USBIRT or Actisys

[rsagetv99]

I am putting my Christmas wishlist together and I am wondering which device will serve my purposes better.

I would like to control up to three Dish Network 301 receivers with SAGE. What is the best way to get this done?

I was leaning towards the USB-IRT solution with zoning, but I wasn't sure how SAGE would differentiate between multiple Dish receivers, or any mutliple STB for that matter.

[glbrown]

Been running 2 301 boxes with one usbuirt for about a year now. I added a couple of extra emitters on a long extension cord so the receivers are tucked out of sight in a cabinet and I can aim the usbuirt correctly for the sage remote.

I use different remote addresses rather than zones to discriminate between the boxes and it's been flawless.

[rsagetv99]

Originally Posted by glbrown

Been running 2 301 boxes with one usbuirt for about a year now. I added a couple of extra emitters on a long extension cord so the receivers are tucked out of sight in a cabinet and I can aim the usbuirt correctly for the sage remote.

I use different remote addresses rather than zones to discriminate between the boxes and it's been flawless.

OK, so how does this work. In SAGE when you setup the tuner/EPG you select the USBIRT, but how does SAGE know which code to use when it wants to change the channel on one or the other?

[Opus4]

In case you missed it, here is sleonard's instruction post for using the USB-UIRT for 3-zone control with SageTV.

- Andy

[glbrown]

When you set up your source, you select an ir device that is set up for that particular dish remote address. Attached is a zip with devices for address 1 and 2.

It used to be a big deal creating these files back in the old days I am assuming it would be much easier now.

[rsagetv99]

Originally Posted by Opus4

In case you missed it, here is sleonard's instruction post for using the USB-UIRT for 3-zone control with SageTV.

- Andy

Thanks Andy, but he mentioned that he is doing this without zoning. Maybe it's the same concept though...

[Opus4]

I just mentioned that in case it would help. The zone support (to me) seems most useful if you are using multiples of the same STB & remote codes. If you don't specify a zone, then all emitters blast the IR code. You just specify the IR code file to use when you go through the Setup Wizard, adding a new device & teaching the codes for the new device if it isn't already listed.

- Andy

[rsagetv99]

Originally Posted by Opus4

I just mentioned that in case it would help. The zone support (to me) seems most useful if you are using multiples of the same STB & remote codes. If you don't specify a zone, then all emitters blast the IR code. You just specify the IR code file to use when you go through the Setup Wizard, adding a new device & teaching the codes for the new device if it isn't already listed.

- Andy

Yes, that makes sense as well. What I'm starting to wonder now is if you could use one well-placed emitter to blast multiple STBs with different device codes, plus take advantage of zoning to allow the USBIRT to control other devices on the other two emitters???

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by rsagetv99

Yes, that makes sense as well. What I'm starting to wonder now is if you could use one well-placed emitter to blast multiple STBs with different device codes, plus take advantage of zoning to allow the USBIRT to control other devices on the other two emitters???

I haven't tried that myself but I do think it would work. For example, if you had 3 identical cable boxes and also had two sat boxes that could be set to use different codes you could set it up like this:

Create .ir files for the 3 cable boxes. These would be identical except for the Z1, Z2, and Z3 zone codes. I'll call them cable1.ir, cable2.ir, and cable3.ir.

Create .ir files for the 2 sat boxes. These will contain 2 different sets of codes that are also different from the cable codes. I'll call them sat1.ir and sat2.ir. Use the Z3 code to tell the USB-UIRT to send via LED.

Connect capurecard1 to cablebox1 and setup Sage to use cable1.ir. The USB-UIRT will use a wired emitter to change channels.

Connect capturecard2 to cablecard2 and setup Sage to use cable2.ir. Also uses a wired emitter to change channels.

Connect capturecard3 to cablecard3 and setup Sage to use cable3.ir. Control will be via LED.

Connect capturecard4 to satbox1 and setup Sage to use sat1.ir. Control will be via LED.

Connect capturecard5 to satbox2 and setup Sage to use sat2.ir. Control will be via LED.

Voila! Five tuners controlled by one USB-UIRT.

SLeonard

[rsagetv99]

Originally Posted by sleonard

I haven't tried that myself but I do think it would work. For example, if you had 3 identical cable boxes and also had two sat boxes that could be set to use different codes you could set it up like this:

Create .ir files for the 3 cable boxes. These would be identical except for the Z1, Z2, and Z3 zone codes. I'll call them cable1.ir, cable2.ir, and cable3.ir.

Create .ir files for the 2 sat boxes. These will contain 2 different sets of codes that are also different from the cable codes. I'll call them sat1.ir and sat2.ir. Use the Z3 code to tell the USB-UIRT to send via LED.

Connect capurecard1 to cablebox1 and setup Sage to use cable1.ir. The USB-UIRT will use a wired emitter to change channels.

Connect capturecard2 to cablecard2 and setup Sage to use cable2.ir. Also uses a wired emitter to change channels.

Connect capturecard3 to cablecard3 and setup Sage to use cable3.ir. Control will be via LED.

Connect capturecard4 to satbox1 and setup Sage to use sat1.ir. Control will be via LED.

Connect capturecard5 to satbox2 and setup Sage to use sat2.ir. Control will be via LED.

Voila! Five tuners controlled by one USB-UIRT.

SLeonard

This is too cool!
You've definitely sold me on the USBIRT.

Gee what happened to all of the Actisys users? I haven't gotten one response from that camp.

[glbrown]

I use mine to sync my ipaq. works great.

[follower]

Is it possible to hook up 2 Actisys device to control 2 cable boxes?

[follower]

Sorry... found my answer here...

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...tisys+multiple

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by follower

Is it possible to hook up 2 Actisys device to control 2 cable boxes?

That was one of the updates for v2.1 -- see Appendix F in the v2.1 manual, p. 196.

If you don't have the 2 Actisys units already, the USB-UIRT will control multiple devices from one blaster.

Edit: I see you found the answer before I finished typing.

- Andy

[steingra]

I am looking into purchasing a new DISH receiver (additional that is) to my current DISH 811 receiver. I would like to have the ability to control both the 811 and whatever DISH's newest HD model is. I currently let sagetv control the DISH 811 receiver and a Motorola 2520 receiver for my cable tv service. But I am thinking it will be saving me a little $$ if I drop all the cable tv stuff, and get a second DISH receiver with the additional channels I want. But most important will be the ability to control both of my DISH receivers from Sagetv without interfering with each other. Sounds like there are some different ways to handle it. I use the USBUIRT right now to blast out the channel changing signals to the Motorola and DISH recievers.

[briands]

The easiest way is to assign the receivers to different IR "Channels" then you can control up to 10 with one IR blaster device. This post is what helped me.

If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help.