Hauppage 150 Blaster vs Sky TV New Zealand

[Fluxx]

Hi guys

I am new to the world of gbpvr but with years of computer experience I was able to get my new Hauppage 150 working well, and have even managed to get the elusive EPG working here with Sky TV (New Zealand).

The problem im having now is that the IR Blaster will not work, ive tried all sorts of things, the red light is coming on so its not faulty but the Sky decoder box will not even acknowledge the signal. Ive tried all sorts of settings and a couple off apps off the net with no joy.

Has anyone been able to get the IR blasters working with the Sky TV NZ boxes?

[sub]

I dont personally use Sky, but I've read a few times recently that the newest versions of the Hauppauge software include a learning feature, which would hopefully learn the Sky remote.

[hexed]

Hi, I'm in NZ and have successfully got GB-PVR working well (and reliably) with my Sky box.

I have a PCR500MCE. 1 tuner is connected to an antenna to receive the local channels and I then use the composite input (RCA) to connect from the Sky box to to my TV card for use with the second tuner.

I was going to go into a whole waffle about HIP for use with the blaster, but you mentioned that you're getting the red light to come on (I assume that you mean on your blaster). Anyway, here's a link for completeness (can you confirm if you are using HIP?):

Here's a link: http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tips/HipGuide

One thing to note - I have my Sky box sitting underneath my tv shelf with a keyboard over the sensor!! It's really sensitive to interference. If I move it out and have nothing covering the IR blaster, it won't change channels - even if the red light flashes. I think I'll make a cover at some stage...

Let me know if you have any other questions...

ps Sometimes I have to unplug my IR receiver and plug it back it. Seems to stop responding the odd time. I can't work out a pattern to this - only happens every few weeks though...anyone else seen this?

[Fluxx]

Thanks for your advise guys.
I have progressed a little further. I downloaded the latest IRBlast software from Hauppage and set that up, I can have the EPG setup the same as sky and the channel change works in GBPVR but all I get is a flashing blaster and the sky channel does not actually change. I have left it running through all the possible tests to see if one changes the channel.

One last step to total PVR joy

Thanks for the tip on interference, ill try covering the blaster from the outside world.

Seems that the IR receiver is somewhere near the power button (on the Zenith decoder)

[sub]

Ignoring GB-PVR initially, can you change channels in the Hauppauge BlastCFG utility (or whatever its called now...)?

[Fluxx]

Ignoring GB-PVR initially, can you change channels in the Hauppauge BlastCFG utility (or whatever its called now...)?

Not yet, have left it running through all the possible options as I couldn't find a match as it only has North America and Europe available.
Hopefully when I get home from work the channel will have changed and then I just have to sit and wait for it to come round again I guess :-)

[sub]

ok - fingers crossed...

[JonnyCam]

Thanks for the tip on interference, ill try covering the blaster from the outside world.

Yeah, if you have any other electrical devices near the decoder it can screw tings up (with remote & blaster) (my DVD player was stopping the remote from working sometimes)

Seems that the IR receiver is somewhere near the power button (on the Zenith decoder)

If it's the zenith which has the card slot on the left hand side, then the IR recvr is actually the power button as well.

I assume you cant add external codes to the Hauppage IR blaster app?
(if you can, the USBUIRT codes for the Motorola DTH335 will work)

Cheers