# Watch Recorded Shows w/o Satellite?



## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

We're traveling in our RV with an R15 and most of the time, we arrive at a campsite, I hit the button on the automatic satellite dish, and we're watching TV within minutes. Occasionally, however, we're in an area where the satellite views are obscured by trees; at such sites, the plan was to watch the shows that have already been recorded to the hard drive. Our previous Dish Network receiver didn't care if it could see satellites or not, it would still let us watch stuff on the hard drive, so we didn't anticipate any problems doing this.

However, I tried if for the first time with the R15 last night-- and it didn't work. The receiver kept looking for the satellites (which is would never find, since the dish wouldn't lock on due to tree cover) and it wouldn't allow me to get to the Playlist. Is there a workaround for this?

Thanks!


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

There is currently no workaround for this problem with the DirecTV R15 or HR20 DVRs. Hopefully it will be fixed in a future update.


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## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

Darn, that's what I was afraid of.... takes away a lot of the utility for RV use. Guess I'll have to go back to packing some tapes and DVD's aboard.

Thanks.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

litzdog911 said:


> There is currently no workaround for this problem with the DirecTV R15 or HR20 DVRs. Hopefully it will be fixed in a future update.


There's not? I've never tried, but I thought you could hit escape or cancel (whatever it is) while it's searching for satelite and it would boot up and let you watch recordings.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

DennyC said:


> Darn, that's what I was afraid of.... takes away a lot of the utility for RV use. Guess I'll have to go back to packing some tapes and DVD's aboard.
> 
> Thanks.


Or you could buy a TiVo from me that is portable and will play recorded shows anywhere as long as you have an access card (any access card will do) in the slot. Much easier to use and more reliable than the R15's.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

qwerty said:


> There's not? I've never tried, but I thought you could hit escape or cancel (whatever it is) while it's searching for satellite and it would boot up and let you watch recordings.


Don't think so as far as the HR20 is concerned, and I'm not about to try it out. Interesting thought though. I tried everything I could think of with a unit I was returning that had a couple shows I wanted to see and finally gave up.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

I believe, but I'm not sure, that you can hit the exit button to get to a black screen. Then hit the list button and play from there. However, it will give you the searching for sat message in the bottom right corner of the screen the entire time, and the screen saver will pop up every few minutes.

As I said, I'm not sure, but it's something you can try.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

TigersFanJJ said:


> I believe, but I'm not sure, that you can hit the exit button to get to a black screen. Then hit the list button and play from there. However, it will give you the searching for sat message in the bottom right corner of the screen the entire time, and the screen saver will pop up every few minutes.
> 
> As I said, I'm not sure, but it's something you can try.


I know this used to work with the R15, but I have not tried it recently.

Carl


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I know this is a pain, but the only work around I have found is to park with a clear view, let the R15 boot, with a sat signal, and move to your campsite, WITHOUT allowing it to lose power. If it loses power it will reboot and can't find the sat means it will not play recorded programs.


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## Delenn (Jun 8, 2007)

DennyC said:


> We're traveling in our RV with an R15 and most of the time, we arrive at a campsite, I hit the button on the automatic satellite dish, and we're watching TV within minutes. Occasionally, however, we're in an area where the satellite views are obscured by trees; at such sites, the plan was to watch the shows that have already been recorded to the hard drive. Our previous Dish Network receiver didn't care if it could see satellites or not, it would still let us watch stuff on the hard drive, so we didn't anticipate any problems doing this.
> 
> However, I tried if for the first time with the R15 last night-- and it didn't work. The receiver kept looking for the satellites (which is would never find, since the dish wouldn't lock on due to tree cover) and it wouldn't allow me to get to the Playlist. Is there a workaround for this?
> 
> Thanks!


The following is a copy and paste from the FAQ for the R-15.

*Q. Is it possible to start up an R15 with no satellite feed connected, and get to the menus and/or to MyVOD to watch previously recorded shows.*

Yes. Disconnect any cables from your dish (this will not work correctly if the unit is receiving a signal, so this is not optional). Do a "reset'. During startup, when it gets to the screen that says "acquiring satellite information", press the Exit button. You will then be at a blank screen, but you can press List and go into MyVOD, select a recording and watch it.

NOTE: If your quitting DirecTV or deactivating the R15 and you want to be able to watch shows you have recorded, you'll need to make sure that you disconnect both satellite cables from the R15 before calling DirecTV, or the signal that DirecTV sends to your R15 will turn off the DVR functions and you will not be able to use it to view your recordings.

I got the FAQ's PDF here

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=58959

I have not tried this myself. I hope it works for you.


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I have not been able to get the proceedure to work although it is possible I did not try it correctly. This is a situation I have encountered only a few times.


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## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

davring said:


> I know this is a pain, but the only work around I have found is to park with a clear view, let the R15 boot, with a sat signal, and move to your campsite, WITHOUT allowing it to lose power. If it loses power it will reboot and can't find the sat means it will not play recorded programs.


That's actually very helpful. The circuit that the TV and R15 are on run through an inverter, and there's no reason I can't just leave the inverter on all the time-- which, theoretically anyway, should supply constant power to the R15, whether I'm plugged into shore power or not. Not sure the transition from shore power to battery/inverter is smooth enough to prevent a power interruption to te R15, but it's worth a try.

I'll try a "proof of concept" experiment tomorrow: I have a clear shot at the satellites now (in Custer, SD) and we're going to go down to Cheyenne, WY tomorrow. When I stow the dish, I'll leave the inverter on; theoretically, the R15 should still be able to play recorded programming when we get to Cheyenne, even without raising the dish.

Thanks for the tip, I'll post the results when I next get an internet connection!


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## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

Delenn said:


> The following is a copy and paste from the FAQ for the R-15....


Thanks-- first I've heard of that procedure, I'll give it a try the next time the opportunity presents itself!


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Delenn said:


> The following is a copy and paste from the FAQ for the R-15.
> 
> *Q. Is it possible to start up an R15 with no satellite feed connected, and get to the menus and/or to MyVOD to watch previously recorded shows.*
> 
> Yes.


Unfortunately, the FAQ is rather dated. At the time it was written, this was a true statement and had been tested. However, there have been software updates since and this has not been re-verified. I am one of the co-authors of that FAQ. We have been waiting to do an update on it until the software stabilizes.

Carl


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## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

While I haven't tried the method mentioned in the FAQ yet, I can report that the other method suggested does work. I've been traveling all day, satellite dish stowed, but with power continuously supplied to the R15 via an inverter. Upon arriving at destination tonight, I'm still able to watch recorded programming, even though I haven't raised the dish yet.

I'll try the FAQ method at one of our stops and see how that works.


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## DennyC (Dec 24, 2002)

Okay, guys, turns out a couple of the early posters were right-- hitting the Exit button after the machine has gone through it's bootup process DOES allow me to get to the Playlist and watch prerecorded material. I tested this several times on the way home (traveling all day with the R15 unplugged, then booting it up without raising the satellite dish) and it worked every time.

If a couple of other folks would confirm that they have the same experience, it may be time to update the FAQ.


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Thanks for the follow-up Denny, enjoy the road.


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