# Acquired two THR22-100's



## Gary McCoy (Jun 4, 2003)

Just yesterday the installer showed up and replaced my two Hughes HDVR2's with two new THR22-100's. They replaced the old 18" oval dish with a new 24" Slimline 3.

The HDVR2's have been in use since 2003. Basicly I got tired of repairing them, the hardware was terrible, the Series 2 TiVo software was great. In 2007 I added a TiVo HD (Series 3) and high gain UHF rooftop antenna to my main TV, to allow me to DVR the literally dozens of digital OTA channels in the SF Bay area. I frequently find that the subchannels contain more compelling content than the main HD channel, which is all that DirecTV supplies via the dish.

So far, so good. The two THR22's took overnight to acquire enough program listings to allow me to enter 2/3rds of my Season Passes. The other third cannot be entered because they are between seasons and do not exist in the program listing, which is a tad annoying.

IMHO the THR22 is an odd amalgum of Series 2/Series 3 features, along with a few unique features. They are the first TiVo's I've had with a visible disk capacity indicator, for example, which I like. (My TiVo HD has not had an update in a long time, and is lagging pretty far behind the Premiere models.)

I don't really care for the bright blue LEDs on the front panel, and setting the display to "dim" hardly made any difference. 

Nope, mine is not overheating. The one in the closed wooden equipment cabinet with cooling slots on the back is running at 49C and says "Normal".

The image is great on the dozen or so channels I actually use a lot that are now in HD. I have the old Total Choice Plus package with local channels - not that I need the locals, but they were part of the bundle.

So far, I'm pleased with the upgrade. It's costing me another $5/month, and $343 for the new equipment.


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## Gary McCoy (Jun 4, 2003)

Three days into the upgrade, and I have some comments and observations.

1) The internal temperature has declined to an average of 42C. The 49C reading occurred during the time it was downloading new code and updating itself, which appeared to happen twice in a row.

2) Search is simply broken. My wife likes WNBA basketball games, and they do in fact broadcast 4-6 of these per week this time of year. But when I do a Category search using Sports: Basketball, which worked fine on my Series 2 DirecTiVo, I get nothing on the THR22-100. Then when we search online on our PC at the WNBA page and find out when the scheduled games are, we put the guide into TiVo LiveGuide mode, and we find that those games ARE in the listing and DO have the Category settings "Sports" and "Basketball".

DON'T tell me this is a listing problem, either. The same games could be searched on and found with a Series 2 DirecTV HDVR2 receiver. It's a bug in the THR22-100.

3) The remote prefix codes are different. I used to use the SAME TiVo remote on both my Series 2 DirecTiVo HDVR2 and my Series 3 TiVo HD, by simply setting one as DVR 1 and the other as DVR 2, and switching between them with the 1/2 slide switch on front of the remote. That does not work any longer, the HD TiVo does not respond AT ALL to the THR22-100 remote, and vice-versa.

This is severely annoying. I was certain this would work, because the peanut shaped remotes are very similar in appearance. The wife did adjust to the new remote after some initial confusion, and in the spare bedroom HDTV she is now using the new remote, with the HDTV speakers. 

YES I have a Harmony remote and YES I got it to work with both TiVo's. But when I watch HDTV in the family room, I use the 5.1 sound, and the Harmony controls the HDTV, the 5.1 Denon reciver, the Toshiba HD-DVD player, the Panasonic BluRay player (also used for streaming content), and the two TiVo's. The wife watches basketball games on the same big screen, but only with TV speakers, and doesn't care for the "thumping thing behind the couch that shakes the house", otherwise known as our subwoofer. So by preference she uses the TiVo remote.

So she is unhappy with the fact that she has to pick up one of two peanut-shaped TiVo remotes, and she has to remember which one goes with which DVR, and if she is wrong, nothing happens. Then she precedes to make me unhappy.

So I'm less pleased than I was before. How long has the "Search" function been broken, and is DirecTV aware of the problem, and is there a fix underway?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Yes, the remote codes are different. The THR22 follows the DirecTV DVR codes (with some extra ones for TiVo-specific keys.) Perhaps a second Harmony remote would be in order? This is not the fault of the THR22. It is NOT a standalone TiVo.

I can't comment on the listing issue, but it can take several days for all of the indexes to populate. My wife is watching our THR22 right now or else I'd try the search for you.


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## Gary McCoy (Jun 4, 2003)

Yes I noticed that the THR22-100 had the same remote prefix as the R22. In fact judging by the faceplate, it is the same receiver with different software. Nevertheless I am disappointed in DirecTV Customer Service, who told me the remotes were compatible.

The Harmony idea is a non starter. When I attempt to explain how to use the Harmony, she covers her ears.

As for the WNBA game today, the "Recording History" says that it was not recorded "because the video signal was missing". The channel (NBAHD on 216) was blank earlier today, but is now working. Yesterday we recorded/watched/deleted another game entirely normally on the same channel. The next one is on Tuesday.


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## marct22 (Mar 28, 2002)

Yeah, I have similar complaints. My THR22 periodically has issues connecting, and then it loses all programming. The way I used to update with the older tivos do not work. I found I had to manually unplug the unit, then replug it in, then wait the few minutes it takes to turn on and download the programming. Majorly annoying. I know it's not tivo's fault because my other non-directv tivo's have no problems at all. 

Also, I can no longer transfer or even see the old tivos with the new one. 

And the THR22 can no longer see my computers to play music I have stored on a server.

And it also complains about HMDI connection, even though it's using composite video to my tv, I have a PS4 that uses the HMDI connection to my TV. Stupid thing blinks and sound cuts out as it complains about HMDI for what seems like a minute. Majorly annoying.

Really, the only thing I like about it is it's HD and has way more disk space. 

I don't blame Tivo for this, i think directv has hamstrung this unit deliberately. I'll likely go back to cable.


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## marct22 (Mar 28, 2002)

And just now, at 2:30pm, it just started 'receiving satellite information'. Was watching a movie, and poof, this showed up. and I know once it gets done 'loading', nearly all my program information will be lost other than telling me shows that will air a day or two from now. THen I gotta unplug and replug in.


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