USB and RS232 ports on Sky+ box....

[AndyMc1]

I've noticed that there are the above ports on my Sky+ box and have been meaning to ask what they are for ? I'm assuming Firmware upgrades or something similar. The optimist in me wonders if I can use the USB for data transfer to my PC as I dont yet have a (non-PC) DVD recorder and my sky+ box is getting full.....

[Ratcliffes]

USB port is currently not active - No sign of Sky enabling it as yet.
RS232 is there to accept control signals from a third party system such as Creston or AMX.

Only method of archiving stored programs is to connect a dvd recorder to the box via scart or RF. Sky don't want to make it too easy for you

[AndyMc1]

thought that would be too simple .... gits

thanks for info

[Undecided Adrian]

You can pick up relatively cheap video capture systems for the PC.

I got a pinncle systems studio 500 for £40 new on ebay, and it can capture pretty good quality images.

[spike7451]

The was talk of Sky using the STB modem for 'tinternet access but nowt came of it.

[Joseph Heenan]

The RS232 port has two current uses:

1. To output data about the currently tuned channel (channel name, program title, synopsis) for display on the sky gnome ( Sky Gnome - RS232 protocol )
2. To receive input from the sky gamepad when the sky box is running a game
   ( Sky Gamepad - RS232 protocol )

(It doesn't actually support changing controlling the sky box from AMX/Crestron, contrary to what you'd expect.)

[Ratcliffes]

Joseph,
I must admit that I had always just assumed you could use the RS232 for control purposes. Good job I have never invested in Crestron only to find out it didn't work! Can I ask how you know this is true?

[Joseph Heenan]

Joseph,
I must admit that I had always just assumed you could use the RS232 for control purposes. Good job I have never invested in Crestron only to find out it didn't work! Can I ask how you know this is true?

I've worked with a lot of crestron installers. (And I actually sell an adaptor to allow Crestron and other systems to control sky boxes - it converts between RS232 for the Crestron side and connects to the Sky box RF2 port, injecting commands in the same way that 'magic eyes' do.)

The way we know for sure that the sky boxes can't be controlled via the on board RS232 port is that when Sky designed the gnome they had to do the same thing - when you change channel from the gnome, the command gets injected into the RF2 port on the sky box, making the design of the gnome much more complicated.