Starting on April 1st, Bell TV will be switching their transponders over to use 8PSK signaling, which will allow them to offer more HD channels. The change only affects the older first generation HD recievers, which is a nice gesture on the part of Bell since the early HD adopters paid the way for Bell to expand their HD services.

If you have a model 6000, then you should be recieving a letter from Bell (assuming you havn’t already). Simply call the number in the letter to arrange for the delivery of your new 6131, and the retur of your old 6000.

Stay tuned for updates on new channels once the 8PSK switch starts on April 1st 2009.

You now have a HD PVR with nearly unlimited video recording storage, as you can swap drives to allow you more recording time. Please note that once data is recorded onto the drive, you cannot connect the drive to a computer; nor can you connect the drive to a different 6141 receiver. The 6141 can accept a USB drive up to 1 Terabyte in size, giving you a max recording capacity of up to 100 hours of High Def content.

If you have problems getting your USB drive to work, power cycle your 6141 and you should be good to go.

Please feel free to post your experiences in the comments.

You can find TLC HD on channel 826.

In case you don’t have Bell Satellite TV, you can also get TLC HD on Shaw Cable, and Starchoice in Canada.

Shaw Cable on the other hand, seems to have their guide together, and it has correct info for almost every show that I checked. Now if only they had the same quality to their HD content that Bell has, and switching would almost be a no brainer.

I am at the end of my Bell contract, and extremly frustrated by the guide, and very tempted to switch now. So my question to the readers of this site is: Have you been having issues with the program guide? If so, please add a comment below with the symptoms that you have been seeing. Bell does read this site, so perhaps somebody will see this and take action!

Rant over.

• HD logo on items in the PVR list.
• Grouping feature to group episodes of the same show together in the PVR window
• HD subtext on the HD channels in the Guide.
• Pressing the “Guide” button will now cycle through “All Sub”, “All Channels”, and “All HD”.

I’m sure that I have missed something here, so if you find something that I have missed, please leave a comment and I will update the list.

If you are noticing any bugs that have cropped up with the new firmware, try rebooting your receiever to see if it helps, as this will load the new fimware.  If you are still having problems, please post a comment below and I will do my best to help.

This receiver is the second MPEG-4 based receiver released by Bell. Based on the spec’s, this unit will be replacing the 6100 model. The cool thing about this new unit is that it is not a PVR, but it will become a PVR later this year when Bell releases new firmware activating the USB port! This will allow you to connect an external hard drive or an Archos 605 and 705 portable media player.The 6141 HD receiver comes with the PVR remote, and an new EPG (electronic program guide) allowing you to view up to three days of programming on the screen at one time.

Output ports include: Coax, Component, S-Video, Optical, HDMI.

Inputs: 1x Satellite In, OTA Antenna

USB, and Ethernet for future use.

If you have the new 6141, please feel free to post a comment with your experiences or questions.

Bell ExpressVu is the first to launch the new Super Channel, and starting on November 2nd, ExpressVu HD subscribers will be the first to preview the new set of stations until November 22nd.

Super Channel HD1 will mirror the content of Super Channel 1 in High Definition.

Super Channel HD2 will feature movies, and special events in HD.

In addition to the two HD stations, Superchannel will offer 4 standard definition channels, with SuperChannel 1 being a mirror of SuperChannel HD1.

There is no word yet on pricing, if anybody knows what it will cost, please post a comment below.

More information about Super Channel can be found at the bell website, playback magazine, and official Super Channel homepage.  You can also find more information on channel 329, and of course watch the free preview from November 2nd – 22nd on channel 843 and 844.

The new receiver, which has been rumored for several months now has finally shown up, and adds increased HD recording capacity (30 Hours, vs 24 hours on the 9200), its black! (unlike the silver unit in the picture) and it has an S-Video output for TV2.

Right now, there is no reason to upgrade your 9200 to the 9242 unless you are having technical problems, or you really need the extra 5 hours of HD recording capacity. Bell is not expected to begin rolling out MPEG-4 unil at least 2009.

If you have a 9242, I’d like to hear your impressions of the new unit in the comments below, likewise, if you have a question, please post a comment and I will do my best to answer it for you.

The limitation of a 40 hour guide was by far the largest complaint of ExpressVu 9200 HD PVR owners, and owners of Bell’s earlier PVR models. ExpressVu had been quietly updating the firmware of their receivers over the summer, and just flipped the 9 day guide switch sometime today.

With the addition of the 9 day guide comes 9200 firmware version 150. I have not noticed any new enhancements other than the longer guide, but the extra days of information will be really useful for planning PVR recording timers.

Also, with the start of the fall TV season, Bell ExpressVu has discontinued Bell TV Magazine, replacing it with the new SHOW magazine. The new format is a welcome change, and likely tied to the conversion to a 9-day guide. The old magazine, which was a useless paper schedule has been replaced with a very readable useful magazine. SHOW magazine will launch their new website on September 1st.

Not the kind of news that we normally look forward to (new HD channels) but its a a win-win for ExpressVu customers, considering that after two years we did not expect to see a 9 day guide until MPEG-4 gets launched.

If you have noticed any new features with your ExpressVu 9200, please leave a comment below. If you do not see the 9 day guide yet, please power cycle your ExpressVu receiver to download and/or activate the new firmware.