# Can an HR10-250 be used as standalone OTA HD receiver?



## Rich Peterson (Jan 7, 2000)

Starting tonight I am finally replacing my HR10-250 with a new DIRECTV HD DVR to get DIRECTV HD channels. The Tivo still gets OTA HDTV beautifully. Is there any chance I could use it with an OTA-only HDTV just to allow me to pause live HD (with no guide or anything) without paying DIRECTV for it? I have a bedroom TV I use pretty much only for watching local news in the morning while getting ready so that would be perfect.

Thanks.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

Yes, your HR10-250 will work fine for OTA reception without any DirecTV subscription or connection. You won't have any Guide Data of course. But you should be able to pause Live TV within the 30-min record buffer.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

litzdog911 said:


> your HR10-250 will work fine for OTA reception without any DirecTV subscription or connection. You won't have any Guide Data of course. But you should be able to pause Live TV within the 30-min record buffer.


There is no need for him to disconnect from the satellite, from which he can continue to get guide data.

Beyond the buffer and the guide, continuing capabilities of the HR10 are more ethical/moral/legal questions than technical.

If a person finds himself with an abandoned piece of gear, he may believe he is OK in pursuing capabilities (limited obviously to OTA) which were previously totally out of bounds.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

I don't think you'll get Guide Data unless you maintain an active subscription and satellite connection.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

litzdog911 said:


> I don't think you'll get Guide Data unless you maintain an active subscription and satellite connection.


Only the satellite connection is required to get guide data (which is what Wil said above). You don't need an active subscription or even an access card in the HR10-250 to get the guide data. You also get the benefit of the DUAL live buffers both functioning just fine, so the HR10-250 makes a very nice OTA tuner.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

whitepelican said:


> Only the satellite connection is required to get guide data (which is what Wil said above). You don't need an active subscription or even an access card in the HR10-250 to get the guide data. You also get the benefit of the DUAL live buffers both functioning just fine, so the HR10-250 makes a very nice OTA tuner.


Cool! Good to know. Thanks.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

YES you get guide data.....with a sat input while deactivated.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

Now, how do we make the buffer longer than 30 minutes?


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

TyroneShoes said:


> Now, how do we make the buffer longer than 30 minutes?


I thought about hiring a 16 year old computer guru.....they know everything.


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## Matt L (Aug 13, 2000)

TyroneShoes said:


> Now, how do we make the buffer longer than 30 minutes?


That's another reason I like my HR2x's.....


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

TyroneShoes said:


> Now, how do we make the buffer longer than 30 minutes?


I've got mine set up with dual 90-minute buffers. It requires hacking the HR10-250. I also have a few HR10-250s networked together and I'm running mfs_ftp & MovieLoader to insert/extract/transfer recordings between them.

Just a setup note for anyone interested in using their HR10-250 as an OTA tuner: If you go through Guided Setup and tell it you have OTA only, then you won't get any guide data. You need to set it to Satellite & OTA and tell it you have two satellite feeds connected (if you want dual buffers). It will fail the connection test, but you will then be good to go. You just need to unselect all channels except the OTA ones in the channel list.


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## Rich Peterson (Jan 7, 2000)

codespy said:


> YES you get guide data.....with a sat input while deactivated.


Thanks to everyone for your advice. Good information. I will deactivate my HR10-250 and move it to my bedroom OTA-only TV.

But the possibility of getting guide data is appealing so I have another question:

I have 2 cables from the dish going to a room where I have an HR-21 and 2 more from the dish going to another room where I have an HR-23. The room where I'm moving my HR10-250 for OTA-only isn't wired for satellite. Is there a manual somewhere someone could point me to to help me figure out how to tap 2 more cables from the dish and run them up to a 3rd room? I think that's what I would need to do to get the local guide data.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

You would just need to hook up a Zinwell WB68 6x8 Multi-switch. You run 4 lines into it from the dish, and it gives you 8 lines out. You can probably pick one up on ebay for $10-$15.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

whitepelican said:


> Only the satellite connection is required to get guide data (which is what Wil said above). You don't need an active subscription or even an access card in the HR10-250 to get the guide data. You also get the benefit of the DUAL live buffers both functioning just fine, so the HR10-250 makes a very nice OTA tuner.


It won't work as an OTA ONLY DVR though will it?


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

kturcotte said:


> It won't work as an OTA ONLY DVR though will it?


No recording while deactivated....but you get cruise control functions and the buffer(s). And you can still watch all your programs in the NPL.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

codespy said:


> No recording while deactivated....but you get cruise control functions and the buffer(s). And you can still watch all your programs in the NPL.


I was afraid of that. Was thinking about buying one to use as an OTA DVR and turning Directv off.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

kturcotte said:


> I was afraid of that. Was thinking about buying one to use as an OTA DVR and turning Directv off.


You can....Just cannot record.

I have one or two coming up soon to sell that have 250gig drives....now that I have 4 units w/750's deactivated to use as OTA DVplayers.


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## STL (Feb 10, 2005)

codespy said:


> ....now that I have 4 units w/750's deactivated to use as OTA DVplayers.


So do you use movieloader to get the video onto the HR10s?


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

STL said:


> So do you use movieloader to get the video onto the HR10s?


No....movies and programs already recorded. Can be played back forever after deactivation.


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## coachO (Nov 26, 2004)

Another question, I have an Tivo S2 that is connected but is failing that I also only use to watch the news on occasion. I have an extra Hr10-250 but have not used it to replace the S2 because it seems D* always figures out a way to add another 2 year committment. If I do not deactivate the S2 and just connect the Hr10 in place of the S2, will it activate or just function as an OTA tuner as discussed above?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

If the HR10 is not currently activated then it won't do so and will do OTA only.


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## raiderguy8 (Apr 24, 2006)

codespy said:


> No....movies and programs already recorded. Can be played back forever after deactivation.


My understanding is that to retain the programs, the receiver must be unhooked from the satellite cables when the box is deactivated. Is that still the case?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I have seen some people claim that you need to disconnect before removing the DVR from service, but I haven't seen solid evidence that that is true. The service is needed to enable recording. It does no harm to disconnect it first, though, so if you're worried about that, go ahead.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

raiderguy8 said:


> My understanding is that to retain the programs, the receiver must be unhooked from the satellite cables when the box is deactivated. Is that still the case?


No, that's not necessary just to keep the recorded programs. The recordings are still playable whether the box is activated or not and also whether or not the satellite is connected.

If you do unhook the box from the satellite before deactivating it, you might be able to extend the length of time that the box stays active for recording. Then again, you might not. When I cancelled DirecTV several months back I had one HR10-250 that went inactive right away, one that took about a week, and another one that was still active for about 2-3 months.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

codespy said:


> No recording while deactivated....but you get cruise control functions and the buffer(s). And you can still watch all your programs in the NPL.


Oh, so you couldn't set up a manual recording telling it what time and channel and how long to record something?


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## psywzrd (Mar 25, 2003)

If I want to use my two HR10-250s for OTA only, why would I have to pay DirecTV at all? Would I only need to pay them if I want full Tivo functionality or can I just subscribe through Tivo? And just to be clear, the only way I can get guide data on the boxes is to connect the boxes to my DirecTV dish, right?


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

psywzrd said:


> And just to be clear, the only way I can get guide data on the boxes is to connect the boxes to my DirecTV dish, right?


Yes.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

psywzrd said:


> If I want to use my two HR10-250s for OTA only, why would I have to pay DirecTV at all?


You don't, unless you want to record, do season passes, etc. For anything beyond simple viewing, the buffer and the guide, you will need a machine that is not deactivated, and that pretty much means paying for a subscription. Some may feel that DirecTV has rendered the HR10 useless for the purpose for which it was sold, that it has been abandoned, and that extraordinary steps on the part of the owner to obtain some OTA salvage value from the unit are justified. But you won't find those steps described here, or anyplace I know about.



psywzrd said:


> can I just subscribe through Tivo?


No. The HR10 is Tivo technology, but under the control of DirecTV.



psywzrd said:


> And just to be clear, the only way I can get guide data on the boxes is to connect the boxes to my DirecTV dish, right?


Yes.


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## psywzrd (Mar 25, 2003)

Thanks Wil. So basically I would have to pay a $5 mirroring fee for each box? Would there be a DVR fee beyond that even though I already have 2 DirecTV HD DVRs? I basically want to use the boxes as OTA tuners with full Tivo capabilities and just get rid of the two S3 Tivos that I'm using with Cablevision (kind of a waste of money since I already have DirecTV). The main reason I keep Cablevision is because I love Tivo and I want something in case my satellite goes down because of weather. That happens so infrequently though and I'm assuming that my OTA antenna wouldn't go down in heavy rain and/or snow. I may be wrong about that though.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

psywzrd said:


> Thanks Wil. So basically I would have to pay a $5 mirroring fee for each box? Would there be a DVR fee beyond that even though I already have 2 DirecTV HD DVRs?


Yes. No.



psywzrd said:


> I basically want to use the boxes as OTA tuners with full Tivo capabilities


I think the HR10s are great for that. Plus, of course, you still get all the SD stuff if you already subscribe.


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## psywzrd (Mar 25, 2003)

Awesome! Couple more questions. When my HR10-250s were my main boxes, I remember I had to connect them to phone lines. Do I still need to do that for any reason? Also, can they be networked so that I can use iTivo to download shows from the HR10s to my computer (and to upload videos from my computer to the boxes)?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

psywzrd said:


> Awesome! Couple more questions. When my HR10-250s were my main boxes, I remember I had to connect them to phone lines. Do I still need to do that for any reason? Also, can they be networked so that I can use iTivo to download shows from the HR10s to my computer (and to upload videos from my computer to the boxes)?


1. Phone line is only required for the first-time initial Guided Setup. You can use a friend or neighbor's phone line for that if you don't have one. No satellite connection is required for the initial steps of the Guided Setup.

2. Not easily networked without some software modifications. See the "Tivo Underground Forum" for more info on that.


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## psywzrd (Mar 25, 2003)

Thx for that. Wonder if I'll even have to go through guided setup since I already did that way back when. I didn't reset the boxes or anything when I stopped using them - I just disconnected them.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

psywzrd said:


> Thx for that. Wonder if I'll even have to go through guided setup since I already did that way back when. I didn't reset the boxes or anything when I stopped using them - I just disconnected them.


Then you shouldn't need to repeat Guided Setup.


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