Sorry to follow-up to my own question but I found the S2DT setup poster here http://support.tivo.com/servlet/file...BE500000008Sib and it looks to me like I could actually control the Rogers box with my TiVO!? I would do the setup as on page 2 of the setup PDF, but not bother with a splitter and coax to the TiVo.

I can't help feeling there must be some fundamental thing I'm overlooking, but is this really possible? It's amazing (at least until I put a flat screen in that location and expect HD .

And the other benefit of this over a DVD recorder is that I should be able to watch a previously recorded show from the TiVo's HD while it's recording, right?

Thanks!
=aw

yes, you should be able to set up the TiVo to change channels on your box...you will only get one tuner, not two, but it should work. It will be standard def only and you will need a tivo IR blaster.

Thanks, if I can't find the IR blaster that came with the TiVo, I'll come back here to check them out.

=aw

Sorry to keep coming back, but I haven't found the IR blaster yet.

Are they all the same? I have one that looks just like the picture (even with the purple) and I used it with an ancient SLingbox at my mother-in-law's. Never really worked and I'm wondering if it was really a TiVo IRB, assuming there's a difference.

It's a pretty simple device, only reason I'm asking is I have a Roku and a WD media box, both old, and each came with a 3.5mm-3composite cable. But they're not interchangeable except as the rings on the 3.5mm are mapped to different RCA connectors (when I found myself with only the wrong one in town, I was able to make it work by connecting yellow-to-white, etc. (yellow jack to white plug on TV input, that is).

If IR blasters aren't all the same, that might explain why I had so much trouble with my Slingbox.

Man do I use old technology I just realized!

But the S2DT TiVo (now effectively S2ST) recorded from the Rogers SD digital box no problem. I just had to lie and tell it every test of the IR blaster was successful, then manually tell the Rogers (SA or Cisco) box to do a VCR timer for the same program as the TiVo. With the IR blaster I'll just to have to run the TiVo.

And TiVo offered me a deal on Lifetime for my 320GB Premiere. I'm planning to take it and see a much bigger HD in my future.

Thanks again!
=aw

I am not aware of a functional difference, other than effectiveness of certain designs and manufacturers and the connector. If the Slingbox IR isn't working well, then I'd suggest you get one from our website.

I finally got the IRB and the Tivo in the same place, and discovered the Slingbox IRB (from an original SB100) has a 2.5mm plug, while the TiVo S2DT has a 3.5mm jack! I was all set to buy a new IRB until I noticed the other IRB had a purple plug and was 3.5mm. So somehow my storage box with 2 Slingboxes contained mismatched IRBs. Which is great for now, but if I get both SBs working I'm down a 2.5mm IRB. Posting this mostly so people know what to look for.

Also I had a terrible time getting it to work, went through all the tests and it failed them all. Then I found a thread elsewhere that said the (Rogers) Scientific Atlanta E940 SD box uses code 10014 so I went into advanced and set it. -A and -B worked great! Later passes to set up the IRB (don't ask) did work in the guided tests.

I'm still having trouble with the channel lineup, is there somewhere I can report that to TiVo? Specifically WPBS is on #97 on some plans and #64 on others, and they've got mine wrong.

Anyway, thanks for the help, I just signed up for LT on my Premiere so I may be in the market for a new HD when we go to FL this year.

=aw

If you need those 2.5 mm IR blasters for Slingbox, we have them . . .

I had no idea. Your prices aren't much more than a slow boat from China so I'll keep that in mind. Of course (as posted upthread) I never got the Slingbox to work right, but now that my TiVo is driving my Rogers box, maybe that will be next. I'll have daisy-chained IRBs:

Slingbox driving TiVo driving Rogers box



=aw