Tailgater satellite system.

[toleworks]

Did four days at a local state park and the gater performed as advertised. The receiver used with the gater is the 211which is a non-DVR. If you want to turn the 211 into a DVR you must have an external hard drive connected and the receiver must be activated by Dish network, for a one-time fee of $40. All well and good except I was under the impression I could use the external hard drive on my home 722 receiver to download shows, then watch them on the 211 if we are set up in an area without satellite access, ie. blocked by trees. It don't work that way. Each receiver will reformat the hard drive and erase everything if it was used by a different receiver.

I still like the new DVR functionality on the 211, but it could have been much better.

[Pooneil]

Originally Posted by toleworks

Each receiver will reformat the hard drive and erase everything if it was used by a different receiver.

Probably a government requirement.

[Jeep4Two]

Not government, the networks have the power...

[RodeoGeorge]

Each Dish Network Receiver series has it's own format scheme. A USB Drive formatted on a Tailgater will work on another Tailgater. A VIP722 on another VIP722. But not interchangeable between receiver series.

It's not a FCC mandated issue. It's Echostar's way of maximizing revenue by requiring external hard drive authorization on each type receiver.

RodeoGeorge