DVB-T Support

[andrew1810]

Does anyone know when Sage will support Freeview tuners (either internal or external)?

I don't mind messing around with settings to get it all going as long as someone can point me in the right direction

If there is support, which are the better cards? At the moment I have a USB-PVR2 going into a STB

Thanks

Andrew

[donkey]

Cinergy 2400i DT Capture
Technotrend DVB-T

[Mahoney]

At present I find the best way is to use Anders' DVB network encoder here:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=11193

I use the Cinergy 2400i, which is a dual tuner so can record two things at once.

[Mark SS]

I also use Anders plugin with 2 Cinergy dual cards and for the most part it does the job. It crashes maybe once or twice a month but it generally seems to be when I'm watching so a quick kill and restart fixes it.

The mythical 5.1 beta version of SageTV (expected to be release "tomorrow") has native DVB-T support so if I were you, I'd wait.

[rickgillyon]

Native DVB-T is already in the current release, as beta. Takes a little effort to get running, but works very well for me. Will be much easier to set up in the upcoming beta.

[wydchr]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a HTPC and wondered what your thoughts are on which DVB-T card would be the best to go for... Hauppauge Nova-T 500 or the Terratec Cynergy 2400i? I see that a lot of you guys have the Terratec cards, is this because of compatabilty issues with Sage.

Another question I have is... here goes:) why should I opt to use Sage rather than Windows MCE? (I have a little experience of Sage which I had installed on a TV in a holiday home in America by one of the Sage forum members on here). Is Sage a better option than MCE as the HTPC I plan to buy has that pre-installed?

cheers,
David.

[rickgillyon]

I use the 2400iDTs because firstly they use those PCIXx1 slots that no-one else does, and second have two tuners per card. Work well with STV. Can't speak for the Hauppauge, but I wouldn't have enough PCI slots for four tuners in that case... :)

As to MCE - I can't speak for MCE, never used it, but if the PC comes with MCE why don't you try it before buying Sage and see how it goes?

[wydchr]

Yeah the Nova-T 500's have 2 tuners per card also, I just wondered if there was a compatability issue. I know that STV doesn't easily support DVB-T cards yet and needs some work-around to be able to work with them I'll wait and see what version 6 brings.

We had STV version 3 in our house in Florida and I liked the way worked but as you say maybe I should go with MCE first and see if that suits my needs before splashing out on extra software. I guess I need to decide what spec I should have on my HTPC first which I also am not sure of :eek:

cheers,
David.

[rickgillyon]

v6 beta is out now, and has full DVB-T support.

I think MCE puts DRM protection on all files and limits file formats, but that's just hearsay. I love SageTV... :D

[wydchr]

Okay, I'll get back to you when I have purchased my HTPC... what do think of these HTPCs that I was looking at on ebay?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Media-Center-PC-Core-2-Duo-INTEL-VIIV-VISTA-CAPABLE_W0QQitemZ300033632018QQihZ020QQcategoryZ179QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem this model is their top-end version but they will spec one up to what ever customers want. Do you think that they would be good enough for use as TV/DVD player as well as being my main computer using a LCD TV panel as the monitor. I have a true 1080p Hi-Def panel and would want the HTPC to be able to show high def films via the software DVD player. I realise that I would be paying a premium for someone else to build it for me but I don't think I would be confident enough to build one myself.

cheers,
David

[rickgillyon]

Not an expert, but I would say that there are two things I would change/check: add a different disk, 80GB say, for a system disk, and keep the 1TB for recordings; and check how many PCI/PCIX slots are free for expansion.

Also, I wouldn't use my PVR as a main PC - your main PC will need antivirus, all sorts of utilities. I like to keep my PVR as clean as possible!

[sniper's_scope]

unless you're planning to connect a sas server the pci-x slot are a waste of space and they're not using hdmi card for connection ya know!! that said i haven't seen hdmi inter grated pc graphics cards out in the market place so far...

those pc's are pvr's only... connected via vga i say the vga card wouldn't support hd/sd spec's and i think it will be a few years before we see full intergration of sound and graphics in the pc world...

[rickgillyon]

unless you're planning to connect a sas server the pci-x slot are a waste of space
Funny, I must have imagined the 4 tuners I have in my PCIX slots... :p

And I'm not sure what you mean by "they're not using hdmi card for connection ya know". DVI=HDMI...different hardware is all.

[sniper's_scope]

i didn't know there were quad tuner cards on the pci-x platform, i knew of the pci-e 1's available...

[rickgillyon]

Not quad, duals. I have two dual pci-e freeview cards (so 4 tuners), about to add a third, which leaves my PCI slots available for the analogue sources. The pci-e tuners work very well... :D

[sniper's_scope]

man i would of saved space i would of ordered a quad card

[Mark SS]

man i would of saved space i would of ordered a quad card


Oh for gods sake, sorry but I have to say something.

You've suddenly started posting all over the board, usually misinformation or something barely intelligible. Where exactly have you seen a QUAD DVB-T tuner?

(Edited to add quote, apologies Rick wasn't venting in your direction)

[rickgillyon]

Oh for gods sake, sorry but I have to say something.

You've suddenly started posting all over the board, usually misinformation or something barely intelligible. Where exactly have you seen a QUAD DVB-T tuner?
You need to quote so that we know who you're talking to...
No-one has seen a quad tuner, sniperscope read my post about having 4 DVB-T tuners and assumed a quad card. There are two dual-tuner DVB-T cards on the market that I know of, but only the Terratec is pci-e.

[sniper's_scope]

yes i know you're using a twin tuner setup, there are quad cards out in the marketplace, though i can't remember which website i saw it on, from what i can remember the the quad card i saw month's ago was retailing for over $1,000 US...

i was merely pointing out to free a pci-e slot you could use 1 card instead of 2, i also think the card i'm talking about could be used with sagetv...

the type of card i was talking about is mainly used in the pro arena not in a domestic setting..

http://www.digitalnow.com.au/dvbscards.html

the last card on that page is simular to the card i'm talking about though from memory i think the card i was talking about either 4 standard airial or f-type connectors on it, it was was with based on pci-e 16x or pci-x can't remember which..

[Mark SS]

yes i know you're using a twin tuner setup, there are quad cards out in the marketplace, though i can't remember which website i saw it on, from what i can remember the the quad card i saw month's ago was retailing for over $1,000 US

So you would have paid $1000 for a non-existant quad card rather than buy two dual PCIE cards for approx $350 like Rick and I have? Brilliant, any other nuggets of advice you'd care to dispense?

[rickgillyon]

from what i can remember the the quad card i saw month's ago was retailing for over $1,000 US...
I'd be interested in seeing that! Especially as they don't use DVB-T cards in the US... ;)

[rickgillyon]

two dual PCIE cards for approx $350 like Rick and I have?
:D In fact, broadbandstuff.co.uk have them for around £65, my third will go in on Friday morning. So probably 4 tuners for £130 or $250. And all the PCI slots still available...quality. The Hauppauge Nova-T-500s may be better, I don't know, but the Terratecs leave PCI slots free. Cool.

[sniper's_scope]

i didn't say the card came from the US all i said was what the card was worth in USD, there was a review done on the card i'm talking about, damn i wish i had of bookmarked the site now...

from memory the card i am talking about didn't have rca or svideo connections on it like a dual tuner card it was a pure tv card...

the only quad card i've seen that looks simular to the card i'm talking of is available with home video security setups from swann...

[rickgillyon]

Why would you have a tuner on a home security tv card?

"didn't have rca or svideo connections on it like a dual tuner card"
Hmm, a dual tuner card without svideo or rca, whoever heard of such a thing? :p

If you find it again, please post a link.

[sniper's_scope]

when i do i will

[rickgillyon]

"didn't have rca or svideo connections on it like a dual tuner card"
Hmm, a dual tuner card without svideo or rca, whoever heard of such a thing? :p
Oh, here (http://www.broadbandstuff.co.uk/popup_image.php?pID=536&osCsid=ef0cd7e4132d5a983631bcba798ce3e9).

Or here (http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/images/novat500_board-b.jpg).

:p