new sky box, anybody got it yet?

[divxmaster]

has anyone gotten the new sky box yet?
does composite out work ?

Cheers,
Divxmaster

[Ray]

MySky arrived 30 mins ago. Can record 3 channels whilst watching 4th.

Video out OK to TiVo so no fear on that front.

The series link is poor so will need the TiVo for wishlists etc.

Just need to get IR control working. ANyone else had a go? Will have a go with the IR SLice creator but not had much luck with that in the past.

[divxmaster]

Hi Ray,
well that's cool, at least it has macrovision blocking. I was talking to someone about IR codes, but I cant remember who.
I have the file with the kaon IR codes, but it is just a hex file, so quite how it is converted to the TiVo I don't know.
From what I know of mysky, the 3 recording tuners record in the background and the view tuner only does that, views.
So I was hoping we could get the mysky to record up to 3 channels, and get the TiVo to control the view tuner.
Of course, you would have to be very careful when using/viewing the stuff actually recorded on the mysky, that the TiVo
wasn't trying to record anything at that time.
Just a quick note on my guide data load system, when wibbles server goes, it has quite a few restrictions. Programs with
the same name, show the same episode data, even if they are different episodes. If a new channel is added, we cannot add it.
If a channel is renamed, or number moved, we can do that, but the name will stay the same as before. i.e. sky1 => BOX.
will still show as sky1, but will work correctly.

Cheers,
Divxmaster

[Ray]

Same idea as me regarding background recording. Does seem as though that idea will work. If you watch Sky through the Live TV on the TiVo then you will get the warning to change channels if it wants to record.

A bit more annoyed as put in a Series Link but looks like it just reminds you to record it not actually record. Annoying.

I managed to capture the IR ok but would not transmit back. I have had this trouble before. Trick I think is to find the right frequency.

[divxmaster]

Odd about series link, it certainly is supposed to record it.
Just to check, did you get mysky or is it the new sky digital box and you rang up and enabled recording on it?

Cheers,
Divxmaster

[Ray]

It is the new sky box KAON NS1120. They threw in mysky for free for a couple of months I think so time to try it out. I think I have sorted out how to record automatically on series link. There is no manual to explain things but downloaded a video from on-demand so that works all ok. Good news is it saves these rather than stream them so can record onto the TiVo if you wish.

I have found the IR frequency at 36kHz according to the spec https://skytv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3324/~/sky-box-hardware-specifications

Unfortunately the IR slice creator has now stopped working. I had this problem before. Will keep on trying.

[divxmaster]

cool, hopefully you can sort out the ir.
I presume the direct sd output via hdmi is way superior to the kaon->TiVo->composite ?
(it is on my tuners/pc mediaportal)

[Ray]

No luck with the IR slice but extracted the KAON codes and coverted to TCL and gave them a go on my UK Thomson. Might have got some response. Looking at the settings in CableBoxCodeNumber 29994 I was using and trying to work out what I needed. Computer crashed losing all my original setup data so not sure what I had with my old stb. SO redid guided setup and now got stuck with "No service provers at your post code". Tried 02113-02114 no joy. Anyone know why this is occurring?

TiVo dead at the moment.

[Islander]

Have you tried 02112? Both of my TiVos are on this , one Sky, the other Freeview satellite.
I haven't had to rebuild a TiVo recently though.

[Ray]

I was using 02112 as well. Not sure what was happening. Finally got it going by selecting arial and sat. Sky sat didn't seem to work. OK now so will try the codes again.

[divxmaster]

I was using 02112 as well. Not sure what was happening. Finally got it going by selecting arial and sat. Sky sat didn't seem to work. OK now so will try the codes again.

Hi Ray, any luck?

[Ray]

AT least I got TiVo working again but no luck with the IR yet. Didn't get any response. Trying to get the IR Slice program working on the Thomson but comes up with an error. Hopefully have time to have a play this weekend.

[Ray]

I am still working on getting the KAON NS1120 sky box working with my TiVo. What I have tried so far: -

• On USA Philips Series 1 used irSliceCreator to capture codes. No luck. Program kept crashing and could not test. Did get some bits of code however which may help error check later.

• On UK Thomson Series 1 could not get irSliceCreator to run. Get error “Failed to connect: No such file or directory”. Had a look through the code and could not track while file was the problem. PATH looked ok.

• Found SKY spec for the box suggesting 36kHz IR frequency.
o https://skytv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3324/~/sky-box-hardware-specifications (https://skytv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3324/~/sky-box-hardware-specificationshttp://)

• Found KAON NS1120 Pronto codes from http://www.chowmain.co.nz/mysky-driver.
o Converted these to TiVo codes using Pronto to tivo code conversion.xls (http://www.oztivo.net/oztivofiles/ircodes/pronto%20to%20%20tivo%20code%20conversion.xls)
o Created a KAON1120.tcl file according to IRConversionAndSetup (http://www.oztivo.net/twiki/bin/view/IR/IRConversionAndSetuphttp://)
o Set this as CableBoxCodeNum 29994
o Gave it a try – got occasional response to 3 and 5 but nothing repeatable

• There are some good tips on IR blaster placement here which I have yet to try. http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=106&topicid=199099 (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=106&topicid=199099http://)

• I did have some success in that I could use my IR extender to retransmit from one room to another.

I have just ordered an old Pronto programmable remote to capture the IR codes both direct from the Sky box and also from TiVo to compare. That will arrive in a couple of weeks.

I will persevere perhaps at different frequencies as the data I captured suggested 36kHz was incorrect and may be much higher. Using some of the data I did capture from irSliceCreator.

Any further suggestions appreciated.

In the meantime I will post another note on my thoughts on using the Sky KAON NS1120 in another article.

[divxmaster]

Hi Ray,
awesome work. One thing I did read I think on the pronto sites is to put a bit of sellotape over
the ir receiver, to act as a uv filter. I doubt it would work, but worth a go.

Cheers,
Divxmaster

[Ray]

Well the Pronto arrived and 10 minutes later got it controlling the Sky box. So it can learn the codes and rebroadcast ok. Only issue I have is I need a serial connector cable and a serial port to get the data out. Got the soldering iron out and made one up but having issues connecting via my USB/COM port connector. Got some old PC's around which should have a serial port so will try and fire one of them up, not used in over 10 years so no guarantee.

Making progress though.

[divxmaster]

thanks Ray,
fingers crossed.
I might at some stage go back to an old system we had, which pulled the sky guide data from their website.
The guidedata coming from the Satellite is getting more and more inaccurate.

[Ray]

Well it has been a difficult journey but looks like I am nearly there.

Managed to find an old PC with COM port but had no USB so couldn't get ProntoEdit software across as no 3.5" floppy on my current PC's. Ended up burning a CD to do it and after a few false starts got it talking to the Pronto and then loading IR codes. Checking the KAONNS1120 codes against the ones from the www and they were close so corrected in TiVo and tried again. No luck. Spent a day or so confirming that I was changing the CableBoxCodeNum correct. Then fed the TiVo IR back into the Pronto to see the codes I was getting and they were different. Found the frequency conversion used in the Pronto to Tivo Code conversion spreadsheet was wrong. So putting in a number of random numbers and working out the relationship I got a correction and put this in and lo and behold TiVo is now controlling Sky again.

I did have to tape the transmitter to the front of the box but no shielding. I am getting some issues with multiple digits and I think 8 or 9 might not be working very well, but I am sure I can get these with some tweaking.

So I will see what it does over the weekend and see if I can fix the rest of the numbers but looks like there will be life in the old TiVo yet.

:)

[divxmaster]

Hi Ray,
thanks for your great efforts. Much appreciated.
SKY still haven't scheduled me in for a box change yet!

Cheers,
Divxmaster

[mpnash]

Yikes, I've just received that dreaded 'upgrade letter'! Is it indeed dreaded?

Ray seems to have broken the back with the IR codes (great work!), and has provided a thorough comparison - but there still seems some doubt.
So I'm wondering if I should stall (the inevitable?) as long as possible, or bite the bullet and risk the wrath of family.

After two weeks with functional IR, how's it working out for you now, Ray?

Or anyone for that matter ... there seems to be about 20 trusty S1s still connected to the trusty mothership:
http://orac.caffeine.co.nz/stats/nzTiVo-usage.png

Cheers,
M.