Is it my cable, or DVR?

[Marius]

I'm trying to track down a problem with recordings on my TiVo DVR. It only seems to occur on recordings of NFL games. There are brief periods of the audio dropping out--it's usually not too much of a problem, but every so often an entire dialog will be rendered almost unintelligible. I've searched on the Web and on TiVo's forums, and the theories are: failing hard drive, bandwidth inadequate, poor signal. I have Charter standard cable service.

Here is my thinking to date on the subject, and I was hoping someone might have something helpful to add. I'd almost buy the failing hard drive argument, except that it only seems to affect this kind of programming. Movies, news shows, etc. record fine. Could this be because the games are in HD, which I understand is a real hog for bandwidth? Or might this indicate Charter's signal is erratic over a 3 1/2 hour recording period? I can't count on any troubleshooting help from Charter because this is not their DVR. I bought a TiVo and subscribe to their service.

I'm certainly capable of buying a hard drive replacement kit and installing it, but I would be pretty upset if I did that and it didn't solve the problem! Any bright ideas?

[greenskeeper]

my tv service sucks, common for audio visual drop-off, if it lasts for more than 30 sec I'd question the tivo

[snafu]

DS happened to call and suggests your instincts are likely 'right-on'. How old is TIVO? Football is broadcast on the best, new PVR is likely needed. Just another opinion

[Wino]

I'm going with the bandwidth guess, and believe Charter is probably the culprit. When there are a lot of people using their equipment at the same time, everyone's speed slows down. As HD is a high-bandwidth item, that's most likely to show the effects. It will be sporadic, as the program should be able to buffer enough between signal loss. The thing the TiVo cannot cover is when the signal is skipped from the source. It cannot record what it never receives.

A simple test would be to record a late night HD replay or HD movie. I'll bet you don't get losses on that, which proves your recorder is fine and that it is bandwidth falling short of demand causing the drop outs. If you still get drop outs late at night, then probably the problem is with your box.

Don't do a single test on a single night. Do this over a week, at different times overnight. Consistent drop outs prove it is your DVR; consistently good recordings point to bandwidth.

[Marius]

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought I was buying a new, "stand alone" TiVo (without a subscription) on Amazon.** The condition of the manuals suggests to me it was, in fact, used. It was less expensive than new and seems to work well on programming other than football, so I'm not complaining too much. I have recorded several movies from cable without any problem, although I can't be sure they were HD. There has been no audio problem viewing shows in HD from Netflix on the TiVo. I'll give your idea a try, Wino. It seems like the most logical way to find out what's going on. I figured the TiVo folks would point the finger at Charter, and I know Charter will not support any DVR that they didn't provide.

**I was originally mistaken about being able to use the DVR without subscribing to TiVo's service, and was pretty peeved at that situation. I thought I could just buy a machine and it would work like my VCR. I was griping about what a racket it was. But after living with it for a couple of months I have to say I like it a lot. IMHO, it delivers pretty good value for the money. It eliminates the problems I had using my new Sony LCD TV with my old VCR, makes recording much faster and easier, allows me to transfer programming to my PC, and the picture quality is simply stunning.

Thanks again, and I look forward to further discussions here.