Low Speed Data Port

[sub_755]

I have a Sony B50 receiver and it has a low speed data serial port on the back. Is there any use for this port? Thanks.

[fiddlerfingers]

Yes, if you have a boat or RV and want to use a self tracking dish it hooks up through the LPDP...GL

[LemonHead]

Dang, learn something new everyday here at the Pirates Den.

Thanks for the info fiddlerfingers!

[DivideByZero]

Search google or altavista for "DirecTV Serial Control Utility" - you should find a link to a program that allows you to use that port to change channels, among other things, from your PC

[sub_755]

Thanks. I will do some searching...

[bdale]

I have a replayTV unit and it uses the data port for changing channels. I suspect TIVO (external) units would also use it.

Now the problem I'm having is that my ReplayTv unit can control my RCA DRD420RE, but not my Hughes GCEBOA. According to Replay TV it should work, but the data port has to be set to low speed.

any idea how I would do this on the Hughes receiver?

[Bumps]

Check this out

/http://www.pcmx.net/dtvcon/

[LemonHead]

Very cool Bumps!

Thanks for the link.

[DivideByZero]

Yep, that link is the one I was talking about... didn't know whether posting the URL would violate any of the new rules or not.

[mcu]

has anyone heard of a similar program for echostar, that does remote control through the serial port.

[Dave.ca]

My receiver has the older db15 data port that requires an adapter to interface with the pc. The only such adapter I've been able to hunt down on the web is the TiVo Serial Cable Adapter for a reasonable US$3.99. Problem is, the TiVo site will not ship to Canada.

Has anyone been able to source this (or another adapter that would perform the same task) elsewhere?

Thanks,

Dave

[kcsat]

There are a couple programs for your computer, snapstream and showshifter that allows your computer to act like a DVR Digital Video Recorder, like Tivo. They will even connect to the internet and update your TV listings as well. I don’t know about showshifter but snapstream will use the low speed data port to change your sat channel in order to record for you when you have it programmed to record when your away.

SnapStream looks very promising but on two different computers and three different sound card I could not get sound to work right.

They sell an adaptor for $20 - $25 but you can make one pretty easily, if you have an old emulator (com port to phone line) connector you can use that, the wiring is the same. The only difference is that the old emulator connecter uses an RJ11 jack and the low speed data port uses the same jack used for the hand sets on phones. I used an RJ11 cord and sanded down the sides to make it fit, I haven’t tried it yet.

I have pic of the wiring (compliments of another website) but I do not know how to upload here, there is pic on the snapstream site but I would not want to post a URL and it is kind of hard to find.

Red Wire --- DB9-Pin 2
Green --- DB9-Pin 5
Black --- DB9-Pin 3
The Yellow wire is not used.

[n8766a]

I have a Sony SAT-A55 with the low speed data port. I want to use it with the antenna on my RV, but I'm having trouble finding a cable. Anybody know where I can get one?