[mythtv-users] Switching to Directv from Dish and have a few questions

[William Powers]

On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 6:53 PM, Michael <mythtv at blandford.net> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Here is my current setup
> Mythtv 0.25.2
> 2x Dish network VIP-622 receivers
> 2x HDPVRs
> commandir III
>
> I am interested in switching to directv.  It looks like their current HD
> receiver is the H24.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1)  Any there concerns with the H24 and mythtv?  With the HDPVR, I would
> need to utilize the component output for all recordings.  Is the output
> restricted for component on any channels?

I use HD-PVR's to capture the output of H24's with MythTV and it works
fine for me.  I don't know of any restricted channels, but I probably
only record a dozen or so channels when you get right down to it and I
have never tried it with PPV.

My H24 only has a coaxial SPDIF output, so I had to buy a media
converter in order to capture 5.1 audio.  Stereo works fine.

> 2) I am hoping to use the network channel change script
>
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Controlling_DirecTV_Set_Top_Box_(STB)_via_Network
> and eliminate IR altogether on the backend.  Are there any known issues > with
> the H24 and network channel changes?

I use an earlier version of the directv_http.pl that works very
reliably for me.  By inspection, the main differences between the
script I am using and the one currently in the Wiki appear to be
logging-related, so I don't expect you will have any issues.  To use
the script, I have my network DHCP server set to give the STB's a
fixed IP address and that works well.

You may have to tinker with delays in order to get everything to work
reliably.  I currently need a 6 or 7 second delay after tuning my H24
before exiting the tuning process in order to avoid getting 'B' files
from the HD-PVR.  You can call the script directly with the desired
delay or write a wrapper script with a 'sleep' statement after
returning from the directv_http.pl script.

IIRC, there may be some additional information in the mailing list
archives - just search on 'directv'.