Having two DVRs in house

[Craig D Peltier]

I want to get a second HD recorder in bedroom. Does anyone here have 2? I have these questions.

1) Since I have a dual recorder downstairs ( dish on roof alike) , it wont record two more new shows right? ( just checking)
2) Will it automatically record whatever I have recording downstairs on the upstairs one?
3) If two shows are recording I wont be able to watch live tv upstairs right? ( just checking)

I just want the Hi def upstairs so I was thinking of spending the 200 on the HD recorder though Directv verse 100 just for the Hi Def reciever.

Thanks

[John Keeton]

Craig, we have this setup, and we are on Direct TV. However, when we built, we prewired home runs to a large panel junction box, and ran 4 leads to the location for the dish. When we got the extra HD-DVR, Direct sent a tech out and he did all the setup. I would think they can and will do what you want in order to get your $200, the extra $5/month, and an automatic extension on your contract. That is how it usually works.

[Tim Morton]

If you have 2 dvr's they are not "connected" to each other...so you should be able to be recording 2 shows downstairs and one upstairs and STILL be able to watch live TV upstairs. Thats the set up i have with directTV. Both my DVR's are HD.

[Zachary Buckholz]

I have one downstairs with one cable, one in the kids room with one cable, and one in my room with two cables.

With one cable, or because of the model you have to be watching what you are recording.

But the one in my room will record something and you can watch something else.

This is where it gets weird; the one in my room with two cables. Only one cable is actually going to the satellite dish, the other just terminates in the wall jack and goes no further. If I unscrew it from the back of the machine it will only record what I am watching. Just having it screwed in seems to trick the machine into thinking there are two connections.

We pay an extra $5 a month for each additional card.

[keith ouellette]

If I understand the question correctly you have 2 dvr's and are getting a third?

If that is correct then the third one should be independent of the other 2 which are linked. I asked that when I had dish but never got the third dvr. So you should be able to record 4 shows on the two linked dvr's and one show on the independent on and still watch something else on the independent dvr.

[Danny Hamsley]

I have two with DirectTV and they operate independently from each other allowing you to record four shows at one time, two on each DVR.

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks, I will ask directv what I need to hook it up. I currently have 1 dvr and want a second HD one upstairs.
On there site I didnt see where the HD DVR says it's a dual tuner but I have one an it is. I got it when it first came out.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Craig, the others are right, the two DVR recievers act totally independant of each other. To wire them in, you need two coax wires from the dish to each reciever. You will also need a phone line. You will probably get a new dish too as you will need 4 LNB's. Leviton makes some products to make wiring this into your house look far neater then the default install. Home Depot carries most of it.

I actually have two HD DVR, and one standard DVR. It takes a lot of coax and two dishes...

[Alan Bienlein]

I have att u-verse and can record up to 4 shows at the same time from any reciever and watch them on any tv in the house with only one dvr. It's wonderful!

[John Shuk]

I have 2 through Directv. They are not connected to each other.
Verizon has a whole house DVR where all set top boxes can connect to each other and content can be viewed on all sets.

[Craig D Peltier]

Craig, the others are right, the two DVR recievers act totally independant of each other. To wire them in, you need two coax wires from the dish to each reciever. You will also need a phone line. You will probably get a new dish too as you will need 4 LNB's. Leviton makes some products to make wiring this into your house look far neater then the default install. Home Depot carries most of it.

I actually have two HD DVR, and one standard DVR. It takes a lot of coax and two dishes...

I wasnt even aware they made a dish with 4 LNBs ( prongs)

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I wasnt even aware they made a dish with 4 LNBs ( prongs)

I forget the model on it, but the HD dishes are different than the standard def dishes. I do know that the on screen aiming directions do not have the dish I have as an option. Not sure why, and it's probably there now. Been a while since I installed it, and I'm sure the hardware has changed since. My Directv vendor is the local phone company, and they where very helpful with my learning curve.

HD DVR is one of life's little luxuries!

[Scott Conners]

Steve, you may want to look into getting a device called a multiswitch. DirecTV uses the Zinwell brand. It's basically a splitter for satellite dishes. It lets you have your normal 3 (or 4 or 5) lines from one dish to the switch, and then a single line from the switch to each receiver (or two lines if the receiver is a DVR).
I install custom A/V and automation systems in luxury homes, and regularly put 10+ DVRs in a single home, only ever with a single dish.

For Craig: if you get a new DVR and it is properly installed, you will be able to record/watch 4 shows at once. They are completely independent. You'll need 2 lines of RG6 (quad shielded) coaxial wire that runs from the new location either to the dish or to a central location where you can put a multiswitch (such as the attic if the existing lines already run there) so it can feed both receivers.

Most DVRs I've put in a residence? 12 - one for each of the parents and four kids, plus six for sports games. (This home has a matrix video distribution system, so any DVR (located in the basement) can play on any TV or theater in the house.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Steve, you may want to look into getting a device called a multiswitch. DirecTV uses the Zinwell brand. It's basically a splitter for satellite dishes. It lets you have your normal 3 (or 4 or 5) lines from one dish to the switch, and then a single line from the switch to each receiver (or two lines if the receiver is a DVR).
I install custom A/V and automation systems in luxury homes, and regularly put 10+ DVRs in a single home, only ever with a single dish.

For Craig: if you get a new DVR and it is properly installed, you will be able to record/watch 4 shows at once. They are completely independent. You'll need 2 lines of RG6 (quad shielded) coaxial wire that runs from the new location either to the dish or to a central location where you can put a multiswitch (such as the attic if the existing lines already run there) so it can feed both receivers.

Most DVRs I've put in a residence? 12 - one for each of the parents and four kids, plus six for sports games. (This home has a matrix video distribution system, so any DVR (located in the basement) can play on any TV or theater in the house.

Thanks for the advice Scott! I actually tried a different brand, but had no success with it. I suspect that I bought the wrong model. That matrix video system sounds interesting. Where do you source that sort of thing?

[Scott Conners]

I currently work for a company that uses mostly Creston automation equipment. Crestron is one of the top brands for automation in the US and worldwide. Before that I've used Sony's CAV-CVS12ES component matrix switcher, which works a treat. 12 Video inputs and 12 video outputs, any output can watch any input.

You can see the type of work we do at: www.dsientertainment.com.