HD Homerun for OTA SD

[pknowles]

I'm currently using the computer in my sig with a PVR-500 to record the analog SD signal I get from my cable provider. I'm moving to a new house and want to drop my cable TV to save some money ($80/month is the cheapest plan they have and most of the stuff I watch is on broadcast TV anyway). The new house has an antenna on the roof, so I want to try getting digital TV OTA. I just have SD TV's. If I get an HDHR can I make it down convert the HD signal to SD? The reason I ask is I fear my current computer is way too slow to convert the signal to SD and if I don't have an HDTV yet, what's the point of keeping the large HD files on the computer. Or maybe the computer is fast enough and I should just try it. Any help is appreciated.

[RocKKer]

The HDHR won't down convert to SD and there are no options to change that, you will have to store what it outputs.

Get an HD200 for viewing the recordings, it will down convert to SD, HD200 is the best option to display on ANY TV (IMHO). You will need network connectivity from your server to it, also it's less expensive than an HTPC and versatile in that it has both S-video and composite for SD, as well as HDMI and componant when your ready for an HDTV.

I have a mixture of SD and HDTV's in the house and the HD200 works great!

[pknowles]

Can you play DVD's through the HD200? Is it easy?

[wrems]

I agree with rocker, the HD200 will keep the processing power off of your AMD.

You can play ripped DVD’s on the HD200 very easily. You can also play physical disks. I use Anydvd at the server and then set the DVD drive as an import directory.

Are you ditching cable entirely or keeping cable for internet? If you keep the cable for internet you’ll be able to pick up unencrypted QAM stations too. The HDHR tunes QAM and OTA.

[pjpjpjpj]

HDHR +1

General consensus on this forum seems to be that the HDHR is your best bet for OTA recording. Plus you can locate the HDHR (since it's networked) closer to your antennas and cut down on lossy coax cable runs, perhaps saving you the need for an inline amp. In other words, put the HDHR as close as possible to the antenna, have a short coax run into the HDHR, and then use a longer network cable (Cat5e or Cat6) back to your router/switch/hub or server.

Also, the HDHR is dual-tuner, so you get two tuners with one purchase (and not have to use up card slots) - it comes with a splitter and two short pieces of coax, specifically for this application. Or, as mentioned above, if you still have "active" cable (perhaps for internet), use one tuner input for your antenna and the other to get the unencrypted QAM channels off your cable.

[pknowles]

I plan on keeping cable internet, so yes I should be able to get clear QAM channels. Although if I get the same channels uncompressed through the antenna (which is already on the house), I will probably just hook up the HDHR to the antenna.

[wrems]

More than likely you’ll be able to tune more channels on QAM than OTA… It depends on your area. Check the HDHR website and input your zip code. It will give you a breakdown for QAM and OTA channels you’ll likely receive. QAM won’t all be in HD but you should get a nice mix of digital stations that come in great anyway.

[pknowles]

Originally Posted by wrems

More than likely you’ll be able to tune more channels on QAM than OTA… It depends on your area. Check the HDHR website and input your zip code. It will give you a breakdown for QAM and OTA channels you’ll likely receive. QAM won’t all be in HD but you should get a nice mix of digital stations that come in great anyway.

Either way I'll need an HDHR, so I think I'll order that before I move at the end of the month. If I can get SD over QAM, then I won't need the HD200. Thanks.