Satellite HD PVR

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37 posts

Geek

#389820 9-Oct-2010 10:43

Hi,

We received our VU+ Duo on thursday after getting a credit chargeback on our original order and re-ordering throug anotechanging suppliers ( and have been having a great time with it so far with one or two issues that I'd like to ask about:

1) Sky TV: We have MySkyHDi without the HD token and a blue card starting with '0000'. I took this out of the sky box and plugged it into the bottom of the two card slots on the VuDuo but none of the sky channels can be opened. Is there anything else I need to do?

2) SBS Channels: Are these still around? I have no information coming in for them and cannot open them either;

Now for the other things:
Recording:
- Tested recording 4 SD channels simultaneously, worked fine; Will try HD when I get sky working...
- Set up alternate recording targets so that kids stuff goes to 'kids' folder etc;
- Should be able to set up to record to NAS target;
- Can add 'tags' to recordings - may be helpful when it comes to retrieving shows automatically;

Streaming:
- Have tested all sorts of streaming from the box via the web interface. Can watch live TV from windows 7 machine via windows media player and can also open and watch a program that is currently recording and it will continue to buffer and stream even after the stated end time of the program;
- Haven't managed to get streaming working to Linux box yet but should be able to once I d/l the appropriate drivers;
- Will try today (hopefully) with xbox (via XBMX) and WDTV Live HD.

Playback directly from hdd:
- .TS files can be played back and converted to other formats from PC. Need to find suitable tool to edit .ts file to remove ad breaks and buffer.
- Wife has managed to get the .ts files playing on her iPhone using a 3rd party tool (not technically streaming though);
- 45 minutes of SD program data uses approx 1.2gb of storage and can be copied to PC in 4 minutes (used to take hours on a mk1 TiVo)

Media Player:
- Added additional network mount points so the media player can read content from the NAS;
- Plays back most kind of files but wont show some wmvs.
- Plays back .ts files recorded on HD videocam however quality appears to be slightly worse than via WDTV Live HD (could be 1080p vs 1080i?);

EPG/Timer:
- Seems fine so far however some programs wont give the option to repeat via the web interface, fine on the unit and via iPhone and Android remote apps;

Android & iPhone Apps:
- enigmaroid for android, free limited functionality version or $5.60 for full version from market;
- dreamon for iphone, $NZ2.59. Others also available;

Still have lots to do such as configure the other devices to access the HDD, update router and NAS to enable access to the unit from the web & get Sky going.

Then I can get on with phase 2 of my plan...

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#389825 9-Oct-2010 10:50

SBS ONE/SBS HD and SBS TWO are available off Optus D1, the same as Freeview and Sky. They are on the other polarity though, so you need a suitable LNB. My Duo had them present in the installed bouquet, and picked them up immediately, so I suspect an LNB or switching issue in your case.

Look at MPEG Streamclip as a free .TS editor.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#389826 9-Oct-2010 10:53

Oh - P.S.

The Duo has a built-in editor, but I haven't experimented with it.

Spinynorman

37 posts

Geek

#389830 9-Oct-2010 11:01

Hi Xarqi,
Will investigate the polarity thing with the LNB haven't looked at that since sky & freeview were on different polarities a few years ago. I do have the signal split but the splitter I'm using claims to pass all electric signals through...

As for file editing, we used to have a panasonic 80gb HDD recorder and that had an onboard editor too... Lets just say I prefer using a mouse.

Nero 9 claims to be able to read .ts files but wont load it. I'm going to try windows Live Movie Maker as long as it doesn't require me to d/l and install the rest of the Windows Live stuff.

Cheers

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#389833 9-Oct-2010 11:11

Yeah - the reason I didn't explore the built-in editor was that I couldn't imagine the process of navigating to cut points being very efficient using a remote control. That may be a failure of my imagination however. Now, if they used that control on the front of the box as a jog dial...

By the way - I'm glad to see you got your supply difficulties resolved.

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#389861 9-Oct-2010 13:31

Spinynorman: Will investigate the polarity thing with the LNB haven't looked at that since sky & freeview were on different polarities a few years ago. I do have the signal split but the splitter I'm using claims to pass all electric signals through...

Hey Spinynorman, the problem is likely to be that you left the Sky box turned on when you took out the card. The Sky box will hold the LNB over onto Horizontal polarity, meaning any other receiver can only receive Freeview or Sky. Horizonal polarity is decided by sending 18v up the cable, so when your new PVR chooses Vertical polarity for SBS, it sends 13v up the cable. Naturally the higher voltage wins, and so Horizontal is still selected. Turn off the Sky box (and any other receivers in your system) and the new PVR should be able to choose SBS ok.

The only way to not have this issue is to install a new dish just for the new PVR (or install a dual output LNB on your current dish), and run down a new cable for the new PVR. That way Sky has its own feed and the new PVR has its own. Either one can choose Vertical or Horizontal whenever they feel like it.

The only ongoing issue then is that when you are recording or watching SBS, your PVR won't be able to record any Freeview or Sky channels, as they are on the other polarity.

To get past that you need to connect the feed from the Sky box into one tuner on the new PVR and your SBS feed into another. That way one tuner can always get Freeview and Sky, and the other tuner can choose between SBS and Freeview/Sky.

I hope that helped...reading through again nearly confused me!

Spinynorman

37 posts

Geek

#389863 9-Oct-2010 13:39

Yep, great to get the supply difficulties sorted out and nice to see you're still on the forum too! I completely missed that thread.

Good news, utilising my many years of IT expertise I managed to get Sky going by putting the card in the unit and turning it off and on again.

I'm sure I tried that the other night, but who knows. Getting all Subscribed sky channels + TVs1-3 HD and Sky Sports 1 HD! (probably only for games duration though).

Tried a couple of streaming options to the PC for the HD channels. Via the webTV interface the streaming was fine although limited to 758x576 by the embedded VLC player. The stream can also be launched from the TV channel selection list and comes through in 1920x1080. Playback not seamless in Windows Media player though - but much better than in VLC which I thought was odd.

So Now to fill up the harddisk with Dora the Explorer (and her cousin Diego), the Wiggles, Wot Wots, Wonder Pets, Little Einsteins and Judge Judy (for the wife).

Cheers

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#389924 9-Oct-2010 17:36

Accidental discovery!
Press the blue button and you get a list of extensions. One of these is a graphical EPG.
Maybe it's documented somewhere, but it surprised me when I found it by mistake.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390131 10-Oct-2010 12:33

Oops - first major problem with Vu+ Duo.
Here's the text of a post I made on the PLI and Vuplus support forums last night. So far, no reply.

---

I've struck my first big problem with my new Vu+ Duo, which came with openPLI (2010-05-21) installed, and with services pre-programmed. I've not altered the configuration other than to disable the internal loop-through between tuners. I did experiment briefly with a crossEPG extension that came installed, but it resulted in the "green screen of death". Since then, I have installed a hard disc, which appears to function properly.

Here in NZ the major FTA satellite services all come from a single satellite (Optus D1) on just 3 transponders: 12483H, 12456H, and 12648V. I have a dual LNB cabled via a 3 in 4 out multiswitch, with a separate cable from there to each tuner on my Duo, and another pair to a different location. I've operated for about two weeks without any big issues, freely accessing all available services.

Tonight, I was watching something I'd recorded earlier, and I noticed a few stutters during playback, including one fairly major glitch that required me to stop and restart the file. The relevance of that is unknown. At a certain time, two recordings I'd set via the EPG started that required both tuners: one on 12483H and one on 12648V. When I was finished watching the stored program, I thought I'd watch one of the ones I was recording since it had just started.

When I attempted to zap to the service being recorded, I obtained the "Service not found. SID not in PAT" error message.

As expected, the channel list showed as available all of those services on the transponders being used by the tuners, but if I tried to zap to any of the services on 12483H, I got this error, and ultimately ended up with a channel from 12456H being displayed, when no tuner should have been allocated to that at all!

Zapping to a 12648V service worked fine.

If I did try to zap to a 12456H service, I got the expected "No free tuner" error.

A search of the internet raised the possibility of a transponder change being the cause, but in the New Zealand context, this is essentially impossible. In any case, a different box taking another feed from the multiswitch was able to see the 12483H services without error.

Since I was being presented with a service from 12456H when I was recording from 12483H and 12648V, something was definitely strange, since that would require three tuners. I did not therefore expect both recordings to be correct, and this proved to be the case.

When the recordings finished, what I found was:
- I could again zap to any of the services without error.
- The recording from 12648V looked correct.
- The recording from 12483H had a nice "Service not found (SID not found in PAT)" message at the beginning, and then content from a service on 12456H.

I've cycled the main power in an attempt to "clear" any temporary fault.

This would seem to be either a bug or a fault, and I'd welcome any comments.

Jaxson

8042 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#390471 11-Oct-2010 14:04

Spinynorman: Then I can get on with phase 2 of my plan...

Do we want to know what that is?!

Glad you got your unit and are happy with it too.
Thanks for the review, always appreciate hearing from people who actually own and use the product, as well as put it through its paces too.

Yes, as has been mentioned, SBS is still going strong, it's just on a different polarity, and Sky TV units hold the polarity, even when in standbye I think.

Spinynorman

37 posts

Geek

#390927 12-Oct-2010 13:19

Jaxson:
Spinynorman: Then I can get on with phase 2 of my plan...

Do we want to know what that is?!

Phase 2 is underway and so far is working nicely. It's all about accessing the VuDuo from other devices around the house in a seamless manner.

So far it is working well with the xboxes. A simple modification to an XBMC config file means that two new entries show up in the videos menu:

1) Provide SMB/CIFS access to the /hdd/media directory on the VuDuo so that all the recorded content is visible (as .ts files). These can be played directly from the VuDuo. Whats even better is that the xbox can start playing back a stream before the recording is completed and it will continue to stream until it reaches the end of the file. I had a movie running in the background on saturday night that was started 1 minute after the recording was started. Didn't notice any problems with it at all;

2) Live TV streamint to the Xbox using the inbuilt 'TuxBox' support. When you go into this menu the 'favourites/FreeView/All' channel selection options are displayed, and then when you enter the menu the actual channel names are displayed. Click on a channel name and it starts playing on the xbox. This is effectively the same as as what is available in the webTv interface.

So this provides nice multi-room access. I haven't looked at how many individual streams can be viewed concurrently or how this affects recording etc but I'm sure that will come up some time.

Unfortunately the xbox can't access HD recordings or streams, too much data for it to process. So Phase 2.2 of my plan is getting this same functionality on a WDTV Live HD. The SMB/CIFS access should be fine however the live TV would be cool. It looks as though I'll need an alternate firmware to do this... So watch this space!

Taihape

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#396319 27-Oct-2010 14:47

Hi'
I'm looking at purchasing one of the Vu+ here in NZ and am wondering how easy it is to use the built in editor to remove ad breaks. Has anyone tried it out there?

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#396322 27-Oct-2010 14:56

Not me; I use MPEG Streamclip on my Mac.

(I know that's not very helpful, but this way at least you'll know I'm not ignoring you! ;))

Taihape

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#396336 27-Oct-2010 15:38

Well thanks Xarqi

; I do enough editing of movies on the mac so I was looking for a simple way to just watch a programme again without the ads getting in the way.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#396337 27-Oct-2010 15:42

Just from reading the description of the built-in editing, I decided not to bother trying. The process of setting the cut-points just using a remote control sounded too tedious.
Anyway - put the Vu+ on your LAN, mount it as an SMB volume, and edit away as normal. Should work.

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