Might be looking for a good OTA DVR

[easysurfer]

Looks Like I Got a Dud

Well, my Mediasonic just died on me as it won't turn back on.

I did like the PVR while it lasted, though only one football game.

At least, it died within the 30 day return time.

Guess, I'll just stay with my Magnavox.

 

[ERD50]

Well, my Mediasonic just died on me as it won't turn back on.

I did like the PVR while it lasted, though only one football game.

At least, it died within the 30 day return time.

Guess, I'll just stay with my Magnavox.

Try unplugging it for a minute, then back in. I think I have had it lock up on me once, but an on/off from the remote brought it back. I was running through button combinations at the time to try out some things, so that might have confused it (though it should just ignore illegal combos).

It certainly is possible their quality control is no good, hopefully I got a good (edit, heh- 'good' not 'god') one.

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

Try unplugging it for a minute, then back in. I think I have had it lock up on me once, but an on/off from the remote brought it back. I was running through button combinations at the time to try out some things, so that might have confused it (though it should just ignore illegal combos).

It certainly is possible their quality control is no good, hopefully I got a god one.

-ERD50

Thanks for the suggestion.

The unplugging was the first thing I tried but still no good.

Not saying that if I leave it unplugged like overnight, maybe that will work to reset something? But not worth the headache for me I got rid of another DVR months ago due to unreliability.

I hope your unit works problem free.

This one is going back in the return.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have been using the Mediasonic for about 6 weeks and so far, I am impressed by the unit. Last night, I used it's ability to record and playback a show at the same time to be able to stop a favorite show on PBS which has no commercial interruptions (nice, but inconvenient at certain times )

It faithfully recorded several other show that I watch while I was away for a few days.

For a limited TV viewer like myself (maybe 10 hours a week) it's allows me to see what I want at a very reasonable price. If I was a real TV addict, I expect that the lack of certain features would probably make me long for a Tivo after a few weeks. But, I'm not.

 

[tmm99]

I just received a Mediasonic from Amazon, and I set it up, and recording on the fly works fine, but when I try to schedule a show, it doesn't work. When I looked more carefully, I noticed that the schedules of shows that show up in EPG are for November 11 and November 12th (It is November 16th today). I wonder if it thinks today is November 11th? How do I change that? Does anybody know?

 

[Chuckanut]

Mine sets the time and date automatically. It does take a while for the epg. to update. I often exit from epg and return to it. That seems to help it shoe current programs. Or I just set the timer myself specifying all the information needed

 

[tmm99]

Mine sets the time and date automatically. It does take a while for the epg. to update. I often exit from epg and return to it. That seems to help it shoe current programs. Or I just set the timer myself specifying all the information needed

Thank you, mine seems to have set the time/date automatically too, but it shows as if the unit is off on date by 5 days for some reason. It seems to still show the correct shows though.

One thing that doesn't seem to work is scheduling shows. If I record on the fly, it records fine, but when I scheduled a recording, it changes the channel to the correct one, as if to record, but nothing gets recorded....

 

[tmm99]

I think I found the problem. The scheduled shows were set to view, not record. I think I am good to go despite the incorrect date.


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[ERD50]

Thank you, mine seems to have set the time/date automatically too, but it shows as if the unit is off on date by 5 days for some reason. It seems to still show the correct shows though.

One thing that doesn't seem to work is scheduling shows. If I record on the fly, it records fine, but when I scheduled a recording, it changes the channel to the correct one, as if to record, but nothing gets recorded....

No, that's just not right. The time/date should be current. I'd bet that's the source of your problems.

I just double-checked and mine shows the correct date/time in EPG. I entered EPG and then went through each station. From what I understand, the box gets this time/date from the station, it does not have it's own clock. I noticed that one station was off by a few minutes. Some others switched right in sync with the clock on my computer (synced to a time base on-line somewhere, to the exact second), another was maybe 15 seconds later.

I'd suggest rebooting and re-scanning, and if the problem persists, contact the station to find out if they are having problems with their date/time feed.


FYI: Update on mine - I record ~ 2 shows per day average, I end up watching one almost every time, and the others occasionally. So far, only one recording got messed - it dropped out after just 4 minutes into a 30 minute show. I still get the occasional (maybe 1 per half-hour show?) 1 second scrambled video/audio, and I suspect that glitching caused the one drop out in recording. I have not researched it any further.

-ERD50

 

[tmm99]

Thank you ERD. I came home and checked the box and it recorded Ellen like I intended but her show comes on every day so maybe the fact I am getting on the box is irrelevant, I don't know, but I have the Good Wife scheduled to record this coming Sunday (EPG shows it will record on Wednesday which was yesterday) so I will see how it goes.

I power cycled the box but it still shows the incorrect date on all channels I checked (it show the correct time though.)

It is great I can watch Ellen once again (I have Hulu Plus and all I can get on it is selected clips from her show.) and I have been busy and have been missing the Good Wife so I think I will be happy with my purchase (as long as I can get the GW recorded this Sunday.)

Did you know CBS charges like $5 to subscribe to their website to watch their shows? I couldn't justify that since all I watch on CBS is the GW and 60 minutes. Once more and more stations start doing that, a box like this one will become a necessity.


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[Dimsumkid]

Did you know CBS charges like $5 to subscribe to their website to watch their shows? I couldn't justify that since all I watch on CBS is the GW and 60 minutes.

You don't need to subscribe. If you're watching on a desktop/laptop, and willing to wait 24 hrs and watch the ads, the last 5 episodes of Good Wife are free. Only 1 episode of 60 mins is free. It seems if you want mobile access or something outside of the most current episodes, then you need to pay up for it.

If I really needed access to older episodes, my library has plenty of tv shows on dvd for free that I could request.

 

[tmm99]

You don't need to subscribe. If you're watching on a desktop/laptop, and willing to wait 24 hrs and watch the ads, the last 5 episodes of Good Wife are free. Only 1 episode of 60 mins is free. It seems if you want mobile access or something outside of the most current episodes, then you need to pay up for it.

If I really needed access to older episodes, my library has plenty of tv shows on dvd for free that I could request.

Ah, that must be it! I checked it with my CBS app on iPad. I am going in with my laptop and watch the missed Good Wife shows. Thank you!

 

[Dimsumkid]

In case anyone is interested, the Mediasonic HW-150PVR just had a price drop to lowest price ever on Amazon today, down to $27.99. I was looking at it yesterday and it was $37.99. Not sure how long it will stay this low as Amazon likes to up prices quickly when there's a spike in sales.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I2ZBD1U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[ERD50]

In case anyone is interested, the Mediasonic HW-150PVR just had a price drop to lowest price ever on Amazon today, down to $27.99. I was looking at it yesterday and it was $37.99. Not sure how long it will stay this low as Amazon likes to up prices quickly when there's a spike in sales.

Amazon.com: Mediasonic HW-150PVR HomeWorx ATSC Digital TV Converter Box with Media Player and Recording PVR Function/HDMI Out (Black): Electronics

Thanks, I'm torn. I might buy a second one as a backup and/or to put on a second TV (I've got a bunch of cooking shows and other things archived now - DW could watch those when nothing's on and she's doing ironing, etc). Then again, I'm tempted to wait and see if they upgrade the firmware - this thing is capable of so much more and would be easier to use with some minor tweaks to the firmware. Wish it was open source.

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

Then again, I'm tempted to wait and see if they upgrade the firmware - this thing is capable of so much more and would be easier to use with some minor tweaks to the firmware. Wish it was open source.

-ERD50

Good point. I was thinking that the price decrease may be heralding an updated model.

 

[Dimsumkid]

I have 2 Toshiba DR430 record to dvd units and they don't have built in tuners. Sometimes recordings don't work due to disc errors. I was reading the posts about the Mediasonic and at this price, I just bought one as I was curious how well it works and won't feel like I blew the bank on it. It was an easy decision since we have a lot of Amazon GC laying around. I've got all the other hardware parts available too, spare usb drives and an external hd that I'm not really using.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Mediasonic errors

I tried the Mediasonic recorder last night for 2 shows - 2 hrs and another for 1 hr. Had a problem with the 2nd recording, as it only recorded 4 mins. Tried to do on the fly record after this and it gave me an error. I had over 50 gb available on my ext hard drive (500gb). When I went to check my recordings, I was initially able to see them, then I checked the bad recording, I somehow lost all the recordings and the player had trouble trying to recognize the C: drive on the HD. I then tried a 2gb usb memory stick and the recorder said 0 mb space. I also tried to do a format of the usb stick and the format wouldn't work. So I turned off/on the recorder and it finally recognized my HD and usb memory stick. This must have reset the recorder as I got the feeling the recorder couldn't find the HD and/or index the file system. I'm testing it again tonight and so far so good. Is this something that normally happens when there's a glitch when the recording doesn't work and the error msgs are cryptic with no explanation?

 

[ERD50]

I tried the Mediasonic recorder last night for 2 shows - 2 hrs and another for 1 hr. Had a problem with the 2nd recording, as it only recorded 4 mins. Tried to do on the fly record after this and it gave me an error. I had over 50 gb available on my ext hard drive (500gb). When I went to check my recordings, I was initially able to see them, then I checked the bad recording, I somehow lost all the recordings and the player had trouble trying to recognize the C: drive on the HD. I then tried a 2gb usb memory stick and the recorder said 0 mb space. I also tried to do a format of the usb stick and the format wouldn't work. So I turned off/on the recorder and it finally recognized my HD and usb memory stick. This must have reset the recorder as I got the feeling the recorder couldn't find the HD and/or index the file system. I'm testing it again tonight and so far so good. Is this something that normally happens when there's a glitch when the recording doesn't work and the error msgs are cryptic with no explanation?

I've probably watched a hundred or so shows, and have only had one recording fail at 4 minutes into a 1/2 hour show. No error message or anything, just a short 4 minute video. I guess I haven't seen many/any error messages, but the UI is pretty twisted, I would expect the error messages to be even worse.

The reviews are mixed though, some people seem to have lots of problems. Is it quality control, or is it something about their set-ups? I dunno.

I will add that I formatted the drives on my computer, not using the box. IIRC, some people seemed to report better results that way. I used NTFS format (done from my Linux machine - you might need some special SW to format NTFS using an Apple machine).

Do you have a high quality signal to the box? It seems that the box syncs to the incoming signal, and dropouts or interference might cause some strange issues.

-ERD50

 

[Dimsumkid]

Do you have a high quality signal to the box? It seems that the box syncs to the incoming signal, and dropouts or interference might cause some strange issues.

-ERD50

Thanks for the reply. I was just trying the format an already empty usb stick just to see why the unit wasn't recognizing the input and thought maybe a format from the unit would help. I've had dvd recorders want the disk to be formatted by the unit to recognize it correctly. I was trying to record ABC which is my weakest OTA @ 55-65% (other channels 78%+), so that may be the problem and I'll have to keep monitoring it. I would've thought the recorder would just go blank and keep recording for the full hour instead of shutting down. I noticed my unit thinks today, Tue 11/25/2014 is Thur 11/20/2014, but the schedule is showing the correct shows for today. I don't see a way to correct the date anywhere either.

 

[ERD50]

... I was trying to record ABC which is my weakest OTA @ 55-65% (other channels 78%+), so that may be the problem and I'll have to keep monitoring it. I would've thought the recorder would just go blank and keep recording for the full hour instead of shutting down. I noticed my unit thinks today, Tue 11/25/2014 is Thur 11/20/2014, but the schedule is showing the correct shows for today. I don't see a way to correct the date anywhere either.

Hmm, you and tmm99 both have offsets in the date. Odd. And you are in the same broadcast area as I am, so that's not the issue. You might want to check the mediasonic and/or AVS forums on that one.

Update on my 'signal strength theory': I had another recording dropout (just my second in ~ 3-4 months), this time 15 minutes into Jeopardy. So I experimented a little by recording some lower Q stations. I have the signal split to my Vizio TV and the PVR. The Vizio reports most stations ~ 50-60 quality level, while the PVR reports most at 100.

I found one station that the Vizio reported at 10 (IIRC from earlier antenna experiments, this is the threshold where the Vizio starts breaking up), but the picture was fine, and another station at 22. The PVR could barely decode the one at 10, a few seconds of picture, then pixelation and dropout, and the picture would come back. The one at 22 appeared fine.

So I recorded the one at 10, and let it go for 17 minutes, and even though I was getting messages that the signal was dropping, and offering to 'exit', it kept right on recording. I payed it back, and synced a kitchen timer to it, and it never lost a beat through the 17 minutes I recorded. This, even though the picture was dropping in and out all the way through. So scratch that theory?


Co-incidence? I just realized that both times we have had drop-outs, we had a house full of guests, several of them on phones, tablets, computers, etc. Interference?

I think I'll check in with those forums and see what I can find.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Thank you, mine seems to have set the time/date automatically too, but it shows as if the unit is off on date by 5 days for some reason. It seems to still show the correct shows though.

One thing that doesn't seem to work is scheduling shows. If I record on the fly, it records fine, but when I scheduled a recording, it changes the channel to the correct one, as if to record, but nothing gets recorded....

I was perusing their forums, and found they have an update to fix this (only for those system versions with the problem). You need to email them for the file.

Mediasonic Forum • View topic - Timer recording

I did go ahead and buy a second, a gift for DW (from my previous post - I've got a bunch of cooking shows and other things archived now - DW could watch those when nothing's on and she's doing ironing, etc).

I tested it out, no apparent problems, date/time was correct. Apparently, there are several HW versions (may depend on their chip supplier?), and SW to match. This is different HW/SW version from my first, but seems to operate the same.

-ERD50

 

[tmm99]

Thank you very much ERD. I will upgrade the firmware.

Do you have a problem losing connection to the USB drive? I have been having to put the box in standby to soft boot (red standby button) to make the box find the USB device again.


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[ERD50]

Thank you very much ERD. I will upgrade the firmware.

Do you have a problem losing connection to the USB drive? I have been having to put the box in standby to soft boot (red standby button) to make the box find the USB device again.


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No problem with USB connection for me, but that might vary with make/model of hard drive? FWIW, I'm using an old Hitachi 500GB SDM500CF - portable drive, no external power. I checked my settings, I don't seem to have any auto sleep or power-off , but I think I typically sleep it from the remote after I'm done watching.

-ERD50

 

[tmm99]

Thank you ERD. I am not home but I would like to try sleep also. Is sleep a button on the remote?


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[ERD50]

Thank you ERD. I am not home but I would like to try sleep also. Is sleep a button on the remote?


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I just use the RED 'Standby' button on the remote when I'm done watching (unless I forget - haven't noticed any difference). I think 'standby' and 'sleep' are the same?

-ERD50