Slider,

Thanks for the info one more question for you did you perfom the self mod or have them mod it. I am wanting to go the self mod way but I can't tell if it requires and sodering or not.

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
5TB in storage and counting

PLUCKYHD:

Slider,

Thanks for the info one more question for you did you perfom the self mod or have them mod it. I am wanting to go the self mod way but I can't tell if it requires and sodering or not.

Unless you work professionally with surface mount PCB repair or design and you are highly proficient at surface mount soldering, you are much better off to get Nextcom to perform the installation (note that I have not tried to do it myself and I'm basing this on discussions I've had about the procedure).

They typically install the R5000HD the day they get your STB and that same day it is on its way back to you.  Depending on their work load this changes so check with them when you order your R5000HD.

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STB w/R5000HD USB I/O, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Quad Q6600, 4.0 GB RAM, ATI HD 3870 512MB, Ultra XVS 600W PSU, 3x SATA 500GB, 2x SATA 300GB, LG GGC-H20L, PVR-250, Toshiba 51H83 (51" HDTV), Yamaha RX-V2400 Amp, 5x Energy Speakers, SVS Sub, Harmony 880 Remote

I live in a Comcast - Scientific Atlanta area .  I noticed that Scientific Atlanta wasn't listed on the R5000HD website under supported STB's.  I was just wondering if anyone had tried it anyway and what the results were?

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Dwight 2001

Vista Ultimate|E6600 Core2 Duo|ATI 4670 512MB|2 GB Ram|Pioneer BDC-2200 BluRay Drive|XBOX360 HDDVD Drive|Sony XL1B2 200 Disc Changer|1.5 TB Storage|HDHomerun

Linksys DMA2200|XBOX360

It's all good

A few questions for you HTslider:

Can you use two R5000 modded boxes in Media Center currently (if so, are you doing this)?

Are you using their drivers now, or still firestb?

Did you do the self install, or have them do it?

 

Thanks!

3rob3:

A few questions for you HTslider:

Can you use two R5000 modded boxes in Media Center currently (if so, are you doing this)?

I'm not sure.  You'll have to ask Nextcom.  I only have a single STB but I pay for ExpressVu's timeshifting networks plan.  This provides multi-timezone access to prime time and it is rare for us to not be able to record a prime time show (or any show for that matter) due to a conflict.  Still, having two R5000HD units would be ideal.

3rob3:

Are you using their drivers now, or still firestb?

I still have both installed (dual boot).  I just received a new beta version a couple of days ago but haven't had a chance to try it yet.  They are producing new beta versions at least once a week right now so hopefully the bugs will be gone soon.  FYI, the last beta was full of bugs when used with Vista and this latest version is supposed to fix most of them.

3rob3:

Did you do the self install, or have them do it?

Had them do it.

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STB w/R5000HD USB I/O, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Quad Q6600, 4.0 GB RAM, ATI HD 3870 512MB, Ultra XVS 600W PSU, 3x SATA 500GB, 2x SATA 300GB, LG GGC-H20L, PVR-250, Toshiba 51H83 (51" HDTV), Yamaha RX-V2400 Amp, 5x Energy Speakers, SVS Sub, Harmony 880 Remote

Thanks.

So, have you had a chance to try newer drivers yet. I am about to pull the trigger on this (for cable), but I don't want to have to use firestb.

Well, I went ahead and place the order for the self-install kit. They seem to be a bit lacking on the customer support though. I haven't received anything about my order yet, and I've even emailed them two technical questions without any response.

So when I get my modified Dish ViP211 will my Haupauge Win TV card be useless? Or can the R5000 coexist in MCE with the WinTV 1800 card I have installed? I currently have another sat receiver plugged into the SVideo port on the card and would like to keep it. Both are Dish Network boxes so they would both use the same guide, except one can access HD channels and the other is SD only. I'm not clear how multiple setop boxes can be used in MCE.

 

 

 

Useless as the media center won't know what tuner to use for what. You will still be able to use ATSC or QAM tuners box will have to modify another box to have dual tuners.

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
5TB in storage and counting

LASooner:

So when I get my modified Dish ViP211 will my Haupauge Win TV card be useless? Or can the R5000 coexist in MCE with the WinTV 1800 card I have installed? I currently have another sat receiver plugged into the SVideo port on the card and would like to keep it. Both are Dish Network boxes so they would both use the same guide, except one can access HD channels and the other is SD only. I'm not clear how multiple setop boxes can be used in MCE.

Based on your question, it sounds like you have multiple set top boxes (STBs) - so yes, you can use the WinTV 1800 with the other STB.

The R5000HD MC driver creates a virtual tuner that Media Center can use to access and control the one STB and the WinTV 1800 combined with an IR blaster can be used by Media Center to access and control the second STB.

You'll probably want to configure the R5000HD as the preferred tuner so the majority of the recordings will be in HD.

Although I only have a single STB, I tested this scenario out for interest.  I was able to have Media Center access both my Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 as well as the R5000HD virtual tuner.  Of course with a single STB they both fought over the same STB, but the fact that it worked confirms that if I enabled our old SD STB (added it to our subscription) I could have the same dual tuner configuration you are considering (one creating SD recordings and one digital HD/SD recordings).

The one thing I didn't figure out (didn't really try) was to see if I could independently edit the guide listings for each STB separately.  Ideally it would be nice to somehow force all HD channels to record from the R5000HD if possible and if an HD and SD recording were planned for the same time to make sure the HD was from the R5000HD and the SD was from the PVR-250.

One thing to note is currently I have not been able to get the R5000HD MC driver to work well enough to put it to use.  With the very latest beta driver Live TV does actually work, but there are two major issues:

1. If the STB was previously on an SD or HD channel and a recording was scheduled that flipped to the other (SD to HD or HD to SD), the resulting recording refused to play from Recorded TV.  I think the problem is Media Center starts to record the stream and then it flips to a different resolution and Media Center doesn't know how to handle this.
2. All HD channels with AC3 audio (Dolby Digital 5.1) had an issue where the audio has glitches or pauses in it.  This is both for Live TV and Recorded TV.

Problem #2 seems to be related to a bug in the virtual tuner since if I tell the R5000HD DVR to make a second recording to a .ts file, that file doesn't have any audio glitches.  Also if I use TSConverter2.5 to convert the .ts file into a dvr-ms file it also plays perfectly from Recorded TV.  This will probably be relatively easy for them to fix.

Problem #1 is an issue with Media Center's inability to handle a delayed channel change that flips between SD and HD.  The delay in channel changing screws up the recording.  The recording does actually get created, but it won't play back in Media Center after the STB changes channels (you can only play the first 1-2 seconds of the recording and it is of the previous channel).  I'm hoping there is a relatively simple solution to this issue but I'm not sure there is.  Maybe there is a way to not send any video stream until after the channel change or something so the recording will end up with only a single resolution or something.  Of course Media Center might simply error out if there is no video for 1-2 seconds so this might be a difficult thing to work around.

One work around for #1 that I have thought about is maybe Nextcom could install two virtual tuners, one for HD and one for SD.  We could then edit the guide so the HD virtual tuner gets HD and the SD virtual tuner gets SD.  Nextcom could then ensure only HD or SD gets sent to Media Center from that particular tuner.  Even this may have issues when changing between 720p and 1080i channels though.  I'll have to test scheduling a recording that flips between 720p and 1080i to see if this causes a problem.

In LASooner's case, the best work around would be to edit the guide for the R5000HD virtual tuner so it gets only HD channels and let the WinTV SD tuner handle SD (and possibly HD) channels.

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STB w/R5000HD USB I/O, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Quad Q6600, 4.0 GB RAM, ATI HD 3870 512MB, Ultra XVS 600W PSU, 3x SATA 500GB, 2x SATA 300GB, LG GGC-H20L, PVR-250, Toshiba 51H83 (51" HDTV), Yamaha RX-V2400 Amp, 5x Energy Speakers, SVS Sub, Harmony 880 Remote

You can edit the guide to favor a specific tuner? Or is this what you are saying you'd like to see? Is it a registry hack or is it something that is done during setup when you have 2 tuners going?

Live TV is going to be tricky, as most all HD channels on Dish are Mpeg-4 and according to the R5000 website you can't watch the Mpeg4 channels live. As of August 1st ALL HD channels on Dish network will be going Mpeg 4.

Thanks for your help.

 

LASooner:

You can edit the guide to favor a specific tuner? Or is this what you are saying you'd like to see? Is it a registry hack or is it something that is done during setup when you have 2 tuners going?

Sorry, I should have written that last sentence differently - I meant "if there was a way to edit the guide for a specific tuner" (As I mentioned earlier in the post - I don't know if this is possible).

Does anyone else know if this can be done?

LASooner:

Live TV is going to be tricky, as most all HD channels on Dish are Mpeg-4 and according to the R5000 website you can't watch the Mpeg4 channels live. As of August 1st ALL HD channels on Dish network will be going Mpeg 4.

That isn't good news (all HD going MPEG-4) and you are correct; there is no way I know of to get Live TV within MC with MPEG-4 content.  You can watch Live TV using the R5000HD software, but it isn't anywhere near as nice as Media Center.

One thing to keep in mind is if you are using Vista that Microsoft's next update (Fiji) is with almost certainty going to support MPEG-4.  The unknown at this time is when exactly will it be released?

If you are using a source with MPEG-4 content that you want to access, your best bet is either wait until Fiji is released or purchase Sage TV.  Once Fiji is released you should also have the option of using the Hauppauge HD-PVR too.

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STB w/R5000HD USB I/O, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Quad Q6600, 4.0 GB RAM, ATI HD 3870 512MB, Ultra XVS 600W PSU, 3x SATA 500GB, 2x SATA 300GB, LG GGC-H20L, PVR-250, Toshiba 51H83 (51" HDTV), Yamaha RX-V2400 Amp, 5x Energy Speakers, SVS Sub, Harmony 880 Remote

HT Slider,
I am having trouble getting my new R5000hd mod working. I tried to uninstall the beta version, and now can't reinstall because it says my trial is over? Huh? I was using Ver30a. Do you have a newer beta I can try, or know how to fix this trial period problem?

HT

Please keep us updated on NEXTCOM'S progress on the virtual tuner ( I guess I see now why they were not interested in the dvbs bridge solution.... they had one of thier on in the works!)

I discovered a way for SHAW cable users to use the r5000-HD method for fairly cheap! (well cheaper).

And I quote from NEXTCOM'S site..

"The DTC2000 series boxes are capable of receiving ALL available HD channels which can be perfectly captured using the R5000-HD. They just can't be decoded and displayed by the box."

These boxes are not high def boxes but according to Nextcom they can pass the .ts stream..... and they can be r5000'd because they do not have firewire ports.

The best part is that these boxes are literally $10 to $20 used and are a dime a dozen cause they are not HD nor are they PVR. I have one collecting dust as we speak... as do two of my buddies!. Without the overhead cost of the box it becomes alot more affordable. EVERYONE should check if their cable provider uses DCT 2500's... no 5C!!! If you live in western canada.... you'd be crazy not to do this! ( or anywhere DCT 2500's are used)  

So once the virtual tuner solution is worked out I'll be jumping on this mighty fast!

I am "using" this on a DCT2500. Don't get too excited, it is pretty much a total disaster in Media Center currently. There are a few major problems outside of their buggy MCE driver also.
1. Cable companies can deliver up two 12 streams on the same channel, ie when I tune to channnel 69 there are actually 12 programs in that stream. R5000hd's have a mapping option, but I can't get it to work at all.
2. As these are really just digital boxes, they generally have the HD tier blocked. I haven't tried yet, but I expect the cable company to give me a hard time when I ask them to add the HD tier to my box that isn't capable of displaying it.

Also, I am not sure about Canada, but US cable companies generally refuse to activate customer owned cable boxes. The Nextcommwireless site even states this. Be sure to check on that first.