| Author |
Message |
Stephen Harris
Guest
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 Posted:
Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:19 am Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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DanR <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:
| Quote: | How many of you folks use a UPS device with your Tivo? I just had a power
failure because of a storm and so I'm wondering if I should get a UPS. I don't
|
Huh, I was just reading this thread and... lost power to my house for 8
seconds. Damn! Maybe I should get a UPS for it :-)
TiVo rebooted cleanly enough. Interestingly a recording it was in the
middle of eventually restarted recording as a second entry in the now
playing list. Took about 10 minutes for it to restart the recording
(first show stopped at 0:57 and second show started at 1:07). I hadn't
realised TiVo would try and recover like that!
--
Stephen Harris
usenet@spuddy.org
The truth is the truth, and opinion just opinion. But what is what?
My employer pays to ignore my opinions; you get to do it for free.
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SAC 441
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:52 am Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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Just beware of the "green screen" of NEAR death.........my DirecTV/DVR 3
years ago experienced a series of brownouts (a revolving series of
intermittent startups and shutoffs all in the space of 2 minutes).
If your TiVo shuts off 'clean' for a few minutes and promptly
restarts,no problem......but if it does this intermittent cascade
brownout stuff,
be careful.
A green screen will come up telling you NOT to touch ANY controls as
the unit will try and repair itself.It even admonishes you not to even
put it on standby.Apparently it tries to reconstruct fragmented files
and video from a source I do not know from where it gets it's data.
This process took approximately SIX HOURS(!) to complete.
I do not use a UPS currently,although I probably should.But if you
have repeated and frequent power cycling problems (mine was from a one
time upgrade of the electrical distribution grid in my area),a UPS would
be a good thing to have to avoid the "green screen."
Being without TV for 6 hours was excruciating........LOL. |
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Ken Alverson
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:42 am Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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"Doug Warner" <dwarner22@ccharter.net> wrote in message
news:b8uuf1l0h8qg17irnsupfbg0cfjab76b53@4ax.com...
| Quote: | Mike Hunt <in2sheep@yahoo.com> wrote:
I use a UPS on my TiVos but not so much to protect them but to ensure they
keep recording if the power goes out in the middle of my favorite show.
Same here, but I also put my Denon receiver on it because it otherwise
turns itself on after each of the frequent short power failures I have
here.
|
Yikes...I wouldn't do that...if that thing were to be active (making noise)
while the power went out it could draw more power than most UPSs are able to
provide. TVs, especially large CRT based ones, draw a ton of power too.
I keep my Tivo and the cable box (well, sattelite at the moment) on a UPS.
Ken |
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Barry
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 23, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 03:00:34 +0000 (UTC), newsREMOVE@THISmegazone.org
(MegaZone) wrote:
| Quote: | "DanR" <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> shaped the electrons to say:
How many of you folks use a UPS device with your Tivo? I just had a power
I have UPSes for my home entertainment gear. It is mainly to ride out
brownouts and short blackouts.
UPSes, and surge protectors, will offer *some* protection against
spikes. But they really can't much to spare units from a lightning
hit or that kind of thing. Electricity will take the path of least
resistance, and the ground loop through the plug is often not it. A
common-mode surge, where the power comes in on all the wires, is
anough to overwhelm msot home UPSes and surge protectors. Fortunately
they're not that common.
You can get a whole-home unit installed at the load center for the
home - either just a surge protector or a combo with a UPS - and the
overall cost will be less than a bunch of separate units for
everything. I just purchased a home and I want to have a surge/UPS
whole home unit installed, I just need to take care of some more
immediate needs - like rebuilding the crappy back steps before someone
takes a header. ;-)
-MZ
Excellent! Would appreciate hearing your recommendations when you have |
time to look into it. Thanks!
-Barry |
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Barry
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 23, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:06:17 -0400, Jim <jim@none.no> wrote:
| Quote: | On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 21:55:39 GMT, DanR wrote:
How many of you folks use a UPS device with your Tivo? I just had a power
failure because of a storm and so I'm wondering if I should get a UPS. I don't
know if there is much danger of data lose like a typical computer but I'm not
sure what damage may occur with the power suddenly going away. It is a pain to
wait for the unit to power up and the buffer is lost along with the easter egg
tweaks. $50 UPS to protect a $100 TivoDVR???
I use a UPS on my Toshiba Tivo ... Paid $39 for an APC 350 UPS ... Great
for the surge protection and to cover the momentary power blips that I get
during storms. Tivo hardware is similar to a PC ... having a UPS is good.
|
FWIW, APC sells refurb 350 ES's for $24.....
-Barry |
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Seth
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:17 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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"Barry" <babeckns@nszoominternet.net> wrote in message
news:ia7ig1h8ege17epp5ram6mhpj71kb64ap9@4ax.com...
| Quote: | Excellent! Would appreciate hearing your recommendations when you have
time to look into it. Thanks!
|
Home Depot sells a small basic whole house surge protector for $47 that
mounts to the breaker panel. When properly installed (which is easy if your
house is already properly grounded) it does wonders. I barely lose light
bulbs anymore. |
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w_tom
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:02 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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Effective protectors have brand names such as Square D, Leviton,
Polyphaser, Siemens, Intermatic, GE, and Cutler Hammer. Effective
protectors have never been seen in Sears, Walmart, Staples, Radio
Shack, Best Buy, Office Max, or Circuit City. Effective protectors are
nothing more than a connection from the transient to protection.
Protection is not a protector. Protection is earth ground. Therefore
an effective protector makes a short ('less than 10 foot') connection
to a building's single point earth ground.
Obviously, plug-in protectors have no such earthing connection.
However if manufacturer grossly undersizes the protector, and if that
protector then fails during a first surge, then many consumers will
foolishly recommend that protector and buy more. This is how
ineffective protectors are routinely promoted by the naive. A surge
too small to overwhelm protection already inside an appliance, instead,
destroyed the overpriced and undersized protector. This to promote
sales; not to provide effective protection.
'Whole house' protectors are effective when they make the all so
essential 'less than 10 foot' connection to earth ground. How to
identify ineffective protectors: 1) no dedicated wire to make that
'less than 10 foot' earthing connection, and 2) manufacturer avoids all
discussion about earthing.
No earth ground means no effective protection. Earthing - the single
point earth ground - is protection. A protector is nothing more than a
connection to protection. Plug-in UPSes forget to mention they don't
even provide effective surge protection. They hope you never learn why
earth ground is both critical and essential in a protection 'system'.
Effective 'whole house' protectors are sold in Home Depot as
Intermatic; and in Lowes as Cutler Hammer or GE products. If your home
does not, at minimum, meet post 1990 NEC earthing requirements, then
even 'whole house' protectors may not be effective. The effective
protector is a connection to protection .... earth ground.
Barry wrote:
| Quote: | Excellent! Would appreciate hearing your recommendations when
you have time to look into it. Thanks! |
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w_tom
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:01 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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Effective protectors have brand names such as Square D, Leviton,
Polyphaser, Siemens, Intermatic, GE, and Cutler Hammer. Effective
protectors have never been seen in Sears, Walmart, Staples, Radio
Shack, Best Buy, Office Max, or Circuit City. Effective protectors are
nothing more than a connection from the transient to protection.
Protection is not a protector. Protection is earth ground. Therefore
an effective protector makes a short ('less than 10 foot') connection
to a building's single point earth ground.
Obviously, plug-in protectors have no such earthing connection.
However if manufacturer grossly undersizes the protector, and if that
protector then fails during a first surge, then many consumers will
foolishly recommend that protector and buy more. This is how
ineffective protectors are routinely promoted by the naive. A surge
too small to overwhelm protection already inside an appliance, instead,
destroyed the overpriced and undersized protector. This to promote
sales; not to provide effective protection.
'Whole house' protectors are effective when they make the all so
essential 'less than 10 foot' connection to earth ground. How to
identify ineffective protectors: 1) no dedicated wire to make that
'less than 10 foot' earthing connection, and 2) manufacturer avoids all
discussion about earthing.
No earth ground means no effective protection. Earthing - the single
point earth ground - is protection. A protector is nothing more than a
connection to protection. Plug-in UPSes forget to mention they don't
even provide effective surge protection. They hope you never learn why
earth ground is both critical and essential in a protection 'system'.
Effective 'whole house' protectors are sold in Home Depot as
Intermatic; and in Lowes as Cutler Hammer or GE products. If your home
does not, at minimum, meet post 1990 NEC earthing requirements, then
even 'whole house' protectors may not be effective. The effective
protector is a connection to protection .... earth ground.
Barry wrote:
| Quote: | Excellent! Would appreciate hearing your recommendations when
you have time to look into it. Thanks! |
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Ken Alverson
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Aug 24, 2005 1:17 am Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
|
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"Barry" <babeckns@nszoominternet.net> wrote in message
news:ia7ig1h8ege17epp5ram6mhpj71kb64ap9@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 03:00:34 +0000 (UTC), newsREMOVE@THISmegazone.org
(MegaZone) wrote:
You can get a whole-home unit installed at the load center for the
home - either just a surge protector or a combo with a UPS - and the
overall cost will be less than a bunch of separate units for
everything. I just purchased a home and I want to have a surge/UPS
whole home unit installed, I just need to take care of some more
immediate needs - like rebuilding the crappy back steps before someone
takes a header. ;-)
Excellent! Would appreciate hearing your recommendations when you have
time to look into it. Thanks!
|
A whole home UPS has to be really beefy in order to power /all/ your
electronics, from your fridge to your air conditioning unit to all your
computers, televisions, lights, etc. Sure, if you're there when it happens,
you could go turn off the non-essentials, but I can buy a whole stack of
350-500 VA units for under $20 each if I watch for deals. 350 VA is enough to
run a Tivo and cable box, or a compact florescent lamp and cordless phone
base, or a DSL modem and assicated networking equipment for at least an hour.
Too bad I had an 8 hour outage last week. Everything important was running
happily for a while.
Ken |
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Jud Hardcastle
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:35 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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In article <ddrg4g$p6m$1@eeyore.INS.cwru.edu>, USENET.Ken@Alverson.net
says...
| Quote: |
Same here, but I also put my Denon receiver on it because it otherwise
turns itself on after each of the frequent short power failures I have
here.
Yikes...I wouldn't do that...if that thing were to be active (making noise)
while the power went out it could draw more power than most UPSs are able to
provide. TVs, especially large CRT based ones, draw a ton of power too.
I keep my Tivo and the cable box (well, sattelite at the moment) on a UPS.
|
The receiver should be ok if someone is there to turn it off soon during
an outage--standby drain is minimal. I've had mine on a UPS for years
with no problem. A 1400va UPS lasts a little over an hour with Tivo and
Dish receiver on and everything else off (1.6amps). The rear projection
HDTV is the #2 drain if on but nowhere near the load of the stereo even
at 1/3 volume. Everything on--about 4amps (unless the subwoofer kicks in
:-)
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA |
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Mike Hunt
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:13 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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On 2005-10-17, Jud Hardcastle <I5i5changethistodash5rbo@xemaps.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
The receiver should be ok if someone is there to turn it off soon during
an outage--standby drain is minimal. I've had mine on a UPS for years
with no problem. A 1400va UPS lasts a little over an hour with Tivo and
Dish receiver on and everything else off (1.6amps). The rear projection
HDTV is the #2 drain if on but nowhere near the load of the stereo even
at 1/3 volume. Everything on--about 4amps (unless the subwoofer kicks in
|
A 1400va UPS should run for many hours with a TiVo plugged into it - TiVos
are very low power units. If you're only getting a little over an hour, I
wonder what your receiver is pulling. You quote 1.6A which should be very
low for your 1400va UPS box.
--
This is my .sig |
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Chris Adams
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:26 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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Once upon a time, Mike Hunt <in2sheep@yahoo.com> said:
| Quote: | A 1400va UPS should run for many hours with a TiVo plugged into it - TiVos
are very low power units. If you're only getting a little over an hour, I
wonder what your receiver is pulling. You quote 1.6A which should be very
low for your 1400va UPS box.
|
UPS runtime does not increase linearly with UPS capacity. Also, the VA
rating only tells you the load capacity; it may only have enough battery
to run that load for 30 seconds.
--
Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble. |
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Stephen Harris
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:38 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Once upon a time, Mike Hunt <in2sheep@yahoo.com> said:
A 1400va UPS should run for many hours with a TiVo plugged into it - TiVos
are very low power units. If you're only getting a little over an hour, I
wonder what your receiver is pulling. You quote 1.6A which should be very
low for your 1400va UPS box.
UPS runtime does not increase linearly with UPS capacity. Also, the VA
rating only tells you the load capacity; it may only have enough battery
to run that load for 30 seconds.
|
My 1500VA UPS at 40% load (4 PCs, including an AMD2500 and a P4-2.6) can
run for just under 20 minutes before the batteries are exhausted,
according to it's internal calibration ( a recent power outage with 3
PCs turned on let it run for 25 minutes before the software did a clean
shutdown). 1.6A would be somewhere near a third of what I'm loading (I
guess!) and so an hour for 1400VA seems reasonable.
--
Stephen Harris
usenet@spuddy.org
The truth is the truth, and opinion just opinion. But what is what?
My employer pays to ignore my opinions; you get to do it for free. |
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Mike Hunt
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:47 pm Post subject:
Re: Tivo and UPS |
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On 2005-10-17, Stephen Harris <usenet@spuddy.org> wrote:
| Quote: | Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net> wrote:
Once upon a time, Mike Hunt <in2sheep@yahoo.com> said:
A 1400va UPS should run for many hours with a TiVo plugged into it - TiVos
are very low power units. If you're only getting a little over an hour, I
wonder what your receiver is pulling. You quote 1.6A which should be very
low for your 1400va UPS box.
UPS runtime does not increase linearly with UPS capacity. Also, the VA
rating only tells you the load capacity; it may only have enough battery
to run that load for 30 seconds.
My 1500VA UPS at 40% load (4 PCs, including an AMD2500 and a P4-2.6) can
run for just under 20 minutes before the batteries are exhausted,
according to it's internal calibration ( a recent power outage with 3
PCs turned on let it run for 25 minutes before the software did a clean
shutdown). 1.6A would be somewhere near a third of what I'm loading (I
guess!) and so an hour for 1400VA seems reasonable.
|
My cheapo 500VA runs the TiVo and a satellite receiver for over an hour.
While it is true the VA number only tells you the load capacity, there is
often a correlation between VA and runtime.
--
This is my .sig |
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