initial support for Hauppuage HD-PVR (5 Viewers)

[ixian]

I must sound like a shill for USB-UIRT by now, but I'm not

The Microsoft MCE remote is nice, I have two for my clients, but on the server I use the UIRT because it changes channels much faster. It will work though, you are right, and the price is nice.

 

[DreadFury]

I don't have any speed issues with mine, maybe that's why I don't see much need for improvement. (3 digit channels and a select sent in about a second, using a 300ms delay)

The USB-UIRT has a wide-beam blaster built in doesn't it?
For example, could you set it across the room and it potentially could blast all your equip assuming they all use different IR codes?

That would be nice and a definite edge over the mce blaster.
I wish you could set the power of the buds blast, I'm almost tempted to remove the shielding to see if it allows me to blast from across the room.
It would be nice to be able to blast to multiple things without needing seperate buds, mainly since I only need 1 or 2 buttons for additional devices.

 

[ixian]

There are two reasons the USB-UIRT excels: The driver is very well written and mature (been going on 7 years now with bi-annual updates) and the blaster hardware is very strong. As you pointed out DreadFury, it does use a wide-beam blaster that is powerful enough to bounce off just about anything - in fact, that's how I use mine, it's not even facing my equipment, but the back of my room. So for multiple devices, as long as the remote codes are different you can just use it without having to attach the little remote bugs to the front of everything like you do with other blasters.

It also has a single standard 1/8 jack on the back so you can use it with a bug (for equipment you have two of, or if it's hidden away where the wide beam can't hit it). As a nice touch, that jack is actually stereo, meaning with a $4 adapter you can actually attach two bugs to it. And of course you can buy bugs that have multiple ends, so really you could control 10-20 components if you were feeling extreme and you didn't have more than 3 that shared the same codes.

I know it's $50, and if you aren't in the states shipping is half that again, but it's worth the cash if you can get it. It solved so many headaches for me.

 

[DreadFury]

Thanks for the confirm, I would like to have something that can drive my whole setup in both rooms, but dreaded the amount of bugs I would need.
I think you sold me now ixian, I'll probably wind up getting one for the stronger, distance blasting to run my projector and surround sound as well as everything else without needing wires everywhere.

Do the bugs for the USB-UIRT work in the MCE blaster and vice versa?
I think they use a single channel (mono) jack tho, I tried without success at getting the bug from my HD-PVR working with the MCE blaster

 

[ixian]

I haven't done the reverse but I am using the bug that came with my MCE blaster on my UIRT, so that much works at least. I'm pretty sure it comes with at least one as well.

The jack is stereo but that doesn't mean the bugs have to be, in fact I think all of them are mono, he used a stereo jack simply so you can split them. Without a splitter it works like a regular mono jack.

One caveat that I forgot to mention: If you DO have two devices that share codes (for example, I have two DishNetwork STB's) you have to be creative in blocking the IR sensor on one of them; I use a bug for my second receiver and basically used black electrical tape to both secure it and block off the sensor. The problem there is then you can't use the regular remote with it either. But that is a somewhat unusual situation.

 

[DreadFury]

I really wanted to try to use firewire, but have no idea where to start.
I am not even 100% sure MePo supports firewire channel changing, or even streaming.

I have looked around and only found vauge references to people saying "i just use firewire" but it is for sagetv and myth, I think even GBPVR had a few claiming to do it, and I think even some MP users.

I have a moto box with dual firewire ports and have found several people claiming to have complete success with this specific box, but of course give no details. (and it was for other front ends)

that would be ideal, especially if it removes the stupid stb osd.

 

[ixian]

MePo does support it for channel changing, as well as serial connections, you probably won't find the info in this thread but you could try this one https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...-ieee-1394-driver-update-vista-32-64-a-54078/

I may be wrong but I don't believe MePo supports capturing video over firewire, I can think of only a couple that do (GB-PBR has a hack that does it).

 

[WileECoyote]

I really wanted to try to use firewire, but have no idea where to start.
I am not even 100% sure MePo supports firewire channel changing, or even streaming.

I have looked around and only found vauge references to people saying "i just use firewire" but it is for sagetv and myth, I think even GBPVR had a few claiming to do it, and I think even some MP users.

I have a moto box with dual firewire ports and have found several people claiming to have complete success with this specific box, but of course give no details. (and it was for other front ends)

that would be ideal, especially if it removes the stupid stb osd.

If you can find a script or command line interface to your firewire box, you should be good to go. I have directv boxes and use a command line utility called directv.exe with the TV3 IR Blaster Server Suite and it works perfect with my serial->USB cables.

 

[DreadFury]

Mine has 2 firewire and 4 usb ports...
I wonder if a straight usb connection would work (might need a virtual serial driver)

It would save me the hassle of having to buy a firewire card.

I did find specific references to my stb model and I think i saw some drivers for it at the AVSForum, I think I'll have another look.

WileE, when you use the serial to 'blast' your box, does it remove the stb's OSD? (the numbers being pressed and the epg, etc)

 

[WileECoyote]

WileE, when you use the serial to 'blast' your box, does it remove the stb's OSD? (the numbers being pressed and the epg, etc)

Unfortunately no. The Directv receiver OSD is intially set to show for 6 seconds or so, I just set it to its lowest setting (I think 2 seconds.)

The Directv.exe utility supposedly has that ability, but I have never got it to work.