USB-UIRT available in Canada?

[ibeleaf]

I've been searching for a few days, and can't find a Canadian location to buy an IR Blaster for use with my Bell ExpressVu 3100 (Echostar Dish 322?). I understand the USB-UIRT works with this receiver, but I can only find it for sale on www.usbuirt.com. Is this the only place to buy it?

As an aside -- I only need this to change channels on the ExpressVu receiver. I don't need it to receive signal from my remotes. Does this mean I just need the standard USB-UIRT, and not the one with the "56KHz" sensor?

[jaymann]

I'm also in Canada, I bought mine from pcalchemy.com, shipping takes about 10 days though for the regular land shipping. I wans't able to find it anywhere in canada either.

[ibeleaf]

Thanks for the link...

I calculated the price/shipping at about $75 CAD. Pretty expensive for a little circuit board, LEDs and USB cable... BUT, if I wan't to blast the channel changes -- there's not much choice is there?

Is the USB-UIRT the best choice for my ExpressVu receiver? Or should I be pricing something else?

[CanadianEh]

Hi Ibeleaf,

The USB-UIRT is by far the best choice for an ExpressVu (or Dish) box. I first tried using the Acisys?? serial port blaster with my BEV 3100 receiver and it kept missing numbers... about 66% reliable. I have not experienced *any* problems after switching to the USB-UIRT.

If you get one, and am interested, I can send you the config file I'm using on it with Sage 2.x.

Hope this helps your decision (I did buy mine from usbuirt.com)

[ibeleaf]

Thanks ... sounds like the USB-UIRT is my choice. I'll be buying from either the home site or the pcalchemy.com site mentioned earlier. Did it take long to ship from the usiuirt.com site?

If you could send the config file, I'd really appreciate that! I assume there's a way to attach files on this forum?

[CanadianEh]

Here's a zipped copy of my config file - it's one I found on here ages ago, but I customized it a bit. So far, so good with it. The only other thing I might recommend is to get an external IR emitter that will plug into the headphone jack on the back of the USBUIRT. I bought one that tapes to the front of the satellite box... I tried just leaving it on top, as it supposedly is powerful enought to bounce the signal off a wall and back into the device, which did work well with my cable box, but the ExpressVu/Dish network equipment is very sensitive and the bouncing-off-the-wall technique wasn't reliable enough for me.
I think I received my USBUIRT from the main website in oh... maybe a week? It's been a while. I think they're also for sale off of this website.

Anyway, good luck!

[ibeleaf]

Thanks for the file!

I'm not sure I understand the need for an IR emitter; isn't the purpose of the USB-UIRT to emit signal to the ExpressVu receiver?

My understanding is this: On the HTPC, I attach the USB-UIRT device and aim the IR end at the ExpressVu remote sensor. Is that correct?

[CanadianEh]

yes, that is the purpose of the USB-UIRT. However, I prefer to keep mine behind everything and use the external stick-on type of IR emitter attached to it. It makes for a cleaner looking install, but yes, you'll be fully functional without the external ones as well.

Sorry for the confusion!

[ibeleaf]

Isn't there a smaller IR emitter to begin with? I don't see the logic in having to buy two emitters that do the same thing, and string them together...

If I just buy the USB-UIRT, I just sit it in front of my ExpressVu receiver aimed at the remote sensor. And if I buy this IR "extension", I drop the USB-UIRT behind the receiver and move the extension in front of the receiver?

Maybe I'm missing something...

[CanadianEh]

Nope, you understand correctly. I jsut didn't have room for the usb-uirt in front of my expressvu box. I have something similar to this attached to the usb-uirt: http://www.hometech.com/infrared/emitters.html#CV

Hope that helps...

-Jason

[ibeleaf]

Aha! Thank you... wow, those extensions ARE smaller. And fairly inexpensive too. Perhaps I will spend the extra $10.

The furniture unit the receiver is in is fairly deep, so for the meantime things would work well by just putting the USB-UIRT in front. Good to know I can clean it up in the future though!

[CanadianEh]

No prob. That link is not the exact one I have attached to my USB-UIRT. My former company had a bunch of random IR emitters left over after they went bankrupt, so I was told to just take one of theirs, since they're not really sellable (except to people like us.. lol). So, you may want to just make sure that if you do decide to buy a set, make sure the plug is the right type, etc, etc...

Good luck!