ATSC Converter -> Analog DVR: IR Blaster Channel Control? - Page 2

The good news is, thanks to the great advice and information provided by "TheWind", "jjeff" and "Rammitinski", I have now been able to set up my DMR-EH55S to control channel selection on the Insignia NS-DXA1-APT and can now set up DVR timers for it's digital channels. As suggested by "TheWind" and "Rammitinski", the IR code for the Insignia box was the same as one of the LG codes shown under the DirectTV satellite receiver manufacturer listings. That IR code is "1415". I was also able to leave the digital converter connected to DVR input "L1". I still have the same situation with the DMR-EH55S that I've had with the DMR-E85H and that is having to set up two consecutive timers in order to select the desired channel on the digital converter and a second to set up the correct input on the DVR. As mentioned before, when the DVR issues the IR blaster code for the channel selection to the digital receiver, it also simultaneously changes the DVR input to that same channel . I have found no other way around this problem other than to set up the second timer, immediately following the first, to then set the DVR input back to "L1" before recording begins. There are two differences which I've found between the DMR-E85H and the DMR-EH55S and this goes to what "jjeff" brought up in his post. In the "setup", the DMR-E85H defaults to a two digit channel selection format whereas, in the DMR-EH55S setup, you can select either a two digit or three digit format. When the two digit format is used, the selected digital channel on the digital converter will always default to the first available sub-channel of the selected "prime" channel, ie. 19-1, 31-1, etc. Should sub-channel "-1" be turned off or otherwise unavailable on the digital converter, the next available sub-channel of that "prime" channel will be selected. On the DMR-EH55S, if the three digit format is chosen in the setup, the first two digits select the "prime" channel and the third digit selects the sub-channel, regardless of whether it is turned on or not.

I think if you leave the E85H "on", you can schedule consecutive timers with no problem.

I am posting this as "feedback" to those had previously advised and helped me in my attempts to set up the IR blaster control on my DVR's but also for anyone who, in the future, might attempt doing the same thing and that they might avoid making the same mistakes that I made. Although I had finally been able to have my two DVR's control the channel selection on their respective digital converters via the IR blasters and was therefore able to program the timers with the unorthodox "two step" process as I had previously described, I and the others who had responded, were not satisfied that there wasn't a better and more correct way of doing this. As it turns out, they were right. I kept remembering that "TheWind" had said, in a previous post, that the digital converter box would need to be connected to input 3 (L3). When reading this, I mistakenly took this as a suggestion rather than a requirement. Since, at the time, input 3 (L3) of both DVR's were connected to the output of a "Dish" satellite receiver and the digital converter boxes seemed to function properly when connected to input 1 (L1), I did not swap the inputs as "TheWind" had recommended. In thinking back on it, this recommendation became more significant as I remembered that, during the TV Guide setup process, the only input options were three RF inputs (Ch. 2, 3 or 4) and one A/V input option (L3). Input L1 was not included as an option. This should have "raised a flag" for me but, since I already had the digital converters connected to input L1, I chose RF channel 3 and proceeded on to the next setup step. I know, Dumb! At the time, I didn't realize that, in the software, channel selection on the external device (cable box, satellite receiver, etc.) has to be associated with whichever of the inputs had been selected and, in my case, it had to be the L3 input and not the L1 input. I have now gone back and connected the digital receivers to the L3 inputs of the respective DVR's, the satellite receiver to inputs L1 and gone back through the TV Guide setup again correctly. Timer programming on the DVR's now requires only the normal "one entry" per recording and, except for a couple of very minor "channel list" differences due to the digital converters being defined as a "cable box" in the case of the "E85H" and a "satellite receiver" in the case of the "EH55", everything else seems to be functioning correctly. I guess that, any time that you try to make a thing do something that it is not originally intended or designed to do, you can expect some problems. Thanks again for all of the help and I apologize for "getting off into the weeds" before finally finding my way back.