I finally got cable this weekend and have been attempting to set up my Hauppauge WinTV 1600 to record using BeyondTV. My problem is that I can see all of the channels in the channel line up but when I set it to record, it records whatever channel am currently watching. Also, I have not been able to change channels within the program; it stays on the channel my box is set to no matter what.

Should I go straight from the cable to the PVR and not go through the box? DId I miss something in the set up? Any help is appreciated.

Sounds like you don't have an IR Blaster. You'll need one of these if you want to have Beyond TV control your cable box (eg. change channels, record specific channels, etc.)

This should explain it better here:

IR Blaster

As for how the connection should be done, it should go Cable TV cable to box and then another cable from the box to your WinTV 1600.

Thanks. I have the IR remote blaster that came with my tuner card. Are you saying that I need to buy that IR Blaster as well? Keep in mind, I am not interested in using the remote that came with the tuner.

Is there any way to avoid having to buy one of those? Like hooking the sound/video up through something other than coax? What if I try using a different program (Windows MCE or sageTV)?

Sorry for all of the questions, I am new to this and thought I just needed the card. Thanks again

Did you buy your WinTV HVR-1600 retail or OEM?

There should be a little transmitter that you place(or tape) near or over the cable box's ir receiver. then you have to tell the software what kind of box you have.


its the little black thing in the middle and it plugs into the card

Judging by your second post it doesn't seem as if you'll need to buy that IR Blaster. It sounds like you already have what you'll need. You should have an IR Remote Blaster cable which will have three parts to it (see pic in above post). One part that will plug into the card itself, a large dangly thing (this is the receiver for the included remote), and a small dangly thing (this is the IR Blaster).

Just go here for the appropriate installation software and instructions:

IR Blaster software and instructions

NOTE: Read the PDF instructions thoroughly.

And no you don't have to use the included remote if you don't want to. On the other hand, if your computer is on one side of the room and you're watching from the other, getting up repeatedly to change channels could get annoying. Your choice of course. :-)

I plugged the Blaster into the card and placed the transmitter on the cable box (I couldn't find the IR transmitter on the box). I can't seem to fid whether my cable box (Motorola DCT6200) is supported with this blaster, but it is recognized in Beyond tv. Should this finally work (I am going to be attempting to retune the channels now). Thanks for the help.

Ok new problem. When I attempt to configure the IR blaster it says "Could not find IR hardware". It is definitely plugged into the card. Any suggestions?

Question, did you run the IR Blaster setup programme? According to the instructions, the card needs to be installed into the computer and all the software (drivers, WinTV software and IR Blaster setup programme) needs to be run before plugging the IR Blaster into the HVR-1600.

If you've already run the IR Blaster setup software, try running it again with the IR Blaster unplugged then when it's done plug the IR Blaster back into the HVR-1600, make sure it's solidly connected. Then try to configure it.

I ran the setup program before plugging it in. I am wondering if the connection isnt good for some reason. I'm considering going witha Tivo or DVR from my Cable provider at this point.

That's actually not a bad idea. If all you really want is a PVR so you can record things while you're at work or out for whatever reason so you don't miss them, then something like TiVo or a DVR from your cable provider will be much easier to use in the end.

Then, if there's a particular show you want to see again later on, you can hook your PVR device (from TiVo or some other provider) or a regular cable box up to the HVR-1600. Then you can record shows onto your comp and archive them for your own enjoyment ala the old VCR days. This way you don't have to worry about your PVR filling up with programmes and running out of space, especially if there's a LOT of things you want to archive.

It's all a matter of whether you want a standalone PVR or you want your computer to act like a PVR,

But if you find that you want the computer to act as the PVR, you'll probably need to contact the appropriate Hauppauge tech support in order to get their IR Blaster working since I'm about tapped out for ideas.

Haha. Well I certainly appreciate the effort. Thanks for the help guys. If I get it working I'll update this thread.

I just realized something, but are you using BeyondTV as your TV application or are you using the WinTV2000 that came with your HVR-1600?

I just had one of my 'What the Hell Was I Thinking?' moments and I now believe I know why we couldn't get the IR Blaster that came with your HVR-1600 to work in BeyondTV (assuming that's wahat you're using of course).

I have both installed on my system, but I was trying to use BeyondTV (with the HVR-1600). To restate the problem, I didn't use the IR blaster at all and was able to get Beyond TV to recognize the cable feed, but I could only view and record the channel that my cable box was set to. I attempted to use the IR blaster by plugging it in and downloading/running the setup program. After that, when I attempted to configure it, I received the "No IR hardware" message.

Two questions. Depending on how you answer them I'm about 99% certain I know what's wrong. I say 99% because there's always that 1% chance that something way out there that no one's ever seen is going on.

1) When you ran the IR Blaster setup programme from the Hauppauge site, did you get any error messages like xxxx.dll is missing?

2) When you tried to configure it, did you do it through the utility in the Hauppauge WinTV programme folder in the start menu or did you try and do it through BeyondTV?

1. No. I click the config icon and it pops up with that message "no IR hardware" then goes to the config program and doesn't let me do anything.

2. I never tried to do anything in BeyondTV with the IR blaster. In fact I selescted null tuner for the IR setup in BeyondTV. When I tried to select the Hauppuage IR, it told me to configure it and that's when I started to get the error.