# Automatically switch between unused tuners with channel change



## hazelnus (Nov 3, 2007)

When I am changing channels on my Premiere and Roamio basic, it continues to use the same tuner. When I am surfing like that, I am changing to programs in which I am interested. I am not necessarily ready to commit to recording them when surfing but if after turning away I choose to go back to a prior program, I miss everything that happened previously (unless I had chosen to record it).

I am aware that hitting the Live TV button switches tuners but I think that the Tivo should automatically switch to an unused tunerwhen I switch channels so that the channel from which I am turning continues to record the 30 minute buffer. That way, if I switch back 15 minutes later, I can rewind and catch what I missed.


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

It should go farther than that - it should use "predictive surfing" so it can have the next tuner already pointed to the next channel and ready to display instantly as soon as you push "channel up" instead of having to wait for the whole signal syncing nonsense.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

So Tom, would you allocate two unused tuners one above and one below the channel you are watching to buffer - just in case you decide to switch the channel? (And just in case that immediately adjacent channel has something interesting on it?)

If you go up that one channel - the channel you *were *watching will still have a tuner because it is immediately below the channel you *are *watching. But if you surf up two channels you will loose the buffer on the *original *channel.

Now, if I enter a channel number - does the TiVo keep a tuner on the original, placing a new tuner on the new channel and two additional tuners on the immediately adjacent channels to this new channel I am on?

My head is spinning...


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

They actually use to do this. When the first DirecTiVo was upgraded to enable the second tuner they used a system where it alternated between the tuners when surfing. However that functionality was dropped somewhere along the lines. Not sure why.

Although even now if you tune to a channel that one of the other tuners is already on it will actually switch to that tuner rather then tuning the existing tuner to that channel.


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## Videodrome (Jun 20, 2008)

bradleys said:


> So Tom, would you allocate two unused tuners one above and one below the channel you are watching to buffer - just in case you decide to switch the channel? (And just in case that immediately adjacent channel has something interesting on it?)
> 
> If you go up that one channel - the channel you *were *watching will still have a tuner because it is immediately below the channel you *are *watching. But if you surf up two channels you will loose the buffer on the *original *channel.
> 
> ...


With 6 tuners , i dont see a problem. However i think people with 2 - 6 tuner tivos , a single tivo should become a master tivo, and instruct what the others do. I just realized you cant stream live between roamios ? why cant it just ask the other tivo for a tuner and stream live ?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Very, very, few people will need multiple 6 tuner units. So I wouldn't expect any feature unique to that setup. TiVo's design is to have a single Roamio unit as the main hub and then multiple Minis spread around the house to feed other TVs.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Videodrome said:


> I just realized you cant stream live between roamios ? *why cant it just ask the other tivo for a tuner and stream live *?


You can force it to. Start recording live TV on one Roamio and then stream that recording to the other Roamio.


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