QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Sep 25 2010, 10:48 PM)

...the DVR we have at home, the cable company had to "reset" or do something to the unit. That leads me to believe that the DVR is somehow controlled by the cable company...
Probably, your home DVR is actually your cable box + DVR. It's quite rare to have a DVR that is NOT from the cable company or the satellite company. If that's what you have, it will be very difficult to use on an antenna in an RV, because on the technical side, cable channels are very different from over-the-air TV station channels.
The easy solution is use an old-fashioned VCR. There are still steps to set it up for the local channels of wherever you are, and to diddle with the clock and timer if that is important. But otherwise, a VCR connected to a TV antenna can do in an RV what it can do in a house.