3 tuners, 3 cable boxes: USB-UIRT 3 Zone Control

[dnlmln]

You added the Z1 in front of every number sequence?

Yes. Here's a sample.

sa2000A 0 0 3 500 1000
RepeatCount 5
1 Z10000 0049 0000 0018 00BE 00BF 0030 008F 0030 008F 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 008F 0030 008F 0030 008F 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 0857
2 Z10000 0049 0000 0018 00BF 00BF 0030 008F 0030 008F 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 008E 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 002F 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 008F 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 0030 008F 0030 008F 0030 008E 0030 0030 0030 008E 0030 0858


Does it change channels, before you added the splitter, and before editing the .ir file?

Yes. When I've got the usbuirt pointed directly at my STB and the unmodified .ir file (no Z1 statements); it works very well.

Leave the IR emitter in the same place, and change the Z1 to Z2, and see if that works.

I'll give this a try.


Thanks

[geogecko]

I think I remember seeing that some of the USB-UIRT's had Z1 as the front emitter (built in to the UIRT). So you may need to use Z2 and Z3 instead.

[Fazul]

This setup won't work for me either.

I have follow the directions several times exactly as stated. I have two identical boxes. When I change the channel only the main part of the USB UIRT will fire. The additional IR emitters I have connected do nothing. I have restarted Sage and changed the files, deleted the files, reintalled the tuners, etc. Nothing seems to help. I've also checked that the jack solder joints haven't broken and they appear to be fine. I have bought the stereo to dual mono emitters from one of the links on this thread. My USB UIRT does have the Z at the end of the serial number.

Any suggestions?

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by Fazul

This setup won't work for me either.

I have follow the directions several times exactly as stated. I have two identical boxes. When I change the channel only the main part of the USB UIRT will fire. The additional IR emitters I have connected do nothing. I have restarted Sage and changed the files, deleted the files, reintalled the tuners, etc. Nothing seems to help. I've also checked that the jack solder joints haven't broken and they appear to be fine. I have bought the stereo to dual mono emitters from one of the links on this thread. My USB UIRT does have the Z at the end of the serial number.

Any suggestions?

Can you post your file?

[Fazul]

My DVR is shut down and in pieces at the moment. I think I'm actually calling it quits with this project. During my last attempt to set up the USB UIRT module I was able to compare side-by-side the Comcast DVR and SageTV. Don't get me wrong, the Comcast DVR interface sucks and can only record a couple days worth of standard definition TV. But the quality of the recording is far superior to SageTV. And I don't have to deal with rigging a whole mess of wires and building "forts". Not to mention that Comcast charges $9 per STB in addition to the first box but their DVR is $11 / month.

So I'm left trying to answer this question - why bother? To me it isn't worth it anymore. Good luck to all those who continue. I hope the cable industry makes building a home DVR less of a hassle, but with what I've read about CableCard that doesn't seem likely.

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by Fazul

This setup won't work for me either.

I have follow the directions several times exactly as stated. I have two identical boxes. When I change the channel only the main part of the USB UIRT will fire. The additional IR emitters I have connected do nothing. I have restarted Sage and changed the files, deleted the files, reintalled the tuners, etc. Nothing seems to help. I've also checked that the jack solder joints haven't broken and they appear to be fine. I have bought the stereo to dual mono emitters from one of the links on this thread. My USB UIRT does have the Z at the end of the serial number.

Any suggestions?

If you made the IR repeaters yourself I would guess you wired the IR emittor diodes backwards. Diodes only work in one direction. However it sounds like you have given up on the project.

On standard def, SageTV CAN do a much better job with recording quality than any other device. However it requires research in the tuner cards and personal effort to tune everything properly. Now for digital cable SageTV does not have a chance since it has to record an analog conversion and then compress it back to digital where the Comcast box just records the straight digital. If we can ever get Cablecard support SageTV will not have that handicap.

[Fazul]

Originally Posted by m1abrams

If you made the IR repeaters yourself I would guess you wired the IR emittor diodes backwards.

I bought them from http://www.hometech.com/infrared/emitters.html IR-3002.

Originally Posted by m1abrams

If we can ever get Cablecard support SageTV will not have that handicap.

From what I understand CableCard will NEVER be made available to the public and will only be sold direct to cable and satellite providers. I've read several articles that indicate this is a certainty.

[geogecko]

Well, sounds like you were close, but can't help someone that doesn't want help.

Good luck with your DVR. They are good, if that's all you want.

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by newmedia42

If you don't feel like making your own emitter, there are also several places that sell them:

http://www.smarthome.com/8170.html
http://www.hometech.com/infrared/emitters.html

Hometech has some pretty cool looking ones (the IR Prism), but I've never used them...

HomeTech also has mouse shields:
http://www.hometech.com/infrared/emitters.html#MS

They fit Xantech emitters best, but I'm sure a creative person could make them fit other brands!

[tammyslogon]

My husband came up with the idea of taking an old stereo headset and opening the pods, soldering the emitters onto the wires and then sliding the emitters into the pod case which we then taped to the STB's. It worked pretty slick with a fraction of the effort. The type of headset we used was from an old ipod.

Tammy

[bartley9]

That is really clever!!!

[npereira]

where is the Frey Technologies folder in Vista? I can't find it anywhere !

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by npereira

where is the Frey Technologies folder in Vista? I can't find it anywhere !

That's an odd ball question for this thread, but anyway...

If it's a recent install, Frey Technologies is not used as a folder location anymore, it's just SageTV.

[npereira]

ok, but where do i find the IR files that I did for the 2 new devices?

as written:
Exit SageTV and navigate to C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\Common\RemoteCodes\USB-UIRT Transceiver. You will find 3 files named (in my case) SA-1.ir, SA-2.ir and SA-3.ir (Note that the names of the IR files is the same as you chose in the setup wizard for the cable/sat box). Open SA-1.ir in NotePad. It will look something like this:

But yet, I cannot find my IR files so I can setup the zones....

Running vista..

[geogecko]

Ah, okay.

C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\Common\RemoteCodes\USB-UIRT Transceiver

Should become:

C:\Program Files\SageTV\Common\RemoteCodes\USB-UIRT Transceiver

Note, that there is also a:

C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV
Directory, so it can be confusing where to look for the Common folder. It's in the first SageTV directory.

[npereira]

But that's my problem.... under C:\Program Files\SageTV\Common\RemoteCodes\USB-UIRT Transceiver... there is no IR file except for the MotorolaDCT2000.ir

I cannot find the other 2 device IR files I created in Sage....

I need to change the zones and I cant do that without those files...

Right now, it's blasting the codes through all ports....

[gplasky]

If you're in Vista those files have probably ended up in the virtual store directory.

Gerry

[npereira]

and where is that?

[npereira]

founthem...

under:

C:\users\[your_username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\SageTV\Common\RemoteCodes\USB-UIRT Transceiver

[TurtleSoup]

I have:
DirectTV (2 STB)
USB-UIRT (splitter and 2 emitters)
Hauppauge PVR-500
Taped (with electrical tape) the stick-on emitters to create "forts" to block out stray signal. Taped across zone 3 (main) emitter. Using right and left channels through the splitter.

Changed the remotes files to include zones per instructions in this post.
Set up both Tuners in Sage configuration.

Issue==> Scheduled record of 2 channels is recognized by Sage when selecting (no conflict), however when the second channel is recorded only the sound has changed channel from the original but not video. 2 recordings are made but the second recording has the video of the first channel and the sound of the second channel.

This is true whether the first recording is live TV and a second (same time slot) channel is selected for recording or if both tuners are scheduled to record future shows at the same time.

When channels are changed, STBs light up separately when separate signals are sent seconds apart. So the tape job seems to be ok and signals are passing..

Checked all cable connections and they are secure.

It would make more sense if the second recording simply didn't work at all.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.