# HR54 Question



## RickD_99 (Sep 15, 2003)

Had a tech come by this morning to upgrade us to whole home DVR and to replace some aging HD DVRs. I ended up with a HR54/700 Genie. Did I luck out and win the lottery? 
At any rate in the extremely unlikely event that 1TB of recording capacity is not enough for us can an external hard drive be added to the HR54? If so are there any restrictions on brand and type of external drive? TIA...


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

It's not that much different than the HR44 other than it can record 4K once that starts coming out next year (cannot play it back), takes 7 tuner slots on the LNB (still records 5, the other two tuners are part of the 4K aspect), and can power the LNB internally if it's a SWM LNB. I don't recommend this if it's not a strict genie and client config.

But a good get any way.

You can add any external esata drive, no size restrictions. However, all recordings are tied to the DVR. If the DVR itself goes bad, no recordings from satellite will be playable.


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

dpeters11 said:


> It's not that much different than the HR44 other than it can record 4K once that starts coming out next year (cannot play it back), takes 7 tuner slots on the LNB (still records 5, the other two tuners are part of the 4K aspect), and can power the LNB internally if it's a SWM LNB. I don't recommend this if it's not a strict genie and client config.
> 
> But a good get any way.
> 
> You can add any external esata drive, no size restrictions. However, all recordings are tied to the DVR. If the DVR itself goes bad, no recordings from satellite will be playable.


You say you can "RECORD 4K" , But can-NOT play it back. What is the point of recording if you can't play it ?


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## telero (Oct 3, 2006)

ragweed10 said:


> You say you can "RECORD 4K" , But can-NOT play it back. What is the point of recording if you can't play it ?


You'll be able to play it with a 4K client, just not directly from the HR54.


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

RickD_99 said:


> Had a tech come by this morning to upgrade us to whole home DVR and to replace some aging HD DVRs. I ended up with a HR54/700 Genie. Did I luck out and win the lottery?
> At any rate in the extremely unlikely event that 1TB of recording capacity is not enough for us can an external hard drive be added to the HR54? If so are there any restrictions on brand and type of external drive? TIA...


Does the HR54-700 have a RJ-11 PHONE Jack so you can get Telephone Caller ID on your screen ? I was told the HR54 does NOT have the Jack, so you will have to get up and go your phone, to see who is calling.
The HR44 has the jack, SUPER Convient, especially for solicitor calls.


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

telero said:


> You'll be able to play it with a 4K client, just not directly from the HR54.


That sounds inconvient. Get up and go to another TV to watch the recordings ??
Is that the way it is going to work ?


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## telero (Oct 3, 2006)

ragweed10 said:


> That sounds inconvient. Get up and go to another TV to watch the recordings ??
> Is that the way it is going to work ?


Usually you'd move the 54 to another location, and put the client on your 4K TV.


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## telero (Oct 3, 2006)

ragweed10 said:


> Does the HR54-700 have a RJ-11 PHONE Jack so you can get Telephone Caller ID on your screen ? I was told the HR54 does NOT have the Jack, so you will have to get up and go your phone, to see who is calling.
> The HR44 has the jack, SUPER Convient, especially for solicitor calls.


I've never had used the feature (no land line), but I'd be annoyed if I had it and lost it. I'd probably just use a wireless phone with a second base/handset that would also display the caller ID and put it in the same room I'm in most of the time.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

ragweed10 said:


> You say you can "RECORD 4K" , But can-NOT play it back. What is the point of recording if you can't play it ?


You'll need the C61K client to play 4K content from the 54. I'd wait awhile tho. More is coming about 4K. This is all so new we should wait until D* has everything together and well thought out until we start buying equipment for 4K.

Rich


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

telero said:


> I've never had used the feature (no land line), but I'd be annoyed if I had it and lost it. I'd probably just use a wireless phone with a second base/handset that would also display the caller ID and put it in the same room I'm in most of the time.


Me too, I would be REAL annoyed. It is a fantastic feature, Works on ALL my TV's (Have 4)
Don't need to find phone, get glasses, (if you need them) Just look at the TV.. 
It also has a LOG for the LAST 25 Calls. Couldn't live with-out it.
I think ALL TV providers have the feature, EVEN U-verse by AT&T.


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

Rich said:


> You'll need the C61K client to play 4K content from the 54. I'd wait awhile tho. More is coming about 4K. This is all so new we should wait until D* has everything together and well thought out until we start buying equipment for 4K.
> 
> Rich


Just what I am going to do. "WAIT" Have the 4-K TV's, Up-Scaling is great,
But will wait for MORE 4-K programming before I Jump.


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## RickD_99 (Sep 15, 2003)

Yep this HR54 replaced my HR24 which had a rapidly failing fan (sounded like a military jet idling before takeoff). Will definitely miss the caller ID functions on the receivers that were replaced. On the plus side I doubled my recording capacity so I am OK with it at the end of the day. I am planning on upgrading to a 4K display next summer so it's great that the HR54 will help me get the 4K programming that I hope DirecTV will be announcing soon. ESPN and NFL Sunday Ticket in 4K would be killer!

Thanks to all for the responses...


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

ragweed10 said:


> That sounds inconvient. Get up and go to another TV to watch the recordings ??
> Is that the way it is going to work ?


At one point I had a receiver and a DVR connected to the same TV. Can get a bit tricky with alternate remote codes though.


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

dpeters11 said:


> At one point I had a receiver and a DVR connected to the same TV. Can get a bit tricky with alternate remote codes though.


Don't all DVR have Turners ? Mine do and ALL use the SAME DTV Remotes. (The GOOD Old Ones) 
The new tan, small ones are useless and missing some buttons.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

RickD_99 said:


> Had a tech come by this morning to upgrade us to whole home DVR and to replace some aging HD DVRs. I ended up with a HR54/700 Genie. Did I luck out and win the lottery?
> At any rate in the extremely unlikely event that 1TB of recording capacity is not enough for us can an external hard drive be added to the HR54? If so are there any restrictions on brand and type of external drive? TIA...


Yes, you can attach an external drive. However I have seen some recent reports that there are limitations with the HR54 that do not appear to be the case with other Genies. Specifically some (any?) RAID enclosures don't appear to work. So do some research before spending money on an external drive for the 54.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

ragweed10 said:


> Don't all DVR have Turners ? Mine do and ALL use the SAME DTV Remotes. (The GOOD Old Ones)
> The new tan, small ones are useless and missing some buttons.


I used the same remote for both boxes, but had an alternate remote code set on one so that they both didn't respond to the same commands. In my case, both were -100 models and at one point there was a fairly obscure quirk with those (don't know about now, I'm now on -500 and -700 equipment.)


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## ragweed10 (Jul 10, 2013)

dpeters11 said:


> I used the same remote for both boxes, but had an alternate remote code set on one so that they both didn't respond to the same commands. In my case, both were -100 models and at one point there was a fairly obscure quirk with those (don't know about now, I'm now on -500 and -700 equipment.)


Why do you have "BOTH" Boxes in the Same Room ? 
I have just ONE Box for each TV, in separate rooms.
The codes are the same, and I have no problems.


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## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

ragweed10 said:


> Why do you have "BOTH" Boxes in the Same Room ?
> I have just ONE Box for each TV, in separate rooms.
> The codes are the same, and I have no problems.


More than one tv in the same room (for) Sports (example football) :grin:


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

WestDC said:


> More than one tv in the same room (for) Sports (example football) :grin:


or porn. !rolling hey, I don't judge....

Sent from my iPad Pro using Tapatalk


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