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I am so lost, digital stream converter with showstopper 2000

post #1 of 19
10/15/09 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
I am just getting to setting my showstopper up after digital, I was letting it settle out and we still get sporadic reception. That aside, I have a showstopper 2000(actually I have two, but the clock won't set on one needs to go back to Panasonic) and a digital stream 9950 and a purchased off of Ebay IR blaster. Until I read the post today I thought it was either the IR blaster was bad or the Showstopper but now I don't know. Some time ago I had read that you set it up as if it is Direct TV using line in one and that works great, I now get all my stations on the program guide(all being all the .1s). The post said to use 0899 code and it was tested and worked and there was also another one that was faster 07XX forget exactly. Ok great among the devices available to Direct TV I find 0899 and of course it doesn't work. I come here and look and find all kinds of files .obj files and whatever and I don't even have a clue what to do with them even if I had the right one. If I can get this IR blaster to work, it would be great and I would almost be back before the change, when it works which is half the time.

Appreciate any help you may be able to give,
Thanks,
Barry
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post #2 of 19
10/18/09 at 6:59pm
No other replies, so, I'll give it a go...
  1. My only experience, thus far, is with 5XXXs and Comcast STBs/DTAs.
  2. I find your 'Single Paragraph Dialog' confusing. (I understand that you're frustrated.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

...I have a showstopper 2000... ...and a digital stream 9950 and a purchased off of Ebay IR blaster. Until I read the post today I thought it was either the IR blaster was bad or the Showstopper but now I don't know...

  1. [How-Do-I] Control My NEW OTA / CABLE Digital STB With My OLD ReplayTV?
    - It sounds like DigitalStream DTX-9950 from Replay3030Owner should work for you too.
    .
  2. Adding new IR Blaster codes to the Replay (2k/3k)
    - But, I doubt that you need a new / custom OBJ file.
    .
  3. Verify that your IR Blaster is transmitting (view it with a digital camera).
Try code 9749 and report back with your results.
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post #3 of 19
10/19/09 at 8:28am
Thread Starter 
CTL, thank you so much for your help. I think I have tried every code and made sure I tried the ones mentioned. The on board instructions say turn off converter box and then it should turn on, so my pass fail at the moment is just see if the darn thing turns on. I am thinking the IR blaster that I bought off of Ebay is defective or the electronics that controls that in the Showstopper isn't working. The IR blaster was really cheap, I might just buy another one and see how that goes. It doesn't appear that I have to download anything, which is good, because I didn't know how to do all of that. I am still so open to suggestions but I think it is at the end of the trail and it is some kind of a hardware problem.

I ordered another IR blaster to take that out of the equation, actually it is two, which isn't so bad either I guess, under $10 with shipping for a 2 pack, I think it is worth it just to eliminate one aspect or fix it, I opt for the latter but we shall see.

I still will take any help.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #4 of 19
10/21/09 at 7:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

I am just getting to setting my showstopper up after digital, I was letting it settle out and we still get sporadic reception. which is half the time.

Appreciate any help you may be able to give,
Thanks,
Barry

Barry,
We had PM'd back in '08 and you had said you were going to wait to see what stations were available to you. I hope you are now receiving more then you initially were.
I just connected my Replay 2020 to my DTX9950 and all works fine. (I wasn't in much of a hurry as it is on my second TV that had died shortly after we PM'd)
I will PM you again with my setup.
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post #5 of 19
10/24/09 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Well, that didn't work either. I have tried a ton of different codes non work. On a day like today it doesn't much matter nothing is coming in because it is raining, that one I can't figure out what rain would have to do with radio waves, go figure. The good news is my program guide is working again, although I have a million channels I can't get, that is as long as someone changes the converter box channel to whatever station, what a pain.

The IR blaster is advertised being compatible with TiVo and REplay, although the styles are completely different. One can be attached to the top of the converter box pointing down across the sensor and it has a nice big lens, the other is much smaller and doesn't have a right angle so I assume the tape is suppose to set up in front of the box with the tiny peep hole being the lens. In any event neither work, so I assume it is something in the Showstopper that isn't working, now I have two that should be sent back to Panasonic for repair.

Close but not cigar as my father use to say, Thanks,
Barry
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post #6 of 19
10/24/09 at 7:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

that one I can't figure out what rain would have to do with radio waves, go figure.

Radio waves have to travel through air. The characteristics of air changes with mositure. The frequency of the radio wave also changes the effect of mositure in the air. Submarines, for example, use a very low frequency to be able to transmit radio waves while under water. High frequencies get absorbed by water, which is basically what makes your microwave oven work. So, one way to look at it is that these higher frequencies that are used by current Digital TV transmissions (which are typically all in the UHF, Ultra High Frequency, spectrum versus the VHF, Very High Frequency, spectrum that was used for analog TV transmissions) are just heating up the rain droplets!

I have put this in very laymen's terms, so please don't beat me up over the technical details...

Henry
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post #7 of 19
10/25/09 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
Henry, thanks for the explanation. I have a mast which brings the antenna, I would guess about 10 feet above the roof. I still have to find someone to put it up before the roof gets icy a 15 foot extension, I think this will help the reception some, what do you think?

I am still not quite sure what to do about the Showstopper, right now it is not only a showstopper but a channelstopper. I am going to try the digital camera to see if it is getting signal, I can almost guarantee that it isn't. Personally except for football games, I could give a rats behind about TV, but my wife has a lot of things she likes to watch, I sure would like to get it right so she can do so.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #8 of 19
10/25/09 at 8:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

Henry, thanks for the explanation. I have a mast which brings the antenna, I would guess about 10 feet above the roof. I still have to find someone to put it up before the roof gets icy a 15 foot extension, I think this will help the reception some, what do you think?

Yes, if you are using Rabbit Ears or some such indoor antenna, adding an external aerial should help a lot. I have my original full analog TV spectrum aerial, which works quite well, but you can use a UHF only, or DTV aerial now a days. The TV broadcasters are only allowed to use the VHF spectrum if they use very low power, so it probably isn't as important. Which, by the way, is another reason that rain impacts the DTV signal more than it did the analog signal. Using a digital signal and having more channels in the UHF band, I believe they now broadcast a weaker signal.

I only just hooked up my DTV converter last night to see how it works, so I don't know how it works in the rain, but I was very impressed overall with how good the picture looks (I have cable for my normal TV reception). I guess I'll have to check it again when it's raining, but maybe others can comment on how well their reception is using an outside aerial works in the rain. You've probably seen commercials for how poorly Satellite reception is in the rain (which uses a much higher frequency), but one would hope that you should still be able to get reasonable TV reception in the rain. At least with digital signal, signal strength isn't as much of an issue as it was for analog signal, since it is pretty much all or nothing.

Obviously others have gotten their Replays and ShowStoppers to work with the converter boxes, so I think you should be able to get yours to work eventually. Using a camera to make sure that the IR blaster is working is a good start. People have also reported that placement of the IR blaster can often be critical. I setup my DTV converter specifically to make it work with a 3060 that doesn't have the appropriate IR blaster codes, so we'll see how that goes. Since I use 5Ks for my recordings, it is more an experiment than anything else. But, the step-by-step instructions are spot on. However, I am going to have to go through the process of adding IR blaster codes to my 3060. Since you should be able to use existing codes, then you should just be setting it up using the normal instructions in the user's guide. Hopefully it will just turn out to be the IR blaster, the blaster placement, or maybe using the IR blaster fine tuning...

Henry
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post #9 of 19
10/25/09 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks you again. The antenna is on a mast and is also on a rotor. Until now there were no UHF transmissions in Maine so I had to buy a new antenna with UHF capability, I don't think the antenna was as good as my old one but it was the best they now carry.

I haven't messed much with the placement, I have not yet tested it with the camera, will do that tomorrow when I can enlist my wife to help. If in fact there is signal maybe it is just placement, which would make my day. I have two different kind and in all 3 IR blasters and none are like the one that comes with the unit which has two IR transmitters. I don't think that matters but the ones I have bought are specifically for TiVo and Replay although none came with any docs at all, which assumes it is so easy you don't need to be told how to use it an for the most part I don't see why that isn't true.

Do you think it is worth getting the antenna up another 15 feet?

I have two problems, one is the reception which is spotty at best, one of the stations is actually VHF and it comes in quite good, the transmitter that is closest to use is the one that has the worst reception, must be pointed in another direction. And of course the IR blaster issue, if these two things were working, I would be there or as close to there as I will be able to get.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #10 of 19
10/25/09 at 4:28pm
I think you should check out AntennaWeb...

As far as using a rotor, I think if you read through this forum you will find that using Channel Master allows both DTV tuning and antenna pointing all in one, and works with existing RTV IR blaster codes...

Henry
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post #11 of 19
10/28/09 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 
I did check the output of the two IR blasters with a digital camera and I didn't see anything. So as I suspected it is someplace in the Showstopper itself. You can also buy the RS232 version for $12 plus shipping. I don't know if it would be worth a try? I can't seem to find any programmable remotes that include time which could be used unattended.

It would seem that between sending the unit back and the cost of fixing it, trying any number of $10 fixes would be worth it.

I have a big learn remote that I bought because the remote for the showstopper keeps breaking, that is the select button to be more accurate, I have since learned how to open it up and clean it which does the trick. In any event, my wife who uses this stuff 100% of the time, I never watch TV unless she is watching something I find interesting, otherwise I go off and do something else. This is all about keeping her happy and so far it isn't going so well. I have to check my big multiple device remote and see if it includes time, I doubt it but I may get lucky for a change.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #12 of 19
10/28/09 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 
After reviewing the manual for my 8 in 1 remote, it actually has programmable macros, either daily or weekly, as soon as I get the batteries for this thing that my wife will be bring home, I am going to try this. I think this is the answer for me and it appears anyone that still uses things that don't have IR blasters, I have those also. I hope to get one tomorrow or the next day and say problem solved.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #13 of 19
10/28/09 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

I did check the output of the two IR blasters with a digital camera and I didn't see anything. So as I suspected it is someplace in the Showstopper itself.

It's still possible that the problem's with the IR blaster itself, but I don't know how you would check it. You need a known good RTV IR blaster, I guess...

Henry
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post #14 of 19
10/29/09 at 10:57am
Thread Starter 
Geeze they don't make this easy. I learned the Digital stream no problem and programmed a timed event and poof it actually worked. Your not going to believe this one, they have exactly one memory location for both daily and weekly program, that is one total you give up one for the other. So changing it 3 times in a day which is what I want to do and add in Dancing with the Stars on Monday and Tuesday and don't forget Sunday foot ball and sometime Fox and Monday night, there are not nearly enough timed memory to do what I need. How stupid can a manufacturer get, one.... one... how dumb and totally useless.

There is one other option, before I give up totally that I am thinking of, this is a real long shot, there is also a serial IR blaster available. There is no way of knowing whether the problem is before or after this logic. It is $16 and may be worth a shot or finding a remote that actually does what mine should have done but they would be around $100 I suspect, even if you could find one.

I don't know,
Barry
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post #15 of 19
10/29/09 at 12:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldRelayer View Post

There is one other option, before I give up totally that I am thinking of, this is a real long shot, there is also a serial IR blaster available. There is no way of knowing whether the problem is before or after this logic. It is $16 and may be worth a shot or finding a remote that actually does what mine should have done but they would be around $100 I suspect, even if you could find one.

The serial port is only for DirecTV control, so you would have to tell the Replay that you selected a DirecTV satellite box and then you'd have to use the custom code to control your STB...

Henry
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post #16 of 19
10/29/09 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
Yes Henry, that is pretty much what I do now for the 3.5mm connection, I choose directTV and then tried every code for hours, none worked.

I do have a spare unit, I may decide to open it up and see how hard it would be to steal the electronic from it for the other machine. Unfortunately the other unit has a clock that doesn't work, although it be a lot of work, I could test it by setting it up and it it works try to see how much of the electronics could be easily taken. That seems like the really hard way to do it, but nothing else is working so ultimately it could come down to that.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #17 of 19
10/29/09 at 1:45pm
Does the spare unit work enough that you could set it up just to see if it can operate the IR blaster or not? That might at least let you know if the problem is with the IR blasters you are using or not...

Henry
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post #18 of 19
10/29/09 at 2:08pm
Thread Starter 
atually it works perfectly except it doesn't keep time. It was the original unit we used for about 7 or 8 years before the problem. When I set the unit up that we are now using it wouldn't work either because it wasn't getting updates. Panasonic was great, all I had to do was get it there they programmed it and sent it back for no fee and we have been using it for about 2 years. I hate thinking of the work it is going to be to set it up, test it and then set the other one up, I am 64 and not in terrific health, makes me tired just thinking about it.

Thanks,
Barry
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post #19 of 19
11/12/09 at 3:56pm
Thread Starter 
Got my new programmable digital converter box today. Works great and it was an economical way out, $41 including shipping. I bought two Digital Stream 9950's, I sure would have bought 2 of these had I know, but the other Digital Stream is ok for watching TV real time, in this way we can record something and watch something else. I may post this to the general forum, it might help someone through it without the hassel I had.

Thanks for all your help,
Barry
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