How do I control my new digital box?

[Fourth]

Hi, I have been using SageTV v.2 successfully with my old analog cable box. Then the cable guy came and replaced it with a new digital cable box.

The new digital box is some company called UEC, model DCD2200i. It has an Ethernet port, and something labelled "Infra red blaster."

http://www.uec-technologies.com/usa/...s/DCD2200i.htm

The cable company is RCN.

Anyone have any idea what I can/should do to control this box? And can I use the Ethernet port for anything?

[Grasshopper]

The Ethernet port is probably there for unspecified future features and likely isn't active right now. Likewise, the IR Blaster port might not be active, and even if it were, it wouldn't help you -- you would plug a blaster into that port and then use your cable box to control some other equipment (like a TV or receiver). No, I'm afraid that you probably need to use an IR blaster plugged into your pc (like a USB-UIRT, or a serial IR blaster), which will enable your pc to control your cable box.

This works reasonably well, but changing channels is very slow. For this reason, I recommend that you plug your analog cable directly into your capture card and tune your regular (2-125) stations that way, then plug the digital box into the composite or s-video input of your capture card to tune stations above 125. You have to set up two tuners in Sage, and deactivate channels 2-125 from the digital tuner. Works well.

I might have an extra USB-UIRT available (can't decide whether I'm going to use it), and I'm local (I'm assuming -- I have Service Electric cable).

[Opus4]

Actually, the ethernet port probably has to do with the fact that the reference page (linked above) says it has a built-in cable modem. But, it also says it has a DB9 data port... does yours not have that?

The usb-uirt would probably be a good way to go, but others have suggested in the past that you could also contact your cable company, tell them you have a Tivo (something they understand), and would like to know how you would use it to change the channel on your cable box.

- Andy

[sonoman]

Grasshopper, is it possible to split the analog and digital channels this way using just one card or do you have to have two cards?

sonoman

[Grasshopper]

Originally posted by sonoman
Grasshopper, is it possible to split the analog and digital channels this way using just one card or do you have to have two cards?

sonoman

You can do it with one card. There was a long thread on this a while back. Set up a second tuner, choosing "(Service) -- Digital" as the provider, input through S-Video or Composite. Delete channels 2 through 125 on this tuner, and Bob's your uncle -- I think.

[kny3twalker]

I am doing it for my local since thats how my apartments do it
DirecTV for everything else then Southwestern Bell cable for my locals
I get the cable free though with the DirecTV
just set up two sources and do not have the same channels on both sources
coxial and either RCA or svideo

[sonoman]

Thanks for the help guys. It is set up and working great. I have had problems with my serial IR blaster sometimes not sending all the digits in a channel change and recording the wrong program. This seemed to always happen if we were using the dedicated HTPC to do something else like watch a DVD. Hopefully this will solve that issue at least for the basic cable channels.

sonoman

[Fourth]

Originally posted by Grasshopper
...I recommend that you plug your analog cable directly into your capture card and tune your regular (2-125) stations that way, then plug the digital box into the composite or s-video input of your capture card to tune stations above 125. You have to set up two tuners in Sage, and deactivate channels 2-125 from the digital tuner. Works well.

Thanks for the advice. Sorry to be dense, but you are talking about having just one tuner card, with two input sources, right? Is this possible with the Hauppauge PVR 250? For video inputs, it only has RCA and S-video. If I use the s-video input for above 125, will it get sound for those channels? Can I make an extra connection from the cable box for the audio?

[andrewswright]

Originally posted by Fourth
Is this possible with the Hauppauge PVR 250? For video inputs, it only has RCA and S-video. If I use the s-video input for above 125, will it get sound for those channels? Can I make an extra connection from the cable box for the audio?

This will work with the PVR250 using the RF-in tuner on the card along with either the composite or s-video input. You just connect the audio from the cable box to the audio in on the card.

You could probably also set up both the s-video and composite inputs as separate sources, but you would have trouble with the audio as there is only one audio input on the card.

Andrew

[Fourth]

Originally posted by andrewswright
You could probably also set up both the s-video and composite inputs as separate sources, but you would have trouble with the audio as there is only one audio input on the card.

But isn't the whole point to have two sources?

[kny3twalker]

yes
I do not get locals with DirecTV
I get them through cable only
two sources in one card
local through coxial
and DirecTV through either svideo or RCA not both