[mythtv-users] Dish Network and Dual Tuners/Receivers

[William]

> I'm wondering what the best options are for using two Dish 
> Network receivers with my MythTV box. Are there any Dish 
> receivers that have serial ports for changing channels? Or 
> would I need two separate IR transmitters, one for each 
> receiver? (I've noticed old satellite receivers at Goodwill 
> and other thrift stores recently..is there any reason I 
> couldn't use two of those or would I need, say, the 301 model 
> receivers my roommates already have?)

I have a dual dishnetwork system myself.
 
You will need two IR transmitters and a way to isolate the transmitters from
each other since the remote codes are the same for both receivers. I use a
sheet of cardboard between receivers (they are stacked). I decided to use
two MyBlaster transmitters as they are quite cheap. I also wound up writing
the linux drivers for it since none existed. Look back thru the archives, I
posted the driver to this list a couple of months ago.

As for your idea of using old receivers, that will not work. The access
cards in the dish system are married to the receiver and cannot be moved to
a new system. You would have to contact dish and have them activate the
system. They will want a contract to do that. Also, its not uncommon for an
old system to be full of unpaid ppv events that you will have to pay for
before service will start so be very cautious with used systems.

BTW - Be sure to disable any channels you do not subscribe to in your
channel list. At least on my system, if you change channels to one you dont
have access to you will not be able to change channels with Mythtv until you
use the dish remote and do a channel up or down. The error box that pops up
does not accept channel numbers, only up, down and cancel.

Good luck
Bill