Lawrence "The Dreamer" Chen's Blog

Last time I pulled the trigger on upgrading my DSL, I was just hoping to get them to bring me up to the speed I had been paying for (originally they said I could only get 1.5m/384k, and they did deliver that for the first month....when after a storm they then locked me down at 768/384. And, no amount of calling or emails, would make them think to let me back up.)

When I had last looked, both tiers were offered...but I was pessimistic, so I only ordered the 3.0m/512k tier. But, since sync rate is almost always this rate now....and DSLreports tools suggests that 768k upstream is possible. And, should be able to get another 1-1.5m on the downstream. I had started wondering if I shouldn't have gone for the higher speed.

Then the Roku NetFlix player was announced, and that seemed like something I would want to have. Which would make the need for more speed that much more desirable.

So, I had drafted a plan to get the NetFlix player last month and upgrade my DSL last month. Only as time went on, and reviews of the NetFlix player came in....my interest faded. The lack of subtitles or CC capability in the player is a big negative.

Especially since I've been catching up on my TV recordings, and the big thing I miss is that they weren't recorded with CC enabled. Of course, I suppose it might have something to do with the fact that some of the people behind ReplayTV are now behind Roku. Though to be fair, part of the lack of CC on my ReplayTV recordings is the transition to digital....

Anyways...I was online today to check my account information....couldn't remember if I had seen the bill or not. Decided to go ahead and order the upgrade to see how close to 6.0m/768k they can actually deliver.

I'm more likely to be holding out for the LG/NetFlix combo device now....than the Roku. Even though the LG device is apparently no more capable than the Roku for NetFlix. But, I've been wanting Blu-Ray since the beginning, and now that its the winner...it might be time to finally pull the trigger on that. Guess it'll depend on whether NetFlix streaming improves....and whether I see enough Blu-Ray now to justify it.

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Link: http://www.zektor.com/hdvi5/HDVI5.html

One of the things I had grumbled about was now having to switch inputs on my Zektor HDVI5 more often than usual.

Namely, going between my two TiVo HD's. The other two devices, my DVD player and the Cox HD DVR, were getting little use. Like, I'm only watching on DVD a weekend...if that. And, right now I check the Cox HD DVR now and then to remove stuff it has recorded, because it is duplicating stuff that I'm now getting on my TiVo (one of the them anyways). I originally scheduled the shows because I wasn't able to get them via Cablecards, but Cox has since made all the HD channels here available that way.

I could remove the scheduling I suppose, but that's more time on the box than I want. Perhaps sometime before the start of the fall season, I'll sit down and figure out the distribution of what I record where. Kind of like the spread of channels over the many ReplayTVs I've been using.

Should be interesting to see what my ReplayTV usage becomes in the fall.

Anyways...back to what input switching problem, it dawned on that I can reprogram the switcher to select the input based on a different remote. Though I didn't want to change all the buttons, and there didn't seem to be a way to cycle through inputs...so I hadn't looked much further.

It then occurred me that I could temporarily juggle remotes to program so just input 1 and input 2 are triggered by some other IR code, that corresponds to the respective TiVo HD's. Better yet, while checking the manual...I can only change the IR codes that I want.

So, I mapped the TiVo button of #1 to input 1, and the TiVo button of #2 to input 2. Sure, the switcher is going to reselect the input every time I hit the TiVo button. But, it seemed a safe button that would switch inputs without disrupting things on that TiVo.

Especially, since it is preference to hit the TiVo button for the input I'm going to before I switch to the input. That way I won't get blasted by whatever Live TV that the TiVo might be playing.

At some later date, I'll probably think of what button on the other devices (Cox HD DVR and Momitsu V880N DVD player) to be the input selection for that. But, back to my TiVo viewing.

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Yesterday, I mourned the death of one of my ReplayTVs. I accepted it fairly quickly, since I use them less and less (due to more and more stuff on HD and having a TiVo HD).

So I've set about removing it from my setup (can't seem to get to ReplayTV to remove its subscription...guess I'll try again or call on Monday).

After mulling things over....I decided that I would get a second TiVo HD.

I went to tivo.com and ordered a refurbished TiVo HD with month-to-month service, threw in a glo Remote...and checked out.

But, it timed out before giving me an order confirmation. My cart is empty, but no email of the order either. So, did it complete or not?

I tried calling the sales number...but the call won't go through.

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Sometime early this morning, one of my ReplayTV's failed. Looks like the harddrive big the dust.

Guess if it doesn't start working on its own soon, I'll just see about unsubscribing it. I still have my other 6 ReplayTVs...and I hardly use any of them now since I'm more in HD.

What I might do now, is see about buying another TiVo HD

Off to figure out what I've lost and see if I want to bother getting those shows back....

I mentioned that my URC-6131 was failing...the main annoyance was the PVR Menu button. It was getting harder and harder to get into the Replay Menu on my ReplayTVs.

I searched around online to try to find a new URC-6131 (forgetting at first that it needs to be modded to do JP1 reprogramming). But, no luck. I decided I would take a chance try the 6131n. Found it in numerous places.

But, as I was looking at whether to buy or bid....I saw an auction listing that mentioned that the 6131n for sale had been modded for JP1 programming. Oh ya....the 6131 that I had was modded for JP1...that means I should be bidding on this one.

I marked it for future bid....

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The process got off to a rough start...the installer put card 1 in and then put card 2 in, and called to do the pairing. During the call he was instructed to remove cards and then do them one at a time.

That seemed to go somewhat better.

He didn't want to go through guided setup, just wanted to see live TV to confirm that things were working. But, it stayed at Acquiring Channel Info, forever. A quick call, seems he would have to do it, if he wanted to see channels.

So, we did the guided setup.

Still no channels. He decided that everything was done on their end, that it must be TiVo that is preventing things....so he left his number, and said to call if there were any problems on their end.

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Link: http://www.wirns.com

I've had it with lack of line up updates from DNNA, and the need to call a non-tollfree number and wait on indefinite hold to fix something they should be keeping up on.

So, I looked at remapping some data to get the one channel that I'm missing out on....digital Fox.

I had stopped using WiRNS, because my ReplayTVs had stopped being able to get data from it....I figured it was probably related to having lost one of my Linux servers due to the icepocalypse. And, evidently this is so.

Now at least I'll have the option of recording Fox from digital cable....though American Idol filling up the schedule, means there's just "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"....which isn't in conflict, so is getting recorded on the DVR.

I had been thinking that over the Xmas holidays, and then on New Year's....that I would replace the bulb in my Samsung HLN4365W1. It had been getting darker and darker for some time, and was beginning to annoy me...especially which watching TV shows and movies that tend to be dark themselves.

But, I keep forgetting to do it before turning the TV on for the day. Being that I need to do it with the set cool.

Today I got an email from a person looking for a replacement bulb for her Samsung HLN4365W1....which made me think that I should try to remember replacing mine. She told me that looking at Sears Parts online, it would set her back like $250. And, wanted to know if I knew of somewhere cheaper. I went over to Samsungparts.com, where I had ordered my replacement bulb from...and found that they give a price of $149.99. Darn, I paid $199.99 for mine...of course, I bought it over 1.5 years ago....in preparation of a move for just in case.

The bulb replacement was pretty straight forward, except that it was on the side that required contortions and later pulling the TV out to get at.

Once the set turned on...I went into the service menu to clear the lamp timer. Making note that the timer was at 6118 hours.

Interesting to note that the new bulb is a 120W, whereas the original bulb was only a 100W...where I had read somewhere that the 'Dynamic' picture mode ran the bulb at 120W. Guess the part change addresses this fact. Though I guess I've been fortunate to not experience total bulb failure.

Meanwhile, while checking out the new bulb...I noticed that Fox HD is now available on Cox.

Wonder how long before DNNA get's the lineup fixed so that I can record it using my ReplayTV? Maybe I'll have to dig out my fax machine and send them the full line up, so they can get it right.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113042

Core 2 Quad Q6600(2.40GHz) goodness with 2GB of RAM for <$750....has arrived!

Don't know what I'm going to do with it yet...wonder if I should turn it on? Not planning to leave the Vista Home Premium that it came preinstalled with. It'll either be some distro of Linux, I'm thinking of trying Ubuntu Server 7.10....or Solaris (either the Solaris 10 8/07 release or one of the OpenSolaris Express Editions.)

Guess I'll see whether I can resurrect the old Linux box first....will decide if I need to build a machine to read the old drives or not.

Meanwhile it looks like my WiRNS box has eaten itself.....had to quickly reconfigure my network (both gateway routers) and DHCP....and make the ReplayTVs talk directly to DNNA. As soon as I find the old install disc, I'll try repairing the OS. Otherwise, I may have to look into stepping up my Windows upgrade plans. Or make that switch to Mac.

In a moment of insanity, I saw somebody selling a 'new' Samsung SIR-T451 on eBay.

So, I threw in a bid and won it.

The timing was kind of poor as I was about to embark for LISA, so I knew it would be one big item waiting for me when I did get around to making a trip to the UPS store. And, I was worried that I might have too many big items waiting for me.

I was close. I didn't take into account that there would also be several pounds of catalogs stuffed into my box. I lugged those home, because I didn't want to sort through them and also plan to enter them at Catalog Choice....

Well, after processing all the other deliveries and mail...I set out to try out the SIR-T451 at receiving clear QAM. It would scan and the lock up and reboot. It made some progress at find HDTV signals, but I realized that it wasn't going to work. The channels are all weird (though making a custom channel guide using WiRNS might have been an option)...but there was also the use of subchannels...and they weren't on the first subchannel. Which meant that I wasn't gonna have anything usable via ReplayTV.

I was about to pack it up and give up, when I decided to see what would happen if I hooked an antenna to it. Largely because the signal light has been flickering lately on the SIR-T351 and there were a lot of bad OTA recordings...which was getting annoying. There was a mix from forums on which was better for OTA...the T351 or the T451. So, not having anything to lose at this point, I tried it.

Well, the T451 worked better for me. It had a fairly solid lock on WIBW-DT, but unfortunately no other HD stations. So, I set up on my ReplayTV.

That leaves the one open cable connection for something else....at least now I know that there are some clear QAM stuff in my area, perhaps I'll look to finally building that HTmac....