Dish and Slingbox problem...

[Dimitris76]

I have a Vip722k receiver with an HDMI connected large screen on TV1 and a Slingbox Pro (the old red one) on TV2 via composite.

I read about the TV2 IR Converter kits here and managed to source one of these. The plan is to have Slingbox control on TV2 through it.
The converter is powered, connected with the thin IR cable to Slingbox and with a short coaxial to receiver's UHF antenna jack (antenna removed).

So, the converter's dip switches are set to TV2/Band A, the receiver address is set to 1 for TV2 and I left it set on 3 for TV1.

The problem is I have control of Slingbox' TV2 tuner ONLY when I press the "System Info" button on the receiver's front panel (the Info screen is shown on TV1 output as on the instructions I followed to set the remote addresses).
As soon as I press the "select" button to return the Slingox' virtual remote stops functioning. I never had that problem with Slingbox before when I was using it with IR blaster to control TV1 and the fact that is working leads me to believe that the IR converter hardware works as it should too.

What am I doing wrong?

Thank you in advance,
Dimi

 

[Tampa8]

Are you in duo mode?

 

[Dimitris76]

Yes I am. At least I think so... I am watching two different shows on TV1 and TV2.

/Dimi

 

[Dimitris76]

I forgot to mention that when I had the IR blasters connected to Slingbox, it was controlling TV1 that was set to address 3!

If Slingbox can produce address 3 pulses why do the IR converter instructions specifically call for address 1?

 

[n0qcu]

I forgot to mention that when I had the IR blasters connected to Slingbox, it was controlling TV1 that was set to address 3!

If Slingbox can produce address 3 pulses why do the IR converter instructions specifically call for address 1?

You can ignore what I bolded, you can use any remote address.
When you set TV2 to address one did you reset the slingbox to address one also, since you had it set to 3 when you were controlling TV1?

 

[Dimitris76]

When you set TV2 to address one did you reset the slingbox to address one also, since you had it set to 3 when you were controlling TV1?

No not really. How do I do that?
I am just using the browser based application to setup my Slingbox. I type in my receiver model (Vip722k) and on the next step the virtual remote pops up and I asks me to test button and press NEXT if all works ok.

How do I change address on Slingbox?

Thanks, Dimi

 

[Dimitris76]

Today i tried a few more things.
- i cycled the receiver power after waiting for a few seconds.
- removed the HDMI cable for TV1 (i read somewhere that it might cause UHF interference)
-i tried to set remote address to 3 for TV2 as this was the one working with Slingbox and IR blasters for TV1 previously.
- i set the remote address to an even number (2) to try Band B.

The IR converter is working fine (I can change channels, bring up the guide, etc) while the info screen is on. Returning to watch TV program on TV1 makes Sling's remote inoperable. The 21.0 UHF remote programmed on address 1 is still working though...

I am running out of ideas here. Any help is welcome!

/Dimi

 

[Tampa8]

With the UHF Dish remote, make the TV1 address "2" or "3" etc... At this point the Dish UHF remote will control TV1 using UHF.

Make the TV2 address "1" on the Dish receiver. Be sure TV1 does not change.

Pick TV2 on the converter. A/B really matters if you want to also use a remote in addition to the Slingbox for TV2. In that case the Dish remote must match whatever you choose, A or B. (NOTE- It's possible you must pick A for the Slingbox to work)

You must tell the Slingbox to use Address 1. There is a way to pick the address, by telling the Sling set-up that you are unable to change channels, OR by picking a generic option, there then is a list of addresses. Do not have the Dish receiver in set-up mode while setting up the Slingbox.

 

[Dimitris76]

I tried to change the addresses on both TVs as you suggested and still the same...

I even taped together Slingbox' IR blaster to converter's IR Eye and still the same phenomenon.

Lastly I decided to revisit the setup pages and wrote "dish" in the search field instead of "Vip 722k". Sure enough the generic dish remotes came up, I picked up address number 3, reprogrammed TV2 address to 3 on my receiver and everything works PERFECT now. The virtual remote doesn't look like the black that came with my receiver (it's silver) but I can live with that...

Thank you so much for your help guys! Amazing forum!

/Dimi

 

[Jim5506]

When your 722 is in sling mode control of the unit is on the screen of whatever device you are using to view, computer, ipad, etc, not via the remote.

That is the way the software works, if you use the remote you drop the TV2 out of sling mode back to local output.

AFAIK, the ONLY way to control the TV2 in Sling mode is on the viewing device screen with the controls provided there.

 

[Dimitris76]

When your 722 is in sling mode control of the unit is on the screen of whatever device you are using to view, computer, ipad, etc, not via the remote.

That is the way the software works, if you use the remote you drop the TV2 out of sling mode back to local output.

AFAIK, the ONLY way to control the TV2 in Sling mode is on the viewing device screen with the controls provided there.

Jim,

I am not sure what you are saying here.

The virtual remote on my laptop's screen was working ONLY when the 722k receiver was showing System Info screen on TV1. Obviously I had to press the select button at one point in order to return TV1 to normal view. That's when sling's virtual remote stopped functioning. Why? I can't explain - it's a mystery. But it does work when I choose generic Dish Remote address 3 on sling setup and the UHF 21.0 remote works too!

 

[Tampa8]

Very glad you got it to work!!