US Cable Support > Cable users > Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000

reply to gelbelt

Re: Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000

I've got this box... and it's crashed twice already just this morning. I've only had it for 3 days, but so far I am very unimpressed. Extremely slow, switching between different channel types (plain cable channels 1-60 and digital channels) often causes the system to lock up for a long period of time. And VERY often certain channels just won't lock in for a VERY long time. Sometimes 5 minutes or more.

The PVR functionality is nice (when it works. I've had it spontaniously "forget" to record something already), but this model is pure crap. I hope they are going to replace them with something else.

reply to KevinG79
Hey Kevin!
In regards to your question about the SA-8000, I'm not sure what format it stores its video but it does have a USB port and 2 firewire ports. I personally just shoot any video out to a DVD burner, I didnt just say that did I?

-Bryan

Well, the USB port is a dud. I just tried hooking up a USB A/A cable from the SA8000 to my PC and nothing happens. Doesnt find new hardware or anything. I guess it's true that the ports are just there for looks. That totally sucks.

What I WANT to do is take all the stuff I record to the SA8000 and transfer it to my PC so I can then burn DVDs. Right now I have to do it analog by video capturing each video to my vidcap card. Would save a lot of time if I could just take the video from its hard drive and "shoot" it over to my PC... sigh... oh well. Life is never easy.

Kevin,
contat Scientific Atlanta, depending on what area you are in and what system you are on the software for the usb ports may not be installed. They can probably help with that issue. Let me know how it turns out
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-Bryan Russell-AVCXpert@Everestkc.net-Audio,Video,& Communications eXpert.

reply to AVCXpert

said by AVCXpert:

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Hey Kevin!
In regards to your question about the SA-8000, I'm not sure what format it stores its video but it does have a USB port and 2 firewire ports. I personally just shoot any video out to a DVD burner, I didnt just say that did I?

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I currently have a TiVo but was looking to try the Scientific Atlanta DVR for the two tuners and the ability to record two channels at once.

For those who have this DVR, can you watch a program from the beginning while the recorder is still recording the end of the program? Also, the TiVo has what they call a season pass which allows you to select a show and have the TiVo record all future episodes. Can the 8000 do that as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

You indeed can watch the beginning of the show while it's recording the end. A good thing to do is to start recording, or to automatically have it start recording at the beginning of the show, and tune in 8 minutes late for a 30 minute program and 16 minutes late for a 60 minute program. That way you can fast forward through all the commercials.

This hardware isn't polished. It is slow, and quirky. But for the most part, it's done what it's advertised. There are just a few caveats: If you schedule two shows to be recorded at the same time, you need to be on one of those two channels when the second starts recording. It'll automatically record one scheduled show in the background if you are on another channel, but if you are already recording one, and you are viewing another, and you want to record yet another, you would need 3 tuners. Unfortunately, I have found that it doesn't zoom you over to one of the two channels scheduled for recording.

Season pass: poorly implemented. You can only schedule all episodes that can presently be seen by the guide. So, 7 days ahead. Don't expect to be able to go on a 3 week vacation and have it record all your shows.

Timing: The clock is set by the network, but I find that not all TV networks are synced. When you record, you should probably manually give it 2 minutes of buffer before, and possibly a minute of buffer before. After isn't so important, because most shows have credits, or break for commercials, and then come back with the credits. But a lot of shows start right at 00:00, so if your recorder turns on at 00:30, you've missed 30 seconds that won't be recorded. The dual tuner is nice for this. Tuesday nights on Fox at 9pm is 24... at 10pm is The Shield on FX, and at 11pm (on my local Fox affiliate) is The Simpsons. I like to record all of them, so I record from 8:59 to 10:01 on Fox, 9:59 to 11:01 on FX, and 10:59 to 11:31 on Fox. There are overlaps, but show 1 is recorded by tuner 1, show 2 by tuner 2, and show 3 by tuner 1. As long as you don't have a triple overlap, you should be fine.j

Thanks for the info. I have finally gotten a unit myself. Hopefully some of the convenience issues can be addressed with firmware upgrades. The dual tunners is great. I love the flexibility. The way programs that have been recored are listed is also very good. I like the interface.

Video quality on fast motion is not as good as the TiVo though. Also, the TiVo will back up a bit automatically after a fast forward. This is nice since you almost always fast forward partially into the program.

While the unit is recording, how do you automatically view the beginning without having to rewind manually?

Thanks,
Jeff

Does anyone know when Time Warner plans on offering the DVR service in New York City?

reply to MarkJaquith
Does anyone know how to record something just once per week? The two options I have w/ my SA8000Exp are "record once" and "record always" this leaves me with either setting up recording of, say, South Park, every week to get the 10:00pm Wednesday show, or around 7 episodes recorded w/ 9:30pm shows and 12:00am shows recorded too.

Thanks,
Dukie1993

This is my message to Cox and the response I received:

Dear Mr. Hancock:

Thank you for contacting our Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care
Team.

Unfortunately, that is one limitation of the DVR service. If you select the 'record always' option it will tape ever occurrence of the desired show. Please be assured, we are aware of this issue and will hopefully have an upgrade available soon to correct this problem.

If you need additional information on other Cox products or services, please visit our web site at »www.cox.com/fairfax.
We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

My name is Kris
Thank you for choosing Cox Communications!

Sincerely,
The Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care Team

Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Form Message
subject: Technical Support
detail: Cox Cable
UserID: dukie1993
Comments: Is it possible to record something just once per week with the new DVR? The two options I have w/ my SA 8000 Explorer are "record once" and "record always" this leaves me with either setting up recording of, say, South Park, every week to get the 10:00pm Wednesday show, or around
7 episodes recorded w/ 9:30pm shows and 12:00am shows recorded too.
submit: Submit Questions

Just got this box today, and I can pick any combination of days I want the recording to take place. You must have old software.

reply to KevinG79
I believe that is illegal copying there sir. People like you are reason the RIAA and Hollywood are spending millions to take away our freedom of home recording and copying.

Thats crap. Some people may want to burn their shows to cd. Not everyone owns a VCR anymore
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»artists.mp3s.com/artists/86/mojo···one.html

reply to TheRealFixer
I got one on Friday(4/25/03) and have the following observations.
It is slow compared to my old digital cable box.
It is prone to crash for no good reason (3 time so far)
The interface is very nice and if it was faster and more reliable I would have to give it two thumbs up. But since it keeps crashing and it sometimes won't come back up for 10 or 15 minutes this thing is going back to COX.

reply to scorpiox

said by scorpiox:

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I believe that is illegal copying there sir. People like you are reason the RIAA and Hollywood are spending millions to take away our freedom of home recording and copying.

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No one has yet answered the question of HOW you are connecting the box to a computer, other than just running the video into it.

There are video capture cards you can buy for your computer
as far as I understand. You can connect the A/V slots
to the video capture card on your computer and bingo
thats how you do it.
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Forum Posts: 642

reply to MacGyvr
So you have more than just record once and record always. Does yours say, record wednesdays at 9pm, or record wednesdays, or this timeslot, or what?