DVR in motorhome.

[neoflyer]

Now that we're retired we'll be traveling more. I'd like to get a non-satellite DVR that is able to be set up for either over the air reception or cable, just like my TV is capable of. We do RV park stays with cable availability and boondocking so would like capability for both. So far I have only found two possibilities, the Maganavox MDR557h/F7 and the Channel Master DVR+. As best I can tell the Channel Master is out since it can only be used for OTA broadcasts, not cable.

That leaves the Magnavox which, if my understanding is correct can be tuned for either OTA or cable.

Does anyone have any experience with the MDR557H? Is that their latest model? Are there any other manufacturers of this type of product?

[billyboy]

I have the magnavox and it works great. I did have to use a spliter between the box of many buttons and the recorder input.i also have the same unit at home ,which makes it easier to operate for us older guys.

[Sooner_Schooner]

Check out my post on the AM21N TV tuner we bought on Amazon, so far it works great with our Directv.

[wa8yxm]

I'm watching a DVR recorded cable show as I type. It has a small issue with OTA though,, I will describe.

Back in the days of TiVo series 1 and 2, I got some REPLAY TV DVR's, had 3, still have 2, these units record to IDE hard drives (Standard computer drives re-formatted for their use). They do not do "high def" nor can they do ATSC digital

I do subscribe to a service that provides TV-Guide listings for me (Schedules Direct) for a few dollars a year,, Not a lot of money at all (I think it's like 24.95/year or some such).

The schedule is downloaded to //main (one of my computers) then modified, I download (Currently) two schedules, One is "Darian Cable" and the other is Zip-code OTA (Daria's zip code),, The downloader (XML-TV) combines the listings, These are the loaded into WiRNS (Widows Replay Network Server) which modifies them (removes the - from 7-1 as an example) and sends them to the REPLAY, it also serves them up to my web browsers on my assorted other computer devices, lets me schedule a recording from my laptop, downloads recorded shows and serves them up to the portable devices (laptop, phone, tablet) and so on.

Now, what about those ATSC digital.. Well the convrters I got back when the world went digital... The Replay thinks thay are Sat Receivers and works just fine with them,, In fact the Replay I am using right now is coded for DISH NETWORK (THe converter is a DTV-Pal by Echostar)

The Replays auto-select between the Converters (Which deliver to AV-1) and cable (RF-ANT-IN) and work very well.

They chat with each other too (The show I am watching recorded on the other replay)

[dverstra]

I have the Tivo Roamio OTA which can record Over The Air shows. It can be used with cable also. Just not sure if it can record the cable. It does not have the ability to use a cable card, though.

[Tom_M1]

Here's a couple of links to DVR threads:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28050151/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28128423.cfm

Finding a DVR that will record cable will be a challenge. Most cable companies have upgraded to digital and most if not all channels will be encrypted.

[hitchup]

The Magnavox DVR we had used the TV Guide system. We changed zip codes and it would download the guide and I could record off of it. But we could also use it manually for certain channels and timeslots.

Amazon has about 143 questions answered on this model. They should tell you more.