ATI AIW 9600XT Remote Wonder II need to control Satelite box

[Bennybone]

I love watching TV on the PC, what a great thing! As you can tell I am just getting started into this area of technology.

Current setup:
Sony Digital Satelite box in bedroom
running a coax cable from the output on the back of the box approx 25 feet through walls into the office on the other side of the house.
Connected to the TV coax input on my AIW card.

I am able to view and record direct to MPEG with the above connections. I of course cannot change the channels using the TV viewing software as the channel is locked on 3.

I connected the RF reciever to the USB port and loaded the most recent Remote Wonder II drivers. COOL STUFF.

***I did notice that my desktop experience has been negatively affected in that I have delayed/no response from the desktop mouse when operating the system as normal... Very annoying and hopefully someone who is running like hardware can share a similar experience with solution***

OK, sorry to stray off topic this is what I am interested in doing:

Increasing the resolution of the incoming video signal.
Utilizing the Remote Wonder II remote to change the channels on the Sony Satelite box.
Record the PVR output to DVD.

In terms of the first wish, in reading the ATI manual and website it doesn't mention that you can use anything other than coax to bring in the source signal. But using the TV software that came with ATI MMC it has a toggle button that states Composite and S-video... I do have those open outputs on the back of the Satelite box but do I want to attempt to run S-video 25 feet? I don't think so... I am all full on my LNB outputs on the Satelite dish.
Can I connect a second cable box OR DEVICE in the office to the coax line that is currently being used and then make svideo connections to that device and into my card? Kind of like an upsampling station...

The RF USB device that came with the Remote Wonder II has some jacks on the side that I have heard are for IR Blasters. Doing research on the web has not yielded any surefire possiblities for use with the ATI. Can someone who is running the RW II with IR blasters post your results and configuration, please! I assume that the IR blaster will need to be compatible with a IR extender/repeater to get the signal to the bedroom on the other side of the house. Currently I am using two remote in the office and a Radio shack IR extender/repeater to change the channels on the satelite box. I want to just use the Remote Wonder.

OK I have this nice MPEG recording, I would like to edit out the commericals and then burn it to DVD-R. What do you thing is the easiest fashion to do this. I have Roxio 7 and Nero 6 at my disposal.

Thanks, hopefully someone else can also learn as we go, LOVE THE FORUM!

[Krispy Kritter]

Your AIW will let you choose from 3 inputs, ANT, S-Video, video. You should be seeing similar quality on your pc that you are seeing on your tv (both are from your Sony). If you aren't, then you most likely have a bad coax cable. You should also keep in mind, especially if you are trying to watch video full screen, even though the monitor has a higher resolution than a tv, you don't sit 2 feet from your tv. If you back away from the monitor 5-7 feet, it will look a lot better.

As to the remote, it is designed to function with the pc and control software applications only. There is no way of controlling other hardware.

There are many tools for editing mpegs, take a gander over in the Tools section. Womble MPEG-VCR works pretty good for what you want.

[Bennybone]

As to the remote, it is designed to function with the pc and control software applications only. There is no way of controlling other hardware.

http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-221-x-9-9-x

http://www.remotecentral.com/wonder2/index.html

Interesting that both articles mention that the RF box has the ability to connect to an IR blaster so that it can in turn control the functions of a satellite box.

[Krispy Kritter]

Yes, and the article also states "for future use". Which usually translates into "the unit will be replaced before this function is used".

As far as I've seen in the forums I frequent, it isn't functional in the manner you are asking about. Although it is a nice remote and it would be nice if we could get it to operate with other equipment.

[dj4monie]

Just for that reason, I'm considering having Time Warner come in here and re-connect the cable that's been dead for like 10 years, so I can use the Guide Plus features and DVR like it wa suppose to be used with my AIW card. Just use the break out box for DTV programs like Le Mans on Speed and other stuff not on cable.

I just want a seemless HTPC setup and not have to use ten remotes and setup two boxes just to use the PVR functions...