R5000-HD capture via USB2 & SageTV

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Kimper

Kirby's problem is giving me cold feet though. If I pay $550 for the box mod I want that thing to work perfectly.

As stanger pointed out, its likely a config issue on my desktop PC. Again, its only when I use sage client on my pc. Keep inmind, the r5000 does work perfectly. It also works perfectly in sage when I view from my HTPC (sage server). And even the client works perfectly if I watch shows that are fully recorded.

Heck for that matter, I wouldnt even rule out it being an OS issue on my desktop pc. I am trying to find why it is doing it, but if I cant, and nobody else has issues like mine, then I wont care too much since that would point to something in MY setup.

[dbfresh23]

I'm starting to think that the MPEG4 sample clip on the R5000 website may just be corrupt or somthing. I just got another AVC/H.264 sample clip to work perfectly fine in Sage.

I'm really just doing this testing because I'm considering switching to Dish Network from DirecTV now that I can get YES-HD from local cable. After doing a comparison of HD offerings, E* leaves D* in the dust.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

After doing a comparison of HD offerings, E* leaves D* in the dust.

That's exactly my sentiment. And E*s HD Lite on Voom is far superior to anything on D*. I made the switch in December and glad I did. Sold my D*/R5000 modded STBs and got the Dish 411 with the R5000 mod. A big plus now is the Sage interface, which I've just begun experimenting with.

[dbfresh23]

Originally Posted by Ron

That's exactly my sentiment. And E*s HD Lite on Voom is far superior to anything on D*. I made the switch in December and glad I did. Sold my D*/R5000 modded STBs and got the Dish 411 with the R5000 mod. A big plus now is the Sage interface, which I've just begun experimenting with.

Are you getting any MPEG4 streams yet?

[Ron]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Are you getting any MPEG4 streams yet?

Unfortunately, no MPEG4 streams here in my DMA. But the MPEG2 streams record nearly flawlessly. With D*, the remuxer log was loaded with errors.

[Kirby]

well I have managed to totally hose my sage client setup. now I cant play anything live, regardless of source. I'm thinking the issue I was having is totally related to my PC. Could be caused from so many different things at this point that, unless someone else has the same issue with sage client and live viewing of r5000 streams, I'm not going to bother messing with it. I may revisit it later, but I have other things I need to get done (taxes!).

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Are you getting any MPEG4 streams yet?

The only MPEG4 streams out there are either the HD LiL on Dishnetwork (except NYC and LA) and there are some hidden streams on the 148 satellite (or used to be).

Where did you get the H.264 stream you have tested that works? I would like to give it a shot too.

[dbfresh23]

Good news of those Dish Network customers that want to save a ton of money and lease the HD boxes. I just got a reply from David and he said that they can do them, they just need to be labeled as Leased. I specifically asked him about a Dish 211.


*EDIT*
Even Better news!

I was doing some searching on the Dish Network website and they charge a $200 fee for unreturned Dish 211 Receivers. So basically it would be more worth it to just do the lease option and if you need to keep it for any reason just pay the unreturned receiver fee and it would work out to even less then you can buy them for on ebay! I actually just got off the phone with a Dish rep and he cleared up one thing for me. I was thinking there would be a rental fee on top of the programming fee, he said that it would only be $6/mo on top of the package cost for an extra HDTV STB. I was thinking that it would be a $6 programming fee + a rental/lease fee.

From the Dish website:

Unreturned Equipment Fees: All equipment remains the property of DISH Network at all times and must be returned within fifteen days of account deactivation to DISH Network or customer must pay an unreturned equipment fee as follows: ViP 622 DVR - $400; DISH Player-DVR 522 and 625 - $300; DISH 322 and ViP 211 - $200; DISH 311 - $100; Outdoor LNBF and Quad Switch - $100.
Fees and Credit Card Charges: By placing this order, you agree that any unreturned equipment fees will automatically be charged to your DISH Network account or your credit card provided to DISH Network and you agree to pay such fees. You authorize DISH Network to investigate creditworthiness. You further authorize DISH Network to report any payment defaults to credit reporting agencies. You acknowledge and agree that DISH Network is not extending credit and that the unreturned equipment fees are not interest, a credit service fee or a finance charge.

[stanger89]

Funny, I just emailed them too.

[dbfresh23]

Yeah, only thing I don't really like the Idea of at this point is the 18 month commitment i keep seeing by all of they lease ads.

[Kirby]

I think you guys need to double check, I know there is a lease fee out there, per month. I dont know if its waived for new customers or what, but I know it was announced and put in place. I thought it was waived only if you subscribed to a certain level of programming, but not sure.

Also, I think you can opt out of the 18 month thing, but have to pay a bit more up front.

OK, check here for all prices: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=32421

[stanger89]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's an either/or thing:

$5/6 Lease fee (waived on first)
or
$5/6 Additional Reciever fee

[dbfresh23]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's an either/or thing:

$5/6 Lease fee (waived on first)
or
$5/6 Additional Reciever fee

Either way, if you rent your box they get their $5-6. If you own your box they still get their $5-6!

[Kimper]

Yeah, the way it was explained to me by Dish and by a local company here is..

For new install you pay dish 59.99/month for say HD-Silver. If you sign up for 18 months that price includes installation and "all" required equipment. I asked them, "what if I have my own receiver?" They said.. "Hmmm, 59.99/month"

Hehe, so seems to me best deal is just sign up, send box to mod shop, enjoy.

As for return of the box.. I would just return it with the mod. What are the odds that joe return guy is going to know the difference one way or the other? If you keep the system for any lenght of time the boxes will be obsolete anyway.

[dbfresh23]

Yeah, but that's a $550 mod that may be able to get moved into something else...

[Kimper]

Yeah, if they let you do that.. sure.

[dbfresh23]

This may not be a good thing!?

I got a reply from David a little while ago which included:

Sage really has to be redesigned to handle H.264 streams. I don't think there's much point in doing it since you can't playback H.264 realtime in software anyway.

That's sounding to me like I won't be able to use the Live TV feature in SageTV. That wouldn't be good.

The redesign he was talking about was Sage's demux inability to handle H.264.

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Kimper

As for return of the box.. I would just return it with the mod. What are the odds that joe return guy is going to know the difference one way or the other? If you keep the system for any lenght of time the boxes will be obsolete anyway.

First off, thats the LAST thing you want to do. NEVER NEVER NEVER send a receiver back to the manufacturer thats been modified in such a way.

Second, you can move the r5000 board from one receiver to the next, regardless of system type (i.e. dish to cable, or Directv to c-band) for a nominal fee (labor to remove and install).

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

This may not be a good thing!?

I got a reply from David a little while ago which included:


That's sounding to me like I won't be able to use the Live TV feature in SageTV. That wouldn't be good.

The redesign he was talking about was Sage's demux inability to handle H.264.

True, but what about all the Geforce 6600 and above cards that have h264 hardware assist? I use a 7800GT in my HTPC which is supposed to be able to playback h264 just fine (not tested it yet). I will have to grab some h264 sources and try them out. I dont see why a higher end nvidia card, coupled with nvidia drivers and pure video, wouldnt be able to do h264 playback.

[lobosrul]

I can say from first hand experience, sage will NOT playback h.264. Ive also looked at posts in other sage forums, no one has been able to.

There is however a workaround, using an external player to automaticaly open any mpeg4 files, im not sure if that would work with an external stream.

This kinda sucks, never really thought about it before.