TiVo Community Forums Archives - how to: Multi room viewing of Tivo/cable...best of all worlds

TiVoCommunity.com
(c)opyright 1995-2005 All rights reserved
indexcheckTC
This area is a static history of posts in the TiVo Community Forum Archive.
This archive history was made for the simple indexing of search sites like Google.

Pages:1

how to: Multi room viewing of Tivo/cable...best of all worlds
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: jasmel90

I think this is a great solution and wanted to share:

I have a single series2 Tivo unit using standard analog cable. I wanted to use the Tivo on any of my 3 TVs in the house. Not only that but i wanted a way to record one channel and view another...from any tv in the house. finally i also wanted to be able to watch 3 different channels on the 3 different tv's at the same time while tivo records a 4th channel. (in case you haven't guessed, i'm a "have your cake and eat it too" type of guy). I needed a solution that was an intuitive and simple to explain to the less technically minded (i.e. "wife-able" or "husband-able" depending on who's the techy) Here's how i did it (see attached diagram as well):

- bought 2 extra tivo remotes from ebay for $7/ea
- bought remote extenders for each tv so i could tivo from any of them
- bought a CE Labs 1001F programmable RF modulator for $39 (search froogle for deals)...if your lucky enought to have a cable company with 1/2 a brain and they don't broadcast over Ch3 or 4, then you can get by with a cheapo RF modulator that isn't programable...(and i envy you)

i have all my coaxial jacks in the house running to a central patch board in my basement, so i mounted the Tivo there. Then :

1) using a standard RF splitter, split the incoming cable signal into 2 cables (call them C1 and C2)

2) run C1 into the Tivo's RF in

3) from the Tivo, run the rca:Left/Right/Video into a programmable RF Modulator (eg. CE Labs 1001F)

4) set the 1001f's output to a channel you don't get over cable (eg. 101)

5)run the RF output from the 1001F and C2 (from the origional cable splitter) into a rf combiner (or a backwards splitter if your cheap like me)

6) finally run the output of the combiner to each TV in your house using the existing wiring.

7) sit family down and tell them: "use the tv and tv remote like normal, just remember ch101 is Tivo-Land"

Thats IT! Now if you are in bed and want to watch CSI that Tivo recorded yesterday, just tune your bedroom tv to Ch 101, pickup the tivo remote, and your in tivo land. while CSI is playing, your wife wants to watch the 10pm news in the living room...so she turns on the livingroom tv and sees that you are watching CSI from the Tivo, she changes the TV's channel from Ch101 to Ch9 and presto: the Ch9 news is shown directly from the cable company. at 10:20pm your wife yells up to you that the news has finally started showing the sports highlights, so you pause CSI on the tivo in your bedroom and change the bedrooms TV's channel from ch101 to ch9 and instantly your watching the sport highlights. Say your wife is not interested in sports and she wants to watch the Rest of CSI (just pretend, ok?) so she changes the livingroom tv's channel to ch101 and picks up the Tivo remote and now she's in Tivo land and after a click of the pause button, she's watching CSI right where you left off! Meanwhile, jr has been in his room watching Nick at Night on ch32 the whole time!

this setup has saved many "but i wanna watch...upstairs..." arguements in my house! and the only training i did was: "remember ch101 is Tivo-Land." Hopefully it helps you too!

Posted by: classicsat

Except you should probably amplify the incoming cable, to prevent backfeeding to the cable network.

Since I have satellite, the way I have it is the direct RF output of the Tivo is split to a couple TVs, the Tivo supplied by A/V from one receiver, RF from another. Both the Tivo and the second receiver are controlled by an RF remote setup.

At the family TV, it is passed through, the satellite receiver there, since the family generally doesn't use the Tivo. (The Tivo is for my personal TV viewing convenience)

The RF remote system is almost homebuilt. I took the UHF remote kit (hand unit and receiver) from an old satellite system, attached an IR receiver from a VCR to the transmitter (so when it receives a modulated IR carrier, it transmits an RF signal). The receiver module is directly connected to the IR detector module in the Tivo, and to the UHF remote in on the second satellite receiver (I managed to fit another UHF transmitter inside the factory satellite remote, but could not in the remote I use for the Tivo, hence the IR repeater).

Posted by: JimSpence

I use the Channel Plus 3025 to accomplish the same functionality. It is a two input modulator which will combine an RF input and provides five RF outputs. Add any number of IR extenders and you are in business. The only problem with this type of arrangement is that I lose the stereo audio. There are stereo modulators, but they are bit more expensive.

I have a DirecTV DVR and VCR on the two inputs of the 3025, and the ch 3 output of my HD receiver on the RF input. The TVs can be tuned to 3 for the HD SD outputs, 14 for the TiVo and 20 for the VCR (may change to DVD player).

Posted by: jasmel90

classicsat, tell me more about the amplification part...i assume the reason for the amplifier is simply for the by-product it provides: reverse signal feed filter. whats a typical one cost? I assumed the cable company woud have a reverse feed filter at the cable box (in my front yard) to prevent this from impacting the neighbors...no? i'm not noticing any loss of quality on my side...

Posted by: heyitscory

Rube Goldberg presents: How to TiVo your Home.
http://www.thewritingworks.com/rube_goldberg.jpg

Posted by: ZeoTiVo

I use AVcast to do the same thing, probably spent 50$ more than you did (just counting one TiVo) and it amplifies the signal for me , includes the remote extender by feeding into Coax (so no radio interference) and had a filter to make sure I do not feedback out onto the neighborhood.

Its rfmodulator sits right behind my TiVo, its filter and amplifier sit at my coax conenction to house and home runs.

I also used this for a DVD player and my PC (that is a little more pricey) to broadcast them all over the house as well. PC is an RF keyboard/mouse combo. I just have them in a 5 channel range 71 to 75 that had shopping and court TV on it. You can pick other 5 channel ranges if you want.

Google AVcast and you will find the website.

Posted by: mikesm

The problem with modulators in a traditional home wiring system is that the modulated signal will not appear with consistent power levels at the different jacks in the home. This causes lots of problems. This is the reason that structured wiring systems have 2 coax jacks at every outlet. One carries the signal to the TV, the other can take output from a modulator system and move it back to the central distribution hub, where these signals are mixed and attentuated to the same level as the incoming CATV signal. This is then amplified and distributed through the home on a distribution network designed to deliver the same signal power to each outlet.

Another problem with the approach you outlined is that the modulated signal is going to leak out of the home up to the cable operators network. If you are operating at a frequency above the channels that the MSO is sending you, it won't make it past an amp, but if the signal is strong enough most of your neighbors will also be able to watch your Tivo programs just like you. You need to install a low-pass filter to prevent this.

I have done all this stuff in my house, and I can remotely watch stuff on different TV's, though the quality is not stellar. But I found a different approach to solve the problem.

I used xbox's in different rooms running XBMC (xbox media center) to display the content, with a local remote controls for each xbox. The TV's are fed directly from the xbox with component or s-video, and the programming is carried digiitally over cat-5 or 802.11g and it works great, plus it plays all my music, plays DVD's in the drive or ripped DVD's stored on a computer, displays all my digital camera photos, and plays most formats including divx. And it'll tell me the weather forecast, news headlines, and do all of it with digital quality, at a cost of about $100 a box (I buy refurbed xboxes for this).

The catch? I had to get a Replay TV instead of a Tivo so the DVR would be able to stream the video over the network without proprietary formats and encryption. And it works really really well. XBMC finds the replays via plug and play and allows me to play anything stored on them.

This moved all my remote video watching to digital transport in the house and it works SO much better than all the analog stuff I had to tweak just to get a good picture. It's the only way to go. Too bad Tivo won't let me do this, becuase I always found it's GUI and software better than Replays. But you can't do what I do now with a Tivo. Digital is the ONLY way to go!

Thanks,
Mike

Posted by: cybah

Thats real nifty.

I didnt know you could get a modulator to re-broadcast a signal over exisiting cables onto a channel you don't get on cable.

I wish I had known this before i strung 2 coax wires to every room... one for tivo, one for cable. Of course both wired into central location so it would be easy to make both tivo or both cable tv.

I just used a remote controlled A/B switch (from radio shack) to control if I was viewing cable tv or the tivo. I also used that nifty remote extender thingy from weaknees.com that makes your tivo remote a RF remote. (THAT's nifty in itself). No need to buy more remotes, you just hafta take the remote with you to bed (also prevents anyone else from using the tivo while I'm in the bedroom)

Nifty.. I'll remember this next time I re-wire everything.

Thou, I dont every watch much non-tivo TV.. I mean is there life on tv outside of tivo? :) But then again, I don't usually share my tivo with my housemates. (They dont understand it, and end up getting frustrated)

Posted by: ZeoTiVo

You could RF modulate a VCR/DVD player on that setup . then all they would have to know to watch DVD in another room is what channel is DVD channel. Or more to the point everyone can watch a DVD whether they are doing something in their room or sitting in the main TV room. I find the good quality of a DVD works very well through the RF modulator but then I am not yet watching the RF modulated signal on a 50inch HD TV monitor.

Posted by: star_treking

I have gotten 3 Radio Shack tunable rf modulators (15-1243 - Discontinued).

Now I'm using channels 4,72,74,76 for my broadcasts in the house network.

At this point its an A/B network soon it will get fixed

Posted by: funnyesq

Can someone explain all this in plain simple, non-tech language...english preferred.

I have tivo in LR (first floor).

I have a second TV in upstairs bedroom (about 30 feet away from LR TV that has the tivo).

I would like to watch tivo stuff on the second TV. What's the easiest way to do it without buying a second tivo (which I may just do because it probably is the most reliable and easiest).

I'm not a wiring savy person other than...if it's an electrical plug and there is an outlet, I know how to plug it in. Same with a cable plug. Beyond that, well I need help.

Can I just hook up some gizmo to the upstairs tv to pick up the video from the tivo that is downstairs? If so, can I also fastforward etc., with a remote on the upstairs tv? In otherwords I want the simulated effect of tivo upstairs only for playback. So I can do my treadmill and watch what I have recorded and fastforward through the commercials without having a second tivo. If I need to buy another tivo remote on ebay...that sounds easy too.

Thanks.

Posted by: JimSpence

Connect a coax cable from the RF output on the TiVo to the upstairs TV. Then go to Radio Shack and get this so you can control the TiVo from the bedroom. Just take the remote with you.

Posted by: funnyesq

I'd prefer not to have a long cable wire running from the living room (downstairs) to the upstairs bedroom. I have aesthetics to consider.

It sounds like this avcast is the way to go.

Posted by: funnyesq

Also I just read that if I set up a network to take advantage of the HMO, and I do it with a wireless router I may get interference with it from my 2.4GHZ cordless phone. Help? I don't want to give up the phone, but I guess I need to set up a wireless network (I don't want it wired because I don't want wires everywhere and I have two floors in my home and the distance from the PC to the tivo is about 50 feet with a floor in between).

Help?

Thanks

Posted by: classicsat

Get a 900 Mhz phone.

Posted by: TomJHansen

quote:
Originally posted by funnyesq
Also I just read that if I set up a network to take advantage of the HMO, and I do it with a wireless router I may get interference with it from my 2.4GHZ cordless phone. Help? I don't want to give up the phone, but I guess I need to set up a wireless network (I don't want it wired because I don't want wires everywhere and I have two floors in my home and the distance from the PC to the tivo is about 50 feet with a floor in between).

Help?

Thanks

I have 2.4GHz phone and network (and also those little family radio's that my daughter takes outside when she plays which also are 2.4Ghz) and it all co-exists nicely. I think with the 2.4GHz interference, you have to assume that while it might not work for someone, each house is different (more or less material for the signal to go through). I have 2 wirelese devices upstairs (PC, Tivo) and one downstairs (PC) and another Tivo wired to the hub and a 2.4GHz phone both upstairs and downstairs and I haven't had a problem yet. Most phones and most routers have the ability to switch their signal a little so you won't have overlap.

YMMV.