[blekenbleu]

TiVo IR to DirecTV receiver RF connection seemed worth trying,
but the 360 did not response at all. 1/8 phone jacks fit both ends,
and I tried all Samsung codes. I also get inconsistent
and unreliable results using Sony 2000's IR blaster..

I am not sure how useful the IR blaster would be,
even if it were reliable.
Does a regular TiVo know how to specify digital channels, such as 26-1?
Analog local reception here is plagued by multipath,
but digital reception is fine.
The SIR-TS360 has VCR controls and an IR blaster,
but I have not found a VCR code to which the Sony 2000 responds.

 

[blekenbleu]

> Note that when trying the RF hookup,
> it was very important for the GAEB0 that the cable be at most 2' long.
> Longer cables did not work.

The audio cable I first tried was somewhat over 2',
so I tried again last night with a Sony S-Link cable
which is also over 2' but designed for similar signals,
and still got no response.
Not having seen Samsung's IR dongle, am uncertain it has vanilla 1/8 phone.

> Talked to Samsung Tech Support and was told that
> the RS232 port was for diagnostics only.

This is sad, since the Samsung site advertises this RS232 port
as "Crestron certified". Message 21980 in the Yahoo! Crestron group has
dialog from an individual who has reported success using Crestron's protocol...
from a PC:

> Hughes HTL-HD ... hooked up and the TIVO serial worked perfect
> and all my OTA channels came in perfect.

I've no experience with Hughes' HTL-HD (and only a few hours with Samsung)
and am trying to understand how TiVo would select among local digital channels.
For example, local PBS stations have 4 and 6 digital sub-channels which Samsung
labels, for example 46-1, 46-2, ... 46-6, where 46 is the analog PBS channel.
Our (Sony 2000) TiVo only lists another single channel number, 14, for digital.
Entering 14 by IR remote is rejected by the SIR-TS360.

 

[blekenbleu]

> The Sony TIVO, as well as other older versions will not access the sub-channels.

Bummer, I was hoping to get decent quality local station standard definition
using digital sub-channels. Another approach is for an HD tuner to drive TiVo as
a VCR. Samsung's IR blaster can control an RCA S-VHS, but I have not
found a VCR code to which TiVo responds. Has anyone had success
slaving a TiVo to a satellite receiver?