Voom and ReplayTV

[richard_rd]

I used a RCA Ultimate TV recorder when I had direct TV service in the past.

1. I am assuming that this solution will not allow you to watch one show and record another because the Voom IRD only has one sat tuner?

2. I miss not be able to record so i am seriously thinking of giving this a try, but i am not familer with Replay Units or Tivo units. From reading this thread it looks like i will be able to record and schedule all shows that my voom box receives via satalite or OTA (in DVD quality).
I also have an FTA Satalite receiver that I use for receiving Multinational shows. Using the replay box can i set up a manual record from the FTA Satalite IRD (I was thinking of putting an coax A/B switchbox between the RF coax input of the Replay PVR and the RF coax outputs of the FTA IRD (B input) and the Voom IRD (A-input).
I would leave the coax switchbox set to the A-input (Voom OTA tuner) most of the time so that the autoscheduler would work with voom OTA.
But when i wanted to record somethink manually on the FTA IRD I would set the Switchbox to input B and activate the Replays PVR manual record function.

*** That's the $64,000 question, does the Replay PVR allow me to schedule a manual record session without using its program guide data? I realize that they might not allow you to do this if you don't activate the box and subscribe to their monthly/lifetime service, but i was hopeing if you do activate the box and subscribe that it would also let you schedule a manual recording on an input without relying on the Guide data to schedule it***

 

[dfergie]

richard_rd , I just tried it with my 5040 and the timer set. There might be Replay 5040's (refurbs)ava you can find them at planet replay(or the link)I got a second one about a month or 2 ago, just upgraded to another drive.
Also Scott has posted a "special deals" (today)post that links to a site that has the newer models for under 70$ but they do not have commercial skip or send.(there is a service where you can send and receive programs)
edit. you can record a program and watch a recorded program either on the unit that's recording or stream to another.(can also use dvarchive to stream from pc)

 

[anonymouse]

Subchannels?

I have yet to get Voom, and wanted to ask a few more questions
about which local channels people have been getting to work
with Replay, via Voom.

Some people have said that by the methods described in this
thread, you can get the OTA mains working with replay, but not the subchannels.

Does this mean that, for instance, if you have
channels 7.1 7.2 and 7.3 that 7.1 would work,
or does it mean that only an even number digital channels would
work such as 7

Could someone explain?
Thanks
Darrin

 

[srinivos]

madpoet: need ur help with setting up Wirns w/voom

I bought a Replay5504 at good price from Amazon on Monday & spent about 3 hrs yesterday trying to set it up to work with Voom, to no avail. At this point i am really frustrated and have even picked up a Tivo series2 today, but i would like to give it one last shot before returning it.

The issues i've had so far:


- Click Configuration->WiRNS
- Click Configuration->DataDirect
>>I never see this message but after every one of the above steps i get a message saying that server has to be restarted. Does it mean i have to restart the Wirns server or the configuration server? I tried restarting Wirns server which messes up everything.

- Click Administration->Update Guide
- Watch the Server window, it will eventually say:
"Processing ToDo Information"

>>Server window closed itself. Is that ok or is something wrong?

- Close the server
- Double Click StartWirns.bat again
- Click Configuration->Replays
- Add all your replays
- Click Administration->Update Guide again to rebuild the ToDo lists
- Wait for the update to finish, and restart the server again.

>>Same as previous issue. Closed itself before i could restart it.



sqlite WiRNS.db

SELECT * FROM lineups;

You should get an output that looks similar to this:

VOOM||Satellite|06040
Local Broadcast Listings||LocalBroadcast|06040

>> I get no output, absolutely nothing except the prompt again.

Execute the following:
UPDATE lineups SET TYPE='Satellite';
Execute this again:
SELECT * FROM lineups;

And your results should now look like this:

VOOM||Satellite|06040
Local Broadcast Listings||Satellite|06040

>> No output
Then type .exit to get out of sqlite.

At this point i tried to change the DNS on the replay settings to the Wirns ip but it din't work either. I don't know where i am going wrong but i would really like to get replay working as i am interested in features like DVArchive and web scheduling. I have another week to return the DVR (or activate subscription). If not, it will be the Tivo route.

 

[Impatient]

Some people have said that by the methods described in this
thread, you can get the OTA mains working with replay, but not the subchannels.

Does this mean that, for instance, if you have
channels 7.1 7.2 and 7.3 that 7.1 would work,
or does it mean that only an even number digital channels would
work such as 7

Could someone explain?
Thanks
Darrin

The ReplayTV box will see channel 7, have gude info for 7.1 listed as 7, and will tune to 7.1. Actually, the ReplayTV box will send 7 and the STB will tune to the first active channel starting at 7.1. If you hide 7.1, it would (haven't tested) tune to 7.2. That way, you could capture the SD version of a channel instead of the HD version if you wanted.

When I had guide info for channel 20, and it was not mapped on the STB, it would tune to 38, the next active channel.

 

[srinivos]

Finally got it working!

Update to my previous post. I started afresh today with setting up Wirns and everything worked to a 'T' except for the locals which i forgot to add. I redid that step and reset Replay back to factory default & now i have the entire program guide with locals!
I tried recording one program, "World Poker Tour" and found that the pixellation almost made it unwatchable on my Samsung DLP. I have it connected through component inputs with the Replay set to record at High quality and output progressive 480p. Is this something to be expected from all recordings?
I have owned a DirecTivo previously and never had PQ issues because of the integrated tuner feature.
I am planning to setup the Tivo Series2 tomorrow and compare recordings for a week before i decide. Tivo doesn't have progressive or component outputs, so i expect replay to be better...lets see.

Next step for replay CA/IVS...

Nivas

 

[Impatient]

I tried recording one program, "World Poker Tour" and found that the pixellation almost made it unwatchable on my Samsung DLP. I have it connected through component inputs with the Replay set to record at High quality and output progressive 480p. Is this something to be expected from all recordings?
Nivas

No. The current 6.10 software has a problem is the last OTA channel you were on was weak, the current satellite channel may pixelate badly or break up with audio drop outs. So, make sure the last OTA channel you were on had a strong signal and try again.

Well, partially. The ReplayTV box is never going to be able to produce the same as direct viewing. That is because it is reencoding an MPEG stream. It should produce reasonable picture quality though. My Voom->Replay produces a better image than my Comcast->Replay for both HD and SD original sources. That said, I didn't see any problems with the Tyson fight that I watched at 2:30 in the morning.

I have owned a DirecTivo previously and never had PQ issues because of the integrated tuner feature.
I am planning to setup the Tivo Series2 tomorrow and compare recordings for a week before i decide. Tivo doesn't have progressive or component outputs, so i expect replay to be better...lets see.
Nivas

The DirecTivo is recording the satellite stream to the hard drive directly. It is not taking a satellite stream, converting to analog 480i, and reencoding that as mpeg2, then upconverting to 480p. So, the DirecTivo will always win the "least quality lost" race. The same can be said for the Ucentric DVR that Voom will be using when it gets here. The DirecTivo will only record DirecTV streams. ReplayTV will record anything. That is why it wins in my house.

 

[dfergie]

ReplayTV will record anything. That is why it wins in my house.

Yup...even dvds

 

[srinivos]

No. The current 6.10 software has a problem is the last OTA channel you were on was weak, the current satellite channel may pixelate badly or break up with audio drop outs. So, make sure the last OTA channel you were on had a strong signal and try again.

Well, partially. The ReplayTV box is never going to be able to produce the same as direct viewing. That is because it is reencoding an MPEG stream. It should produce reasonable picture quality though. My Voom->Replay produces a better image than my Comcast->Replay for both HD and SD original sources. That said, I didn't see any problems with the Tyson fight that I watched at 2:30 in the morning.
The DirecTivo is recording the satellite stream to the hard drive directly. It is not taking a satellite stream, converting to analog 480i, and reencoding that as mpeg2, then upconverting to 480p. So, the DirecTivo will always win the "least quality lost" race. The same can be said for the Ucentric DVR that Voom will be using when it gets here. The DirecTivo will only record DirecTV streams. ReplayTV will record anything. That is why it wins in my house.

I will try recording more stuff during the weekend and see if OTA affects it as you said. I do know about the Dtivo and how it works. My query was more of an apples-to-apples comparision in PQ between Tivo Series2 and Replay 55XX, connected downstream from Voom through s-video.
I did setup the Tivo yesterday and it was a breeze with Voom being recognized as a provider. I am used to the interface so my impressions could be biased but the PG & TivoCentral seem very intuitive. My wife, of course, being spoiled by Dtivo is against Replay

I have about 7 days for Tivo & Replay before i need to activate. So its testing time until then.

 

[jim_d1]

RTV won't accept "make the DNS1 and DNS2 your wirnsip". Do you mean the IP of the box that WiRNS is running on? Does WiRNS supply an answer to DNS probe?

 

[madpoet]

Yes. You supply the eplay box with the IP of your WiRNS server as the DNS server.

 

[iceshark]

get a 4504 while you still can. Better then 5000 series

I bought two becuase the 4500 series boxes have ethernet sharing (like irc, napster, ect) capabilites that the 5000 forward no loneger have. Cool sharing programs from voom and local to brother in Calif.
Dont know why they removed in new boxes???

 

[tuefel]

I bought two becuase the 4500 series boxes have ethernet sharing (like irc, napster, ect) capabilites that the 5000 forward no loneger have. Cool sharing programs from voom and local to brother in Calif.
Dont know why they removed in new boxes???

The 5000 series do this also (I own a 5040 and it shares over the internet.) The _5500_ series doesn’t internet share out of the box, but can allegedly be hacked to do so (and also put the commercial skip feature back in)—according to replayfaq anyway.

 

[dfergie]

The 5000 series do this also (I own a 5040 and it shares over the internet.) The _5500_ series doesn’t internet share out of the box, but can allegedly be hacked to do so (and also put the commercial skip feature back in)—according to replayfaq anyway.

I think if you put an 5000 image on your drive, but not sure, have my 2 5040s both upgraded, and sending a bb5 episode via poopli as we speak.

 

[iceshark]

Sorry I meant the new 5500 series boxes. They I just changed my order to 2 5040 boxes. Was confused. Thanks for the heads up.
Planet Replay website says with new software the 5500 cant do CA or internet sharing anylonger even with hack.

 

[gnasty]

do all of the Replay untis need registration??

If you can pick up additional units for $70, do they need to be registered?
I would payt $70 buck for additional units just to be able to stream video from one main unti to the others.

I don't need to schedule recording on others, just stream from the main.

any input.

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to Satellite Guys gnasty and... ya gotta pay to Replay other wise ya got a doorstop.

 

[jl1718]

MP, Got it all figured out. Thanks.

The problem was that I was not aware that the initial command

sqlite WiRNS.db

Must be executed from a command prompt and not from the sqlite prompt.

So you get to a DOS C:\ prompt

in Win98 you just click the DOS prompt Icon in the start menu

in Win2k and XP you enter cmd in the run box.

and use the "cd" (change directory) command to get the path to the WiRNS directory where sqlite and the WiRNS.db are located.

I found it easiest to locate the WiRNS directory on the root drive (c:\)

c:\WiRNS\>

then execute the following;

sqlite WiRNS.db

Which in turn opens the WiRNS.db within sqlite and the and gives you the "sqlite>" prompt, where you enter

SELECT * FROM lineups;

And you get the proper responses from sqlite.

Other than that, the instructions couldn't have worked better. The initial problem I had with WiRNS, was a crappy USB-DSL modem that I replaced with a much better Ethernet version and a Linksys Router, which allowed me to properly set up the IP's and DNS and get out of the Windows Internet Connection Sharing scheme.

Now with the new Modem connected to the router, my network and internet work much better with the 5 computers i'm running. Windows ICS is :down

So, I've been recording VOOM OTA and satellite - High def (@ 480i) and am very pleased with the image quality. Much better then anything I was able to get with a DVD recorder or Super-VHS.

The recorded image is easily superior to low def.

Thanks very much for sharing your experience. It is certainly a viable alternative for a VOOM DVR. And, provided you already have a computer/network setup, it is relatively inexpensive.

Jim

I was doing fine until I got here. Now I'm stuck. I keep getting a invalid command prompt when I try just about anything. When I key in cd it does nothing. Is there another way to do this?

Jerry

 

[NOHDjunkie]

I was doing fine until I got here. Now I'm stuck. I keep getting a invalid command prompt when I try just about anything. When I key in cd it does nothing. Is there another way to do this?

Jerry

Jerry,

Sounds like you need a refresher in DOS commands.

When using the CD (Change directory) command you need to specify which directory you want to change to.

For example:

create a folder on your c: drive called wirns.

Then install all of the wirns files, programs, sqlite... everything in that folder.

Then from the Dos Prompt type:

cd\

hit enter and it should give you c:\

Then type

cd wirns

it should give you

c:\wirns

then run the sqlite commands.

of course you can have the Wirns directory anywhere. it's just a matter of knowing the path to access it.

if it's in your "program files" folder Just cd yourself through the path to get there

dos prompt: (whatever path is present when you open the dos prompt)

for example

c:\windows\system

just type "cd\" to get to the root directory

c:\

then from there type in the path to get to where you need to go

cd program files (enter)

output = c:\program files

type cd voom stuff (enter)

output will now be

c:\program files\voom stuff

type cd wirns

output now is:

c:\program files\voom stuff\wirns

just cd (change directory) untill you get to the one you need.

use windows explorer to figure the "path"

You can aslo just type in the whole "path" at the cd command

example:

at the c:\ type

cd program files\voom stuff\wirns (then hit enter)

output = c:\program files\voom stuff\wirns

and you're there.

 

[LukFilm]

Do I put my IP as "Wirns IP"? If not, what IP do I put in there?