322 and external PVRs (UHF TV2 workaround?)

[samplesj]

I'm switching back to Dish Network after dumping cable for Voom which is going away. I'm a sprint customer for local, long distance, and DSL so I got counted as a new customer through them with a $5 discount to boot. The Sprint CSR I spoke with was very helpful and arranged for me to get an 811 for the theater room with a 322 for the PVR setup in the den. I really like that the 322 gives me two seperate channels with only 1 extra receiver fee.

Now the way I understand the 322 is that the second tuner responds only to UHF. Has anyone found a way to workaround this limitation so that they can control the second tuner automatically with a PVR?

Also it looks like I have to set a timer to force a recording to clear the popup that occurs every night. Is there a newer fix for this problem, or has it even gone away with a new software update.

Another issue I found mentioned a few places was the need to turn on/off the box every day or two so that the guide stayed up to date and didn't pop a message box. Is this fixed now (hopefully)?

Originally I was happy to get the 322 because I thought I could just buy a Haupaugge 150 for $60 and feed my computer based PVR (SageTV with 650 GB of HD space) a second time. That would be nice because I already use the PVR to distribute to all of the other TVs over ethernet via MediaMVPs. Right now when my son is watching something and it needs to change the channel to record it pops up a box that worries him. I figured with two inputs into the PVR it wouldn't need to take his unless somehow it wanted to record two different shows.

I still want to use the 322 because I will be able to use the house coax to distribute the second tuner's output. It just won't be as simple as using the PVR for everything. Also I lose the capability to dual record. Are there any other issues with the 322 I need to watch for?

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[mudder1310]

I'm a little confused. For example, you should be getting an 811 and 522 so you can DVR at two tv's. In that case, both tv1 and tv2 will use the DVR independently with shared storage.

 

[OoTLink]

The most obvious way to fix the UHF remote issue is to simply use the TV1 output for the tivo, if that's the way they work (not sure)... I'm surprised the TV2 output HAS to be controlled via UHF since you can switch the remote between IR and UHF modes *shrug*

As for the popup, you can change what time that comes up at, but if I'm not mistaken if you ignore it, the box will turn off, so if you set it to a time when you're not actually recording anything, then you should have no problem! (provided the box actually gets "turned back on"...

*mudder* I think he already has a PVR, not to mention if you already have a tivo it's cheaper (lifetime vs the $5 a month stuff), so a 322 would suffice.

One last suggestion is to not stack the tivo (please don't) on top of that 322.. they get kinda toasty.

 

[Mike500]

The remote and the receiver on the TV2 feed on the 322 only responds to specific UF signals coded to the system. There are no compatible converters currently available for the UF input of the DVR's controls to TV2. The IR blaster, like that on a TiVo or a RePlay unit will not control the TV2 receiver, since it is UF only.

 

[OoTLink]

*shrug* then it'd be best to use TV2 for the TV and TV1 for the DVR Simple as that.. both outputs are pretty much the same. Avoid using the coax outs though if you can, they suck in comparison to the composite/svideo outs.

 

[samplesj]

I guess I didn't clairify enough. I already have a computer based PVR (not a Tivo or Replay standalone box). Using a community provided driver for the Haupagge MediaMVP I already feed three TVs from this single PVR. I already have 1 tuner/MPEG decoder card in it. However because its a computer based PVR I could add more cards and feed it more inputs.

If it was at all possible to control the TV2 output via IR (USB-UIRT) blaster I could hook BOTH 322 inputs to the same PVR and record two different shows at once. That would also mean that any of the three TVs could watch 2 different live channels, or they could watch 1 live while it recorded, although if it found two things to record then they couldn't watch live TV unless it was one of the recordings. Of course those TVs can always all watch different recorded stuff, but an extra tuner would help out with my son watching Disney or Nick in the morning without getting prompts to channel the channel to record another show.

I do have house coax run to all other locations so I could use it for the other two TVs, but then I'd need a switcher for one and neither would be something my 5 year old could do by himself (with the PVR I get the UI down here so I can pick the channel/shows for him).

I was basically hoping someone would say they had found some device to convert to RF (even if just for this one units frequency). I really want to tie both inputs to the PVR for the simplicity and extra capacity. If I do end up not being able to use the PVR twice can I output over both the RA jacks and the coax at the same time?

Jeremy