# new convert to dish, record and watch separate shows? Don't woik



## rugger (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi all
I am a recent convert to dish, and am debating whether to keep it or not, I think Dish screwed me on their package offer, but that's an aside. 
When the installer walked me through the system, he said "you can watch and record a show simulatenously at each tc, so you have 4 things going at once" I distinctly remember that because I was wowed. 

However....

Upon trying to actually execute this great system, I was recording a show at tv 2, and when I wanted to switch to watch something, I received a pop up message saying something like "if you switch, recording will stop..." etc, etc. I called dish and the rep said that I certainly could NOT record a show while I watched another. 

huh?

I even tried to read the manual. I are a enguneer, so I am not a luddite, but damn if I could figure out what's going on.

So the question is open, can I record and watch separate programs at the same time on the same tv, and if so, please enlighten me.

thank you for reading.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

We'll need to know what Dish equipment you have to give you specific instructions. But since you have some technical background and presumably you have the manual that came with your equipment, I'll try to clear up the confusion created by some referring to the TV1 output and TV2 output in the context of the satellite receivers in the DVR.

Assuming your DVR is in the ViP622/722DVR series, you have two satellite receivers each of which can receive a separate signal from the satellite. Keep that in mind and understand that they do not relate to TV1 and TV2 until assigned by the selection of dual mode.

You have two output groupings called TV1 and TV2. When the DVR is in single mode, TV1 can access both satellite receivers and TV2 is inactivated. When the DVR is in dual mode, TV1 can access one receiver and TV2 can access _the other_ receiver. In dual mode each receiver is assigned to one of the outputs.

When a receiver's signal is tuned to, say, the Bravo Channel that's all you can see on that receiver. So in dual mode, TV2's receiver can receive one signal. If you're recording it, you can't watch another satellite channel. And, in single mode if you have both receivers recording, you can't watch another satellite channel.

Both the 622 and 722 have one off-the-air (OTA) tuner built in. The 722k has an optional module with two OTA tuners built in. If you get OTA, you can watch or record whatever OTA channels you can get _in addition to_ whatever the satellite tuners are recording.

I have a 722 in single mode, plus a 612 which has two satellite receivers but no TV2 out. I don't get OTA. But because I have a total of four satellite receivers I can record two programs on the 612, and watch one on the 722 while another one is recording. But if all four satellite receivers are recording programs that I don't want to watch at that time, I can only watch other programs already recorded, nothing live.

I would have two more options if I had OTA since both DVRs each have one OTA tuner.

Others are more familiar with the operation of the OTA tuners than I am and can give you instructions on their use.

But that's the basic concept.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

If you're used to a dual-tuner, single output DVR, then you're used to both of those tuners being available to one TV.

Dish's "Duo" DVRs have 2 sat tuners, but 2 TV outputs, so normally (in Dual Mode), each TV only has access to 1 sat tuner. If you switch to Single Mode, then TV1 can access both sat tuners, but the TV2 output is more-or-less disabled (meaning no independent control) and mirrored to the TV1 output.


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## ShapeShifter (Apr 21, 2008)

rugger said:


> When the installer walked me through the system, he said "you can watch and record a show simulatenously at each tc, so you have 4 things going at once" I distinctly remember that because I was wowed.


Maybe it's a miscommunication? I can read that statement two ways. The way you are presenting it is that you can be making two recordings, and watch two live shows, for a total of four streams being received from the satellite. As you have found out, this is not true.

Another way to interpret it is that you can be making two recordings, using the two available streams from the satellite, while you are playing back two recordings that had been previously recorded. This means you are doing 4 things at once as far as the hard drive is concerned (2 writing tasks, 2 reading tasks) and that will indeed work.

So, it may be that the technician was intending to say one thing, and either phrased it poorly or you heard what you wanted to hear. Or it could be that the technician was simply mistaken.

One more possibility is that the technician was talking about a possible over the air capability. The 622/722 includes an over the air tuner, which actually lets you receive three things at once, as long as one of them is an over the air channel. The 722k has the option of installing two over the air tuners, which would indeed give the ability of recording 4 things at once -- two satellite and two over the air (or recording two shows, and watching two live shows.)

So there are multiple explanations for the misinformation, but that's kind of a moot point right now. The gist of the matter is that you can only receive two satellite signals at one time, as you found out.


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