That's a good point fuzzai, especially if you do have several receivers in your home. I guess you have to take everything into account and weigh the Pro and Cons.

Hi everyone,
I want to hook my HD PVR 9200 to one TV only and want to hide the receiver in the basement. I just remodelled my living room and don't want any visible electronics. I understand that the HD signal only comes out of the TV1 "out" on the back of the receiver and not TV2 "out".


My question is: Am I able to control TV1 with UHF Remote #2

or how the heck can I make this work?

Thanks for any help!

Sandy

To use the UHF remote only you would need to have the receiver in single mode. It wouldn't matter (other than quality) which connections you used. You could use all them to different tvs if you like. The key is that TV1 remote is IR only. TV2 is UHF. So dual mode would only work with TV2 outputs.

I could swear i read the same question somewhere else.

I use the uhf remote for tv1 all the time. Turn down the volume from the kitchen, etc.

Hello everyone, I've searched this thread and can't find the answer... wondering if someone can help me out.

We're getting a 6100 changed to a 9200 PVR this weekend and I am very interested in the PiP feature. Earlier in the thread, Congo made reference to the 9200 as having PiP but it's "not exactly side by side".

Wondering what he means... I already have another 6100 on our upstairs HDTV receiving HD content and want to use the 9200 on the downstairs TV for HDTV. Not concerned about sharing recordings upstairs or anything fancy like that, but I want to know if I can watch two programs at the same time on the same TV downstairs like traditional PiP. Can you only watch one channel/record another or can you watch two channels at once?

Also, I'm wondering about the line in from the dish. I have one RG6 run coming to my 6100 receiver... are they going to have to run a second RG6 line to that location as well for the dual tuner feature to work? And does PiP change this?

Thanks in advance for your response - much appreciated.

FYI, off topic a bit, but some people have commented about the $75 install fee... I complained especially because I just paid them $75 to do my second 6100 last summer and they ended up giving me a month free programming which is worth about $74 so I'm happy with that... :)

PC2000: You'll need two RG6 lines, one coming from one LNB and another coming from the other LNB. The two lines go into the 9200 so that you can receive HD and SD signals. The PIP is actually "picture in picture", not side by side. You can select two sizes of the smaller picture and move it around the screen, and you can also interchange them but the smaller picture has no audio. All this is achieved with the remote.

PC2000, here is what I know about the PIP functionality after having been using the 9200 for about a month (I have two lines from the dish to my 9200):

- PIP only works if the 9200 is in "single" mode. This makes sense if you think about it - to drive two pictures you'll need both tuners available to the TV. Single mode means that you have only one TV connected to the 9200, and you have the 9200 set for single mode (versus dual mode).

- I called Bell for help and was told that the PIP buttons are only supported by TVs with that functionality built in. This is totally false as th PIP functionality is driven by the 9200, not the TV.

- When I am watching the TV and press the PIP button on the remote, a small PIP screen pops up and displays content from the second tuner (without sound). If I press it again, the PIP window gets a little bigger. If I press it again, the PIP window closes.

- There is another button labelled "position". Pressing it when I have a PIP window open moves the PIP window around the screen to 9 different positions (kind of like a tic tac toe board).

- There is one more button labelled "swap". Pressing it when I have PIP window open switches the two windows. Interestingly enough, what it is actually doing is switching between the two tuners. So if you press it when the PIP window is closed it does the same thing - swaps between the tuners. This is by far the fastest way to jump back and forth between two shows. I was using it on the weekend to watch golf and NASCAR. Much faster than using the recall button on the remote.

With the 9200 in single mode:
- I can watch one channel and record another
- I can watch two channels with PIP
- I can record two channels at once and watch nothing
- I can record two channels at once, while watching one of them
- I can record two channels at once, while watching something else recorded

Some of this is the same for dual mode (I think), but not the PIP stuff.

I hope this info helps you. john a

Thank you very much jg/john... that answers everything I need to know about the PiP and also the need for "single" mode on one TV.

Still wondering about the second line needed... I think what's confusing me is this post from ken...

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=221368&postcount=1

Can I not just have a twin LNBF/separator like that at the location of the reciever or will that offer the same signal to both inputs on the TV?

The reason I'm anal about this is I have a new house and don't want wire showing as much as possible... and my TV's on an outside wall so we can't fish the insulation there. Good news though is it IS in the basement where the cable homerun is with a suspended ceiling so if worse comes to worse I can drop a cable from the ceiling however I'd rather not go that route. We have new RG6 cable too so that's probably a good thing, not dealing with old crappy cable.

the 9200 has 2 tuners. Essentially in many ways is like 2 receivers. You need one line to go into each tuner port.

Depending on which lnb and or switch you use will decide how many lines you need from dish.

Using legacy lnb's with a SW44 or SW21's in the house you will need 4 lines from the dish.

Using a DPP twin lnb and a separator like in kens post. you would only need one line from dish for one receiver only.

Thanks a ton, Q... sounds like way more trouble to run that second line than it's worth. I'll see what my installer says on Saturday and see if the splitter/separator thing is an option for my setup. I always like to know what I'm talking about if someone tells me I need this or that, so I really appreciate this forum. I actually work in TV tech support but have no experience with dual tuner/satellite distribution - my company doesn't offer HD on multiple TVs or PVRs yet, hence why I am still with Bell.

When all is said and done, if I left it running only one line into one "tuner", would I just be losing out on the PiP? If I'm running in "single" mode would I also lose the ability to view one channel/record another at the same time? Sounds like I would but... I could probably live with that.

My prime reason for getting the DVR is to record and watch shows, it's not essential I watch something else at the same time. We do have a second HDTV upstairs so it wouldn't be the end of the world if we had to go upstairs and watch the other TV to watch something else with the downstairs one recording. There's just myself and my husband here anyway so it's not going to cause a major problem to do that. I mainly want to record things I can't watch live because of shift work. It might not even be necessary to use the dual tuner feature if I don't have to... thoughts?

DP and DPP lnb and switches are not supported by bell and it is very likely the bell installer will know nothing about them. i got all my lnb's and switches from ebay.

I would strongly recommend running both lines into the 9200. While it may work with only one line it was not designed with that intent and you will probalby encounter problems.

If you are set on running only one line you will have to use a switch to at least get both birds on the one line.

Joe

All right, sounds like the second line is really a must have. At least I know what I'm faced with... I'll do the drop from the ceiling, I know where I can hide it the best... all I can say is thank goodness I'm in the basement with this TV and I have a suspended ceiling - it could be worse. Half the cable run is on an unfinished ceiling so it won't be too bad, just the cable drop will show a bit.

I'll prepare things for a second line drop, I'll probably even help the guy do it since I installed internet/TV for my company for a while (not your typical woman here ;) ).

Thanks again to everyone for all of the info. :)

I think your decision to run a second cable is the right choice. You'll like having the full functionality of the 9200.

Enjoy! john a

Thanks all, I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully my installer will show up when he's supposed to....:p

Bell is saying they won't have any till April sometime to rent. Damn it. Anywhere else to get one before then?

Call around to all your local bell stores and see if they have any left. Or you can buy one at fs or bb etc

According to Future Shops website, the North London store has stock. You might also try Best Buy in your area.

If you believe some of the other topics on the board there won't be anymore
9200's. Isn't the MPEG4 replacement supposed to be here in April?

FaxCap

I'm trying to rent the box guys, not buy it.

Desman. Why rent and not buy? I think of doing the same but I usually frown on renting stuff.

Are you an existing customer? I am and was proposed a minimal offer. Free installation upgrade and some credit towards HD programming and renting for 6 months.