[mythtv-users] MythTV and DISH - a great solution

[Gabe Rubin]

Some directv receivers have an input that allows you to plug directly
from the computers serial port into the back of the dss receiver (via
a low speed port I believe).  You just need to get the right cable (I
got it online, but it seems fairly trivial to build and schematics are
online), and then use either the sony.pl or rca.pl script (I had to
use the rca, but others have luck with the sony script), and then you
are pretty much off and running.

Looks like with the switch to cable, that my motorolla cable box has
an active serial port as well that I can use to change channels.  Once
I get a Internet feed to my myth box, I will be able to get that up
and running (hopefully).  I was hoping to avoid using lirc alltogether
as I use it for my remote already and did not want to build a second
instance of lirc.


On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:51:26 -0500, John Thomas <jwt9478 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:03:05 -0400, Michael J. Sherman
> 
> 
> <msherman at dsbox.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I've been using Myth for over a year and a half, and I use it with my
> > Dish network receiver.  This forces me to use one of those external
> > channel-changing devices to transmit IR signals and get the box to
> > change channels.  First I bought an ActiSys, and that didn't work well
> > at all.  Then I made my own, and after fighting with lirc, it seemed
> > to work.  But it only worked most of the time.  One out of ten channel
> > changes it would just miss a digit.  And I must say that not having
> > the confidence that what you want recorded is actually going to be
> > recorded somewhat takes away from the PVR experience.
> >
> > So if any of you are in the situation I was in, read on.  I have
> > discovered the fool-proof way of integrating a Dish network box with
> > MythTV and I just want to get this written up so it'll live on in the
> > archives.  Big thanks go out to Bill Munson and his excellent Perl
> > scripts!  He's the man.
> >
> > 1) Buy a MyBlaster IR transmitter.  I bought mine here:
> > http://www.mytvstore.com/product_id_001.html
> > It cost me $37.95 + shipping.  I bought the serial version.  It was
> > delivered in three days.
> >
> > 2) Grab Bill's Perl scripts.  Email him (search for his posts on this
> > lists for contact info), or you can download the exact zip he sent me
> > from my server here:
> > http://stealthboy.com/MyBlaster14.zip
> >
> > 3) Plug the MyBlaster into serial port 1 (COM1, aka ttyS0).  Hook up
> > its power supply, too.
> >
> > 4) Install the Time::HiRes Perl package through the magic of CPAN.
> > ("perl -MCPAN -e shell", then "install Time::HiRes").
> >
> > 5) Unzip the MyBlaster14.zip file.   Edit the MyBlaster.pl file.  For
> > a Dish network box, leave the remote_code set at 775, and change the
> > Device_Type to 3 (for satellite).  Also change ttyS1 to ttyS0 if
> > you're using COM1 instead of the default COM2.  I also changed the
> > inter_key_delay to 0.1 instead of 1.0 second so it would switch
> > channels faster.
> >
> > 6) Put the edited MyBlaster.pl in /usr/local/bin/, and make sure it is
> > executable (chmod +x MyBlaster.pl).
> >
> > 7) Make a channel_change script that MythTV can use (and put this in
> > your setup where it asks for the external channel change command).
> > Make sure it's executable.  I suppose you could leave this out and
> > just use MyBlaster.pl as what Myth calls directly, but whatever.  For
> > testing and whatnot I liked the ability to leave the Myth setting the
> > same and just change this little script if I had to.
> >
> >       #!/bin/sh
> >       /usr/local/bin/MyBlaster.pl $1
> >
> > To test it, just try running "channel_change 183" or some other
> > channel number.
> >
> > 8) That's it!  No messing with lirc, no building your own transmitter
> > to work with the picky Dish box.
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> >
> >
> >
> 
> Nice guide.  I've been considering going the satelite route for my next move.
> 
> I'm curious if this same process can be generalize to be used on all
> satelite networks (ie. Direct TV)
> 
> If not, what changes do you think would need to be looked at?
> 
> Thanks again for the guide.
> 
> 
> 
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