Multi HDPR w Colossus - blasters work?

[PatM]

Luckily I found out you can't use multiple blasters on hauppauge cards (you can't specify a device and you don't really know which device will fire it's blaster ahead of time). So my idea of a colossus and HVR-2250 for three capture devices is dead. I'm looking into the USB-UIRT but the local resellers sell the box only with no blaster cables and don't offer cables seperately. Even the USB-UIRT site doesn't list cables as purchasable.

Nobody sells the eHome blaster that I can find except Hauppauge and it doesn't say if it takes two blasters or, like the one I got with the 2250, has two ports but only one works.

So I'm wondering. If I hang two HDPVRs off my HTPC can I have them blast seperately or are they like the rest of the line and not seperately commandable?

[mikeh49]

Check on ebay for MCE remotes and/or their receivers. The receiver can typically operate two blasters. You can get the receiver separately I think, but I have two remotes with receivers that were about $16 w/free shipping including two blasters; look for seller dacheng, I think. Lots of these things available from China. You need to ensure that you get a "real" MCE remote, a good clue is that it will have a bigger receiver. Then, if you're on XP, you'll need to find the MS ehome update which will provide the drivers for the receiver and blasters. Ignore this if you have XP-MCE or 7. I don't use blasters, so you'll need to get some advice on how to make it work in NPVR. It does though.

[PatM]

I heard from Hauppauge, doesn't matter what product, card or external, their IR stuff will not work except with a single card/tuner. even the dual tuner cards can only handle one blaster.

I ordered a USB-UIRT which they don't supply with external blasters but I emailed the maker and he said any low power transmitter will work as long as it's the 1/8" mono jack.

I'll stop at the local electronics store and pick up some 16mW infra-red LEDs and some wire/jacks and just make some. The most complicated part is getting the LED polarity correct which is not complicated at all.

[pBS]

HDPVR blasters aren't very good anyways, they seem to take forever to blast, tho that has improved with latest driver releases..
colossus is fine tho..
but much better off with a MCE type usb blaster..many choices of software and dual blasters on most..
future compatibility should be ok too cuz they still sell them with win7 media center machines..[with more buttons too]

to dedtermine if a remote dongle is a real mce type before you buy, download their drivers...look in the *.inf files for ehome..

[JonnyCam]

I ordered a USB-UIRT which they don't supply with external blasters but I emailed the maker and he said any low power transmitter will work as long as it's the 1/8" mono jack.

I've used a usb-uirt for years, and it's been really stable, for the most part.
I found that it could sometimes disappear from windows. I use a batch file & devcon to restart it using a scheduled task.

Code:

devcon restart "USB\VID_0403&PID_F850"

[PatM]

I got one and started a thread in hardware about making the blaster cables.