JP1 Remotes Forum Index JP1 Remotes


FAQFAQ SearchSearch 7 days of topics7 Days MemberlistMemberlist UsergroupsUsergroups RegisterRegister
ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Comcast STB Rant
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    JP1 Remotes Forum Index -> JP1 - General Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
vickyg2003
Site Admin


Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 7073
Location: Florida

                    
PostPosted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pH7_jp1 wrote:
Quote:
the RED display on the AB box is a little annoying when you want to go to sleep.
Black electrical tape will fix this problem. Smile

Ha, ha. Nope that just won't due. How would he ever figure out why their is "no signal".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vickyg2003
Site Admin


Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 7073
Location: Florida

                    
PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did a little test with my iView2000 ATSC/clear-QAM tuner that I use for my cable on one of my analog viewing areas. I changed over to the OTA antenna, and looked at the "EPG" programming guide. On clear-QAM there is no guide, because the information isn't passed through, but on ATSC there is a guide. The guide will show what is coming on next, one channel at a time.

Not real friendly for an EPG, but at least its something.

That made me go to tweak my review, but Amazon has done away with the with the listing. Its not just out of stock, it is gone. However I did see that iview has a 3500 model that has HDMI out. Cool if you don't want to use an AB box that shines a scarlet A whenever you are on antenna.

Now I don't think much of my iView. It feels as cheap as it was. Poor remote, poor build quality. I think it was about $25, because the payback period was about 1 year. The 2000 was about 25% of the cost of other stand alone ATSC/Clear QAM tuners at the time. I didn't think it was going to last 1 year, much less 2! Now I see that they have a tuner with HDMI out that is again, about 25% the cost of the Channel Master, that was mentioned above. Its only a few dollars more than an AB switch. I wonder if I should try that on my other Antenna/Cable area...

I suppose you could save it and resell it later and make a profit. Have you seen how much they want for the 2000STB used! Wow.
_________________
Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vickyg2003
Site Admin


Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 7073
Location: Florida

                    
PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The A/B thing was just too complicated. Everytime we tried to type in a channel number we couldn't get to the right list. Even for running up and down the channel list with Ch+ and Ch- was too difficult. The painful direct channel entry tuning process made me look for something simpler. I bought a couple of HD tuners and are sending out the signal via an HDMI cable.

I tried both of these external HD tuners (upgrades are added in the file section BTW)
iView 3500STB
HomeWorx HW180STB.

They both seem to have the same tuner program with the weirdly creepy sneering smiley face after the auto-tune. However neither one will pick up the Canadian channels that came in when tuning with the TV. I assume that is because they are weak, and not because they are Canadian. (?) So I'm losing 2 HD channels that would pixelate every once in a while when using the A/B box.

This approach is cheaper than an infrared A/B box, and gives me a record to USB feature as well. Although I miss Canadian PBS. And it would be nice to have HD Hockey, but we still get that in SD via the cable company.

So now if I want to switch over to antenna, I switch to HDMI and let the box work the way a cable box would work.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vickyg2003
Site Admin


Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 7073
Location: Florida

                    
PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well this worked great for a while. I just came back from Florida, and the Homeworx box is DEAD. I dug out my old Echostar DTVPal, and am using that for the time being. Its not HDMI, but it has a GREAT tuner, and since it has AV out, at I can use it to and still have the TV's tuner tune in the clear QAM cable.

However, I would like to get back to the HDMI, because the Canadian OTA channels are HD and are not available on my cable, even in SD.

I see the iView 3500 is still on the market, but the tuner is weak in comparison to my more expensive equipment. It will miss all the Canadian channels. Does anyone else have an OTA hdmi tuner that gets as many channels from their antenna as the TV does?
_________________
Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Thomas



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 87

                    
PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2015 7:07 am    Post subject: OTA HDTV Reply with quote

Some years ago I got an 'Onair HDTV Creator' which outputs HDTV via USB. Ran at first with a laptop (XP) and finally got a fanless Mini-ITX PC which runs the AutumnWave program to record and / or pass through the OTA signal to your TV. Low power usage and multiple inputs can piggyback older equipment. Sort of a poor man's Tivo.

The catch is -- I can't find any for sale anywhere, everybody seems to still be using their units. If you run across one for sale in working condition, at a low-enough price, it would meet your needs. And of course, you can control it with on-screen tools. I use a cordless RF mouse, but the remote uses standard IR signals which can be incorporated into your RMIR setup.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815315001

Also have an oldish Humax HFA-100 which works at 1080i, except that the tuner is TOO sensitive and gets confused when a distant station signal interferes with a local station. From Lawrence KS, on a good day, I could pick up Tulsa and Omaha. Topeka and KC always, with a Terk dipole.
Tom
_________________
Tom Carlson
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
vickyg2003
Site Admin


Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 7073
Location: Florida

                    
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not sure Thomas, I don't think this is what I'm looking for. I don't get the USB thingy. I thought the USB on my TV was only for service updates..... It is not listed in the inputs..

I really just wanted to pick up the OTA channels that are not on my cable system, and didn't want to pay an arm and a let.

I bought yet another HDMI box. But it was less than helpful. It seem that the HDMI boxes require a 90% signal in order to get the signal to decode. This eliminates the channels I want, so it doesn't do me any good. I decided to pick up another DTV Pal, which works with signals down to 70%, and offers AV output. It works for my needs, but I'm finding it harder and harder to get TV's with A/V inputs.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic       JP1 Remotes Forum Index -> JP1 - General Forum All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4
Page 4 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


 

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
Top 7 Advantages of Playing Online Slots The Evolution of Remote Control