Pace Box Questions - Optical Digital Audio / Component Loop

[SketchEtch]

My friend bought an HDTV last night and I was helping him setup, and noticed the new Pace box he got. I will be exchanging my old SciAtl box later today for the newer Pace box.

I was having a problem hooking up the box though for this reason. He has an inexpensive receiver that only takes in a digital signal for the DVD player. It does, however, have two inputs for that setting - one digital coax and one digital optical. So I was going to tell him to leave his receiver on DVD setting for both TV and DVDs, and just turn one or the other on at a time. So the coax goes from DVD player to receiver, and the optical goes from cable box out to receiver, and he only has one on at a time.

I cannot get any sound from the digital optical out of the cable box though. I have looked and cannot find a setting for this. It appears to be outputting a signal (red laser is on in the cable) but the receiver doesn't react. It works fine going coax from the cable box to receiver. Is the optical out on the cable box only for loop-through? Or does it output cable audio as well?

Anyone have this working?

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Also, does the component loop through take in a 1080i signal (from my Xbox) and output it in 1080i? So in essence I can have 2 1080i connections come through the same audio and video cable?

[CANDY76MAN]

are you sure the coax and optical sound inputs on the reciever are tied to the same input?...the three recievers I have also have both but they are each for a seperate input on the reciever.

why not just loop the optical sound output from the dvd player through the cable box as well as the video?...I have mine set up that way and it works great.

[SketchEtch]

This would be fine if the DVD player had optical out, but it doesn't.

And yes I am sure both inputs are for DVD/LD on the Sony STR-DE445. It was a HTIB receiver and is kind of cheap.

Still the fact remains, if nothing is in the optical in on the cable box, shouldnt the optical out still output the cable box audio?

[bdraw]

Still the fact remains, if nothing is in the optical in on the cable box, shouldnt the optical out still output the cable box audio?

If the pace box is on it outputs via the optical out.(even on non digital channels).

I would check to see if you either have a bad pace box, cable, or bad input on the receiver.

[CANDY76MAN]

it should work...
have you tried unpluging the coax from the reciever...if both are on the same input then the reciever probly disables the optical input when the coax is plugged in.

a new dvd player with optical output would be the simpelest and probly cheapest solution....short of plugging and unplugging the digital coax everytime he wants to watch a dvd.

[SketchEtch]

I've tried unhooking the coax and this does no good. I thought the same thing. He just bought this DVD player too.

I will try to get a coax splitter/combiner I guess...

OK I am stupid. I can just go coax out of dvd player into cable box, coax out of cable box into receiver and all should be fine. Turning off the cable box to watch dvd's that is.

Now for my component passthrough question. True 1080i all the way through? Yes yes? :wink:

[CANDY76MAN]

I've tried unhooking the coax and this does no good. I thought the same thing. He just bought this DVD player too.

I will try to get a coax splitter/combiner I guess...

OK I am stupid. I can just go coax out of dvd player into cable box, coax out of cable box into receiver and all should be fine. Turning off the cable box to watch dvd's that is.
There ya go...I was thinking it didn't have a coax loop, but it does.

Now for my component passthrough question. True 1080i all the way through? Yes yes? :wink:

yep.

[SketchEtch]

Goody.

I have to get more active in this forum. I bought a bowtie antenna from Jaymer last year and haven't even hooked it up yet. But I am reconfiguring all my equipment this week.

So off to the OTA forum I go...