Sky UK and IR blaster advice needed

[bgowland]

A mate of mine was visiting last night and expressed interest in me putting together a GB-PVR system for him. He wants 2 or 3 tuners, one would be dedicated to his external Sky box and the others to run straight from a standard aerial.

He'll obviously need an IR blaster to switch channel on the Sky box and that's where my knowledge is lacking. I've done a quick search on the forums and see that there are problems with the Hauppauge MCE Blaster kit and Sky UK boxes. Is there a resolution to this? Alternatively, what other blasters work with GB-PVR and Sky boxes?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Brian

[ricklous]

i found this referenced in a post from the forum the other day:
[URL="http://www.heenan.me.uk/control-sky-from-pc/"]
heenans remote[/URL]

and although i havnt read more than the first paragraph, heres a review

[martint123]

I don't know about the MCE blaster, but the PVR150 retail blaster software doesn't work for me with a Sky box even though it is on the list.

Hauppauge US says it should be fixed in next version whenever that is.

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=11989

[bgowland]

Thanks guys. I'll do some more research.

Anybody else out there have a working Sky / GB-PVR setup?

Cheers,
Brian

[sim1964]

I use Redeye serial to change channels on my Sky Digibox no probs .

http://www.redremote.co.uk/

[bgowland]

I use Redeye serial to change channels on my Sky Digibox no probs .

Just to confirm - you're using it successfully with GB-PVR right? On the Recording Source setup page in Config, which Channel Changer option do you select?

Cheers,
Brian

[sim1964]

using exe channel changer.
I did have to mess with pauses a little but this has been running with GBPVR absolutely hitch free for about 9 months.

[bgowland]

using exe channel changer.
I did have to mess with pauses a little but this has been running with GBPVR absolutely hitch free for about 9 months.

Thanks very much for the confirmation - this is promising.

On another note (sorry for so many questions)...where do you get your EPG info for scheduling recordings? Can GB-PVR pull it from the external box or do you use Bleb or XMLTV etc. My mate only has a dial-up connection which, of course, could be configured to auto-dial at a certain time to pull net-based listings but it would simplifiy things if he could get them from the Sky box.

Cheers,
Brian

[womble]

To change channels on the SKy box I just use these two.
http://www.pacelink.co.uk/rf2link.htm
http://www.usbuirt.com/overview.htm

That way all your cables can be hidden round the back.

and for EPG info I use
http://www.birtles.org.uk/xmltv/

[sim1964]

Thanks very much for the confirmation - this is promising.

On another note (sorry for so many questions)...where do you get your EPG info for scheduling recordings? Can GB-PVR pull it from the external box or do you use Bleb or XMLTV etc. My mate only has a dial-up connection which, of course, could be configured to auto-dial at a certain time to pull net-based listings but it would simplifiy things if he could get them from the Sky box.

Cheers,
Brian

Xmltv. I use Alan Birtles grabber GUI version.