General Forum

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

k984942 — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:23:38 GMT

Thanks for your help as always Keith. I guess its a Beo5 for me then!

Has anyone in the UK managed to get a good deal on one sine the dealers are struggling at the moment? They don't seem to come up on the second hand market very often.

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Keith Saunders — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:17:43 GMT

Assuming your Virgin remote control works perfectly with your Virgin box and you are sure that the STB IR transmitter is correctly placed over the Virgin Boxes IR receiver, then the only assessment can be that the STB controls are not compatible with your STB.

As you have the latest chipset in your AVANT and B&O will no longer be providing STB updates, then you are left with three (3) options:-

Change from Virgin to Sky
Purchase a Lintronic box and let it drive the Virgin box taking its signal from pin 8 (AVL) on the SCART
Purchase a Beo5 and control the unit directly

I guess there is a forth option, but unlikely one you would consider and that is to purchase a Beovision with a PUC which can be software updated for the Virgin box.

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

k984942 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:40:27 GMT

Haven't gotten anywhere unfortunately!

I'm still hoping there's an alternative to buying a Beo5!

Wish I could switch to Sky but I'm stuck in my contract I'm afraid

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

johnnysenna — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:15:41 GMT

Keith Saunders:

As with all infra-red remotes, the receiver has to see the signal, so if it is behind the AVANT it is unlikely to see the Beo5 signal.
Given, that it is unlikely that you would wish to move the Virgin box from behind the AVANT, then you may wish to purchase a cheap infra-red extender, where you have a small IR transmitter in front of the Virgin box and the small receiver where it can receive the IR signal from the Beo5.

Thanks for the advice.

There have been developments!!

I have cancelled my new Virgin account with no penalty. I will hopefully be installing Sky + instead. Might stick with Virgin for phone ahnd broadband, but those are mere details. Many thanks for the advice. Will go to see Peter's Sky + in action on his Avant if I can arrange that with the old chap. ;)

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Peter — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:54:38 GMT

I think he is changing to Sky+ !! Very sensible!

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Keith Saunders — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:03:20 GMT

As with all infra-red remotes, the receiver has to see the signal, so if it is behind the AVANT it is unlikely to see the Beo5 signal.

Given, that it is unlikely that you would wish to move the Virgin box from behind the AVANT, then you may wish to purchase a cheap infra-red extender, where you have a small IR transmitter in front of the Virgin box and the small receiver where it can receive the IR signal from the Beo5.

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

johnnysenna — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:52:53 GMT

Peter :
I had a suspicion it might - I have offered to lend him my Beo5 if the other codes don't work. Afraid still a paperweight though I have charged it!

I am Peter's mate, it's my problem we are trying to fix. Thanks for all your help so far everyone.

Will the Beo5 happily work a V+ box that is stuck to the back of my Avant? Will the infrared signal get to the V+ box back there?

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

johnnysenna — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:51:13 GMT

k984942:

Hi All
I have the latrst STB-C in my Avant (4.01 West Europe) and wish to control my Virgin V+.
If I select the G Sci Atl DVR as the source:
1. Every time I do anything (e.g. change channel or look at TV guide) the picture freezes for a fraction of a second.
2. I can't utilise the coloured buttons as they are mapped to do other things like go up and down channel.
3. I can't access the menu to view my recordings
I therefore tried the Pace 4000 NTL as the source:
1. No temporary freeze of picture what so ever
2. Full use of the coloured buttons as they are not mapped to do other things.
3. I still can't access my recordings!!

Can anyone let me know what sourced they've chosen so as to control their Scientific Atlanta Explorer, and which Beo4 keys do what?
As always, your help and support is greatly appreciated.

Hi, just wondered if you have had any joy with this yet?

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

k984942 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:46:36 GMT

Hi All

I have the latrst STB-C in my Avant (4.01 West Europe) and wish to control my Virgin V+.

If I select the G Sci Atl DVR as the source:

1. Every time I do anything (e.g. change channel or look at TV guide) the picture freezes for a fraction of a second.

2. I can't utilise the coloured buttons as they are mapped to do other things like go up and down channel.

3. I can't access the menu to view my recordings

I therefore tried the Pace 4000 NTL as the source:

1. No temporary freeze of picture what so ever

2. Full use of the coloured buttons as they are not mapped to do other things.

3. I still can't access my recordings!!

Can anyone let me know what sourced they've chosen so as to control their Scientific Atlanta Explorer, and which Beo4 keys do what?

As always, your help and support is greatly appreciated.

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Peter — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:53:19 GMT

I had a suspicion it might - I have offered to lend him my Beo5 if the other codes don't work. Afraid still a paperweight though I have charged it!

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Keith Saunders — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:17:56 GMT

Peter,

Making Virgin V+ work directly with the Beo5 is very easy because it uses Philips RC5 IR protocol codes, so an XML file can be created with our "Beo5 3rd Party XML Generator"

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Peter — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:05:05 GMT

If these didn't work, can you get a Beo5 to operate it independently?

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Peter — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:01:27 GMT

That sounds good! I'll let him know! He was pretty cheesed off and was threatening to sell all his B&O kit. he did buy a Sony LCD though for another room and found the broadcast picture very poor compared to the Avant - no surprise there then!

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Keith Saunders — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:50:11 GMT

Peter,

The Virgin V+ box is made by the US company Scientific Atlanta Explorer model 8300HD which is also used under the TeleWest name as well.

This actual STB is not available in any version of AVANT STB chipset, however as Scientific Atlanta appears to use the same IR codes for all their STB's, you could try the "G Sci Atl DVR" listed in the "Western Europe" version 4.01 chip part number 8344785 or "SciTiAtla SABNNKZNS" listed in the "Southern Europe" version 4.03 chip part number 8344787

Re: Virgin V+ STB and Avant DVD

Peter — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:47:36 GMT

I will need to check, but it is a RF Avant DVD32". He said about 5 years old though I imagine a year or so older could be possible. He was told that the software was only for the flat screen TVs and not the Avant.