Handy Armstrong DVR tip

Those of you out there with an Armstrong DVR box probably have noticed it doesn't have the one feature that TIVO users love -- the 30 second skip button. This gives you the ability to neatly skip over each commercial on your recording rather than trying to time your fast-forward abilities. Thanks to a tip in PC World magazine, this can be fixed. It takes just a minute and can be programmed to one of those A, B or C buttons on your remote that typically are not used.

Press the Cable button at the top of the remote. Hold the Setup button until the Cable button flashes twice. Enter 994 on the keypad. The Cable button will flash twice again. Push the Setup button once. Enter 00173. Finally, push the button that you want to use as the 30-second skip; I chose the A button since I don't use it for anything else. The cable button will flash twice.

To restore the original functionality to that key, follow the first steps described above, but after entering 994, push the remapped key twice. The Cable button will blink twice if your input has been accepted.

The tip was specifically for Motorola brand DVRs, but it worked just fine with the Pace one I have.