# is HR10-250 and OTA recording possible w/o directv



## HollywoodRDFL (Jul 17, 2004)

Happy New Year Tivo community...

I have a HR10-250 doing absolutely nothing, being that I moved to a place that won't allow me to have directv (its a crime). Will this directivo work if I just want to record OTA channels. I ask instead of trying 1st cause I currently have it packed in storage but it will be worth the trouble if I'm able to record on it. If the answer is yes will I have to open up a monthly tivo account...


----------



## cramer (Aug 14, 2000)

Not without hacking the system. It has to be connected to the dish and on an active account to have the DVR functions enabled. If it isn't connected to the dish, it won't have any guide data.


----------



## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

You can use it as an off-air digital TV tuner. I think you also have the 30-min buffer, but no ability to record desired shows, and no Guide Data.


----------



## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

To address the last part of the OPs question, no, you can't have a TiVo account. You do NOT have a TiVo and the TiVo company has no control over the box at all as far as the end user is concerned.


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

HollywoodRDFL said:


> Happy New Year Tivo community...
> 
> I have a HR10-250 doing absolutely nothing, being that I moved to a place that won't allow me to have directv (its a crime). ...


The crime here is that you cannot be prevented from installing a satellite dish. There are guidlines, but you CAN install a dish.
See http://www.fcc.gov/mb/shva/shviafac.html


----------



## TommyV (Nov 30, 2006)

JimSpence said:


> The crime here is that you cannot be prevented from installing a satellite dish. There are guidlines, but you CAN install a dish.
> See http://www.fcc.gov/mb/shva/shviafac.html


Thank you for the link. Do you have the one that relates to OTA antennas as well?


----------



## seedcar (Aug 8, 2005)

TommyV said:


> Thank you for the link. Do you have the one that relates to OTA antennas as well?


http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html


----------



## kashah (May 13, 2005)

Wait, so by "hacking the system" would I able to use my HR10-250 as a stand-alone DVR for OTA HD? Any pointers to writeups about this?


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

I have not seen any hacks that allow the HR10 to record OTA without a DirecTV subscription. Just the ability to use it as a tuner. See post #3 above.


----------



## b3ar (Dec 2, 2005)

kashah said:


> Wait, so by "hacking the system" would I able to use my HR10-250 as a stand-alone DVR for OTA HD? Any pointers to writeups about this?


I had to take down my dish a few years ago (when we were D* subs) for hurricane Rita, and within a couple of days, we no longer had access to ANY DVR functionality of any kind with our HR10-250. I cannot imagine this has changed.


----------



## langley101 (Jan 15, 2007)

I also have an HR10-250 that's been sitting in a box since I dropped DirecTV. Has anything changed in the past two months that would make getting guide data without a dish possible?

Thanks!


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Sorry, no!!


----------



## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

langley101 said:


> I also have an HR10-250 that's been sitting in a box since I dropped DirecTV. Has anything changed in the past two months that would make getting guide data without a dish possible?
> 
> Thanks!


You can use a cheap old 18" round dish pointed at 101 to get free guide data.


----------



## nguyej1 (Jul 28, 2006)

codespy said:


> You can use a cheap old 18" round dish pointed at 101 to get free guide data.


With Guide data, can HR10-250 use as timer to turn on/off the event so I can record with external DVR with harddrive from S-Video output? I know that it is not HD material but the PQ is still very good.


----------



## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

nguyej1 said:


> With Guide data, can HR10-250 use as timer to turn on/off the event so I can record with external DVR with harddrive from S-Video output? I know that it is not HD material but the PQ is still very good.


If you are asking if it is possible for an unsubscribed HR10-250 to automatically change channels so you can record on another device, then the answer is no. I just tried it, with no luck. You can't set up a manual recording, and you can't even select a program in the guide that hasn't started yet.

Of course, you can play back any recordings already on the HR10-250 so that you can record to an external DVD recorder.


----------



## nguyej1 (Jul 28, 2006)

whitepelican said:


> If you are asking if it is possible for an unsubscribed HR10-250 to automatically change channels so you can record on another device, then the answer is no. I just tried it, with no luck. You can't set up a manual recording, and you can't even select a program in the guide that hasn't started yet.
> 
> Of course, you can play back any recordings already on the HR10-250 so that you can record to an external DVD recorder.


Thanks. 
Without DirectTV subcription, HR10-250 is only a OTA tuner. This box is as good as TivoHD (DVR's functionalities). It's too bad.


----------



## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

nguyej1 said:


> Thanks.
> Without DirectTV subcription, HR10-250 is only a OTA tuner. This box is as good as TivoHD (DVR's functionalities). It's too bad.


Actually, it is two OTA tuners, with a 30-minute live TV buffer (pause/rewind/FF still work).


----------

