General questions for new HTPC

[myoung84]

I currently have Cox digital cable on Oklahoma and one of their DVR boxes. I am looking to switch to sageTV but I want it to be like my current setup. I have an AMD 64 3000+ with 1GB ram and onboard Nvidia graphics.

My dvr box has dual tuners I assume, as I can watch and pause one channel and record another. To keep my digital cable I assume I have to have a digital box from Cox (I do not have HDTV, so that is not a concern now). To be able to watch and record 2 channels at the same time would I have to have 2 digital boxes hooked to my pc? My HTPC will be in my office with my TV in living room, I know I will need the media extender.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the equipment I believe I need.
2 tuner cards
2 Digital boxes from Cox
1 media extender
SageTV with license

What tuner cards would you recommend? If I got 2 of the PVR-1600 cards with tuner and audio/video input I could presumably record channels 1-125 on each tuner and also record 2 more channels through the a/v input going through the set top boxes?

How well does the IR transmitter work with STB?

Thanks for all your support.

[Djc208]

You don't technically need a 1600 if you're not doing HD, an analog only card like Hauppage 150/250 (or the 500 with two tuners already built in) would work fine. The 1600's can also tune digital broadcasts (HD included), though if the price is the same you might as well since you may want that ability later.

If you want to record two premium channels (HBO, DIY, etc) then yes you'd need two cable boxes, one per tuner. If you don't record much on those channels then one cable box and the other tuner directly connected to cable will work, you'll get all the basic channels on one and the second will get everything plus the premium stuff.

I'm not sure about the IR control, I've not had to deal with it on my current setup, plenty of threads on different options, and I'm sure there's probably something in the users manual too, but it will require some additional hardware if you're using more than one cable box.

There's also the the option of firewire feeds from the cable boxes, it's more difficult to set up and can be defeated if the cable company enables 5C encryption, but you wouldn't need any tuner cards.

[myoung84]

If I got 2 PVR 150 cards could I control 2 STBs with with the IR blasters on each card (aim one blaster at each STB)? I could essentially record 2 digital channels and 2 analog channels at the same time, correct? How would this tax my computer? I will have a dedicated IDE 300GB hard drive for Sage. It not a dedicated sage machine however, i still use it occasionally. (I have a laptop for everyday internet and email)

My main concern is controlling the set top boxes. I think they are Scientific Atlantic 8100s? I would like any and all comments on the IR blaster functionality.

Thanks

[CollinR]

Get a USBUIRT and be done with IR controls, one can handle 3 independent set top boxes and is natively supported by SageTV and just about every other software you might wish to use.

You must be in OKC or surrounding to get SA boxes, in Tulsa we get all Motorolas. As far as I have seen serial control is disabled on all Cox boxes.

I would get a PVR500 and an HVR1800 if I were you, this will allow for 3 SD analog feeds and a single QAM or ATSC HD feed all at the same time.

I haven't had any trouble with IR control in several years, I do tape them on blacked out. My systems are all headless and dedicated to SageTV and Media. The more crap you have oing the more likely you'll have troubles.

Get MVPs for your SD TVs too.

[myoung84]

Yes I am in the OKC area and I have an SA 3100 box. What is the USB port for on the front?

How does one USBUIRT control 3 boxes? How does that work?

[CollinR]

USBUIRT is a device dedicated to IR and IR control it can recieve, transmit and with software transcode IR signals. It has a single reciever build in and 3 transmitter "zones" one on the front of it and 2 more via a stereo headphone jack on the back. Most all software you'll care about supports it directly (aside from MCE! IIRC) I use mine to control my DVD changer and the amplifer connected to my living room client I could have added support for turning the TV On/Off too if I had wanted it.

[myoung84]

Could I not just use a single PVR500 card and have 2 STBs and 2 analog signals to the card with the addon a/v header?

[CollinR]

The AV head only adds ports not encoders, so yes you can hook them up that way but in your case you would gain nothing. That card can only pull in 2 streams at a time. However you can hook a bunch of stuff up to it you can only choose to use any 2 at any one time. Much the same as your current DVR. If you have 2 PVR500s you could record both cable boxes plus 2 analog feeds.

I use those add-on headers for things like CCTV camera systems, DVD changers, baby monitors stuff you don't really use all that often and so you don't really need an encoder dedicated to it but you want to watch it sometimes.

[myoung84]

Wow, you have been a great help. Can the PVR150 record a digital channel from the STB and a lower analog channel at the same time? I think i want 2 of them, as my main concern is to be able to watch one digital channel and record another with and to record 2 others from analog.

Oh, and I am planning on getting at least 1 MVP extender now.

[CollinR]

The HVR950, HVR1600 and HVR1800 can record a single actual digital stream.
The HVR1600 and HVR1800 can also record a single analog feed at the same time.


When you connect your digital cable box to SageTV you are not recording a digital stream. The PVR150 will do that for only 1 feed, the PVR500 is basically 2 PVR150s in one card. It will do 2 feeds at once.

If you connect the coax directly to an HVR1600 or HVR1800 you can capture digital content directly as the cable box normally would. However your channel lineup will be limited. You can also capture digital streams from an antenna.

The other PVR cards are strickly analog, your choice if you want to use the TV tuner to demodulate RF TV or the baseband inputs to capture the analog feeds coming from your cable box.

[myoung84]

I guess when I say digital I mean the higher channels, like recording HBO and Statz at the same time for example. Which would require 2 STBs. So, if I were to want to record an HBO movie, a Starz movie, and watch say channel 40 through sage to be able to pause/rewind, what equipment would you suggest for me to buy?

1 PVR500 & 1 USBUIRT
Would this cover it?

Sorry for the headache, im just trying to understand everything before I spend a load of money on it.

Another question. What kind of picture quality can I expect when watching bot recorded shows and live tv through the MVP?

[myoung84]

TTT

[CollinR]

Originally Posted by myoung84

I guess when I say digital I mean the higher channels, like recording HBO and Statz at the same time for example. Which would require 2 STBs. So, if I were to want to record an HBO movie, a Starz movie, and watch say channel 40 through sage to be able to pause/rewind, what equipment would you suggest for me to buy?

1 PVR500 & 1 USBUIRT
Would this cover it?

Nope, a PVR500 has only 2 encoders. For what you ask you would need 3.

Get:
1-PVR500, 1-HVR1800 and a 1-USBUIRT (3 SD encoders and a single ATSC/QAM HD tuner)
or
2-PVR500 and 1- USBUIRT (4 SD encoders and no HD at all)

If you go 2 PVR500 you can do 3 set top boxes and a basic channel or 2 boxes and use the 2 tuners so you can watch HBO, Starz channel 40 and 41.

Originally Posted by myoung84

Another question. What kind of picture quality can I expect when watching bot recorded shows and live tv through the MVP?

Excellent, on SD TVs it's better then any PC TV out I have seen.

On an HDTV it will look ~okay~, probably on par with a PC driven display.

[myoung84]

Makes sense now. I think I will goe just one pvr500 for now with only one STB for xost reasons. This is already over $300 with sage licenses. I think all that is left now is to get the equipment and start playing.

One other thought I had was if I do have 3 sources hooked ton one pvr500, does sage have the ability to pick out the 2 it needs? for example, 2 STBs and standard coax hooked to the card. Recording on HBO through STB 1 and watching channel 40, will sage basically keep STB 2 on reserve until I need to watch a higher channel?

Thanks!

[CollinR]

Yes but that would be pointless, the set top box can get everything a tuner can tune and more. It might be worthwhile if you had both basic cable and sat, then you could use the 2 S Videos for Sat and the 2 tuners for basic cable.

You can buy more of those headers if need be, IIRC they support a total of 3.

You can also use the composite or the S Video independently, I hook a DVD megachanger to my S Video and CCTV multiplex to my composites.