Servio

[shawn_75]

I love my SCRIBE. I deal with enough tech problems at work. It's nice to have a piece of tech that just works without any actions or intervention from me.

[clarkss12]

Just a final update on ditching cable TV for my nephew.

As my first post, I was NOT able to receive the "Fox" channel, (2.1) using an older HDHomeRun Dual tuner. And thanks to @JDazell, I received the Scribe that I purchased from Ebay ($76 USD), so I tested that tuner to pickup the "Fox" channel.

I went back to his house and had two objectives, GET the channel 2.1 working (VHF channel) and relocate the "rabbit ears" to a spot next to the TV.

Using the "Hdhomerun signal meter" app, running on my Galaxy cellular phone, connected to HIS Wi-Fi, I was able to tune in channel 2.1 ( RF channel 7). I was totally amazed that I could receive that VHF channel with only a set of 30 year old rabbit ears. ** did fiddle with the length and position of the "ears", to get the best signal**.
Signal strength 100%
SNR Quality between 70% and 80%
Sym Quality 100%

He is about 30 miles from the towers, which are clustered in the same direction. I am about 5 miles north of him and I have a HUGE roof mounted antenna.

He gets all the channels that I get using those rabbit ears, including the VHF channel....... I am totally blown away.

So, he is saving $120 USD each month, for about $14k to $15k in the next 10 years. All for $100 investment for equipment.

[clarkss12]

After I completed his setup, and showing how the DVR works, it got me wondering.

I was only there for a short time to test, but he seemed to get a lot of days of guide data, I did not test fully to see how far out the guide goes. Also, I was able to schedule recordings.

How is this possible, he has NOT subscribed to get the DVR function.

I was able to schedule a recording, but I was not there long enough to verify that indeed that scheduled recording did record...

Does the "Scribe" come with some sort of "free" recording capability? Unfortunately, he is unable initiate a recording to test (he is totally lost with technology).

[Ken.F]

How is this possible, he has NOT subscribed to get the DVR function.

You can schedule recordings without an active DVR account but nothing will record.

The DVR subscription is authorized through the tuner. Since the tuner was purchased used it is possible the previous owner has a DVR subscription and didn't remove that tuner from their DVR subscription before selling it.

[clarkss12]

How is this possible, he has NOT subscribed to get the DVR function.

You can schedule recordings without an active DVR account but nothing will record.

The DVR subscription is authorized through the tuner. Since the tuner was purchased used it is possible the previous owner has a DVR subscription and didn't remove that tuner from their DVR subscription before selling it.

Thank you for that answer.......

[clarkss12]

One last remark.

Tuning/tweaking the "ears" (VHF channel) on the rabbit ear antenna, would have been impossible without that "Hdhomerun Signal Meter" app running on my Android cellular phone.

[Ken.F]

Thank you for that answer.......

Also, if you open the HDHomeRun app and go to Account Information it will tell you if the DVR account is active and the email address of the person who registered the account.

[clarkss12]

Thank you for that answer.......

Also, if you open the HDHomeRun app and go to Account Information it will tell you if the DVR account is active and the email address of the person who registered the account.

I will check that the next time I am over there......

[signcarver]

The scribe and servio come with a free year of dvr service but you don't really get an account as access is through that device (not the other devices... when you buy service any if the devices on your account may be used to access dvr features but keep in mind that it is easy to mess up such associations to only the devices currently detected through app).

Buying off eBay may not guarantee you get a full year of service with a scribe/servio as it may have been used up. Since dvr is optional with the flex dvr wasn't included.

[clarkss12]

The scribe and servio come with a free year of dvr service but you don't really get an account as access is through that device (not the other devices... when you buy service any if the devices on your account may be used to access dvr features but keep in mind that it is easy to mess up such associations to only the devices currently detected through app).

Buying off eBay may not guarantee you get a full year of service with a scribe/servio as it may have been used up. Since dvr is optional with the flex dvr wasn't included.

According to the Ebay site, this Scribe had never recorded anything. Does the clock start ticking when something is recorded? I won't be able to do any testing/verifying until I go back to his house next Sunday.

[signcarver]

My understanding is the clock is supposed to start ticking when it first connects to SD to get DeviceAuth but they may have such for once a recording is scheduled. Someone from SD might be able to check but it's hard for a user to as there isn't an "account" (email address) associated with it only the device itself gives such access.

[clarkss12]

My understanding is the clock is supposed to start ticking when it first connects to SD to get DeviceAuth but they may have such for once a recording is scheduled. Someone from SD might be able to check but it's hard for a user to as there isn't an "account" (email address) associated with it only the device itself gives such access.

I originally connected one of my older retired HDhomeRun Connect (104CBEA5) which I had purchased from BestBuy on Aug, 19, 2017 (yep, I keep all of the boxes for my electronics.) Perhaps it contained information about my ownership when we connected it to the ONN Android TV box, running the HDhomeRun app. We/I did NOT setup an account for him. We just connected the tuner to the router and the HDhomeRun app started working off the bat.

When I received the Scribe from Ebay, all I did was connect it to my router and it did an update, and then I removed it from my router. I swapped the Connect with the Scribe so he could have a DVR. Of course, he doesn't even know what a DVR is.......

Now, I am curious if there is any names registered. Maybe, I can call my nephew and tell him I need to do some more testing..... He is a NON-techie, so all he wants is to turn on the TV and start watching. He can't do any checking for me, I have to go to his house myself to find the answers.