[Runch Machine]

I just got the JVC 30K D-VHS VCR and a Samsung SIR-T165 set top box. The Samsung box can control and record into the JVC D-VHS VCR. This works, but the Samsung box looses scheduled programs after it has been turned off for a while. Has anyone else had problems with this set up? If I put programs into the program schedule that start within a few minutes, the Samsung will power itself on, power on the VCR, set it to the proper Ilink/IEEE1394 input and start the VCR in record mode. It will stop the VCR and power everything off after the program is over. However, if the box is left off for longer then 15 minutes or so, and you go back to check the list of programs to be recorded, it will be empty. Does anyone have any suggestions for what is causing this and what to do to fix it? Nothing else is lost as far as settings when the box is powered off except for the schedule of programs to be recorded. The Samsung box must be powered off in order for it to perform this recording function.


Does anyone else here have a similar set up? If so, what is your experience with it? Has it been reliable when it comes to recording programs on the VCR?

 

[Judy Y]

Your mmv, but I turn off the samsung right after I have programmed it. I have heard of people who lose info when they switch to a channel with incorrect or problematic psip data streams.


Other things that seem to help me get my recordings;


1.) I never leave the sammy on the station I want to record. It seems to need the extra time changing channels to get everything turned on.

2.) What ever station I leave it on, I double check the time the station is displaying to make sure it is accurate.

3.) I never program the sammy with the JVC on.


Again, your mmv but I was losing some recordings doing other things. This is what seems to work best for me.


Anyone else have some thoughts to share? Soon, I am going to try hooking everything up to a firewire hub/repeater. Anyone have anything to share on this? I don't know if it will work or not.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

How are you getting the clock info? Do you get more than 1 local station?

 

[Runch Machine]

We get 10 local digital TV stations. How do you tell what the clock info is for a particular station? I noticed the time is displayed for stations when you press the info button and that some stations have the wrong time. Two of them, PAX and WB were 4 hours fast. The three major network stations CBS, NBC, ABC all had the right time, as did the PBS station and an independent station that is owned by the ABC station. I removed the PAX station and the WB station from the channel list so I won't tune those. The Fox station was about 3 minutes slow, so I left it in.


When does the receiver set its internal clock? What station does it get the time from? Hopefully by not tuning in a channel with the wrong time the problem will not occur again. Thanks for your help about the time. That could be it.

 

[Runch Machine]

Also, I have the firewire connections routed from the VCR, to the Tuner and from the tuner to the TV. The TV is a Sony with firewire jacks. The TV is connected to my home theatre receiver via a digital optical cable. When I use the I-Link/IEEE1394 connection in the TV to watch either the VCR or the set top box, the digital audio is passed from the playback device, through the TV into the home theatre receiver. I mention this in case Judy Y finds in helpfu.

 

[Runch Machine]

Update. Well as of 7pm the Samsung turned on and recorded to the JVC as it should. It looks like the problem was the clock from the channels with the wrong time. I love this forum and the help people give. I have one more problem, this time with the remote. According to the manual, there is supposed to be a firewire button in the lower right hand corner of the remote under the set button. My remote does not have this button. Does yours? Also, the volume buttons won't control the volume on our RCA kitchen TV. Furthermore, the remote won't control either of our Sony TVs regardless of which code I put in. Has anyone here gotten the remote to control a Sony TV, and if you have another brand of TV, do the volume buttons work?

 

[sfield]

My samsung remote has the firewire button on the bottom right, below the "SET" button.


There is a model number near that, it reads MD59-00339D.


I use a Pronto for controlling all devices in that room. I can post the pronto IR code for the "Firewire" button if you are interested. Pressing the button brings up a selector that lets you send commands to the attached firewire device(s).

 

[Runch Machine]

The model number on mine is MD59-00339A. Yours had a D on the end. That must be the difference. Please post the IR code for Firewire, I have an All in One remote that I can use to program it I think.

 

[dwk]

Since the 165 does not allow repeat (weekly) recordings (unbelievable!) , I program the JVC 30K and manually tune the 165 to the ccorrect station.

Works flawlessly. Also no incorrect time problems


Samsung.. Kudos on being the first to interface with the 30K,

boo for missing the weekly record feature. Have you owned a vcr deck in the past 20 years?


Most kudos for the HLN617W tho...

 

[gridleak]

Quote:

Originally posted by dwk Since the 165 does not allow repeat (weekly) recordings (unbelievable!) , I program the JVC 30K and manually tune the 165 to the ccorrect station. Works flawlessly. ..

The 30k timer doesn't allow the iLink to be selected. Could you explain how you are doing this?

 

[dwk]

If you promise not to tell anyone, I discovered it by accident because I did not read the manual.



I set the JVC to F-1 thinking that was firewire 1. Turns out it will default to the firewire device regardless of the input selected.



Beats re-programming the 165 every nite! Downside is you cant channel switch automatically.

 

[gridleak]

Wow, good find, dwk. I hope my 165 does the same. I'll try it tonight.

 

[gridleak]

Quote:

Originally posted by dwk If you promise not to tell anyone, I discovered it by accident because I did not read the manual. I set the JVC to F-1 thinking that was firewire 1. Turns out it will default to the firewire device regardless of the input selected. Beats re-programming the 165 every nite! Downside is you cant channel switch automatically.

dwk: You have made a great discovery!! I just tried this with the Japan version of the 30k and that works too. It's even possible to record subchannels this way, and it completely eliminates the clock problem on the Samsung.


Too bad the Dish5000/mod is going away, because this method makes the Samsung a much better choice than the Panny DST50/51.

 

[Runch Machine]

I tried this and it didn't work for me. I programed the JVC to turn on at a certain time and for channel sected F-1. Then the VCR started, it stayed on F-1 even though the samsung was on. Did I do something wrong? Any suggestions for how to get this to work?

 

[gridleak]

Runch -- I started by viewing the firewire output of the Samsung thru the JVC component output. Then I set the timer on the JVC with input set to F1, and started the timer mode. I have nothing connected to the 30k except the firewire and component out.


Make sure your 30k is not in "Power save" mode. In that mode the firewire gets turned off when the 30k is powered down, and that would cause the Samsung to loose the connection.


I set up to record some things from HBO today. I want to see how the audio turns out with regard to "legacy" dropouts.

 

[Ed Barclay]

Quote:

Originally posted by gridleak Runch -- I started by viewing the firewire output of the Samsung thru the JVC component output. Then I set the timer on the JVC with input set to F1, and started the timer mode. I have nothing connected to the 30k except the firewire and component out. Make sure your 30k is not in "Power save" mode. In that mode the firewire gets turned off when the 30k is powered down, and that would cause the Samsung to loose the connection.

I also can not get this to work. I have done exactly as described above but it always goes to F1. Any other suggestions?

 

[merton]

I started a thread on my 165/30k recording problems back on December 10, but it died out without resolution:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=322134&highlight=Merton


Since then, I have received a replacement unit with the same problems:

Quote:

It exhibits exactly the same problems as the first unit - intermittent firewire output, will not schedule any events if more than one is scheduled, regular audio dropouts (~2-3 seconds every minute or so), and a "Version Compare Error " when I try to upload STB_SW_Downloader_v310.

I received a return call from a Samsung engineer who told me ALL 165's have trouble controlling multiple events. This issue alone has me strongly considering returning the 165 when the LG3410 becomes available. I was told that Samsung is working on a fix, but not to expect one anytime soon.


Additionally, the current unit spent a week locking up whenever it was tuned to the local NBC affiliate. I am awaiting a replacement from the local Tweeter/HiFi Buys, but it has taken 3-5 weeks to receive replacements, as they don't normally stock the 165. This is too long, especially given that I live in Atlanta, which has 7-8 HiFi Buys stores. Turned out the NBC affilliate's signal was causing the lockup, as they were broadcasting analog SD on their digital station for several days. To reset the unit I had to turn it off, disconnect the OTA antenna, turn it on, & delete the offending station from memory.


Runch & Gridleak: I was told by JVC tech support to program the 30k to record an analog station as an event and have the 165 already set to the HD station desired. The JVC would then default to the Firewire input if a signal was present from the 165.


Runch: My Samsung remote will not control my Sony 42" LCD no matter what code I use. You will need the correct Sammy remote with the Firewire button. At least it allows you to (somewhat) reliably record events while you are present. I always check the 30k's component outputs to be sure.


Bottom line, I think $ 600 is way too much for a STB with this many problems. My third unit should be here this week. If it exhibits the same problems, I will invoke the "Lemon" rule, return it, and get the LG 3410 for only $ 300-400 more. I'll then use the JVC for archiving.


Jim Martin

 

[Runch Machine]

Regarding the remote, I went through all the codes and found that code 63 entered as 063 does control Sony TVs, however my remote has a problem with the volume control buttons as they don't work. When set to control TVs the power, channel and TV/Video buttons do control the TV.


After taking Judy's suggestion to check the time on all stations to see if any are wrong, I have had flawless timer recordings with the Samsung controlling the JVC VCR. I even have gotten the JVC to timer record using its built in timer function and switching to I-1 by going into the Samsung's firewire control screen and connecting that way. So far I am pretty happy with this set up. Like I said, it has worked exactly as it should since I removed the two channels that had the incorrect time.

 

[gridleak]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed Barclay I also can not get this to work. I have done exactly as described above but it always goes to F1. Any other suggestions?

It's probably some menu setting. Random thoughts:


-- I verified the firewire connection was working by watching the signal with the 30k.


-- I left the Sammy on.


-- Nothing is connected to any of the A/V inputs of the 30k.


-- The 30k power save is OFF, which means the clock display (and firewire) stays on even when the 30k is powered down (not just when set to timer).


-- I used DVHS tape.


This morning I set the Sammy/JVC combo to record HBO from a Dish5000/mod. I set the timer several hours before the event and went on to work, and the recording was successful. It played back on the 30kU in my HT without the typical audio dropouts.

 

[merton]

Interesting! My 165 manual only shows 74 & 77 for Sony. I had tried 074 & 077 with no luck. 063 works all functions except volume for me, too.


You say you're pretty happy with your 165/30k setup now. Have you been able to program multiple events yet?


As for the the times broadcast by the stations, mine seem to change regularly. I've already deleted unused channels. I'm increasingly amazed that Samsung did not include an internal clock.


Jim