Dish 322, IR Blaster questions...

[Taliesin]

I have done some searches on this topic and didn't find any that had gotten it all working finally.  I'm curious about some things before I get my Dish Network installed.  First, some background.

I am using a Hauppauge PVR-150 with Beyond TV.  I'm using the Snapstream Firefly as my remote.  The 150 comes with an IR blaster that Snapstream reports works with their program just fine.  So the only question I have is this:

Has anyone been successful in getting an IR Blaster to control a dual-tuner receiver like the Dish 322?  I went and looked at the specs of the 322, and it seems that the second tuner is controlled by a UHF Pro Remote, while the first tuner is controlled by an IR remote.  This seems as though my IR blaster will only control the first tuner, and when I want to watch the second tuner (IE, I'm recording and watching a different channel), I will have to use the Dish Remote.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this?  Has anyone gotten the 322 to be controlled completely by the IR Blaster?

-Chris

edit: I realize that the 2nd remote can be configured to control other devices like a TV, VCR, or DVD player using IR, but the specs say it controls the second tuner in the receiver via UHF Pro.  (I think it uses UHF Pro because if your second TV setup is in a different room, IR may be inadequate?  The UHF Pro remote will "work from up to 200 feet away, through walls and other obstructions.")  My concern is that it will not be able to be controlled by the IR blaster, because it doesn't use IR.

[Edited on 4/1/2005 by Taliesin]

[Taliesin]

I don't know if my question is unanswerable, or was too stupid to merit a reply, but I suspect the second one.  :-D

I'm pretty sure that I am correct in my suspicions.  The Dish 322 Dual-Tuner receiver is controlled using two different types of remotes.  The first, the IR remote, can be controlled using an IR blaster.  The second, the UHF Pro remote, cannot be controlled by an IR blaster for obvious reasons.  (It's not an IR device.)  For now, this will work just fine, as I only have one tuner card in my computer.  I ran the other tuner signal through my VCR so I can watch something else if I'm recording one thing.  

For now, this will work, though I almost wish I would have gotten two receiver boxes for the future.  If I later decide I want to purchase a second tuner card, I'm going to have to get another box that can be controlled by IR so my computer can tune the channels.

Let this be a word of warning to people who are as ignorant as I am.  :)  Don't get the Dish 322 unless you KNOW you'll never get a second tuner card, as you won't be able to control the second receiver with an IR blaster.

Thanx for everyone's patience in letting me post these obvious warnings.  :)

-Chris

[eyalkattan]

Just another idea as I'm thinking loud....

The 322 should have IR blaster built in.
did you think of reversing the system so the 322 triger your PVR to start recording instead of the PVR trigerring the 322 box?

[Edited on 13/1/2005 by eyalkattan]

[Taliesin]

Why do you say that it should have an IR Blaster?

-Chris

[Anonymous]

 http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/product_brochures/dish_322.pdf

 See under "Front Panel" section

[eyalkattan]

http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/product_brochures/dish_322.pdf

See under "Front Panel"  it says:

• IR remote sensor, IR blast emitter (TV1 only)

btw, the previous post is also mine... for some reason I was loged out...

[Edited on 13/1/2005 by eyalkattan]

[Taliesin]

Indeed, it does have an IR Blaster.  And I could set the Automatic Event thing to change the channel on record.  I will definitely consider this.  Of course, I already have the Snapstream Firefly, so it would be sad to not use this.

At this time, I am not buying a second tuner.  I would love to have one at some point, but there are other things to spend my money on right now.  :)  Thanx for letting me know.

Now if I can only figure out this Dish Screen Saver thing.  Forum Search to the rescue!!

-Chris

[t00ld00d]

Most Dish receivers that can be controlled by UHF can also be controlled by RF. The tuner that uses UHF can also use RF, but the remote that controls it only uses UHF in SAT mode. If you configure that remote to control your TV or other components it sends RF to those components, but only UHF to the sat box. The blaster on the front panel is used to teach a learning remote the IR commands to run the sat box with an IR remote.

If you hit Menu>setup>installation>diagnostics you should find an option to teach remote. I used this to train my MCE remote to control my box. You push a button on your UHF remote and the box blasts an IR signal to train your learning remote. Which will then control that box in IR mode.

My MCE remote came with an IR receiver which hooked to the computer. The IR receiver itself has two plugins on it for little blasters that stick to your sat/cable box right over the IR receiver. My remote only had one blaster eye included but I suspect it shouldn't be too difficult to find another blaster to plug into it. This would give you two blasters which, in theory, should allow you to control both tuners on your Dish box. I only have a single tuner box (811) and one capture card so I've never loked into it further :(

I guess that was a pretty long-winded way of saying that what you want to do should be possible, but I can't prove it from personal experience.

[Taliesin]

I will definitely look into this when I'm looking into getting my second tuner.  (At that time, there will be more information available on the 322 as well.)  :)  Thank you all for your help!

I also just figured out some stuff about the stupid 322 screen saver.  I couldn't find anything on this site about it, so I think I'll post some information about using the 322 or 522 with a non-Echostar PVR.  :)  Thank you again everyone.

-Chris

[electricd7]

Why don't you just get a Dish 301 off of eBay for your second tuner?  Forget using the 322 for both tuners.

[Taliesin]

That is a possibility.  However, the larger problem I have right now is the screen saver problem, which I documented in the main forum.  My gosh this is a pain.  Once I get it working correctly, I will be happy with the setup, but right now, my dish box is being rendered fairly useless.  And I just heard from a Dish Customer Service rep who tells me that we can expect all Dish receivers to have the screen saver thing coming up.

So if I switch to avoid the second tuner problem, then I'm still going to run up against the screen saver problem.  Right now, I'm very happy with the dual tuner setup because I don't have a second tuner.

Annoying.

-Chris

[Anonymous]

Chris, if you were able to get your mce 2005 remote to work AT ALL on the dish 322, I would love to know how.  I purchased a HP pre-installed with MCE 2005 and can't get the remote to work at all for the dish network 322 box. Maybe I'm positioning the mini blaster wrong?

[Anonymous]

Taliesin, could you let me know what you did to get the irblaster to work with the dish 322?  When I run the setup, it defaults to code 044, but that doesnt work. Doing the scan all doesnt work for me either.

I see there is a real recent update for the Irblaster, but the link doesnt work.  Also (since im such a newbie) can i watch one channel and record off another with the 322?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone got this combination to work?  Im still waiting to hear back from hauppauge tech support.

[woodenbrass]

HI,


I installed dish as a contractor for a better part of a year.  I don't know if you got the answer you needed .  The qick and easy way that I would set this up:
TV1 out- to tuner in pc with ir controll by pc
TV2 out- uhf #2 remote for daily use of watching tv


hope this helps,

woodenbrass