Magic Eye

[santa]

Anyone happen to know if it is at all possible to use a Sky type magic eye with my Spidey 9000 that has a rf modulator. Have already tried to research this but cannot find any reference apart from using it with a sky box. Thought I would ask the question before investing in one.
Any advice much appreciated.
santa

[echelon]

Anyone happen to know if it is at all possible to use a Sky type magic eye with my Spidey 9000 that has a rf modulator. Have already tried to research this but cannot find any reference apart from using it with a sky box. Thought I would ask the question before investing in one.
Any advice much appreciated.
santa

yes you can , but the caveat is that you need an extra infra red blaster at the spiderbox end , to send power to the eye and to receive signals from the eye and blast them into the front panel of the spiderbox

this is true of any box, not just the spiderbox

you can obtain these from shops like am****n ( rainforest ) or m***lin ( big retailer ) or the gl**al ones ( as in "warming" )

in other words several options exist, and some rf distribution splitters will provide the power to the eyes, or have the dc pass required to allow them to pass the dc voltage through from the sly boxes to the eyes in normal cir***stances

so yes you can use the eyes, and I am sure its been covered on these and other forums many times before

[santa]

echelon, many thanks for the early reply and comprehensive explanation to get the eye to work for me. Did do a general search on this topic but did'nt return anything that seemed particularly relevant.
Once again many thanks.

[satpaul]

Or use a Global TV Link Plus kit which I have used many times and work fine

[echelon]

echelon, many thanks for the early reply and comprehensive explanation to get the eye to work for me. Did do a general search on this topic but did'nt return anything that seemed particularly relevant.
Once again many thanks.

some threads here too

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?87613-Freesat-with-Magic-Eye-Compatibility

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?75270-Sky-quot-eye-quot-Virgin-equivalent

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?128845-VU-Duo-with-a-magic-eye

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?149955-Couple-of-questions-DM500

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?95191-Remote-control-extenders

[santa]

Echelon, thanks for the links in the previous post. Have looked at the posts and have decided to go with the eye/blaster option given I already have a coaxial cable already installed. Wondered if you could perhaps explain how is the blaster powered as the ones I have seen have a 3.5mm twin contact plug. One other thing is, do not understand how exactly the eye manages to communicate with the blaster in another room, do they have to be paired together somehow.
santa

[echelon]

Echelon, thanks for the links in the previous post. Have looked at the posts and have decided to go with the eye/blaster option given I already have a coaxial cable already installed. Wondered if you could perhaps explain how is the blaster powered as the ones I have seen have a 3.5mm twin contact plug. One other thing is, do not understand how exactly the eye manages to communicate with the blaster in another room, do they have to be paired together somehow.
santa

the blasters are either powered by an external psu or by the voltage from the satellite box, if there is such a voltage available, or from the rf powered splitter if that sends out the voltage required by the eye

the point being that you need the power source to light the red led on the eye, and that power source may be from the rf splitter if you are using one, or from the blaster itself, or from the sat box like the rf2 output of a sly box for instance

most blasters have provision for the addition of a psu, and may actually be sold with a psu in case it is needed, but there has to be a dc passthrough down to the eye for this to work, including through any equipment like rf spiltter/boosters and aerial wallsockets (these may have a capacitor in them causing a dc block)

providing the blaster is powered and the eye is receiving power so that the red led lights up , its working and doesnt need pairing up anyway

the eye picks up the signals from the remote and transmits them over the rf coax to the blaster in this case, which blasts the infra red towards the box being operated on, in this case the front of the spiderbox. so it uses a transmitter in the form of the eye, goes over the coax to a receiver in the form of the blaster, and the blaster retransmits infra red at the box causing the channels to change or menus or guide etc to be operated

so if the blaster was before the splitter booster , it needs powering up with a suitable psu source, and the eyes all have to be getting power from that source or from the splitter/booster instead , and then when you send remote signals to an eye, the blaster retransmits them towards the box, so its operated remotely

the sly box does this internally, sending out the voltage on rf2 and "listening" for the remote codes from the eye coming down the coax and into the box

so all you are doing is adding the kit externally to do the job the sly box does, using the coax as a transport medium

[santa]

Echelon, once again thanks for the very detailed explanation. Have now tried three different rf splitters and none have been able to power up the magic eye (no red led) up to now. The Spidey as we know is not able to power the eye so am left with the booster option. This is where I am missing a trick somewhere as to how it actually powers the magic eye as I cannot see how it can transmit power via infrared. The boosters that I have seen seem to come without any type of psu and wondered what voltage is needed to operate and how physically it is actually connected to the coaxial cable as it seems it needs to. It well might be I am looking at the wrong type of "booster"
santa

[echelon]

Echelon, once again thanks for the very detailed explanation. Have now tried three different rf splitters and none have been able to power up the magic eye (no red led) up to now. The Spidey as we know is not able to power the eye so am left with the booster option. This is where I am missing a trick somewhere as to how it actually powers the magic eye as I cannot see how it can transmit power via infrared. The boosters that I have seen seem to come without any type of psu and wondered what voltage is needed to operate and how physically it is actually connected to the coaxial cable as it seems it needs to. It well might be I am looking at the wrong type of "booster"
santa


most have a dc passthrough and do not power the eyes

some dont have dc passthrough so give problems there

the global ones have a psu, same as the bluedelta super blasters , so these may need a splitter/booster with dc passthrough

if you checked the slx or similar brands you may find that some will send the dc power down the coax to the eyes

perhaps if you read my answers more closely you would have been aware of those differences, because I am sure I explained all of them

no power is ever transmitted over infra red !! I have no idea who told you that as it wasnt me

[santa]

Got myself a global tv link plus amplifier to go with my magic eye, now sorted.
Thanks for all the contributions of help made on this subject.
santa