Guide for how to integrate Windows Media Center 7 with DishNetwork Satellite HD receiver

[nelinory]

Hello All,

I have been fan of Windows Media Center since Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Recently I rebuilt my existing Windows Media Center 7 connected to DishNetwork satellite receiver so I can now record and watch HD content from the satellite.
The detailed guide can be found at Github: https://github.com/nelinory/WMC7-DishNetwork-Guide

The guide is for Windows Media Center 7 install with two tuners (Quad OTA + Colossus) hooked up to Dish Satellite VIP211K receiver.
- TV Guide comes from EPG123 with schedulesdirect.org subscription
- Netflix supported by "NetflixMCE" by KerrAvon
- Weather forecast provided by "myForecast" by me (shameless promotion)

Final solution have been rock solid and have received the 100% wife approval.

Any comments, questions and ideas are welcome.

[DavidinCT]

Hello All,

I have been fan of Windows Media Center since Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Recently I rebuilt my existing Windows Media Center 7 connected to DishNetwork satellite receiver so I can now record and watch HD content from the satellite.
The detailed guide can be found at Github: https://github.com/nelinory/WMC7-DishNetwork-Guide

The guide is for Windows Media Center 7 install with two tuners (Quad OTA + Colossus) hooked up to Dish Satellite VIP211K receiver.
- TV Guide comes from EPG123 with schedulesdirect.org subscription
- Netflix supported by "NetflixMCE" by KerrAvon
- Weather forecast provided by "myForecast" by me (shameless promotion)

Final solution have been rock solid and have received the 100% wife approval.

Any comments, questions and ideas are welcome.

Does this actually work ? Do you get Dish overlays in media center ?

[nelinory]

Hello All,

I have been fan of Windows Media Center since Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Recently I rebuilt my existing Windows Media Center 7 connected to DishNetwork satellite receiver so I can now record and watch HD content from the satellite.
The detailed guide can be found at Github: https://github.com/nelinory/WMC7-DishNetwork-Guide

The guide is for Windows Media Center 7 install with two tuners (Quad OTA + Colossus) hooked up to Dish Satellite VIP211K receiver.
- TV Guide comes from EPG123 with schedulesdirect.org subscription
- Netflix supported by "NetflixMCE" by KerrAvon
- Weather forecast provided by "myForecast" by me (shameless promotion)

Final solution have been rock solid and have received the 100% wife approval.

Any comments, questions and ideas are welcome.

Does this actually work ? Do you get Dish overlays in media center ?

Hello DavidinCT, I am not sure I understand the question. Do you mean getting the DIsh Network top badge with channel information when switching channels/viewing Dish Network Guide ? - Yes I do.

[DavidinCT]

Hello All,

I have been fan of Windows Media Center since Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Recently I rebuilt my existing Windows Media Center 7 connected to DishNetwork satellite receiver so I can now record and watch HD content from the satellite.
The detailed guide can be found at Github: https://github.com/nelinory/WMC7-DishNetwork-Guide

The guide is for Windows Media Center 7 install with two tuners (Quad OTA + Colossus) hooked up to Dish Satellite VIP211K receiver.
- TV Guide comes from EPG123 with schedulesdirect.org subscription
- Netflix supported by "NetflixMCE" by KerrAvon
- Weather forecast provided by "myForecast" by me (shameless promotion)

Final solution have been rock solid and have received the 100% wife approval.

Any comments, questions and ideas are welcome.

Does this actually work ? Do you get Dish overlays in media center ?

Hello DavidinCT, I am not sure I understand the question. Do you mean getting the DIsh Network top badge with channel information when switching channels/viewing Dish Network Guide ? - Yes I do.

I have a 211k that is active that is collecting dust (long story), tempted... I'll have to look into the costs for the extra hardware. Then I can have cable and dish in one guide, one of the cool features of WMC that Modern DVRs still can't do.

Seeing the channel change logos kind of stink.

[nelinory]

Does this actually work ? Do you get Dish overlays in media center ?

Hello DavidinCT, I am not sure I understand the question. Do you mean getting the DIsh Network top badge with channel information when switching channels/viewing Dish Network Guide ? - Yes I do.

I have a 211k that is active that is collecting dust (long story), tempted... I'll have to look into the costs for the extra hardware. Then I can have cable and dish in one guide, one of the cool features of WMC that Modern DVRs still can't do.

Seeing the channel change logos kind of stink.

Dish channel badge info on top only shows for 1-2 seconds while switching channels, and not every time. Dish channel switching is definitely not as fast as OTA channel switch.
Colossus takes few seconds to switch channels on Dish (I read somewhere it is actually resetting the stream buffer on every channel switch), so some times I do not see the dish channel badge info at all.

[DavidinCT]

Dish channel badge info on top only shows for 1-2 seconds while switching channels, and not every time. Dish channel switching is definitely not as fast as OTA channel switch.
Colossus takes few seconds to switch channels on Dish (I read somewhere it is actually resetting the stream buffer on every channel switch), so some times I do not see the dish channel badge info at all.

Thanks for the info, if I can get all the hardware for a reasonable cheap price, I might do it, I'll do some research and if I run into an issue, I'll post back here.

[nelinory]

Added "Known Limitation" section to the guide at https://github.com/nelinory/WMC7-DishNetwork-Guide

Known Limitations

• Close captioning is not supported on Hauppauge Colossus 01414 PCI card. It is a driver limitation not a hardware one - Hauppauge never implemented support for it.