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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Monday, April 26, 2004 - 2:56 pm
Tivo works on any 'analog' television signal. That means it will work on the output of a cable box, satellite box, or even an antenna on the roof. Usually, if you have a 'box' for your viewing service, the Tivo unit can be setup to control the box and change the channel on the box so it will record the correct program. The downside to having Tivo control your cable box is that you are limited to watching what is being recorded since the box is 'tied up' providing the signal to the Tivo for recording. However, on cable, most systems still offer a good number of channels on their 'analog' tier meaning you could connect the Tivo directly to cable just as you could a VCR so you could be recording one program while watching another. Hope this helps but I'm betting there will be more questions! lol - No problem though, if what I've said here isn't clear, I'll be happy to answer any other questions for you. FYI: I have Tivo, 3 VCRs, & DVD connected in my entertainment center with the ability to record 4 different programs and watch a 5th or DVD at the same time. All on 'standard cable' service. ETA: And it's not limited to the US. Anywhere that uses the same television system should be able to be setup the same way.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Monday, April 26, 2004 - 3:26 pm
Thanks muchly, Dra  
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 4:36 am
Dra or anyone -- are you there? Finally, I've just about decided to get Tivo. Have question about the telephone connection. I have two phone lines in my condo -- one is for voice, the other for computer dial-up connection. Currently, the only jack near where Tivo would be located is the line for dial-up. Is it enough for Tivo to only be connected to phone line from say about 11:00 p.m. thru about 7:00 a.m. to get needed data? Then from 7:00 a.m. thru 11:00 p.m., I would "pull the phone plug" on the Tivo and plug the computer back into the phone jack. I've been told in a store or two that it would work for Tivo, but, Dra, I'd like to hear it from you before I buy. But then I thought -- if Tivo is sending data during the day, is that going to interfere with computer dial-up connection? Now that I've decided on Tivo, want to get it done kinda fast cuz I'm going on vacation on May 13. There's more than six hours (VCR) of stuff I want to record while I'm gone. (I'm thinkin' the last weekly Survivor and the big finale may be that week!!)}
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 6:12 am
Colordeagua: The Tivo is very passive about sharing a phoneline. It will only dial out if the line is available. Otherwise, it will reschedule the daily call. One thing I've discovered about the Tivo's choice in calling schedules - there is no set 'pattern' of when it will call. I've seen calls go out overnight or in the middle of the day or even during prime time. But it is very 'courteous' about making that daily call. And, if it doesn't get through today, it will try again tomorrow. It only starts to caution you if it is unable to get through for 7 or 8 consecutive days. You can even safely put a phone jack splitter on the jack and have your computer and tivo plugged into the line full time to avoid swapping everyday. Hope that helps.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 6:24 am
Thanks, Dra. The "computer jack" is on the opposite side of the room from TV / Tivo, so during the night have to have phone cord stretched across the room. That is the phone jack currently available for Tivo. Actually, on same wall as TV / Tivo is a covered jack (voice number). There are two electric sockets near it. The plate around the sockets is 8" X 3" so it covers the jack underneath. Someone once told me there is a name for it. Do you know? Guess it would take a house call by the phone company to activate it? I was trying to avoid that because of $$ and hassle it could be with SBC. They're not very popular to deal with here in Illinois.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 6:44 am
Colordeagua: There are several options available to accommodate almost any situation. One might be a 'wireless' phone jack which is 2 modules, both plug into the electrical plug with 1 near a phone jack and the other near the Tivo. Tivo would co-exist well even on your voice line. The calls are usually fairly short duration and, like I mentioned before, it is very 'friendly' if you happen to be using the phone when it wants to call. It is very possible the jack nearby is already active and would not require a call to the phone company. The easiest way to tell is to plug a phone in and see if that works. It is also very easy to 'activate' the jack yourself and I would be happy to try to help you do that if you're interested. And, finally, you can make the process a little easier if you want. Just plug the Tivo into a phoneline every couple of days and manually go into the setup menu and initiate the daily call immediately. You can watch as it prepares, then dials, the disconnects - at which time you can safely disconnect the phone line until next time. The only words of caution about 'skipping' daily calls is you might miss some last minute changes to schedules, however, that is usually a rare case anyway. Hope this helps.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 6:52 am
It sure does, Dra. Think, at least to start with, I'll go simply with stretching a phone cord across the room at night. Anytime I'm away for any length of time (vacation May 13 - 19 if I do have it by then), I'll leave Tivo plugged into jack. Thanks.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, April 30, 2004 - 6:35 pm
Dra, one more. Do you think this at-one-time (not so much now, don't have patience I used to) mechanically-inclined 50+++ yof could hook up the Tivo? I have antenna only. Some place in the Tivo site I saw special (?) instructions for hooking up to record one channel while watching another. Definitely want to do that.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Friday, April 30, 2004 - 10:47 pm
Colordeagua: The Tivo can be connected as simply as a normal VCR. If you connect the antenna to the input of the Tivo then the output from Tivo to the input on your TV, while the Tivo is recording, turning it off will give you the ability to watch anything on TV you desire. When you're ready to watch the Tivo programming, tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 and turn on the Tivo. If you want to 'Tivo-watch' a program, tune the TV to the Tivo channel and tune the channel on the Tivo. And finally, you can watch something that is already recorded on the Tivo "Now Playing List" while the Tivo is recording another program. The only thing you can NOT do with the Tivo connected this way is watch one program with Tivo control and still record another program. I think you will discover the Tivo to be very easy to connect in this way. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I will be happy to help if I can. Hope this helps.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 7:18 am
Dra, Here's the Tivo instruction page explaining how to hook it up so you can record one channel while viewing another. Looks complicated to me. Hope wherever I buy it (soon) will install it or I can find someone who....
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 10:14 am
Colordeagua: I'm a little surprised to see they don't seem address your configuration specifically as I would recommend. I 'borrowed' some of their images and created this diagram for you to use. It is very simple and should acccomplish what I described earlier here.
Connect your antenna in the red section Set the out to channel 3 or 4 Connect the Tivo to your Television in the blue areas Set your TV on the channel selected and turn on the Tivo and you should be ready to setup and use the Tivo. When you want to watch TV direct from the antenna, simply turn off the Tivo. If there is a scheduled recording on the Tivo, it will be recorded and will not affect your TV viewing. Hope this helps.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 11:25 am
Dra, forgive me for my thickheadedness. (A word?) Wires on your diagram do look like how my VCR is wired now (?). So with Tivo hooked up like this, I can record one program on Tivo and watch another not through Tivo? That's what I do with VCR now. I'm recording on tape. "Hit" various buttons on both VCR remote and TV remote (I don't have universal remote) and I'm watching a different channel through TV only. I understand that. So that's what would happen with Tivo if wired / hooked up like this?
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 11:55 am
Colrdeagua: This will work exactly the same as your VCR. Most likely the button you push on the VCR is labeled 'TV/VCR' and this would effectively allow the antenna signal to bypass the VCR directly into your TV. This allows you to tune your TV directly. When you want to watch the VCR, you would use the same button. With the Tivo, there isn't a TV/VCR button, however, turning the Tivo off accomplishes the same thing, it allows the antenna signal to bypass the Tivo and go directly to the TV. And, the same as a VCR, the Tivo can still record the program even while it is turned 'Off'. (Technically, Tivo is never really turned off, it just stops sending signals to your TV when you press the power button.) Does that help?
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 12:08 pm
Dra, Iiiiiiiimmensely. Yes, I do "hit" TV/VCR button when I want to.... I will go buy that Tivo yet today or probably tomorrow. Question you can answer if you want to. I'll find out when I buy it, of course. I plan on buying the "lifetime service" (not pay monthly). Do you buy that when you buy the "black box" or on-line after through Tivo site?
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 12:31 pm
Colordeagua: After you have installed the Tivo and completed the 'Guided Setup', you will be instructed to either call their toll-free number or visit them on their website. There you will subscribe to the level of service you want. In either case, the next time your Tivo dials in for an update, it will automatically update the subscription level on the unit for you. Hope this helps.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 1:51 pm
Dra, I did it! Just ordered Tivo with 140 hour drive from Abt Electronics. (Seems that model is kinda new and many stores don't have it in stock. Currently 10% discount, $50 rebate, and free shipping. I live in Illinois where Abt is located so I have to pay tax. Aaaaw shucks. Said it should be here Tuesday. UPS delivers around noon.
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Curlyq
Member
07-10-2002
| Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 5:32 pm
Help! After doing some renovations in the house I am now trying to reconnect the surround speakers to our receiver. I thought I did it right, but when I put in a DVD it had a THX test on it and it showed that something's off. The wires connect to spring clips, and I'm afraid I might have the ends in the wrong places. The two wires are copper and silver colored, and I put the copper in the red end (+) and the silver in the black end (-). Does anyone know if this is right or wrong?
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 9:41 pm
Curlyq: The important thing is to make sure they are the same on both ends. If the connection on the speaker is hard-wired into the speaker box, then you may need to reverse them on the back of the receiver, although, I believe copper is usually the positive (red) connection. In any case make sure you have them both exactly the same, copper to red, silver to black on both speakers or you end up with the two speakers effectively canceling each other out when listening to them. Hope this helps.
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Rupertbear
Member
09-19-2003
| Friday, May 28, 2004 - 5:50 pm
Hi Draheid, remember I asked about using accents and said I had trouble now using the codes, where I didn't before? Well, anyway kiddo, I solved the problem. On my old keyboard I could just type the codes and they would enter. I discovered that I have to use the "Numbers Lock" key first on this new keyboard...lol. I discovered it because I did a search for some new codes and it said to engage the lock before typing in a code. So, huh...we learn sumpin' new every day. ;)
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Friday, May 28, 2004 - 7:41 pm
Ruperbear: I suppose that tells that I also made a presumption. Most, but not all, computers are configured to default to number-lock being ON when they are first started. That would suggest your new keyboard has a different driver and the setting to automatically turn on the NumLock must be set for the new keyboard. Either way, I'm glad you were able to figure out the source of the problem.
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Rupertbear
Member
09-19-2003
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 7:25 am
Well, Draheid guess this could go under the thread about things you never notice but make sense because now that you mention that, I do recall that the little light always used to be on in the [1] at the top of the keyboard on my old keypad. ;) Anyway, you knowledge of computers is vast and amazing and I read your threads like a "game show"...everyone poses a question...and will The Draheid come up with the answer?....and yes....he does! lol 
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Rupertbear
Member
09-19-2003
| Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 12:33 pm
Just a little humour for ya, Draheid ;)

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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 1:10 pm
lol Rupertbear, have a look at *my* humor over in the Jokes thread. 
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Kaykay
Member
01-21-2004
| Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 8:07 am
Ok, I'm sure someone has asked this and it's a stupid question but here it goes My Dad e-mailed me some pictures from a digital camara. Is there a way to copy them here to post in my folder? If not - how can I post pictures here? Thanks so much KK
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 8:23 am
Kaykay: First you need to save them on your computer from the e-mail. How that is done depends on what e-mail program you are using. Next you need to be sure they 'fit' on the board. The file can not be over 65Kbytes and the image should not be wider then 600 pixels. Once you have them within these limits, you can post one of two ways. Probably the easiest is to use the button below 'this' box labeled 'Upload Attachment'. Clicking on that button will open a dialog window asking for a 'name' for the image and the full path to the image file. You can enter anything in the name then use the 'browse' button to locate the file on your computer. Once you locate the file, double-click on it and you will have the information in the upload window. Once both fields are filled, click 'Upload' to complete the process then close that window. You will see something like \popjpeg{1421519,NameYouGave} (or popgif depending on the file type) in the edit window. You can cut-n-paste that anywhere in your message as long as you do not change any part of the information. Finally, when you click 'Preview/Post Message', you will see your message in preview with the picture in place. The other way (used to be the only way) is to use a 'tag' in your message something like this: \image{NameYourPicture} When you use this method, you won't be prompted for the file until you actually post the message. At that time, you will see be prompted for the filename for the image name given. Click on 'Browse' again, locate and double-click on the image, then click 'Upload'. When you're finished uploading, you will see your post with the picture(s) included. Hope this helps.
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