# Tivo Premiere for OTA in Ontario,Canada?



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I am looking into getting a DVR for recording OTA(and hopefully getting brave and dumping our SAT. Service-will try 6 months vaction in summer,first.lol) and am wondering about the TIVO,is it the 746420?

Does it build the EPG from the TVGoes data,or must one pay for a TIVO sub for the guide?

What else can anyone tell me?

If so ,I 'll see about grabbing on Fleabay!


----------



## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Itproman said:


> I am looking into getting a DVR for recording OTA(and hopefully getting brave and dumping our SAT. Service-will try 6 months vaction in summer,first.lol) and am wondering about the TIVO,is it the 746420?
> 
> Does it build the EPG from the TVGoes data,or must one pay for a TIVO sub for the guide?
> 
> ...


You must pay Tivo for the service/guide


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

Ok.Thanks for clarifying that.


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Itproman said:


> I am looking into getting a DVR for recording OTA(and hopefully getting brave and dumping our SAT. Service-will try 6 months vaction in summer,first.lol) and am wondering about the TIVO,is it the 746420?
> 
> Does it build the EPG from the TVGoes data,or must one pay for a TIVO sub for the guide?
> 
> ...


I use 3 different TiVo Models for OTA an original Series 3, a TiVo HD, and a Premiere. I think they all work good but the original Series 3 and TiVo HD deal with multi-path issues better than the Premiere.

If you don't need the latest and greatest I would look for used original Series 3 or TiVo HD units with lifetime service, which should be in the $300+ range depending on if the hard drive has been upgraded or not.

Good Luck,


----------



## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Does TiVo even provide guide data for Canada? I didn't think they did.


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

steve614 said:


> Does TiVo even provide guide data for Canada? I didn't think they did.


I get guide data for the few OTA Canadian stations that TiVo thinks I might receive (I can't actually receive them but they are in my list).


----------



## Eamus Catuli (Aug 9, 2010)

steve614 said:


> Does TiVo even provide guide data for Canada? I didn't think they did.


For certain they do. At least for my part of Ontario.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I bought a TIVO Premiere on Ebay,which should be here in a few days(coming FedEx),so we'll see.

Seeing as we only have 3 HD channels here: CBC,CTV and Globa,all designated as "Peterborough",though all except 12(going HD,shortly) CHEX(CBC),are elsewhere,can I use Toronto and reassign those stations?


----------



## meadota (Mar 11, 2013)

It's not clear what you are asking but...

You can put any postal code you like into the setup but that doesn't get you the channels for that postal code unless your antenna receives those channels.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

meadota said:


> It's not clear what you are asking but...
> 
> You can put any postal code you like into the setup but that doesn't get you the channels for that postal code unless your antenna receives those channels.


I'll try to make it clearer....

Since I read that the TIVO Guide doesn't cover every area of Canada,I was asking: If I put in my postal code and nothing comes up,what can I do(besides,give up and resell the Tivo unit on Ebay and forget it!)?

Can I use a code for another area?


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

you can but if your antennae doesn't pull in the channels from that area, you're out of luck


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Itproman said:


> I bought a TIVO Premiere on Ebay,which should be here in a few days(coming FedEx),so we'll see.
> 
> Seeing as we only have 3 HD channels here: CBC,CTV and Globa,all designated as "Peterborough",though all except 12(going HD,shortly) CHEX(CBC),are elsewhere,can I use Toronto and reassign those stations?


The guide comes from the internet and uses your postal code. The stations received are physical and (I think) get moved via PSIP. You can not change a channel number with the Premiere to a different channel number to my knowledge. This may be what you mean by "reassign". You can, however, limit the stations shown through a different selection process. When you perform the channel scan it will only show what is received, not what "could" be received. What "could" be received should show in the guide even if is impossible to receive it.

Advantage of purchase from TiVo is the simple 30-day return policy.

The entry for CHEX:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHEX-TV
is unclear if it has gone digital.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

JoeKustra said:


> The guide comes from the internet and uses your postal code. The stations received are physical and (I think) get moved via PSIP. You can not change a channel number with the Premiere to a different channel number to my knowledge. This may be what you mean by "reassign". You can, however, limit the stations shown through a different selection process. When you perform the channel scan it will only show what is received, not what "could" be received. What "could" be received should show in the guide even if is impossible to receive it.
> 
> Advantage of purchase from TiVo is the simple 30-day return policy.
> 
> ...


Ok,I'll figure it all out when it arrives -in the meantime,I'll keep watching Tivo videos on Youtube! LOL

Unfortunately,with CHEX,Peterborough and CKWS,Kingston,ON,both owned by Corus Etertainment,there has APPARENTLY,been a delay and backlog at the CRTC,re: approval.


----------



## meadota (Mar 11, 2013)

Just remembered, TiVo gets it's guide from the parent company of zap2it.com so you can use that until your TiVo arrives.

Put your postal code into zap2it.com and that will tell you what your TiVo will give you. You could also use that to figure out which postal code to use if yours doesn't work for your purposes.

Also be aware that if you end up using a postal code that gives you far too many channels in excess of the ones you actually get...you can unselect the excess ones in the settings. I use this to unselect duplicate channels showing the SD version of an HD channel, and any other channels I don't watch.

Another resource you may or may not be aware of is tvfool.com where you can determine the likelihood of receiving channels OTA. Lots of fun!


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I tried my postal code[Hastings,ON] "K0L1Y0 "(zero,that is)in zap2it.com and man,is it out of date and some of the channels are for Ottawa,which can't reliably be received in this area.

I emailed them!

Locals:

12 -CHEX -CBC -Peterborough -16 mi WNW 286 deg. mag.
26,1 -CICA-TVO-Belleville - 37.3 mil ESE 101 deg.
27.1-CIII -Global -18.9 miles SW 220 deg. mag.
30.1 -CKWS-DT1-CBC-Brighton -SSE - 167 deg. (only 5 kw transmitter)
35.1 -CFTO-54-CTV -Peterborough -29.9 mi NW 300 deg.

6 CJOH CTV and 11 CKWS can also be received here,but,are Belleville/Kingston area,really.

Rochester,NY is 83.5 miles SSE.

I hope they update the zap2it guide.


----------



## kingbilly (May 10, 2013)

Itproman,

Have you tried your reception out with an antenna hooked up directly to the tuner on your HDTV?

I ask because I'm in Toronto and bought a Tivo Premiere in Buffalo this past weekend. I'm very disappointed in the quality of the OTA tuner in the Tivo so far. Three or four of the channels I was getting no problem with my TV's tuner are not coming in at all with the Tivo.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I received the Tivo Premiere bought on Ebay yesterday.

It was a dreary rain day yesterday.

Today's a nice day and I can see what I'm doing.

Here's the problem:

1)I went to the tivo.com/activate link and tried to sign up.I put in its unit code,or ID.
2)At the next page,entered an email address,password,name,address,etc,then clicked the button...

Then:

I get a page,saying:

"hmm... the page you are accessing isn't here for some reason..."


I chatted with support,but found them pretty useless.Not impressed with Tivo Support,so far!

The first person said: 'try this link...."

Duh!That was the one I was using.Is there any other?
When I went back to the chat box,she had not only asked: "Is there anything else I can help you with today?"....then she was gone!

I had to start over....

The second person,when I informed him of the problem,and,even included the error message from the webpage,just told me to try another computer,or phone the #...

If the page is down,or is having problems,that won't make ANY difference!

I asked if there was any known issues using that page from Ubuntu and/or Firefox -he seemed clueless!

Now,one more,unrelated item:

After inital scanning,I noted the Tivo only caught 1 channel,so,after,finally figuring out how,did a rescan and got the rest(all my digitals),but,the one analog(going digital,when the CRTC ever gets through the 'backlog...")....is 'stretched.'

I asked and he said,there is no way to adjust it from the Tivo.Just tried the 'aspect' button on the TV.Somehow,the TIVO changed it to 'full",when it should be 'regular',meaning 4:3.

This is on a JVC Iart 30 inch Widescreen CRT upstairs.

I figure once I get it all sorted,I'll move it downstairs to the Sony Bravia 46 " LCD.

At this point:

I'm evaluating whether to even bother to 'activate' and just play with it a few days,then put it back on Ebay and get rid of it...but,I've watched the Youtube videos,now,I have one and I love it already!!!

Does the activate page only work from Internet Explorer?
Is the 'activate' page down,or does it have errors?
I want to make sure,BEFORE I phone the # and commit to a year @ $20/month.

I'm stuck!

btw: I pretended it was activated,clicked through all the pages and am up and running,with all my channels,but,of course,no service...


----------



## arv333 (Jun 5, 2013)

Hey Itproman,

How was your experience with the Premiere box? Do you still use it or ebayed it?

Looking at getting FTA channels from antenna, sending it thru the Premiere box to my Yamaha AV Receiver. How does the box perform and does it render the HD channels well? I live in the GTA.

I also wonder what your experiences have been with Netflix and does that even work.

The only other product I was looking at as an alternative was the Channel Master 7000PVR which sells for nothing less than $350.



Itproman said:


> I received the Tivo Premiere bought on Ebay yesterday.
> 
> It was a dreary rain day yesterday.
> 
> ...


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I have it hooked up upstairs.I haven't done much with it yet,meaning I haven't activated it.Maybe,in the Autumn.

Zap2it's guide data for this area is hopeless!

The Tivo performs well as far as reception and hd is concerned.Hey,if you're in the GTA,it'll be even better for you than for me,because there are 10-30 channels,but,also accurate Zap2it data!

Check out:

saveandreplay.com 

they have dumped the Channel Master 7400 and are only carrying the Epvision PHD-VRX,because they think it's better.


----------



## Eamus Catuli (Aug 9, 2010)

> Zap2it's guide data for this area is hopeless!


Itproman, have you tried either of the links below?

http://www.tivo.com/lineup

http://www.zap2it.com/services/site/help/zap-faq-contact-channel,0,5059403.htmlstory

The guide data for the "M" postal codes used to be useless too before a number of us in Toronto reported this issues and had them correct. Some took a while to complete but they did get it 100% done eventually.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I haven't used the Tivo link(I'm not activated yet,anyway.Is it even worth it for just 3 HD channels?),but,I did use the 2nd link and send a note to Zap2it today about adding 27.1 C-III,Global ,Peterborough.

Pretty much all the TV Channels in Ontario have gone digital(except CH. 6 CJOH-6,CTV,Deseronto and CH. 2 Global,Bancroft ) since I first posted in this thread,including all but one I mentioned above.

I receive:

*12.1 CHEX-DT - CBC
*27.1 C-III-HD - Global
*27.2 C-III-SD "
*35.1 CFT0-54 - CTV

-using a Channel Master CM-2016HD upstairs feeding 2 TVs.
(Ok,so I know an outside antenna would do better,but,I haven't got a round to that.)
[I bought an Antennas Direct DB4E some months back,but,haven't done anything with it yet.LOL]

Zap2it has added 12.1 CHEX-DT and 35.1 CFTO-54 since my first post here,which both show up on the Tivo.Now,if they'd just add 27.1 CIII-HD,Global.


----------



## Itproman (Dec 31, 2012)

I phoned in and got my Tivo set up,did a manual update,so now we're up and running.

Looks great.

I contacted Zap2it Media about adding Ch. 27.1 CIII -Global ,Peterborough(the xmttr is actually just n. of Cobourg.Go figure.),or rather,changing their entry for CH.27 to say 27.1.I also contacted Tivo.

I also made Zap2it Media aware that:

a) 15 CBLFT,18 CICA and 44 CBLFT were shutdown by CBC and TVO back on July 31,2012
b)they have listed 30.1 CKWS and 66 CKWS,which was shutdown after the digital flashcut.
c) 53 CICA is still listed,but,it should be 26.1 TVO,Belleville,ON...
d)They have several CBC tramsitters listed that were probably shutdown last year!

They need to get their act together.

btw: if I put up another antenna to get me Rochester,NY(TV Fool says 83.5 miles ),could I combine it with the local antenna,or would an A/B switch be the best way to go?


----------



## Eamus Catuli (Aug 9, 2010)

Glad to have another Ontarian on TiVo! There's strength in numbers. 

I need updates again as well now for CHCH changing physical channels on Dec. 2 and WNED shifting their subchannels around.


----------



## meadota (Mar 11, 2013)

*Eamus Catuli:*
There's more of us than you imagine, we're just "lurkers", check out http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=95819.

I agree the TiVo guide needs to fix the WNED rearrangement. I'd like to eliminate 17.3 but I need it to see what's on 17.2 and yes it's about time that CHCH got their act together on 15 since announcing it in early 2012.


----------

