2 sat box questions

[pvr10]

I'm considering trying SageTV for my PVR needs. I haven't tried the demo as of yet though. I'm sure what I need accomplished can be done, but I'm looking for guidence before getting started and then trying to figure it out after. Anyway, I have a few questions regarding this particular type of setup: 2 sat boxes both captured through S-Video.

1. Can Sage control 2 identical sat boxes if the frequency can't be changed in the box itself? Specifically, can it control zones using a USB-UIRT?

2. Assume my wife is watching live TV in the bedroom and I want to also watch live TV in the LR, how will Sage know which tuner I want to watch and not change the channel on my wife?

3. How would any of this be affected if using a MediaMVP?

Thanks for any help!

[mike1961]

Originally Posted by pvr10

1. Can Sage control 2 identical sat boxes if the frequency can't be changed in the box itself? Specifically, can it control zones using a USB-UIRT?

I have DirecTV and I use a serial cable to have my server change the channels on the sat boxes. If you don't have DTV and you can't control your boxes with a serial cable then you can use the USB-UIRT to change the channel the same way a remote would change the channel on the sat box

EDITED: I remember reading somewhere that the USB-UIRT can control up to three devices such as STBs. Otherwise, you may need two of them in your server to control more.

Originally Posted by pvr10

2. Assume my wife is watching live TV in the bedroom and I want to also watch live TV in the LR, how will Sage know which tuner I want to watch and not change the channel on my wife?

Oh - Sage is really smart with this one. You did not specify your setup but if you have a file server (like I do) then you hook up both your Sat Boxes next to the file server (I have 4 satellite boxes) and you put two tuner cards in the file server (or one dual tuner card). Then, sage streams the mpeg file from the server to the bedroom, family room or both.

Sage automatically figures out what tuner is available and what to use. Here's the best part, if you are watching the same channel upstairs and downstairs then only one tuner is needed. Better than that, all recordings are saved in the same place. Also, if you schedule a recording say for 9 pm tonight downstairs then you see that it is scheduled both upstair and downstairs - it's all centralized.

Originally Posted by pvr10

3. How would any of this be affected if using a MediaMVP?

The MVP as I understand it is like a box that runs SageClient built in the ROMS or something like that. I chose real computers instead (but small half height towers 12" x 7" x 7") so that I could run other things as well. In particular, I compress my permanent movies to mpeg 4 at 250mb/hour and I wanted to play those and Sage does not yet support the AVC mp4 format (but I think it now supports divx and xvid) so I have it integrated with external programs. I also wanted to integrate it with MAME Arcade games from the 80's so I needed real computers.

The nice thing about Sage is it is so unbelievably customizable you can do quite a bit with it. The drawback is it is much more difficult to setup than Tivo if you want many of the customized features that I do but it is "doable" and it can become a hobby to tinker with. Just don't rip out the Tivo box too soon or you may find yourself with glitches that you have not fully ironed out yet. I started by getting everything tested and tweaked on my computer and then put it upstairs and then finally the family room. It does way more than Tivo, media center, BTV or pretty much any of the others I've researched and the people on the forums here are very helpful.

Mike.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by pvr10

1. Can Sage control 2 identical sat boxes if the frequency can't be changed in the box itself? Specifically, can it control zones using a USB-UIRT?

If you can change the codes for each box, then you don't need to worry about zones, but if they use the same codes: yes, you can use the USB-UIRT's zone support. There are links for setting up the USB-UIRT w/multiple zones in this index post: Information Resources for Remotes, Receivers, and IR Blasters

3. How would any of this be affected if using a MediaMVP?

Instead of a 2nd PC, you can use the MVP as a SageTV client with the regular SageTV user interface. Almost everything available to a PC client is available, except for a few thigns like DVD playback. The MVP can play the MPEG2 recordings directly in its hardware, so it uses very little cpu time on the server PC. But, other formats that the MVP's hardware decoder doesn't support may be transcoded to MPEG2 format on the server, so that could use the server's cpu -- but only if you are playing non-MPEG2 files to start with.

- Andy

[pvr10]

Thanks for the info and links.

This sounds promising. I guess that Sage would have no idea which tuner is in use until a channel is changed, correct? I mean, if I turn the TV on and the sat is already tuned to a channel with something I want to watch, then someone else turns on a different TV and goes to change the channel Sage would have no idea which channel anyone is watching and may change it on the other person. Is that how it would work? Yes, I would have a single Sage server with a dual input card.

Also, since it was brought up, what formats can the software transcode for use with the MVP?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by pvr10

I guess that Sage would have no idea which tuner is in use until a channel is changed, correct? I mean, if I turn the TV on and the sat is already tuned to a channel with something I want to watch, then someone else turns on a different TV and goes to change the channel Sage would have no idea which channel anyone is watching and may change it on the other person. Is that how it would work? Yes, I would have a single Sage server with a dual input card.

If SageTV is recording something & thus controlling which channel the converter box is set to, then of course it knows which tuner it is using to do that. If someone else tries to change the channel via SageTV, then it will do so if there is an available tuner for a 2nd live TV recording.

BTW: a lot of people give up live TV once they start using SageTV. You just set up your recordings & watch them when you have the time & desire to do so.

- Andy

[mike1961]

Originally Posted by Opus4

BTW: a lot of people give up live TV once they start using SageTV. You just set up your recordings & watch them when you have the time & desire to do so.

- Andy

And are you guilty of fast forwarding through all the commercials since you never "catch up" to live TV? Makes you wonder if no one is watching commercials anymore, how the networks can charge for them at all (or why commercial advertisers would pay when so many are not watching them anyway...well, maybe before Sage and Tivo many left the room anyway).

Mike

[Opus4]

I did that long before SageTV came along -- my 2 VCRs had a FF feature too.

- Andy

[BobPhoenix]

I just gave up on commercial TV. Besides the commercials they edit their movies/series too much and that you can't get back.

BobP.