how do you control two receivers from HD-PVR?

[tvmaster2]

I have searched but haven't found the answer, sorry.
I have one cable box and one satellite receiver.
I want to have my HD-PVR control them both.
What device is needed, as the included IR Blaster can control but one device.
Is it a USB-UIRT, and if so, do they come with multiple IR Blasters?

[gplasky]

You need a USB-UIRT which can control up to 3 devices. The internal emitter and with a stereo-type plug you can attach 2 external emitters. Seach the forum and look for 3 zones on a USB-UIRT or check out the USB-UIRT forums.

Gerry

[fidget]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

I have searched but haven't found the answer, sorry.
I have one cable box and one satellite receiver.
I want to have my HD-PVR control them both.
What device is needed, as the included IR Blaster can control but one device.
Is it a USB-UIRT, and if so, do they come with multiple IR Blasters?

You only have one HD-PVR? If so, you can only record from one source.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by fidget

You only have one HD-PVR? If so, you can only record from one source.

sorry, meant to be more clear than that: I only need to record from either source, one-at-a-time.

Originally Posted by gplasky

You need a USB-UIRT which can control up to 3 devices. The internal emitter and with a stereo-type plug you can attach 2 external emitters. Seach the forum and look for 3 zones on a USB-UIRT or check out the USB-UIRT forums.

Gerry

thanks. Those forums aren't here at Sage are they?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

thanks. Those forums aren't here at Sage are they?

Multi-zone control of Sage

Multizone support newer USB-UIRT

Make your own emitters

Gerry

[stanger89]

You'll have to go through source setup twice, picking a different input on the HD PVR for each. But I'm not sure the HD PVR will let you "use" more than one audio input. IIRC the S/PDIF is disabled when the analog is connected.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stanger89

You'll have to go through source setup twice, picking a different input on the HD PVR for each. But I'm not sure the HD PVR will let you "use" more than one audio input. IIRC the S/PDIF is disabled when the analog is connected.

hmmm - that's a good point. So the HD-PVR wouldn't know to switch from one device to the other, for that matter, there's only one input. So in other words, you really need two HD-PVR's to do this?

[davephan]

Yes, you'll need two HD-PVRs if the cablebox and satellite box are both HD. Otherwise, you could use a cheaper tuner card if one is SD. It would become very annoying very quickly if you manually switch around the set top boxes all the time. It would be similar to the hassle of lugging a TV around your house to different rooms instead of having a TV in each room.

Dave

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by davephan

Yes, you'll need two HD-PVRs if the cablebox and satellite box are both HD. Otherwise, you could use a cheaper tuner card if one is SD. It would become very annoying very quickly if you manually switch around the set top boxes all the time. It would be similar to the hassle of lugging a TV around your house to different rooms instead of having a TV in each room.

Dave

yeah - that was the plan - both boxes were to be used for HD recording only. One is US and one is Canadian, which was going to give me a really diverse HD choice. Guess I'll have to wait for a Hauppauge sale.

[scat]

Here is another guide: 3 tuners, 3 cable boxes USB-UIRT 3 Zone Control

[Fuzzy]

If they are different boxes (you said one sat, one cable), they you shouldn't even need to use zones. They will be using different IR codes, so you should be able to just teach both into sage.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

yeah - that was the plan - both boxes were to be used for HD recording only. One is US and one is Canadian, which was going to give me a really diverse HD choice. Guess I'll have to wait for a Hauppauge sale.

Normally you can configure separate inputs on the same card in Sage and Sage will be able to use both (eg the tuner and the A/V input on a PVR250). But the HD PVR has only one HD component input (the other connectors are the loopback output), so you'll need two.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Normally you can configure separate inputs on the same card in Sage and Sage will be able to use both (eg the tuner and the A/V input on a PVR250). But the HD PVR has only one HD component input (the other connectors are the loopback output), so you'll need two.

And if that's the case, how many "dedicated" USB paths do i need - two? Is that normal with most motherboards, or do all the USB ports tie back to one controller at some point?
And if I had two HD-PVR's, could a dual-core AMD handle recording from both units at the same time (since I have to buy two, why be limited by the motherboard/cpu)?
My plan was for a 785 motherboard with an AMD dual core, to save energy and noise.

[Fuzzy]

if your on-board USB works well with a single HD-PVR, it will probably work just fine with two. There are some boards that ARE finicky as USB support goes, and for those, i recommend purchasing a PCI or PCIe USB board based on an NEC chipset.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Normally you can configure separate inputs on the same card in Sage and Sage will be able to use both (eg the tuner and the A/V input on a PVR250). But the HD PVR has only one HD component input (the other connectors are the loopback output), so you'll need two.

So if I was using one cable box and one sat receiver, each attached to their own HD-PVR's, how would Sage know which blaster to send channel change / record commands to? And, if there were duplicated channel numbers, would that make the concept impossible to operate from one HTPC and one Sage Media Center installation?

[gplasky]

Out of the 2 HD-PVRs only 1 of the blasters would work. (Hauppague driver limitation) Instead you would need a USB-UIRT set up with a zone1 and a zone2 configuration and an external IR emitter to be used with its internal one.

Gerry

[Fuzzy]

My point was that you should be able to control both with the same blaster.. no zoning would be required, as they do not use the same IR codes.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Out of the 2 HD-PVRs only 1 of the blasters would work. (Hauppague driver limitation) Instead you would need a USB-UIRT set up with a zone1 and a zone2 configuration and an external IR emitter to be used with its internal one.

Gerry

But . . . how does sage know how to differentiate between the two units? If my USB-UIRT was controlling them, isn't Sage controlling the UIRT? Sorry, it may be a simple answer, but I'm still confused.

[stanger89]

If you don't have zones set up, Sage just knows which set of codes to use when it uses a given STB. And since each STB uses different codes, it doesn't matter that the codes get sent to both, since only one box responds to a give set of codes.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stanger89

If you don't have zones set up, Sage just knows which set of codes to use when it uses a given STB. And since each STB uses different codes, it doesn't matter that the codes get sent to both, since only one box responds to a give set of codes.

ah - that makes sense. Now what about the boxes sharing identical channels? Will Sage list two channel 300's, for example, in the tv guide data? And what stops conflicts, aka, the wrong box getting a command to change channels and Sage recording the wrong boxes channel 300, for example, at the wrong time?