Solved! How can I use my California based DirecTV DVR in my Florida location?

hekrieger

Commendable
Jan 15, 2017
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1,510
I have 2 directv accounts in two different states.
I want to take the DVR from California and use it in FL where I have service as well.
I added my California DVR into my Florida location but I am receiving an error (771) saying there is an issue communicating with the satellite dish.

My Florida based Genie DVR is connected to same satellite and there is no issue communicating with the dish.

I can SEE the California box from all my other Mini-Genie boxes as well as the Genie, and I can view recorded content but I cannot record or watch the california programming.

How do I set this DVR up with the dish in this location?

It works fine in CA and is fully authorized on my other account.
Thank you.
 
Solution


The reason this is happening is because you...

hekrieger

Commendable
Jan 15, 2017
3
0
1,510


Thank you.

As I investigated the issue is only with receiving the "local" channels from California. I can get all the national/cable feeds (AMC, CNN, ESPN, HBO, regional sports package, etc. etc.)

So that error only appears when I try the SF Bay Area local affiliates like Fox 2, CBS 5, PBS, etc. Would that be the problem? I would expect that the programming comes from the same satellite and that the receiver wouldn't know if I were in California or Florida.

Please let me know what you think and thanks again.
 

schwartzasher

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Nov 8, 2016
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1,610


The reason this is happening is because you either need an over the air antenna, or if you go into the box settings, there should be an option for local channels. In there you can scan for local channels and enable the ones you want. The local channels are all saved for a different location and will not reprogram themselves unless you ask it to. Every channel you see is saved in to the internal memory and stays there until you change it
 
Solution

hekrieger

Commendable
Jan 15, 2017
3
0
1,510


Thanks - I "unhid" the standard definition channels and when I selected one of those I actually got a different message saying "721 - This channel is not available in your area" so my assumption is that my box knows I am no longer in California and that those "local" channels cannot be viewed on the east coast. I guess Directv has regional local beams..