Tuner Suggestions

[MrLarkins]

I just cancelled my DirecTV service. Been a customer of theirs for the last 10 years and I don't have any complaints, they've been great. However, with 4 kids, I don't get much TV time, and frankly, thats ok, b/c I play more of my online games than watch TV.

I had a Hauppauge Colossus and an ATI TV Wonder HD 600 for over the air HD. I plan on selling my Colossus and HDPVR (and possibly my HD600) on ebay and purchasing a single tuner HD tuner. However, I'd like to take the single from my antenna to a dual tuner card. SO I suppose my question is this, what is a great dual HD OTA tuner card...and can I use the signal from the same antenna? Its a homemade one, you know, a plank of wood, hangers, etc. anyone have experience with the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual Hybrid Tuner?

I'll end up saving $80 / month for tv I wasn't watching anyway and several hundred from the ebay sales.

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by MrLarkins

anyone have experience with the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual Hybrid Tuner?

Yes, it's a great tuner, I wouldn't hesitate to use it for OTA. However, what I would more strongly recommend is the SiliconDust HDHomeRun dual tuner, which is a network tuner so it does not even occupy a slot. The 2250 and the HDHR are approximately the same price, so cost shouldn't be a factor.

[wrems]

+1 on the HDHR.

[MrLarkins]

network? thats a bummer, i have no more ports open on my home network...

[bhyman1]

Add a switch for more ports

[MrLarkins]

ah, yep, but that is more $$$ now isn't it?

[thomaszoo]

If you have a second unused NIC on your server you can plug the HDHR into that. Then you don't even have to worry about the additional traffic.

Wayne

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by thomaszoo

If you have a second unused NIC on your server you can plug the HDHR into that. Then you don't even have to worry about the additional traffic.

Wayne

Second that I direct plugin one of mine (can't really do 2 of them without allot of effort directly)

[MrLarkins]

my motherboard only has one port...that Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual Hybrid Tune is looking like the better solution for me.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by MrLarkins

ah, yep, but that is more $$$ now isn't it?

8-port gigabit switches can be had for less than $40. Hardly in the $$$ category. If you don't already have a switch and are running everything through the built-in ports on your router, then you really ought to add a switch anyway to keep your local LAN traffic out of the router, which is probably not optimized for high-bandwidth video streaming.

[pjpjpjpj]

To answer the antenna part of your question, if you have a working antenna now, it will still work. However, adding a splitter will introduce some signal loss, and every tuner is different (more/less sensitive), so you might see issues with a new device and splitter that you didn't see with the old setup. How long is your run of coax from the antenna to the tuner? Your first step (if the splitter causes problems) might be to try to shorten it, if possible. This is an advantage of the HDHR - you can locate it nearer to the antenna to shorten the coax length and then just run network cable back to your (switch/NIC). If that's still got problems, next step may be to introduce an amp in your line.

BTW, I had the "coat hanger antenna" too, and had a few small glitches. I recommend that you replace the coat hangers with 12ga copper (buy about 4' of 12-3 copper "Romex" house wire from your local HD/Lowes and strip out the pieces from their insulation, if I remember correctly, that should be enough linear footage). You'll see noticeable improvement and the copper won't rust.

First things first, though - pick a tuner and see how it does. You might be just fine anyway.

[MrLarkins]

yea, the above dual tuner doesn't require two inputs or a splitter. I may give the copper a try, if i get glitches...however, i do have an amplifier on it.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by MrLarkins

yea, the above dual tuner doesn't require two inputs or a splitter. I may give the copper a try, if i get glitches...however, i do have an amplifier on it.

Oh, right, I forgot that these tuners are now coming out with one connection. My old HDHRs came with two jacks, two short pieces of coax, and a splitter.

Of course, I don't know how the internal wiring is done - do they just split it inside after the jack? I'm sure someone here knows....

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Oh, right, I forgot that these tuners are now coming out with one connection. My old HDHRs came with two jacks, two short pieces of coax, and a splitter.

Of course, I don't know how the internal wiring is done - do they just split it inside after the jack? I'm sure someone here knows....

Per SiliconDust, the HDHR3 has an internal zero-loss active splitter.

[PhilH]

I have to chime in with the Avermedia Duet for OTA use. I have 2 of these in my WHS SAGETV box for a total of 4 tuners & have had great luck with them. At least with my OTA stations the Duet seems to lock on to the channels faster & the signal is more stable then the 2250's. I had 2 of those in my box & traded them out for the Duet's & never looked back. I have been very happy with the Duet's.

Phil