# Direct TV to Tivo



## briguymaine (Mar 17, 2004)

If this has been covered I appologize, I couldn't find answers to this particular question in a search. 

OK, I've got to get away from adelphia, so I'm thinking of going to Direct TV but I am curious about how my Tivo will function with the satelite receiver. I've talked to Direct TV customer support and they said that my Tivo will function just like it does now with cable, but I don't know how could be, doesn't the sat receiver need to actually change the channel? They made it sound like there is a loop through of some kind that goes from the sat receiver to the Tivo? 

Basically I'm hoping that I can stick the sat receiver somewhere nearby and just browse channels and watch tv via the Tivo, never seeing the Direct TV menus. If not, this idea is never going to fly with my wife and little girls, they hate figuring out new systems! 

Thanks for any help.


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## SMWinnie (Aug 17, 2002)

briguymaine said:


> If this has been covered I appologize, I couldn't find answers to this particular question in a search.
> 
> OK, I've got to get away from adelphia, so I'm thinking of going to Direct TV but I am curious about how my Tivo will function with the satelite receiver. I've talked to Direct TV customer support and they said that my Tivo will function just like it does now with cable, but I don't know how could be, doesn't the sat receiver need to actually change the channel? They made it sound like there is a loop through of some kind that goes from the sat receiver to the Tivo?
> 
> ...


You apparently have a standalone TiVo, which will work with a DirecTV receiver much the same way that it would work with an Adelphia cable box. As you suspect, what you will *not* be able to do with your current TiVo and DirecTV is plug the coaxial cable from the wall into your TiVo and have the TiVo's internal tuner tune the analog channels for you.

To use your standalone with DirecTV, you will need to have a DirecTV reciever feed an output (probably s-video plus L/R audio) into your TiVo. You will also need to be able to have the TiVo change channels on the DireTV receiver. Several DirecTV receivers have perfectly functional serial ports that the TiVo knows how to control; for other receivers you would need to go with infrared and cross your fingers.

If you are going to install DirecTV, you should consider getting a TiVo-enabled DirecTV receiver ("DirecTiVo"). There are several standard definition DirecTiVos, there is one high-definition DirecTiVo and there is one DirecTV DVR (the R15) that is *not* a TiVo. Keep in mind that DirecTV is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which also owns the Fox networks and a TiVo competitor called NDS. NDS makes the R15, and DirecTV has decided to go with NDS boxes from here on out - basically telling TiVo to take a hike. To say that TiVo owners do not like the R15 would be an understatement.

One other good news/bad news story: The good news is that all of the DirecTiVos and the R15 are dual tuner (record two and watch a third from Now Playing). The bad news is that you need to run two cables to the receiver to get that dual-tuner benefit.


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## briguymaine (Mar 17, 2004)

thank you very much.


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## briguymaine (Mar 17, 2004)

Ok, I bit the bullet and had the direct tv system installed (not Direct w/Tivo), they assured me that I would have a serial port to connect to my tivo, I got a D11 so no serial, I'm stuck with IR. 

So is IR vastly different than a serial connection. I notice a 2 - 3 second delay in switching channels, would this be faster with a serial connection? As far as missing channel changes, it hasn't happened yet, so I have no issue with that. 

My biggest beef is the Directv customer service people (yes, two different people) who told me that a serial connection is possible. They basically lied to me to get me to sugn up, it worked and now I'm just licking my wounds and trying to determine how screwed I really got.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

briguymaine said:


> Ok, I bit the bullet and had the direct tv system installed (not Direct w/Tivo), they assured me that I would have a serial port to connect to my tivo, I got a D10 so no serial, I'm stuck with IR.
> 
> So is IR vastly different than a serial connection. I notice a 2 - 3 second delay in switching channels, would this be faster with a serial connection? As far as missing channel changes, it hasn't happened yet, so I have no issue with that.
> 
> My biggest beef is the Directv customer service people (yes, two different people) who told me that a serial connection is possible. They basically lied to me to get me to sugn up, it worked and now I'm just licking my wounds and trying to determine how screwed I really got.


A serial connection would likely be faster, but still a fair amount slower than you were used to with analog cable. Digital cable works the same way, even without a TiVo channel changing is slow, add one into the mix and you get the results you are seeing. The big issue though is accuracy, I had digital cable with IR and it was 99% accurate, that 1% of times it wasn't sure could suck though...

I think you should have luck calling DirecTV and yelling a little until they agree to switch out your box.

-Dylan


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## MATT1981M (Jan 19, 2006)

briguymaine said:


> Ok, I bit the bullet and had the direct tv system installed (not Direct w/Tivo), they assured me that I would have a serial port to connect to my tivo, I got a D10 so no serial, I'm stuck with IR.
> 
> So is IR vastly different than a serial connection. I notice a 2 - 3 second delay in switching channels, would this be faster with a serial connection? As far as missing channel changes, it hasn't happened yet, so I have no issue with that.
> 
> My biggest beef is the Directv customer service people (yes, two different people) who told me that a serial connection is possible. They basically lied to me to get me to sugn up, it worked and now I'm just licking my wounds and trying to determine how screwed I really got


as far as i know, all of the older boxes had serial.... From what i have learned, they are slow about getting info about hardware to their reps... if you have any questions about hardware just talk to their tech support.... u will find that they have the info readily available.....


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

If IR is reliable albeit slow, I wouldn't sweat it, just let it do its TiVo think and redcord programs to your NPL, and view them from there.


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## dshinnick (Jun 6, 2003)

Get rid of your regular Tivo and get a Directv receiver with Tivo built in, otherwise known as an R10. They should still be available at some retailers. This box records the signal exactly as it is received by the antenna. A regular Tivo encodes the received signal and in the process you lose picture quality. I have three Directivo's, with 3 on the shelf in case one of the in-use ones die, and I'd never go back to standalone Tivo.


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## briguymaine (Mar 17, 2004)

dshinnick said:


> Get rid of your regular Tivo and get a Directv receiver with Tivo built in, otherwise known as an R10. They should still be available at some retailers. This box records the signal exactly as it is received by the antenna. A regular Tivo encodes the received signal and in the process you lose picture quality. I have three Directivo's, with 3 on the shelf in case one of the in-use ones die, and I'd never go back to standalone Tivo.


I was thinking about getting an R10 but I use HMO quite a bit (R10s can't do that right?). I know I can hack it to make it work but this is easier and cheaper! I called Directv a few times and they finally sent me 2 new receivers at no charge. Then after my new serial cables arrived from Tivo, it's all hooked up and operating flawlessly. Even the Directv channel banner is gone, sweet. Thanks for all the feedback people!


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