If you have a DirecTV HD DVR HR21 or later, and you want to get your OTA HD signals into your unit, you need the DirecTV AM21 (or, “antenna module”). This unit basically just adds off-air capability to your DVR.
But the AM21 has been out of stock pretty much everywhere for many weeks now. And our distributors don’t even know when they’ll be getting these units.
So what can you do? The answer is the HR20 DirecTV HD DVR. This was the first of the MPEG-4 capable DirecTV HD DVRs, and it has an off-air module built-in. DirecTV later removed this capability, likely to lower manufacturing costs, plus to force customers to get their local HD channels from DirecTV – at $5/month.
We still have a good supply of the HR20 in stock, shipping every day from our warehouse in Los Angeles. If you’re looking for a new DVR with OTA capability, this is a great machine, and, currently, the only way to get OTA into an MPEG-4 DirecTV DVR.