Help with purchasing IR blaster for Foxtel in Australia (1 Viewer)

[doodfood]

Hi All,

I've got MediaPortal working nicely with free digital transmissions - this is my present set up.

MediaPortal 0.1.3.0
Athlon XP 2500+
1.5gb ddr
300Gb Seagate HD
Nvidia 6600GT AGP
Ultraview HDTV Plus (This is supposed to be identical to the Divco Fusion Plus I think)
Windows XP

I want to expand this to be able to record and playback Foxtel from my Foxtel STB and wanted to get some advice on buying an IR Blaster. I will be looking to purchase a PVR 150MCE to use for inputting the Foxtel since it is supposed to have hardware encoding for analog inputs which my Ultraview does not.

1. I have a remote and receiver that came with the Ultraview, I'm pretty sure this can't be used as an IR blaster correct?

2. How do the blasters work, do they have a remote + receiver and the receiver acts as a blaster?

3. I've read in the forums people suggesting an MCE blaster for easiest setup with MediaPortal. I live in Australia does anyone know where to get one of these and will it work for what I want to do? I'm happy to order international if anyone can suggest a site which sells and ships them internationally. Since I already have a working remote control I don't need another one, can I get an MCE blaster without the remote for a couple of bucks cheaper from somewhere? Can anyone suggest good units that they know to work with MediaPortal and preferably Foxtel?

4. Is a PVR 150MCE a good choice for using the analog inputs with Media Portal and Foxtel? I'm assuming that with a bit of fiddling I should be able to get MediaPortal to know about Foxtel programs and schedule/record in the same awesome way as it does regular TV?


Thanks for your help, MediaPortal rocks even if I can't get this upgrade working. It's amazing how much good stuff is actually on TV. Nothing better then coming home firing up MediaPortal and having several hours worth of good TV to watch, keep up the excellent work!

Akhil

 

[Callifo]

2. Yes, the blaster has little IR buds which you stick to things and thats what sends the signal.

3. You have to buy the whole OEM package (remote/receiver/blaster), cant just buy bits. But a LOT of stores sell them over here so availability is no problem. www.staticice.com.au if you dont know about that.

4. A 'bit' more than a bit of fiddling, yes. Grabbing the EPG takes a long time and with descriptions, its out of the reach of most people (looking at hours). You can set it up, but as most found IR blaster buds arent 100% reliable (no way to change channels via a hard medium unfortunately) so missing a show here and there isnt too uncommon. MP + MyBlaster plugin will change channels for you based on the EPG.

 

[doodfood]

Thanks for the reply, I'm trying to work out which product I need to buy. A lot of sites seem to be selling the product I've listed below, but I can't find anywhere where it says that this unit comes with the IR blaster. I tried calling up a couple of shops and asking them but they couldn't tell me whether it came with one or not. A90-00001 is Microsoft's manufacturer code, does anybody know if this unit comes with an IR Blaster? I don't really need a remote so i'm buying it for the blaster, if I bought it and it turned out to be just a remote and receiver it'd be fairly useless to me. If this is not the unit I need, what is the manufacturer code of the one I need?

http://www.hboutlet.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=55_833&products_id=27426

Model: A9O-00001
Brand: Microsoft
RRP: $69
Warranty: 3-year Manufact.

Description:
Microsoft OEM Remote Control and Receiver for Media Center PC, the remote control sends command information to the connected infrared (IR) sensor from up to 20 feet away, USB interface

Thanks,

Akhil

 

[Callifo]

They cant sell them seperately because its an all in one unit. There isnt any other combo available so it must have all of the stuff in one package. And since its like this you might as well use the remote as its a lot better than most remotes out there.

 

[winsys11]

I have MP setup with Foxtel via a PVR-150. My remote is the Microsoft Media Centre remote, which comes with two IR blasters (buds). I chose the M$oft one because it all works seamlessly with the M$oft IR keyboard (which is a pretty cool KB)

When I change channels via the guide, my Foxtel STB changes faultlessly. In 6 months, I has never failed to change, and I've never missed a recording (maybe I'm lucky, maybe it just works as it should)

Im using MCE2005, as it comes withe support for the IR (need MCE rollup 2 installed as well).
Apparently it can be done with XP, but you need to get some files from MCE to make the IR work.

 

[winsys11]

PS I bought it from TECS in Melbourne, the remote and MCE together

 

[squidina]

I have a similar setup to winsys. I have the MS remote with it's IR receiver and bud pointed at the cable box, using XP. I don't remember having to install anything to get it to work apart from the blaster plugin for MP. I could be wrong though, it was a while ago.

Your best bet to pick up a MS remote is to plug it into staticice ( or follow this link: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=mce+remote+control ).

You should be able to find a dealer in Melbourne who'd sell it to you, or you can buy online and get it posted/couriered. It should come with the controller and receiver, but better to check when you put your order in.

They're really simple to setup. One end goes into a USB port on your machine, the "bud" gets stuck onto your cable box receiver.

One tip, make sure you don't have the bud covering the receiver completely. Best bet is to try out different positions to make sure your cable rc will still work as well.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Hate to say this but this is one piece of kit that MS got RIGHT.
It would have been nice to be able to enter a menu were you could configure some of the keys, but works straight out of the box with XP PRO.

 

[winsys11]

if you intend to standby (S1 or S3) the PC with the remote, make sure you plug the receiver into a 'permanently' powered USB port - check the motherboard manual

 

[doodfood]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I have purchased an MCE remote from a dealer in Sydney and am now waiting to receive it. I made sure he checked and it does (as everyone said) come with the 2 IR buds. Can't wait to add Foxtel to my MediaPortal setup, good to see others have it working flawlessly - this is going to be great!

Thanks again for all your help!