Looking to hire SageTV consultant

[Mikefromnc]

I would like to hire a sage expert to help setup a dream tv system. If you are interested, please email me at mike@pittpropertymanagement.com

We have Suddenlink Cable in the area, and I'll be using a windows xp computer. I'd like to network a few TV's also.

Thanks!

[doncote0]

Well, with WinXP you have options, but if you are looking for a Dream system and want to get the most bang for your buck, I would consider more future thinking (meaning Windows 7).

Windows 7 Ultimate has an XP mode which will still allow you to keep the interface you like for most everything else.

I would go 64 bit to get the most options for future enhancements and memory, but that is me.

If you want to know more, I'll be glad to offer my 2 cents for less than 2 cents. MKANet also knows a lot about building systems, and has probably seen more constant heavy duty Sage usage than most of us here.

[fidget]

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

I would like to hire a sage expert to help setup a dream tv system. If you are interested, please email me at mike@pittpropertymanagement.com

We have Suddenlink Cable in the area, and I'll be using a windows xp computer. I'd like to network a few TV's also.

Thanks!

You are going to need to put some constraints on your Dream System, otherwise it's price will have quite a few digits to it

What else are you wanting to do with your system? Do you want to be able to store DVDs and BluRay disks and play them back via SageTV? If so, how many of each do you want to be able to store? How many programs do you want to be able to record at once? Does your cable system broadcast is ClearQAM or will you have converter boxes?

You can see my system specs in my signature.

[davephan]

Welcome to the SageTV forum!

It probably won't take a consultant, the SageTV forum might be enough for you. SageTV can be overwhelming at times, but it is not as overwhelming to setup as you are thinking.

You should start with a fast quad-core computer, 3.00 gig CPU or faster. Windows XP is old and support will probably drop in another year or two. Windows 7 64-bit would be a better choice. SageTV works out better if you build the system yourself, or you could have someone build it for you. Start with a large case that can hold a lot of drives. The system board should have a lot of sata and USB connections. USB3 connections would be a plus. Start with at least 2 gigs or more RAM. Use faster RAM, at least 1333 MHz RAM. Make sure the system board has enough PCI-E slots and at least one PCI slot. Check sites like www.newegg.com for the system board reviews to make sure there aren't too many negative reviews. Some negative reviews almost always are posted on almost everything.

The operating system / programs drive only needs to be about 120 gigs. You could use an IDE or sata drive or better yet, a faster solid state drive with good reviews. The video recording and video storage drives should be 2 TB sata. Green drives will work. If you get black drives or enterprise drives, they may be more reliable.

Protecting your data. You should use Acronis or Ghost to periodically image your C drive which contains your operating system and programs. The image files should be stored on one of the video drives and could also be copied to a portable USB hard drive. The USB portable hard drive could be stored off site for even more protection. The video drives could be run independently or with RAID. If the video drives are run independently, and one drive crashes, all your data on that drive will be lost. If you use RAID, then your data is protected. To use RAID all the drives in each RAID set have to be the same type, size, and speed. Depending on which RAID level you select, you can have one or more drives fail, and your data will not be lost. Another way to protect your video data is by copying the data between independent drives. There are programs that will do that automatically and some are free.

You will need one HD-300 or an older HD-200 at each TV. These are media extenders. The video and audio signals flow over the Eithernet cable from the SageTV computer to each media extender. When you use a media extender remote control, the remote control signal flows over the Eithernet cable back to the SageTV computer. Use 100 meg wired Eithernet, or faster if you want to future proof your wiring. Do not bother with wireless unless you are prepared for many hassles, unless you are lucky and avoid the wireless hassles.

Start small. Start with one computer. If you have a computer already, you could try SageTV on that computer for free. Before you install the SageTV trial, or any other trial software, take an image of the computer. If you don't have imaging software you need to buy imaging software. There is free imaging software, such as Partition Image is Not Ghost (PING), but software like Acronis and Ghost have reliable recoveries. Sometimes PING recoveries fail. You can download videos some some sites such as http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/bea...-places-in-hd/ to test the SageTV playback on the computer for free.

If you like what you see, then you can purchase a capture card or device. You can try recording TV with SageTV and playback the video on the computer. If you think SageTV will not work out for you, you could return the capture card. If SageTV looks like it would work for you, then you can purchase the SageTV software and HD-300 package.

It's very important to take periodic images of your C-drive to capture your operating system and programs at points in time when the system is working perfectly. If something goes bad, then you can easily recover the system back to a 'known good' state. If the recovery does not work, then you know that you have a hardware problem, not a software problem. This is very important to have the ability to isolate the problem between hardware and software. The goal is to have a reliable SageTV system that can easily be fixed if a computer problem occurs in the future.

There's a lot to think about, so post more questions.


Dave

[reggie14]

Welcome!

I'm going to be a little cautious with my advice. If you're looking for help from experienced users about how to design a SageTV system, then great. If you're looking for someone that will come to your house and install/configure your SageTV system, then I'm not sure Sage is right for you. While Sage itself is pretty reliable, I've found the entire system to be fairly fragile. There are a lot of components that work together with SageTV, including set top boxes, third-party tuners, IR blasters (or firewire), commercial skipping and other utilities, etc. A problem with any one of those items could potentially disrupt your ability to watch TV.

The problems are, in my experience, always fixable. But, I think you're going to run a SageTV system, you'll want to be able to fix problems as they arise. For instance, maybe you'll pull network TV channels off your cable line using QAM. If your cable company makes a change to their system, it might move where the QAM channels are. You'll want to be able to fix that problem yourself.

So, if you want a great DVR system that doubles as a hobby, I think Sage might be great for you. If you want a system that just works, without having to troubleshoot problems as they occur, I think you'll want to look at an out-of-the-box solution like Moxi.

In any event, I think you'll want to start small to make sure Sage does what you want before you invest a couple thousand bucks into it. Maybe get a SiliconDust HD HomeRun from someone with a good return policy, download the SageTV demo, and try it out for a while. If it still looks good, then jump in buying a new server, hard drives, HD300 extenders, etc.

I think you've already gotten some good advice. I don't know if you already have a machine you want to use. You could get away with just about any computer from the last 7 or so years, but if you're building a new server I think you'll want a pretty powerful one, like a 3GHz-class quad core, running in a closet and HD300 extenders attached to each TV. I'm a fan of firewire channel changing, versus IR blasting, so I would go with Windows 7 32-bit on my server. XP is quickly being phased out, and you can't use firewire channel changing with 64-bit operating systems.

It sounds like you want to be able to record your cable TV channels. So, for tuners I'd probably recommend a SiliconDust HD Home Run for local network channels like NBC, and one or two Hauppauge HD-PVRs. In the coming weeks we'll probably find out if the Hauppauge Colossus performs more reliably than the HD-PVR, so that might be a good alternative.

As others have asked, what is your goal for this system? What do you want to be able to do? That will dictate what type of components you'll need/want.

[GKusnick]

Actually the OP never said this system is for himself. What he said is that he wants to hire a Sage consultant for a property management company. This sounds to me like he's looking for a subcontractor to assist him with a commercial installation.

If that's the case, I would probably advise against it. You really want the primary on-site contractor to be expert in the systems he's installing. Having to refer every issue to a remote subcontractor seems like a recipe for disaster.

[fidget]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Actually the OP never said this system is for himself. What he said is that he wants to hire a Sage consultant for a property management company. This sounds to me like he's looking for a subcontractor to assist him with a commercial installation.

If that's the case, I would probably advise against it. You really want the primary on-site contractor to be expert in the systems he's installing. Having to refer every issue to a remote subcontractor seems like a recipe for disaster.

Although the email was for a property management company, there was no statement about the end user being a property management company.

I agree that this is a recipe for disaster. And, if he wants a commercial installation he will probably be running afoul of a few laws unless he has dealt with the copyright issues.

[doncote0]

if he wants a commercial installation he will probably be running afoul of a few laws unless he has dealt with the copyright issues.

I don't get that, sorry. If it is copy freely and you copy it, you have not violated copyright laws. If you find away to copy a broadcast that does not defeat copyright protection, you have not violated copyright laws. If you have the original disk for every DVD or BluRay you rip and do not distribute the content to other locations, you have not violated copyright laws.

The only issue that might be a problem is if he copied DVD's, Blurays, copyrighted broadcasts, etc and distributed the ability to watch them outside of his company's premises.

If he were closer to Seattle, I would probably see if I could help.

Based on what I have seen from the current reviews and progress, I would probably go with 1 Ceton Card and call it done. Everything else would be directly dependent on available funds for this project. You could always add a HDHR for locals as reggie14 noted.

[JetreL]

I messaged him last night to find a little more out about what he is looking for. So far Crickets. If he is looking for a commercial installation I would shy away from this but for personal and private use who knows.

Originally Posted by doncote0

I don't get that, sorry. If it is copy freely and you copy it, you have not violated copyright laws. If you find away to copy a broadcast that does not defeat copyright protection, you have not violated copyright laws. If you have the original disk for every DVD or BluRay you rip and do not distribute the content to other locations, you have not violated copyright laws.

The only issue that might be a problem is if he copied DVD's, Blurays, copyrighted broadcasts, etc and distributed the ability to watch them outside of his company's premises.

It's not really that simple. Rebroadcasting TV, Sports Events, and Movies in a commercial environment is a pretty big, "No No," and even if it's not I wouldn't be eager to pay legal fees to have the courts decide. Who knows we will wait for him the chime in to figure out what he is needing.

[Mikefromnc]

Wow, I wasn't expecting that much info! Exciting product options, I'll need to read over this a few more times....

To answer a few questions, this application will be for a single private home not a business/commercial application. Sorry for the confusion.

I've got two more exiting computer options:

Option 1:
XP Pro 2002 Pentium 4 3.2 GHz
Dual Core / 512 ram
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 integrated ramdac 256mb

Option 2:
XP Pro 2002 Prntium 4 2.4 GHz
2.5 GB ram
Intel 82865G graphics controller 64MB

Option 3:
Buy a new computer which I can but only if there is a strong benefit which it sounds like there is from reading the previous post.

I'll be storing mostly tv shows (say about 20 shows x 20 episodes = 400 shows avg 1 hour each?), about 100+ dvd's for now (eventually say 300 dvds or movies), and a handful of blue ray disk (only the classics).

I need converter boxes right now from our local cable company (Suddenlink) to get the premium channels that I pay for. Sounds like I need some kind of box from SageTV to do this? I'm ok with learning the quirks with keeping the system running as long as it doesn't become a part time job.

I suppose I'll need to be able to record 2 programs at once at times, rarely 3 programs at once, and may want to play a program while doing so.

Sorry for the amateur responses. I'm still really new at this. I'll re-read all the responses again tomorrow and give more information. You have all been really kind, thanks for taking the time. By the way, my budget would be $1000 for now, but I suppose I could always go to $2000 if some really neat features were involved.

Kindly,
Mike

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

To answer a few questions, this application will be for a single private home not a business/commercial application. Sorry for the confusion.

Just to be completely clear, this is your home we're talking about? You're not acting as a contractor and installing it into a customer's home?

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

To answer a few questions, this application will be for a single private home not a business/commercial application. Sorry for the confusion.

For what its worth, I agree with GKusnick that it wouldn't be a good idea to install this system in someone else's home. In my opinion, Sage setups aren't reliable enough for that.

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

I've got two more exiting computer options:

Either computer ought to be fast enough for a basic server, although I think you'd want about 2 gigs of RAM. You might grow out of it, but I think it would be good to use as much existing hardware as you can before you jump in head first.

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

I'll be storing mostly tv shows (say about 20 shows x 20 episodes = 400 shows avg 1 hour each?), about 100+ dvd's for now (eventually say 300 dvds or movies), and a handful of blue ray disk (only the classics).

That shouldn't be a problem, particularly with 2TB hard drives being pretty cheap. Although, your old machines might not have SATA ports in them for newer hard drives. You could get a pretty cheap PCI SATA hard drive controller though.

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

I need converter boxes right now from our local cable company (Suddenlink) to get the premium channels that I pay for. Sounds like I need some kind of box from SageTV to do this? I'm ok with learning the quirks with keeping the system running as long as it doesn't become a part time job.

Again, I don't think you should go with Sage if you just want a system that you can set up and forget it. But I think you should be prepared to have to tweak or troubleshoot something every month or so.

Essentially what you would need to go is to buy a video capture device, like an HD-PVR, that would record video coming out of your converter box. That would run about $150-$200. You might need something else, like a USB-UIRT, to your computer a way of telling the convert box to change channels (the HD-PVR comes with one way to do that, but it doesn't work if you want to use multiple HD-PVRs to record two things at once).

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

Sorry for the amateur responses. I'm still really new at this. I'll re-read all the responses again tomorrow and give more information. You have all been really kind, thanks for taking the time. By the way, my budget would be $1000 for now, but I suppose I could always go to $2000 if some really neat features were involved.

$1000 isn't a lot of money to work with. You'll want HD300 extenders at each TV. It sounds like you have 3-4 TVs, so those along will run you $450-$600. (though again, I think you should play with the demo for a week or so before jumping in like that).

You'd also need video capture devices and/or tuners to actually record TV. You'll need at least one HD-PVR ($200) to connect to a converter box. To record more than one thing at a time, you could either buy another HD-PVR (and get another converter box), or you could buy an HD HomeRun (for about $130), which would probably let you record basic network channels (e.g., NBC, CBS, etc) without a converter box. (If you still get analog tv, and you don't care about recording in HD, there are some other tuner options).

You'd need a license for SageTV, which you could buy bundled with one HD300 extender for $200.

And you'd need one or two big hard drives, at about $80 a piece.

So, you'll get up to your $1000 budget pretty quickly. Obviously, getting a new computer would put you over the top, though I think you could avoid that for a while.

Don't look at Sage as the cheap route. For a $1000 you could potentially go with other options, like a 3-room Moxi system. It wouldn't be as flexible as a sage system, but would probably be easier to use and setup.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Actually the OP never said this system is for himself. What he said is that he wants to hire a Sage consultant for a property management company. This sounds to me like he's looking for a subcontractor to assist him with a commercial installation.

I was wondering where you get that info from in his first post, then I saw his email domain.

I think you are assuming a little too much there. It seems this is for himself unless he says otherwise.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

I think you are assuming a little too much there. It seems this is for himself unless he says otherwise.

Actually I was trying not to assume anything either way. I just observed that he expects to pay for consulting services, he works for a property management company, and he wants applicants to contact him at work. That suggests that it could be a contract job for a third party, and not a DIY project for his own home. I don't want to make a big deal of it, but it seems to me it would be worth clarifying that, rather than assuming it's just for him.

[PAF]

Originally Posted by doncote0

I don't get that, sorry. If it is copy freely and you copy it, you have not violated copyright laws. If you find away to copy a broadcast that does not defeat copyright protection, you have not violated copyright laws. If you have the original disk for every DVD or BluRay you rip and do not distribute the content to other locations, you have not violated copyright laws.

The only issue that might be a problem is if he copied DVD's, Blurays, copyrighted broadcasts, etc and distributed the ability to watch them outside of his company's premises.

If he were closer to Seattle, I would probably see if I could help.

Based on what I have seen from the current reviews and progress, I would probably go with 1 Ceton Card and call it done. Everything else would be directly dependent on available funds for this project. You could always add a HDHR for locals as reggie14 noted.

As some stated, its really not that simple. If you want to know specific answers to a specific scenario, I recommend seeing a lawyer. That said, in general there are not limitations for "outside" or "inside" an entity (person or corporation), copyright infringement is generally governed by 17 USC 106 with some general exceptions in 17 USC 107 and 108 (there are many but generally...). If you look at 17 USC 106(1)... "to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies" is the standard which simply means copying. Again, there are exceptions but it gets tricky. In addition, with the DMCA (digital millennium copyright act), it gets really hairy. All that said, copyright violations without distribution are usually private disputes (non-criminal) and most are too small to litigate and are never really found/litigated but that doesn't make them legal. So, in conclusion, If you want an answer to a specific copyright question in a specific scenario, please see an attorney to weigh the risks, benefits and assess a particular question.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by doncote0

If you have the original disk for every DVD or BluRay you rip and do not distribute the content to other locations, you have not violated copyright laws.

This is getting way OT but are you sure about that? I was pretty sure that if you used any anti-DRM software then you are breaking the law. But CDs don't have any DRM so you are okay to rip them.

That means backing up DVDs and BRs is breaking the law - which is why the only software that does this is based outside of the US and why applications like iTunes allow you to rip CDs but not DVDs or BRs. More "legitimate" software, such as VideoRedo, only works with unencrypted DVDs.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Mikefromnc

I would like to hire a sage expert to help setup a dream tv system.

I know you are new hear but you need to dream higher, given the systems that you have described. When most of us think of dream systems we are talking of extremely high end systems with the fastest CPU money can buy, tens of terabytes of hard drives, 10 or more tuners...

By the way, I wouldn't post my email address on a public searchable web page like this as it is a spam magnet. There are bots that crawl the net looking for email addresses.