Question about USB UIRT

[arnabbiswas]

Hi,

I am considering buying a USB-UIRT for remote controlling my PC and controlling my set top box from my PC. I had 2 questions for existing owners of this device:

1. How good is the performance of this device? Specifically, given the fact that a lot goes on from the time a button is pressed on the remote (changing channels on the PC and in turn changing channels on the set top box), is the delay caused by all these activities acceptable? Is there a noticable time lag between a button press on the remote and the expected outcome?

2. I was unable to understand how having both the ir receiver and the ir emitter on the front face of the USB-UIRT work. I would expect the IR emitter to be located on the back face of this device since I imagine this device would need to be placed in the front of the set top box in order to change it's channels. If someone could upload a picture of their hook-up or point me to one, it would be very helpful.

Also, I would like to get started quickly with the USB-UIRT, so if someone could please send me their HIP config file for this device, I would highly appreciate it.

[Paul Gordash]

I have been using a USB-UIRT with GBPVR for years now. It is fantastic. It changes the channels on my cable box with no problem. I am kind of a rebel and use Girder for the receiving portion. I let Girder take in the button presses from my remote and send GBPVR the proper keystrokes. Even with Girder in there it is pretty snappy.

If you have any other questions about the USB-UIRTand GBPVR, just drop me a ine.

Later,
Paul

[arnabbiswas]

Thanks Paul,

Could you please also tell me where do you position the USB-UIRT so that your STB is able to "see" the ir blasts? Is the USB-UIRT tedious to setup?

[Paul Gordash]

My USB-UIRT sits on top of my cable box. The IR blast is quite strong so it can be positioned pretty much anywhere.

Paul

[stefan]

I can confirm this. I have mine sitting "under" the set top box... or rather in front of it. That is, I have the cable running under my stb, and the blaster part sticking out at the bottom of the STB. Works perfectly. I think I/it missed one channel change during all this time (a year or so).

[joolzhaines]

Hi,

Can the usb-uirt and gbpvr be used with pre-programmed recording to change channels when i am not around to change the channel?

Thanks for your help

Joolz

[sub]

Can the usb-uirt and gbpvr be used with pre-programmed recording to change channels when i am not around to change the channel?

Yes - that is the intended purpose of all the IR blasters that GB-PVR supports

[jksmurf]

Hi, ....
1. How good is the performance of this device? Specifically, given the fact that a lot goes on from the time a button is pressed on the remote (changing channels on the PC and in turn changing channels on the set top box), is the delay caused by all these activities acceptable? Is there a noticable time lag between a button press on the remote and the expected outcome?

....

Also, I would like to get started quickly with the USB-UIRT, so if someone could please send me their HIP config file for this device, I would highly appreciate it.

It is very good, not perfect of course and probably faster with a faster PC (you can see the numbers change on-screen when you press the remote on my PC), but I (like Paul) have had mine for over a year and missed only two recorded programs where it didn't change channel (so I ended up recording two hours of Dolly the Sheep rather than a game I wanted to watch). I suspect this was due to my CPU being pegged at close to 100% while transcoding a file from x264 to MPEG2. Overall it is a great gadget and I agree with others it's blast appears better than the IR ones that come with the Cards which normally have to be taped to the Cable Box IR receiver. It can also be used with multiple STB's as it has two (or maybe even 3) channels.

wrt to the HIP codes, if all you want is channel changes, you don;t need them, if your STB is not listed, GBPVR can "learn" the codes 0~9 and Enter. For anything else you will need the learnt codes and tehse are specific to a remote if I understand it correctly.

I'd very much like the learnt codes for an MVO remote if anyone has them btw!

Cheers,

k.

[Torque]

Also the USB-UIRT has jacks on the back that you can plug the "blaster buds" into. This allowed me to hide the USB-UIRT from view and stick the bud on my Dish Network's STB. Makes for a little cleaner looking setup IMO and pretty much guarantees the STB will "catch" the signal it is transmitting.