Amazon Echo Club

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

Your Roku 1 has composite OUTPUT.
You probably knew that, but in the analog era, in/out confusion was often what stopped non-techies from setting up a decent home theater themselves....
A small RCA switch would probably let you have your cake and eat it too. I did that kind of stuff for quite a while and only recently ripped out a bunch of old wiring and gear and simplified the whole house system.

Input, output; I dunno. My method is trial and error and trust that the device won't explode with a wrong connection. They're not labeled input or output on the Roku 1; they're just sitting there between the power input and the HDMI input (output?). Confusion? Yup.

One more thing, please--could you clarify what kind of RCA switch you are talking about? When I did a search at Amazon, I came up with all sorts of HDMI/composite converters and splitters. Is this the kind of thing you mean?

Thanks so much.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by John F

If you don't need a local copy, some streaming services have cloud DVR functionality, although there may be limits. I'm using one such service, it has 1080P (I believe), you can skip commercials, and I don't know what the limitations are (although there is probably a time limit?).

Thanks; actually a local copy is what I'd want, if I could do it without jumping through too many hoops, now that I've made the decision to drop cable TV.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Input, output; I dunno. My method is trial and error and trust that the device won't explode with a wrong connection. They're not labeled input or output on the Roku 1; they're just sitting there between the power input and the HDMI input (output?). Confusion? Yup.

One more thing, please--could you clarify what kind of RCA switch you are talking about? When I did a search at Amazon, I came up with all sorts of HDMI/composite converters and splitters. Is this the kind of thing you mean?

Thanks so much.

It is what I meant, though my presumption was that your Magnavox DVR could ONLY record through one set of RCA inputs, and that you were getting your OTA through an analog converter box which is why you thought you'd have to re-wire for OTA.

If you have one like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR8.../dp/B015FOZD34
which can record digital TV directly from the antenna connection, and also can record another source through the RCA inputs, then you don't need the switch, you can hook your antenna and your Roku 1 RCA plugs up to the Maganavox at the same time, and record either one.
Plus, if your Roku 1 is like my Roku 2, the HDMI and RCA outputs work simultaneously, so you'd be able to watch in in HD via HDMI on your TV while simultaneously recording what you're watching in SD via the RCA connection to the DVR.

All clear?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

It is what I meant, though my presumption was that your Magnavox DVR could ONLY record through one set of RCA inputs, and that you were getting your OTA through an analog converter box which is why you thought you'd have to re-wire for OTA.

If you have one like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR8.../dp/B015FOZD34
which can record digital TV directly from the antenna connection, and also can record another source through the RCA inputs, then you don't need the switch, you can hook your antenna and your Roku 1 RCA plugs up to the Maganavox at the same time, and record either one.
Plus, if your Roku 1 is like my Roku 2, the HDMI and RCA outputs work simultaneously, so you'd be able to watch in in HD via HDMI on your TV while simultaneously recording what you're watching in SD via the RCA connection to the DVR.

All clear?

After the day I've had, nothing is clear. I canceled cable TV and attempted to reconnect everything, and I'm frazzled.

That is the DVR I have. Right now, it's the only thing that's not working, at least in terms of recording new content, since I need another coax cable to connect it to the antenna. It's connected to the TV with an HDMI cable.

I will connect the DVR to the Roku with composite cables and see what happens. Thank you so much!

[Catlady]

It didn't work, alas. I can get sound but no video when I connect the DVR to the Roku.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It didn't work, alas. I can get sound but no video when I connect the DVR to the Roku.

It's possible your DVR enforces CGMS-A copy protection, or perhaps your frazzledness just has something hooked up wrong.

Try recording a non-premium stream from the Roku, like one of those public domain channels or something. If that works, but stuff like Netflix and Hulu doesn't, then it's copy protection.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

It's possible your DVR enforces CGMS-A copy protection, or perhaps your frazzledness just has something hooked up wrong.

Try recording a non-premium stream from the Roku, like one of those public domain channels or something. If that works, but stuff like Netflix and Hulu doesn't, then it's copy protection.

Copy protection issues are WAY beyond my techy-ness level. The DVR isn't picking up any video; I get a blue screen and sound when I try to watch ANY streaming TV through the DVR. So it's a hopeless case, or at least it is for me, and that's fine. I have more movies already recorded than I'll ever get around to watching!

Thanks for your help!

[OtinG]

I was listening to the Holiday Classics channel on Amazon Music yesterday via my Dot 3 when I needed to pause it for a few minutes. After saying, "Alexa, pause," she paused the channel. A few minutes later I said, "Alexa, resume." But instead of resuming the channel she stopped it and turned on my Fire TV and TV. WTH! I have never seen that happen before. I tried to look at the commands she thought she heard but could not find any that were related to Pause, Resume, Fire TV. I never use the Dot 3 (or any other Echo) with Fire TV, so I'm not sure how she got that ability--I thought you had to specifically set them up to do that.

[wodin]

Maybe she thought there was something that you needed to see.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by wodin

Maybe she thought there was something that you needed to see.

They're getting too smart for us.

[tubemonkey]

"We are Alexa, we are learning"

[Catlady]

Do any of you remember the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project? Sometimes I have the uneasy feeling that Alexa is the little sister of Colossus.

[wodin]

Amazon Echo Input is the easiest way to stream media to speakers

The premise is simple: The Input is a Dot without a speaker. It has a mic, two buttons and, most importantly, a 3.5mm output. This output lets the Input serve media to amps and powered speakers — just like I’m doing with a Dot.

Because the Input doesn’t have a speaker, it’s much smaller. It’s only half an inch thick. It’s a tiny thing, and I found it does the job as well as a Dot.

[OtinG]

Has anyone linked two Dot 3s together for stereo? I’m tempted to pick up a second one since it is only $29 now.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Has anyone linked two Dot 3s together for stereo? I’m tempted to pick up a second one since it is only $29 now.

I just got my Dot 3s today and plan on setting up a stereo pair while I'm watching football tonight.

Check back later tonight for an update.

BTW: if you buy two, they're $25 each.