Ssky's GBPVR, PVR-150, & Dish Network 301 Guide

[rampy]

Here's where you can comment on or ask questions about Ssky's GBPVR, PVR-150, & Dish Network 301 Guide in the byopvr articles section

Thanks for the user contributed article ssky, good job!

rampy

[valiamarkais]

This was a wicked-awsome article.  Nice work Ssky.  I think it covers GB-PVR and dish well.  It's nice to have a step-by-step article that someone can follow exactly to get started.

Thanks again,

-VA

[reboot]

Nicely done! Gonna bookmark that for the folks at gbpvr.com

[martianman68]

Ssky, did you ever get the IR Blaster to work with the Dish 301 box?  I've got a 311, and I can't get any codes to work.  I noticed on Page 3 of your setup, you mention picking the "change channels with .exe changer Plugin".  Did you successfully test the IR blaster (the part that changes the channel on the Dish box from the PC) before you installed gbpvr?

[ssky]

Ssky, did you ever get the IR Blaster to work with the Dish 301 box?  I've got a 311, and I can't get any codes to work.  I noticed on Page 3 of your setup, you mention picking the "change channels with .exe changer Plugin".  Did you successfully test the IR blaster (the part that changes the channel on the Dish box from the PC) before you installed gbpvr?

Sorry for my such a belated reply... Yes I did manage to make everythig work.. The channels change, I can record any program on any channel and truthfully I loved it. I love the experience of building my first PVR and for that I thank the BYOPVR community, without which I would have been a complete loser.

Thanks all of you who helped me in this project.

[itstim]

This article was really great.  I have almost the same setup.  I am looking forward to going through the pages to setup my first PVR!

Thanks!

[Prem]

Ssky, Thanks for the excellent article. I followed it word by word and I am almost there. The only thing I could not get it to work is the IR blaster. I tried every possible code and it was not able to control my DN receiver. Could you please let me know what code you used. Thx again
 

[Tarun]

I am planning on doing this project this weekend....if all is in my favor.
My only question was, once all this is installed what is the software used for music, pictures, etc.
Is it a XP program.....or does the WinTV product do this?

[Miller]

Check the reply on your other post.

[ktalley]

Not sure if this thread is "active" any longer, but I'll post nonetheless.  First of all, thanks (ssky) for a great article.  I just purchased a PVR-150 a few days ago, and also have the Dish 301 receiver(s).  I must admit that I've spent about 6 hours struggling with the included WinTV2000 software, but at this point can (at least) connect via coax and change the channel w/IR Blaster.  However, picture quality is only so-so (lots of noise) using the coax.  I tried to get WinTV2000 to see s-video input (changing the cable from my Dish receiver, of course), but I don't get anything.  At first, I was concerned that my concept of strictly using S-Video input (vs. coax & the tuner on Channel 3) but still having a channel-changing PVR using IR-blaster wasn't going to be an option.  But now that I read this article (and some other posts), I think that this *IS* possible.

Maybe it's time to install latest Hauppage drivers (vs. what was on the CD), move on to GBPVR, and give THAT a try. 

A few general questions:

1) My audio (using LINE-IN on sound card) is about 1.5-2 seconds out-of-sync with my video.  I tried using the audio-in on the PVR-150, but never could get any sound via that option (I selected Hauppage Wave Device in Audio options).  Any ideas?  And again, perhaps GBPVR might solve some of this, but I'm not sure that will be the case...

2) Is there a better (free) MPEG decoder to install?  I've read in some posts that the one included w/PVR-150 is a bit old, and not the greatest.

3) Can someone out there confirm that I *CAN* have a channel-changing PVR (using included IR-blaster), but still use the S-Video input on the PVR-150 (vs. the lesser-quality coax)?

This forum is a life-saver (thanks rampy).  Any input or suggestions for my setup is appreciated!!!

(Oh, lest I forget -- my HTPC is a Celeron 2.6Ghz, with 120gb hard drive and 512mb of ram running XP Home -- PVR-150 & ATI Radeon 7000 w/VGA/DVI/SVideo out -- SBLive audio card)

Thanks!

[rampy]

Maybe it's time to install latest Hauppage drivers (vs. what was on the CD), move on to GBPVR, and give THAT a try. 

A few general questions:

1) My audio (using LINE-IN on sound card) is about 1.5-2 seconds out-of-sync with my video.  I tried using the audio-in on the PVR-150, but never could get any sound via that option (I selected Hauppage Wave Device in Audio options).  Any ideas?  And again, perhaps GBPVR might solve some of this, but I'm not sure that will be the case...

Definitely supposed to use the hauppauge pvr150's audio inputs NOT the sound card inputs. It might be time to try something better than wintv2000, like gbpvr or the trials of the commercial software (BTW we're running a giveaway, don't forget to enter if you haven't already!).  You shouldn't have to be selecting any audio, just plug it in... 

2) Is there a better (free) MPEG decoder to install?  I've read in some posts that the one included w/PVR-150 is a bit old, and not the greatest.

Free? Not so much (to my knowledge).  I like the nivdia pure video decoder but it's definitely not free.   If you bought a DVD rom drive or a recent video card it may have come with a DVD decoder (like sonic mydvd or cyberlink... ) check your stack of CD's   The cyberlink powerdvd would be a step up.

3) Can someone out there confirm that I *CAN* have a channel-changing PVR (using included IR-blaster), but still use the S-Video input on the PVR-150 (vs. the lesser-quality coax)?

Absolutely.. most people do it this way... it is the preferred way.

This forum is a life-saver (thanks rampy).  Any input or suggestions for my setup is appreciated!!!

(Oh, lest I forget -- my HTPC is a Celeron 2.6Ghz, with 120gb hard drive and 512mb of ram running XP Home -- PVR-150 & ATI Radeon 7000 w/VGA/DVI/SVideo out -- SBLive audio card)

Thanks!

Well it's not just me... it's you guys helping eachother that makes the site go!

good luck!  (Feel free to ask additional questions or start additional threads if you need to)

rampy

[callit]

This guide was fantastic - I have about the exact same setup, or I do now.  I've been contemplating the PVR-150 for a while and finally decided to grab one today.  Had everything installed, and television timeshifting within 1-2 hours.  For those having trouble with remote codes, I believe my Dish Receiver (301 I think) worked with either remote code 85 or 88.

Thanks for making the setup on this completely painless.