Sony DVR as surveilance recorder?

[TheTinman]

I'm sure this has been asked before... PLEASE don't respond with "Search".
My eyes are bad enough that I have a hard time just doing THIS.
What reading I have done so far has not yielded a solid answer.

I just want to know if an old sony SVR2000 S1 stand alone can be converted to a 24 or 40 hour straight video recorder to be used with a camera. Nothing more.

I have 2 happily subscribed S2's and don't use the sony anymore. I just would rather do something useful with it than toss it. It's a 40 hour unit. The ideal setup would be a 24 hour loop, but I'd settle for a no-nag timer program if it can be set for 24 hours.

Any help is very much apreciated.

[stevel]

TiVos aren't really set up for this sort of thing, and there is a limit to how long a recording can be (it's less than 24 hours, I know.)

What you can do is set up a series of 6 four-hour or 8 three-hour manual recordings with a "Keep At Most" of 1 (for 24 hours). I don't think you'll see a nag unless you try to set up another recording or go to TiVo Central.

[PlainBill]

Some of the early Series 1s were shipped with 1.3 software, which WOULD work as a 'dumb vcr'. IIRC, no Sony's came with 1.3, and someone who tried loading 1.3 from another system on a Sony was unable to get it to work.

PlainBill

[TheTinman]

Ahh... well... was hoping to get around buying a dedicated DVR for just this purpose. Well, I'll experiment a bit and see.

Thanks.

[Offspring2099]

I worked for Sears in Loss Prevention. We used one of the first TiVo's to record our CCTV output. It worked out great. I'm not sure how will the digital recording will hold up in court if you needed it to.

[PlainBill]

Ahh... well... was hoping to get around buying a dedicated DVR for just this purpose. Well, I'll experiment a bit and see.

Thanks.
One possible approach would be to sell the Sony and buy one of the models that DID come with 1.3 (yes, you'll have to do the research to identify them). Load 1.3 on that and follow Stevel's suggestion. Depending on the capability of 1.3, it may be possible to set it up to record 6 hour 'events', keeping the last 5 episodes, or 4 hour events, keeping the last 7 episodes.

PlainBill

[stevel]

PlainBill is incorrect. Nearly all SVR-2000s came with 1.3. I say "nearly all" because, towards the very end of that product's life, some boxes did ship with version 2.0.5. If it's the original disk inside you can open the box and look for an ink stamp on the drive which usually has an indication of the software version. Or see if it records without a sub.

I started my TiVo life with an SVR-2000 so I know this first-hand.

[PlainBill]

PlainBill is incorrect. Nearly all SVR-2000s came with 1.3. I say "nearly all" because, towards the very end of that product's life, some boxes did ship with version 2.0.5. If it's the original disk inside you can open the box and look for an ink stamp on the drive which usually has an indication of the software version. Or see if it records without a sub.

I started my TiVo life with an SVR-2000 so I know this first-hand.

Thanks for the correction.

PlainBill

[TheTinman]

Well, my box has 3.0 and says Never set up. It will NOT let me record by time and channel. It will do 32 hours in basic and 9 in high. Soo.... where do I get 1.3?

I actually got this thing in the box with all accessories and manuals from the local college surplus outfit for....... $20. Looks like it was never used, it's deat quiet, has no recordings on it. But I suspect it was plugged in at some point to get the software update??

Anyhow, it runs, and would do the job nicely for my outdoor camera, IF I can get it to work.

BTW, PlainBill, thanks for all your help previously on my S2 tivo. I very very rarely ask a question, but when I do, you are always there with good advice. Yes, I had to re-register. I totally forgot my old account.

Thanks.

[mbellot]

If its "never been set up" you probably need to run it through guided setup. The unit does not need to be subbed to do that, and you'll get a week (or so) of guide data (no biggie for your application).

Make sure you select something (cable, dss, etc) for your RCA inputs (assuming thats where the camera will be), otherwise if the camera is on CH3 or something just make sure you get the RF input set up.

Once you've gone through GS you should try to run a manual recording on an unused channel that should be on the RCA inputs. It should switch on and record as long as there is a signal present (same for RF if thats where the camera resides).

If that works you can set up repeated manual recordings in blocks (say four six hour segments) and have it auto delete the oldest as needed to keep the rotation going.

This has been discussed and I'm sure a search would bring up alot more info, but that should get you started.

EDIT:

You don't NEED 1.3, the box had to originally ship with 1.3 installed. My HDR312 is running 3.0 and is quite happy to record anything I want without a sub.

[stevel]

If the previous owner did a "Clear and Delete Everything", it will have reset the flag that allows unsubbed recording. In that case, go over to TCF and send a private message to user TiVoJerry. Give your TiVo Service number and say that you want unsubbed recording re-enabled. He has to get a flag set at the TiVo server. After that, you have it make a "daily call". It will complain that there is no service, but you'll then be able to record unsubbed. Unless yours is one of the handful of SVR-2000s that shipped with 2.0.

[stevel]

Oh, one cruicial point. Your camera MUST present a color signal. TiVos will not record a video signal lacking the chroma carrier.

[TheTinman]

Camera is color, set to rca in. I get a nice clean picture. Will try the guided setup.

Will try TCF if that fails.

Thanks.