DirectTV WATTAGE - Dvr vs basic receiver

[Denise]

We had a third "basic" receiver to use when camping, but decided to start taking our DVR receiver instead. Don is worried that in case of emergency (loss of electricity home or camping) we might not have enough battery power to watch the news if needed (due to higher wattage).

Does anyone know?
How much less would the batteries last if we use the DVR receiver (and a small portable 7" tv) with the two batteries that came with our Jayco tt?

Thanks

[Terry]

Fear not Don!

Not sure which model receivers you have...I have H24 (hi-def nonDVR) and HR24 (hi-def DVR). The official rating on them is 35 watts and 55 watts for DVR.

I just went and got my inverter and plugged it up - the actual usage on the H24 was 20 watts and on the HR24 was 30 watts....so yeah - it is 33% more power, but in the big scheme of things - I would go with the DVR for that little bit of power difference.

[Seann45]

You will probably loose more due to the inverter inefficiency than from the the extra power the DVR takes..

[Denise]

Don went to pull out the DVR receiver and said it had two cables "in". Or something like that ( forewarned... those of you who know me, know I'm quite 'techie challenged'). LOL, what a kick in the pants, he wanted ME to call DirectTV to verify once again that the DVR would work in the tt because something to do with only one cable in. Yeah, right! He did though talk to tech support and they verified his concern that the dvr wouldn't record while watching anything other than what we were watching at the moment; so why bother take the dvr as it is a pain for him to disconnect. So it looks now that we will just keep the basic receiver in the tt.

Thanks for the wattage help, we appreciate it

[Terry]

Watt what that you said? (oh man..that was bad)

Well that is sort of correct. The two inputs are so you can record two shows at once, or record one while watching another.

With only one connected you could watch a show that was previously recorded on the DVR AND record a live show......I dont know about you - but I cant remember the last time I watched something as it was broadcasting (something about not liking commercials!) If it were me, I would bring the DVR

[jim44646]

I still take my dvr. We prerecord allot at home so if there isn't any thing on we want to watch we can always watch recorded programs. On occasion I have run the 2nd cable thru the window to the box. I use quick connectors on cables to the dvr box. Takes me
5 min. to disconnect and reconnect

[edatlanta]

You can use DirecTV's SWM system and only one RG6 coax is needed from the dish to the RV. You can then split the signal (with a SWM splitter) and feed multiple DVR's. I have a HR21 and a HR24, both DVR's and I can record two programs on each at the same time while watching another channel on each at the same time all over this one input RG6.
It isn't hard to set up at all, but DirecTV won't tell you how and they want $199.00 to do it for you.

[jim44646]

Originally Posted by edatlanta

You can use DirecTV's SWM system and only one RG6 coax is needed from the dish to the RV. You can then split the signal (with a SWM splitter) and feed multiple DVR's. I have a HR21 and a HR24, both DVR's and I can record two programs on each at the same time while watching another channel on each at the same time all over this one input RG6.
It isn't hard to set up at all, but DirecTV won't tell you how and they want $199.00 to do it for you.

Don't you have to have the DIRECTV® SWM8 Single-Wire Multi-Switch and DIRECTV® SL3S (3-HEAD) LNB or SL5S (5-HEAD) LNB to use the splitter?
The SWM8 Single-Wire Multiswitch and DIRECTV Approved Power Supply Kit I found was $129.00