Power on/off external digital box.

[koornneef]

Hey Sub.
I searched the wishlist and don't see anyone suggesting this..

For those of us using an external tuner (digital cable box, non-US,) we need to keep that box powered up all the time, so it can see channel changes from the IR blaster.

Any chance of an option to send a 'power' command via IR at the start of tuner in use and a second 'power' when no longer capturing? Or even call a batch file 30 seconds before recording or when entering live-tv?

Two reasons for this:
1. My cable box takes 400Watts of power (yeah, more than the PC)
2. Power fail turns off the box and there is no 'power on when plugged in' option, so I record black screens for the rest of the day.

Even more advanced (but I'd be happy without) would be for gbpvr to see that the incoming signal is all black and assume it's 'out of sync' with the cable box power and send a power on again.

Thanks!
-jim

[observer_11]

What model STB? How is it connected to your HTPC? I can turn my Motorola STB on/off using the "-d 64" paramaters with Timmmore's firewire channel tool and the GraphRecorder "plug-in" (actually installed and configured as a capture source).

[martint123]

400 watts - are you sure? thats enough to fry eggs on!

There is a snag in that many STB's use the same IR signal to turn the box on as turn it off. So unless you know the current state, you could be turning it off!

I think that's why the Harmony remotes have the help system to make you get things back in sync.

I've got my STB and the PVR server running off a UPS now after suffering similar problems.

[carpeVideo]

You could also try a usb controlled power strip - this one is only on if your computer is on.

http://www.instructables.com/id/SC9F1YAFJKGWVP3/

or buy one at:

http://www.theecostrip.com/

of course then you can't watch tv with the computer off :0)

Observer how does you stb set up work - I have found with the timmmore software I couldn't tell the state of the STB and the same command turns it off so it was easy to create issues. Plus standby for STB's is often only a few percent better than "ON" mode

[observer_11]

Observer how does you stb set up work - I have found with the timmmore software I couldn't tell the state of the STB and the same command turns it off so it was easy to create issues. Plus standby for STB's is often only a few percent better than "ON" mode

I currently have no way to confirm the power state, but I am planning to experiment with this info from the Motorola STB wiki:[INDENT]NOTE: There are no discrete ON or OFF commands, but you can emulate them with the following:[/INDENT]

• ON = MENU - POWER - POWER (if OFF: displays setup menu, powers OFF, then powers ON. If ON: displays menu, powers OFF, powers back ON.)
  
• OFF = MENU - POWER (if OFF: displays setup menu, then powers OFF. If ON: displays menu, then powers OFF.)
  

[INDENT]NOTE: To get rid of the warning screen that sometimes comes up regarding interruption of an ongoing program recording, append a "LIVE" key to the end of the macro. i.e. ON = MENU - POWER - POWER - LIVE and OFF = MENU - POWER - LIVE.
[/INDENT]

[observer_11]

Here are 2 small batch files for discretely turning the Motorola STB ON and OFF, as per my earlier post. Because the WinXP command line has no SLEEP function I am using the popular "ping" command workaround with the ON batch and you may need to add this to the OFF batch if you find timings aren't quite right between the PC and STB. I have also commented out the last "LIVE" command because I wasn't sure I had the right STB button code (2?) and didn't have time to test. Please note this is only a sample template for others - your install directory may differ as well as your STB device code (mine happens to be 2).

Here is the Discrete STB "ON":

Code:

REM Disrete Power ON for Motorola STB  Batch Program
"C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 9
"C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 64
@ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 -w 500 > nul
"C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 64
REM "C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 2

Here is the Discrete STB "OFF":

Code:

REM Motorola Discrete Power OFF Batch Program
"C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 9
"C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 64
REM "C:\Program Files\Timmmoore\MCE 2005 STB Controller\Channelw" -d 2 2

[koornneef]

Hey Observer..
Do you have a link on setting up the graphrecorder plugin?

The STB does not have distinct on/off buttons and I'm OK with the possibility of toggling it the wrong way.

Channel change is reliable and I would assume sending the power command would be the same. But that is why I mentioned if the code was 'built-in' then you could check for a black screen as an indication of the STB being off.

Oh, the model is a really old 1st generation Atlanta bought from Rogers cable here in Canada. If you're tuned to a PPV program it sucks up much more power than regular tv. Prolly DRM decoding? Anyway, power consumption was tested with a kill-a-watt meter. It's hot enough that electrical tape won't stick as the adhesive turns to goo.

Anyhow, I was thinking it might be a good option for those with STB or Satellite, where the internal tuner on the capture card isn't compatible.


-jim

[sub]

Channel change is reliable and I would assume sending the power command would be the same. But that is why I mentioned if the code was 'built-in' then you could check for a black screen as an indication of the STB being off.

Sorry, but there is zero chance I'm going to build something like this into the app. You'll need to find some external work around. Also, the app does not look at the video when its recording - since this would require decoders etc, which are not used during recording, so the app would have no idea if the video was black.

[observer_11]

I think if you look on the wiki there is some info on GraphRecorder. Also search the forums for 'GraphRecorder' should turn up a few more tidbits.

[fuzzweed]

You could also try a usb controlled power strip - this one is only on if your computer is on.


or buy one at:

http://www.theecostrip.com/

anyone seen these available in the uk?