How do you OTA folks record?

[jimmymke]

Greetings.  I receive free OTA signals for all programing, always have used a vcr in the past.  I'm a cheapskate.  I don't pay for tv viewing, so I was planning to get a converter box, hook it to my vcr, and record as I did back in the 20th century.  Are there any other options out there for recording that don't cost hundreds of dollars or require a subscription?

[Bebop]

This fits the bill:

http://www.dtvpal.com/

[ArgMeMatey]

If you have a fairly recent, usually dual-core PC you can check out tuner/recorder packages.  I don't have any specifics but I would look at Hauppauge.  They have a pretty good assortment.

[WPXE ION]

If you get a coupon eligible converter box it will only record the channel that the converter box is tuned to.

[cdnelson]

There's also a lot of DVD recorders with built in digital tuners, in a wide range of prices.

The DTV Pal would be a LOT more versatile, but if you don't record several different things at once the DVD recorder would fit the bill for less.

[GBK]

HTPC - Windows 7 Media Center  works great now will work better when it's Final.

[SRW1000]

The answer to this depends on a number of factors:

• Do you care if the recordings are in HD?
• Do you want to archive them?
• Do you have a computer?
• Do you have a media server client?

If you don't care about HD, there are DVRs and DVD recorders that will capture digital signals.

If you do care about HD, but you don't want to archive the data, the above-mentioned DVR Pal may be for you.  There have been some users that had problems with it, though, so read up on it first.  There are some older HD DVRs out there, but they're out of production and probably not worth trying to track down.

If you have a computer, you have a bunch of other options.  If you don't mind watching TV on your computer, you just need to get some kind of capture device.  Software is usually included, and most of these are set up to work with the Media Center application that comes with some versions of Vista.

If you have a computer, but want to watch the recorded shows on TV, all you need is the capture card and some kind of media client.  The Xbox 360 and Vista Media Center work really well for this.  Shows are recorded to the PC's hard drive and then streamed to the Xbox.  All playback can be controlled from the 360.

Personally, I have both an old Sony HD DVR and an HDHomeRun.  The HDHomeRun has two built-in capture cards, so you can record two programs at the same time.

There are a lot of options out there, but there really need to be more stand-alone options.  And one with a built-in Blu-ray recorder would be really nice.

Scott

[voodoo032]

Dual core amd HTPC running SageTV with 1.75 TB of storage

Tuners for Recording:
1 - Hauppauge HVR-950 ATSC USB
1- Avermedia Volar ATSC USB
1- Avermedia combo PCI-E used only for ATSC

I can tape 3 shows in HD at once, it skips commercials with a plugin, and compresses the MPEG-2 to AVI for me (~4.7 GB show down to 450 mb)

Plus I can store DVDs and music on it and play youtube and google video and podcasts.

Allows me to watch HD on my regular TV.

Jon

[jimmymke]

Fine suggestions all around.  Here's the facts that influence my choice:
Don't care much about watching recordings in HD.
Don't care about archiving.
Laptop running with 1.3 chip, xp and 5 years old too underpowered to capture decent video (from what I've read), and TV time is usually the same as surfing or homework time for someone else, so the computer couldn't be tethered to the antenna all the time.
Solution needs to be family (read: wife) programmable.
It would also be nice to make a recording of something my wife could take and show in the classroom, so removeable media is desired but not a deal breaker.

 From what I'm hearing and a bit of research, for the money I would spend on a DVD recorder, a hundred bucks more could get me the DTVPal and a decent hd picture and not have to buy media and have a far more versatile unit. But then no disc to pop out and take to school for class demos. Hmm.
I guess no matter what I'm going to be out big bucks, just have to decide if I (she) wants removeable media or not.  Thanks for all the input.
Jimmy

[wysiwyg]

Jimmy, if you want to keep using your VCR, I suggest getting a Zinwell ZAT 950A converter box. It has 8 built in timers that will turn the box on and switch the box to a particular station at a specified time. You hook it up to your VCR's Line-in and set the VCR timers seperately to record the line-in signal.

The DTVPal converter box also has 8 built in timers and has a better user interface than the Zat. The caveat is that neither box is 100% reliable in firing the timers correctly. I own both, and found the timers on the ZAT are much more reliable, but still not perfect.  I check the timers 3 times a week to make sure they are still accurate. I use the DTVPal only for live TV. Once I got used to this set up, I liked it a lot, mostly because it cost about $100 in total to go digital.

My parents own a DTVPal DVR. Theirs works perfectly, but it seems to be the luck of the draw getting one that works properly. Dish user support sucks, and they stopped shipping new units at the end of January. Not sure if or when they will resume.

[jimmymke]

Jimmy, if you want to keep using your VCR, I suggest getting a Zinwell ZAT 950A converter box.

Brilliant!  None of my surfing turned up this option before.  This sounds like the cheapskate ticket for continuing to use the vcr and my wife being able to take a recorded video into the classroom if she wishes (and not having to lay out hundreds for a new stand-alone recorder.  You win the finders fee.  Thanks.  Now, we'll see how long video tapes are around in the marketplace...

[wysiwyg]

I think you'll be happy with it, I know I am!

As for video tapes, recently I was able to pick up an 8-pack of 8 hour Sony's at the Target in Waukesha for about $18. That's the only place I've seen 8 hour tapes. Both Walmart and Target still carry 6 hour tapes at all locations I've visited.

[Markus]

I ordered it in early January from Dish and enjoyed it a lot on my 4 year old HD monitor from Panasonic.  Love recording two shows at a time. The user interface was pretty decent.  Then one day the green light just refused to come on.  I'll be finding out about customer support.

There was no lightning in the area and I do have surge arresters for both the antenna and the power.  I usually have every thing unplugged when I go away for a day or more and whenever a lightning storm threatens.  I do have a sacrificial 12" TV with a coupon converter that is plenty adequate during bad weather.

[Will]

I ordered it in early January from Dish and enjoyed it a lot on my 4 year old HD monitor from Panasonic.  Love recording two shows at a time. The user interface was pretty decent.  Then one day the green light just refused to come on.  I'll be finding out about customer support.

Sorry to hear this.  Please keep us updated as to how Dish responds.  Sounds like it might be a power supply issue?  

Have you cracked the case open to see if there is anything obvious?  Loose connection, something along those lines?   If it truly is dead, don't just pitch the thing...

Good luck,
Will

[wysiwyg]

Since you are well past your 90 day warranty, the chances of Dish helping you out are slim to none. This has happened to several posters on the AVS forum.