'Power on/off' detection on a Sky HD box

[dj-dulux]

Doing a large install at the moment and I am after peoples thoughts on how to detect if a Sky HD box is switched on or off to feed into the control system. I have looked and done things before, but being an engineer, I am not happy about the robustness of the methods so far used/recommended.

I have looked at using the component video output directly into the power sense input and also using a Xantec power detector.

Any comments and suggestions would be much appreciated, there must be a better way.......

Dupe...

[hornydragon]

What control system? many have video level power sensing which you can use composite to sense the output and hence power status of the device. Why is it necassary to know the power state of the box?

[neilball]

Why do you need to know the power sense of the box? If you have a programmable remote control that uses macros to "Watch SkyHD" then you can make sure the box is on by embedding the "Sky" button within the macro selecting that activity. As part of an "All Off" or "SkyHD Off" then use the Sky button followed by power button in the macro. Works for most people.

[dj-dulux]

I need to detect it to make the system operation more robust, what if someone switches it off without using the remote or a power cut situation. Also the customer wants to still use the cinema sky box in another room over the RF2, again another opportunity for the system to get out of sync.

It’s the Philips proto control box with the RS232 etc on it.

I think the composite video detection method is my favourite so far, any other way?


Dupe...

[neilball]

Well if the Pronto embeds the correct commands in its macros when you program it then it creates the effect of using descrete on/off control even though you have to be creative in how it is programmed - pressing "Sky" always turns on the box so acts as discrete on, pressing Sky then power toggle always switches the box off regardless of the state it is in although it may briefly turn on and then off it was off to begin with. Achieves what you want very simply - its what my company does on all of its simple installs with Sky. In fact I don't ever remember doing any power sensing on any Sky install to date, even on the large jobs with full Crestron control.

If someone else does something with the box over RF2 then it all gets reset when you go into the main room when you select "Watch SkyHD" so will not be a problem. If they use Anytime/auto-off then the box is always switched off at night in any case providing they are not awake and watcing the box when the message about powering down gets displayed.

Pin 8 of the TV scart outputs 12 volts when the box is on, that makes it pretty simple.

[dj-dulux]

avs guy:

Does that 12V stay on all the time, I have never tested it, but was told that it only stays on for a few seconds to trigger the TV to change onto AV input?

Neilball:

I'll have a go with your suggestion, see how I get on.

Thanks for all the replies....

Dupe...

[dj-dulux]

Neilball,

Works a treat, so simple.....

I don't have sky so thanks for the info...

Dupe...

[neilball]

Glad to help

[hornydragon]

Originally Posted by dj-dulux

I don't have sky so thanks for the info...

Dupe...

Then you need to decide on the auto power off function leave it on? or set it off if off sky oxes esp HD boxes can lock up if left on for long periods also power up time on skyHD box can be longer than expected.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

I've fancied having a play with the 12v sensor on the RS232 box on my TSU9600, but in all the years I've been programming prontos liberal use of the Sky button has done me just fine. Only shortcoming, is the box can stay on for long periods of time when using RF2.

This would be of equal consideration with or without power sensing: with power sensing or without you still do NOT want the main zone to power off the sky box or else the second zone will suddenly lose their picture. Same for vice versa. Customer will need to be told this and usually they get used to the limitiation (unfortunately by never turning the thing off!).

There is no simple way for either zone to "know" if the other is watching sky without RS232 feedback from the AV Amp and/or display in BOTH zones to report on the currently active input being used in the system (in which case the control system must span both zones for this to work).

As the installer you've got to decide what kind of use both rooms get, and whether macros such as POWER OFF will involve shutting down the sky box.

The way I see it, by the time you've billed for a system that does work faultlessly, the client would have been a lot better just having a second box under Sky Multiroom. This is something I always discuss early on, initially it might seem like overkill but if you're getting a deal from Sky it's really not that much more cost at all.

[Marcus Wood]

So with the SCART method, would you connect one wire to pin 8 and the other wire to the outer shield (i.e. ground)?

Does it matter which way round the two wires are connected on the serial extender?

Is the pin 8 signal enabled on both SCART outputs?

[Marcus Wood]

I got this working using pin 8 for one wire and the outer shield for the other wire.

But, it only works on the 'TV' SCART socket - it doesn't work on the 'VCR' socket, although according to this it should work on both sockets:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/satellite/scart/

The problem is you need to reserve the 'TV' socket for recording to DVD, becuse the 'VCR' one doesn't output RGB. I suppose you might be able to split the 'TV' output and do it that way.