DRT800 works with the Digital Stream & Insignia Converter Boxes [Text View]

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Claus

06-23-2008, 10:45 AM

dolphinlover821

06-25-2008, 03:18 AM

I successfully got the Insignia NS-DXA1 and Digital Stream DTX9950 working with the Humax DRT800. The key are the IR codes which were difficult to find.
NS-DXA1: 10075-B
DTX9950: 10013-B

Detailed write up about my experiences. (http://www.niesens.com/hobbies/entertainment-system/tivo-with-tv-converter-box.en.html)

Claus,
1st I want to say thank you so much for all the effort you have put into this & for being willing to share it with others. I followed the link to your write up and the PDF diagrams. WOW -- great details. My problem is that 1st I am quite the novice, 2nd I don't have all of that extra equipment you have and my brain could just not wrap around it all & try to figure out how to adapt it to my equipment. I am hoping that you can help me figure out what I should do for my set-up.

I have a 14" Magnavox Smart Series TV with 7/05 or 7/06 manufacture date, has red, white, & yellow connecters in front & ?RF connector in back. I am using Phillips MANT510 UHF/VHF/FM antenna which has 2 collapsable antennas, flat middle panel, and 2 buttons which I think are for db levels?

My current set up is as follows: 1. Cable from wall into the Phillips Antenna 2. Cable from Antenna to out on Splitter 3. Cable from Series 2 DT TiVo to out on Splitter 4. Cable from TV to in on Splitter 5. Red, White, & Yellow from TV to TiVo

Code:
------------
| OUT | <=== Tivo (RF input or output ?)
TV <=== | IN |
| OUT | <=== Phillips Antenna <=== external antenna cable from wall
------------
(a member named gerhard911 did these diagrams for me)

Current channels I receive are: (3) NBC, (5) Fox, (8) CBS, (10) PBS, (13) ABC, (21) MyLVTV, (25) Vegas TV, (33) CW, and occasionally (50) Jewelry TV

21, 25, 33, & 50 do not go thru the TiVo, have to use TV remote and can not record on them.

None of the channels come in crystal clear, but 5, 8, & 10 can be really miserable with bad audio crackling at times.

I live in a 1st floor apt in Las Vegas, cross streets are Sahara Ave & Nellis Blvd. ? I vaguely remember in a few of the posts (on AVS) that the person helping needed that info. I have a huge pine tree right in front of my patio which besides the small bedroom window is the only other window I have in the apt. Patio is south exposure, unable to get Satellite due to the tree, I think it was DishNetwork installer whom told me that I wouldn't be able to get solid signal due to the tree.

Code:
------------
| OUT | ===> Tivo (RF input)
Phillips Antenna ===> | IN |
| OUT | ===> TV (RF Input)
------------
I tried this set-up as per gerhard911's suggestion & the reception was much, much worse so I went back to my orginal set-up.

I have already purchased the Digital Stream 9950, just haven't had time to set it up. I think it should go between the splitter & the tv? I only have until Friday (6/27) to use my other coupon. Trying to find the Zenith 901 or RCA800B1 -- everyone is out of stock.

I would appreciate any suggestions you can give me.

Claus

06-25-2008, 08:08 AM

Do you have a roof antenna and you are using the Phillips MANT510 to amplify the signal or why are you connecting the Phillips MANT510 indoor antenna to the building's RF wiring?

Since you don't have a cable or satellite box use the composite connections (the yellow, red, and white connectors) to connect the Digital Stream 9950 to your TV. Feed the antenna signal into the Digital Stream RF in.

BTW part of your bad signal could be that you are splitting it as every splitter reduces the signal. You could also consider an outdoor antenna for better reception. But it sounds that you might have gone through all these options already.
As far as I understand with digital you either get a channel or don't so you might loose some of the weak stations.

One thing to consider is if your area has any low power stations that don't need to switch to digital. In that case you would use a cable line up (if you can find one that matches) for the digital TV converter box and the off-the-air channel line up for the rf (antenna) input on your tivo box. Split the antenna signal before the digital TV converter box and feed one to the box and the other one to the tivo rf input.

With all this your available channel line up might put snags into this whole setup.

dolphinlover821

06-25-2008, 11:22 PM

"You could also consider an outdoor antenna for better reception. But it sounds that you might have gone through all these options already."

I used the wall antenna (apt antenna basically) to try & help the Phillips indoor antenna. I don't have ability to place an outdoor antenna do to apt rules.

"One thing to consider is if your area has any low power stations that don't need to switch to digital. In that case you would use a cable line up (if you can find one that matches) for the digital TV converter box and the off-the-air channel line up for the rf (antenna) input on your tivo box. Split the antenna signal before the digital TV converter box and feed one to the box and the other one to the tivo rf input."

I have TiVo setup as if I have cable. TiVo Series 2 DUAL TUNER doesn't have an option to choose antenna -- only cable or sat, which seems to be one of the biggest obstacles in trying to keep some functionality with the converter boxes. TiVo plans to try & provide software update for the Series 2 SINGLE TUNERs only. So I am at the mercy of brilliant people like you to help me figure out a work around that may allow me to at least use the TiVo as a single tuner ;)

restart88

07-02-2008, 04:17 PM

First thank you very much for this thread and especially the codes. I'll give it a shot later.

As for the S2DT I had absolutely no luck with it accepting the output from my DTX9950 either by RCA or coax yet it doesn't seem to mind a satellite output via coax coming in. I'm guessing that's because the converter has no channel 3/ 4 selection to make Tivo think it's a DBS feed? Anyway I'll read the instructions so thoughtfully provided here later. If all else fails I also have a 540 so that outta work just fine from what I read.

restart88

07-02-2008, 08:32 PM

gastrof

07-03-2008, 09:57 PM

...My current set up is as follows: 1. Cable from wall into the Phillips Antenna 2. Cable from Antenna to out on Splitter 3. Cable from Series 2 DT TiVo to out on Splitter 4. Cable from TV to in on Splitter 5. Red, White, & Yellow from TV to TiVo...

I gotta ask...

How in the world do you feed a cable from the wall INTO an ANTENNA?!?!? :confused:

I can see an external antenna having wiring that goes thru the walls and leads directly to a television set, but to feed a cable from the wall INTO an ANTENNA? HOW do you feed ANY kind of cable INTO an antenna?

gastrof

07-03-2008, 10:04 PM

Success! Sweet success!!!

:up:

The S2DT CAN work just fine with the DS converter box thanks to the Ir codes from the OP and a link for advanced Ir setup mode. I have all my main channels working just as well as if it were connected to a satellite box, which I told it I had for the channel list.

It dawned on me that I had a modulator just laying around from when my old TV which had no RCA inputs and it has a 3/ 4 switch. New it costs like $10 about anywhere.

If Tivo ever does make it possible to get the sub channels I hope the addition won't somehow exclude the DT box. The only down side though is that I am using the 540 for analog OTA & DBS and if I upgraded to the S3 for the OTA the S3 still doesn't do DBS. Oh well. At least I still have some time to sort it all out.

TiVo has said that they won't be making any changes to the Setup software of the Dual Tuner units when the other Series 2s get updated to work with OTA digital boxes.

The DTs were never meant to work with OverTheAir television, so there's no need (or intention) to change that now.

If you've been able to get yours working with an OTA digital box, more power to you. You're still only going to be able to use one tuner, tho'.

Mind if I ask what satellite service you told your TiVo you're using that has your OTA digital channels on exactly the same channel numbers they're really on? (I'm curious to see if my old Series 1 might be set up the same way.)

David_NC

07-03-2008, 10:56 PM

I gotta ask...

How in the world do you feed a cable from the wall INTO an ANTENNA?!?!? :confused:

I can see an external antenna having wiring that goes thru the walls and leads directly to a television set, but to feed a cable from the wall INTO an ANTENNA? HOW do you feed ANY kind of cable INTO an antenna?

The Phillips indoor antenna that he is using has an INPUT connection, mainly intended for a cable TV feed, and also has a switch to select between CABLE/ANTENNA.

restart88

07-04-2008, 08:36 AM

The Phillips indoor antenna that he is using has an INPUT connection, mainly intended for a cable TV feed, and also has a switch to select between CABLE/ANTENNA.

I use a clip on OTA antenna on my satellite dish that's powered by the receiver so that's kinda feeding into the antenna as well since I go from the lnb to the antenna input.

Mind if I ask what satellite service you told your TiVo you're using that has your OTA digital channels on exactly the same channel numbers they're really on?

I used Direct TV but could have used Dish as they both have low channel numbers in my market. They match perfectly. Just remember to go through the PITA of unchecking all the satellite channels from "Channels You Receive" to avoid confusion.

As for the promised revision I was sorta expecting bad news. Probably won't be a biggie until after 2010 when there's better content on more of the sub channels.

In the meantime I suppose if there's any "must haves" on a sub there's simple enough workarounds using manual recording.

restart88

07-05-2008, 09:26 PM

pcbrew

07-06-2008, 09:55 AM

Claus

07-10-2008, 11:05 AM

How did you find the IR codes?
I searched like crazy on this and other forums to find the codes of the receivers or similar receivers. It's a lot of guessing, trying and luck. The other option is brute force, trying out all possible combination.

Claus

07-10-2008, 03:20 PM

TiVo announced that the Insignia NS-DXA1 will be supported via a software update but not the Digital Stream DTX9000. The Digital Stream DTX9950 was not mentioned but I think that that box won't be supported either. (Hey they have a spelling error on their webpage: "Digtial")

http://www3.tivo.com/setupandsupport/digitaltrans/digitaltrans.html (Converter Box tab)

Just curious. If you were to buy a 3rd box which one of the 2 would you pick? Or would you go with an entirely different model?

Good question. Both are pretty good right now. Obviously the Digital Stream will not be supported so the decision has now become quite clear which one to get. However, before that I already decided for the Insignia because it stayed a bit cooler than the DS. If you read my updated write up (http://www.niesens.com/hobbies/entertainment-system/tivo-with-tv-converter-box.en.html) you'll find out why. ;)

pcbrew

07-10-2008, 10:34 PM

I searched like crazy on this and other forums to find the codes of the receivers or similar receivers. It's a lot of guessing, trying and luck. The other option is brute force, trying out all possible combination.The news of support from TiVo is good for my DRT800 but I also want to use one with an S2DT, which they are not going to support.
Someone at avsforum says the Apex DT250 responds to the IR codes for a Hughes sat receiver so I may pick one up and try that. If the DT250 does not get added to the supported box list, I'll get one of the approved units for my DRT800.

pcbrew

07-22-2008, 09:47 PM

Someone at AVS forum reported Hughes codes work for Apex and that was later confirmed by someone here at TCF (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6471585#post6471585).

TiVoJerry also said they are testing for Apex support so looks like they will support (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6495511#post6495511)

I already had a DRT800 and S2DT setup to use Voom boxes as ATSC receivers but recent changes to the broadcasts have rendered these nearly useless so I went ahead and got an Apex DT250 based on the above. I quickly got it working with my DRT800 just by swapping out the box type in the setup screens. I didn't even have to redo guided setup since I was already spoofing the OTA guide with Dish channels.

pcbrew

07-27-2008, 10:02 AM

I successfully got the Insignia NS-DXA1 and Digital Stream DTX9950 working with the Humax DRT800. The key are the IR codes which were difficult to find.
NS-DXA1: 10075-B
DTX9950: 10013-B

Is the Insignia working reliably for you? I got one this weekend but haven't setup with the TiVo because I found a potential issues. Tuning to a channel using just the main channel # works (you get the '-1' sub-channel), but tuning to the same channel again will cause the next sub-channel to get selected and tuned. So, if you have an OTA recording scheduled for the same channel as the last OTA recording and the converter box channel has not changed, you will get the next sub-channel (-2).
I tried deleting channels, but the just prevents them from showing up when you use the channel up/down button. I also tried locking them out with parental controls but this doesn't affect the tuning, it just replaces the display with a channel blocked message.

restart88

07-27-2008, 06:25 PM

The news of support from TiVo is good for my DRT800 but I also want to use one with an S2DT, which they are not going to support.
Someone at avsforum says the Apex DT250 responds to the IR codes for a Hughes sat receiver so I may pick one up and try that. If the DT250 does not get added to the supported box list, I'll get one of the approved units for my DRT800.

For clarity's sake, they won't support any digital-analogue converter for the S2DT. But the unsupported workaround still works reliably for me with the main channels. I don't know that the receiver box you select matters since you are manually changing the Ir code by advanced command, or at least I did. I chose Direct TV for my EPG since the Tivo had already been set up for D* previously and I didn't want to chance having to wipe out everything and start totally from scratch.

chrisorth

10-06-2008, 07:43 AM

If you select the IR code manually, does it matter which cable box manufacturer you choose? I have a Digital Stream 9950, but don't see it listed in the manufacturer screen.

Bugalito

10-06-2008, 04:10 PM

Please help.

We ONLY have OTA antenna. I have hooked our Sony WEGA analog TV to a Zenith converter box and then to our Humax DRT 800. I hooked up the IR balster. I went through the TIVO set up using ANTENNA only (live in the boonies and cable and satellite can't get a signal).

Now I CAN change channels(digital channels) with the TIVO remote.

The problem is the TIVO fails to RECORD anything (all I get is a black screen and it says do I want to keep the recording or save it...but there is NO recording to keep) unless the digital to analog converter box is on the SAME channel that TIVO tuner requires (if this occurs I get the normal viewing screen). The TIVO unit simply will not tune to the station on it's own as it has done MANY times previously before this converter box.

First I tried to hook up the OTA antenna to Zenith converter box. Then out from the converter box to the TIVO IN and out to the TV.

TIVO tuner cannot find the correct station so willnot record anything.

Next I tried using a splitter. Outside antenna in. Then a cable to the converter box and then back to the TV and a cable to the Tivo unit with the multi colored cables back in turn to the TV.

Result: Same thing...the tuner on the TIVO will not change to the correct channel when it's time to record a TV show.

Do you have ANYTHING else I could try?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Sharyn

gastrof

10-06-2008, 09:09 PM

Let me explain something-

The digital box doesn't magically give your TiVo the ability to record digital channels off the air.

The digital converter box is an external tuner that will allow your old TiVo to more or less continue functioning.

The external box will now work like a cable box, meaning it has to be on the channel the TiVo is recording because the converter box is now your TiVo's signal source. (If you hooked everything up correctly.)

Go into detail and explain how you connected the converter to your TiVo and how you set the TiVo up to work with it. Until you do that we can't help you.

By the way-
You say the TiVo is correctly changing channels on the digital box. You're also saying the TiVo isn't getting any picture or sound from the box.

From the sounds of things, you set the TiVo properly where CONTROLING the box was concerned, but you did something wrong in setting up the connection between the converter and the TiVo.

I'm guessing you left the TiVo thinking it'd get a signal on channel 3 thru the antenna cable, but you hooked the box up to the TiVo using the audio/video cables.

Maybe you did the opposite. Did you hook the box into the TiVo's antenna input, but set the TiVo to look for an audio/video feed from its RCA jacks?

Again, explain VERY carefully step by step each thing you did. Then we can start sorting this out.

Bugalito

10-07-2008, 12:01 PM

OK here is what I did:

1. OTA Antenna IN to Zenith Digital - Analog box
2. Zenith Digital - Analog box OUT hooked to TIVO in
3. TIVO OUT to Sony Wega TV
4. IR blaster attached to either side of front plastic "eye" of Digital - Analog box

What works:

1. Can change channels with Digital - Analog remote
2. Can change channels with TIVO remove
3. Can view all available channels with ON TIVO
4. Can view all available digital channels with TIVO off and Digital analog converter box on

What else is happening

1. TV is set to channel 3 to receive Digital channels so only use for Sony Wega remote is to turn on TV - I assume this is normal.
2. Can't record a program using TIVO as before. The functionality has been lost when using the Digital converter box. I used to be able to watch TV by changing channels with my Sony remote and record something totally different in the background with TIVO. For example my husband could watch the football game on channel 13 and TIVO would be recording my episode of CSI Miami on channel 47.

Right now I have removed the Digital - Analog box and have TIVO set up as before and everything is working fine.

My husband and I know very little about electronics. I tried using a splitter on the advice of Customer Service at Humax. That was the only thing they suggested. They stated that a fix for this problem was not available at this current time. Since their solution did not work, I thought someone here might have figured out something that would work.

Thanks for your help.

classicsat

10-08-2008, 11:25 AM

You need to split the antenna before the convertor, to the convertor and the TV (or another convertor for it, of need be).
I recommend you connect A/V from the converter to the TiVo, instead of RF.

The converter is much like a cable or satellite box, in that it can output one channel at a time. Since it outputs only one channel, you cannot change to other channels on the TV tuner.

Bugalito

10-08-2008, 12:28 PM

Thanks, I will give it a try and let you know if it worked.

To recap....

Split antenna before converter then...
1. TV out (via RF cable) to TV in
2. Converter in (via RF)
3. Converter out (via yellow, red and white tri cable)
4. Yellow, red and white cable to TIVO in

RIGHT?

Thanks for your help!

Bugalito

10-09-2008, 06:51 AM

Thank you so much classicat. Your solution WORKED. I also took your suggestion and hooked up an additional RCA converter box going into the TV so now I can get digital channels on the TV as well as with TIVO. Now the TIVo records in the background while we watch TV on another channel.