize and capture from composite & S-Video input, so it couldn't even be used in combination with a coupon box ATSC converter.

Unfortunate, given the number of them sitting in my basement.


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## Oakland1000 (Jun 1, 2018)

It seems futile, doesn't it. I thought that possibly I could find a converter that could take the OTA signals and convert them to DirectTV type signals but it seems its more complicated than that with the current decoding involved. Well, I'll ponder it longer and see if something can be salvaged out of it before I turned it over to Best Buy or the county collectors. 
I'm still hoping for some sort of converter of the basic OTA signal -- sort of a black magic pre-input box. 

I wonder if there is anything I can get out of it to make it "trick box" It doesn't even seem likely that I could use it for fast forwarding or rewinding/reviewing for the extra TV in the guest room because it can't convert the signals or even record the signals? Maybe I can salvage the hard drive for something. Any other salvageable parts?


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