I'm wondering if any of you guys have ever hooked up multiple DVR's in the same room to the same TV. I don't want to record in separate rooms because I only watch TV in one room, but there are nights when two shows are on at the same time and will conflict with Rockets game. I'll be watching the game - obviously - but it would be nice to still be able to record the other shows. Any thoughts?
I can record 2 shows simultaneously and watch whatever I want with my DVR. I can record 3 but one of those shows I would have to be watching while recording.
With Comcast, it will record two at a time, but you have to watch one of those OR a previously recorded show. You can't watch a different channel if you are recording two at the same time...unless they have some new DVR I don't know about, do they?
The only thing that I am aware of that you have to be careful about is splitting your signal. When we upgraded to a new DVR box from Charter Cable, the technician told me I could no longer split the input signal because the new box needed the full strength. If it can handle the signal split, simply run the input to the two DVRS and then run the DVRs to separate inputs on your TV.
That's probably true, but they can install a signal booster. It solved a lot of signal problems I was having due using a splitter. It will actually boost the signal in your entire house while just being plugged into 1 tv.
Will the cable people put in the signal booster or is that something I have to put in myself? What about the splitter?
You would have to get them to put it in, because IIRC the booster has to be 2-way as in down and upstream and most retail boosters arent.Thats for your internet purposes assuming you have comcast internet. Also depending upon how strong your signal is already there is a possibility that you could boost your signal to unusable levels. When I was installing cable I rarely had to use a booster unless it was a house with like 6 tvs and a computer. What I would recommend is just getting a 75 ohm radioshack 2-way splitter and just putting it at the tv you want to do this and it should work, because the attenuation or loss will only be 3.5 db's. If you have any questions let me know. Hope this helps
I've done it during football season but only one of the two boxes will get the HD signal. I guess the signal strength once I split it isn't enough to properly boot up the second box. I do get a nice signal on both TV's though. I keep the HD box hooked up to the big tv and let the smaller tv use the standard signal. THis year I plan on doing it with my big tv and projector in place of the small tv. I point the boxes off at differnt angles so I can use one remote and control either box depending on wether I'm pointing the remote to the left or the right. I did this all last season during football season with my Timewarner boxes that I now use on Comcast's system.
I just realized I'm gonna have to start wiping out my DVR soon to make room for up to 12 HD Hours a week of football (15 if you include monday) Yikes!
I had a booster as well, but for some reason (and I am taking the cable installers word on this), for this particular box, it wasn't good enough. I was splitting into a ReplayTV and my existing cable box with no problems but the existing cable box did not have a DVR. My situation may be totally different than Jeff's and he may be able to get by with a signal booster (or even without). Just something to be aware of.
A large part of my problem was the signal coming into the house. It was already low when we added internet, dvr w/ a splitter so I could have PIP on the DVR and the tv, and 2 other tv's. Since I've gotten the booster, I've had no problems.
