Hong Kong Specifics

[issacleung]

Hi all. Im visiting from HKG too.
Im new to GBPVR so my questions might have been answered already elsewhere.. if so please dont hesitate to flame me and let me know the right place to look at.

I have already got the Hauppauge MCE remote but ANY tv card. Im going to get the Hauppuage PVR150MCE this weekend. I have been playing with HIP a bit and I am already able to change my cableTV set-top box by the supplied IR blaster with the remote package.

1. How will I be able to change my cabletv channels within the GBPVR interface after installing the 150MCE card, given I have correctly setup my HIP with the IR blaster to change those cabletv channels? Do I change the channels directly thru GBPVR, or thru HIP?

2. How will my cabletv channels show up in GBPVR? In ONE channel, just like a normal TV, or in each dedicated channel?

3. Im using a 24inch wide monitor. Will my screen resolution screw up? (4:3 broadcast and 16:10 display problem?)

Thank you for your time.

[HK Phoey]

Hi Issac,
I assume that you will connect your TV arial to the composite input of the 150MCE and the set top box to the s-video. I've only used NOW broadband, not Cable-Tv.

If so, you will be able to set whatever channel numbers you want to any of the channels and GBPVR will figure out what to do. For instance, I have
1 = HBO on NOW
2 = Pearl on terrestrial TV
3 = World on terrestrial TV
4 = Discovery Channel on NOW
etc.

In GBPVR setup you have to define which input a channel is on, what channel number that is on the external source, and what channel number you want to refer to it within GBPVR.

You will use the setting in GBPVR to call an external program when a channel needs changing for the s-video input. That program will be hipsend.exe, and GBPVR will pass it the external channel number as an arguement.

If it goes properly then when you use GBPVR to control the TV you neither know nor care whether the source is domestic broadcast or cable TV - the machine takes care of it!

For your 24" monitor I think you would see a blank border at the top and bottom of the screen to keep the dimension ratio correct.

If you want to do something on the project before your shopping trip, go to http://www.tvxb.com to get the software for the electronic program guide, and the HK files. Although Cable TV has a built in program guide, it is better to use TVxb to get the data in to GBPVR so that you can actually do something with the data - choose programs in the future to record and current ones to watch.

Enjoy the project!

[hotdoc]

hi Issac
Wonder if you can share your HIP configure file to change the channel of iCable STB. I've no luck at all to get HIP to learn my icalbe remote control singal. BTW, which version of HIP are you using?

[jksmurf]

hotdoc,

If all you need is to change channels of iCable in GBPVR, then GBPVR can help you learn this, you don't need HIP. I have NowBB and change the STB using GBPVR's inbuilt learner with a USB-UIRT.

k.

[davidmt]

Hi all,

I am also in Hong Kong and have decided to build a PVR. I bought a WIN TV 150 at DVClub in Wanchai and installed it in an old PC. Everything seems to work well except for a few small problems.

Has anyone worked out how to get the Now Broadband box working with the IR Blaster that comes with the WIN TV 150? I tested all of the codes and none of them seem to work.

I realise I can buy a USB-UIRT, but would rather just get the one I have working if possible. Failing that, are there any local options I can buy rather than mail order?

Aside from that problem, everything else went surprisingly well with a high wife approval factor.

[jksmurf]

David,

This thread (this is page 3 of 3) http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/to...93.30.html on byopvr has a few hints, the biggest issue is simply range. The emitter on the PVR-150 Blaster is not as powerful as the USB-UIRT. Suggest you stick the emitter directly to the front of the NowBB Box.

My cheapo OEM version of the 150 did not have a blaster.

k.

[davidmt]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I had a look at that thread but I wasn't able to see my situation there (or at least the solution to my situation). I saw (and downloaded) the MCEIR stuff, but am not sure if that is what I need as it seems to be MCE related.

As I understood it the WINTV150 should be able to do it with its own blaster. I did make sure it was taped to the small circle to the right of the numbers and can see the light flashing on the NowBB box when I send commands. The problem is I cannot figure out the correct setup (if there is one) for the NowBB box. The options start with selecting North America or Europe and then go to a specific box manufacturer (which is not printed on my box).

The help file suggests that, in this situation, perhaps the box is simply "not supported" which implies I might not be able to use it at all if I cannot reprogram the codes it is able to send (as is possible with the UIRT).

[jksmurf]

David,

Hmm...

box is simply "not supported" which implies I might not be able to use it at all if I cannot reprogram the codes it is able to send (as is possible with the UIRT).

Yeah, this may be the case for the native WinTV support, but AFAIK GBPVR "should" be able to learn the codes. One fellow (HKPhoey) said

I am doing that successfully in Hong Kong using a Hauppaugge PVR-500 and GBPVR software, rather than MCE. My NOW broadband TV connects to the S-video input of the tv decoder card, and an ir-blaster is used to switch the channels on the NOW TV box.

HKPhoey also wrote

There are a couple of entries in the wiki at gbpvr on how to set this up using the program HIP

His write up on HIP is here http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/to...l#msg31680

Did you have a dekko at the GBPVR wiki? http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tips/HipGuide and
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tips/HipGuide2

The USB-UIRT codes in the GBPVR drop-down are ones my system learnt and I sent to sub, but there is no native entry for the IR-Blaster Box that I know of.

btw the taped bit is obviously only for the emitter. When "learning" codes point the remote at (clsoe to) the Blaster Box.... but I suspect you know this already :-)

HTH and let us know how you get on!

k.

[davidmt]

OK, I see now. I must have just glanced over that as I thought I could go native support from the WINTV150. I did look at the HIP setups on the wiki but, again, I was looking more for simple native setup rather than using a third party setup.

Actually on the the pages you mention even states as a prerequisite "HIP should be able to control at least one of your STBs" which is what I am trying to accomplish in the first place, so I again just skipped over it.

Thanks for your help, I will try again tonight and see how I get on with it.

[davidmt]

I have tried many things, but the IR receiver from the Hauppauge does not seem to be able to read the NOW BB remote, so cannot learn the codes. Also, HIP does not seem to have a setup for the Hauppauge IR receiver, I have tried all of the different setups and none work.

As I wanted to sort this out quickly the best option for me was to simply order the USB-UIRT as it does seem to have no problems. Hopefully iy will get me up and going.

All of that aside, the rest of GB-PVR is great. Aside from a few setting problems (playing DVDs), it really works well and far exceeds my expectations. I just wish the site was up so I could play with some of the plugins.