First Look: TV2 IR Converter Kit

[Scott Greczkowski]

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Welcome to another SatelliteGuys.US First Look! This time we are taking a look at the long awaited Dish Network TV2 IR Converter Kit.

This kit let you control your TV2 output with a IR Universal Remote, and it also lets you watch and control the TV2 output on Dish Network receiver with a Slingbox! (No more changing your wifes soaps on TV1 just because you want to watch TV with your Slingbox!)

Other uses for this kit include solving UHF Pro conflicts or interference in your house plus works great in appartments and condos as it gives you no more remote conflicts with your neighbors!

For me I will be using it with one of my Slingbox units. One of the issues I have had happen is I would log in to my Slingbox and someone would be watching TV at home and I would not know they were watching and end up changing the channel on them. Now with this new TV2 IR Converter I can put my Dish receiver in dual mode and get rid of that issue forever.

The Dish Network TV2 IR Converter comes in a small white box that weighs about a pound, but it is full of everything you need to hook it up.

The box contains the following:

TV2 IR Converter (With IR EYE attached on a long cable)
Power Supply
Industrial Quality Two Way Splitter. (This is no cheap WalMart Splitter)
3 - 10 inch RG-6 Coax Cables
IR Cable for Slingbox installs
Velcro Patch for IR Eye
User Guide

The TV2 IR Converter works with the following model Dish Network receivers:
Dish 322
DishPlayer 522 & 625
ViP 222
ViP 222k
ViP 622 DVR
ViP 722 DVR
ViP 722k DVR

For me I did not need most of wires inside, as I opted not to use the Splitter for TV2, instead my install was the TV2 IR converter to the receivers antenna input then the IR cable hooked to the Slingbox.

In the diagrams included in the user guide it suggests hooking a wire from the UHF Antenna Jack to the splitter, then hooking up the UHF antenna to one of the splitters outputs and hooking the IR2 converter to the out splitter output. I did not do this since I am not going to use the TV2 UHF remote on this receiver.

One of the things I needed to do was change the remote address of the TV1 remote since the converter also outputs the TV2 IR as TV1. This was done easily by changing the TV1 remote address to another number. (Anything but 1)

In my Slingplayer software I setup my DVR and told it I was using address one and then it just worked and worked great.

The switching time was about the same if you were using the IR blasters on the Slingbox. Speaking of the IR Blasters on the Slingbox, with this device your IR Blasters are removed, and the TV2 converter plugs into where the IR Blasters were plugged into. For most folks this won't be an issue, however if you use your Slingbox to control more then one device then this is going to be an issue for you. However for most folks this will not be an issue at all.

The converter does what it says it does, and does it well. There are no issues at all with the unit but unfortunately it has its own power supply, so make sure there is an extra outlet available if your going to get one of these.

This product will be great for those folks who have a custom install and want to use a remote like a Harmony or Pronto remote on their second TV in their house. The IR2 converter has an attached IR eye which can be easily hidden that will allow you to control your TV2 with your favorite universal remote.

The product seems welll thought out and the box includes almost everthing you might need (although for some installs you might need 2 diplexors so this way you dont need to run additional cable to TV2)

The enclosed userguide is well laid out and very easy to understand, making it wasy for anyone to install for almost anyone.

The TV2 IR Converter Kit will have a MSRP of $35 and will be available within the next few weeks from your local Dish Network Retailer or from places like DishStore.NET (A proud SatelliteGuys.US Sponsor!)

Thanks to the folks at Dish Network I am able to give one of these kits away to a lucky SatelliteGuys member! To enter to win just post a reply to this thread letting us know how you intend to use this converter. One lucky member will be picked at random on Monday June 15th on or around Noon Eastern Time! Good luck to all who enter!

(It should be noted that the unit being given away is the one I used to take the photos of the unit. The one I am using is in a pile of wirers behind my TV and wouldn't look good in pictures.)

Thanks again to the folks at Dish Network for making this First Look possible, this TV2 IR Converter Kit!

[digiblur]

If staff can win I'd love to have my name in the hat. I'd like to use it for TV2 Slingbox control on my 722.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Originally Posted by digiblur

If staff can win I'd love to have my name in the hat. I'd like to use it for TV2 Slingbox control on my 722.

Anyone but me is eligible to win.

[stone phillips420]

i want that.
id use it to control tv2 on my 2nd 622

[schdav]

I have a 222 that I really only use to record stuff for my MythTV setup. I have 2 analog capture tuners that will be used for this purpose as well as 2 ATSC tuners I use for OTA broadcast recordings. Since switching to Dish from Comcast I've only been able to record 1 dish program at a time. This would enable me to record two things at once. I originally signed up with Dish last fall because the release of this device was imminent and it allowed me to only lease 2 STBs and still have the kind of options I wanted. Well, it's been a long wait, and I'm really excited to be able to record 2 things at once again.

Some day I'll get an HD-PVR 1212 device to capture the component output from TV1 in HD rather than SVIDEO, but the finances are a bit tight these days so it might be awhile.

Now if only Dish would address the "missing" national HD channels in the Turbo lineup I'd be a completely satisfied customer!

[wmcneil]

Please put my name in the hat. I will use this so that my Harmony 880 universal remote can be used to control TV2 on my VIP622 in dual mode.

[TheKrell]

Pick me! Me!

I intend to use one of these converters to control TV2 on my 722, moving my Hava Platinum HD over to TV2 from TV1. My TV2 remote is already camping on address 1, while my TV1 remote is using address 2. So I'm all set.

Do I understand that you unplug the IR Eye on the converter, as well as the IR blaster hardware on your Slingbox, and plug in a direct-connect cable instead? I wonder if that will work with a Hava?

Edit: Ah, I see from closer inspection of your pic 6 that the IR Eye is not removable.

[fadalpe]

I wiil be using it to control my second tuner in my 222K and my Tivo so my kids wont change my recording to what they want.

[jwfranks]

I plan on using one for my vista media center setup. Currently have both tuners working, but have to change tv2 with uhf remote if i run into multiple recording conflicts. I've been waiting for this product for some time now. Excited their finally releasing it.

[CELDER]

Iam new at this so put my name in so I can learn more.