First time HTPC...a little confused about analog

[karimkb]

Hi, I came across your site from another forum, and so far im really interested in your software, and the community is nice here as well.
Firstly, I am located in USA and am pretty decent with computers, but this is my first time doing an HTPC setup. I have the DTA-150 PCI card which I use to receive OTA HD Local channels. This is the only tuner card I have installed on my PC.
I also have Dish Network Satellite which is connected to my TV thru the Dish Network Set Top Box (STB).
Ok so Question 1: I currently feed my HD LCD from my Satellite STB thru SVideo Cable. Would I notice any improvement if I upgraded my STB to a HD receiver (tho i will not be subscribing to any HD channels) and use the HDMI (or even Component) out to plug into my TV?
All satellite signals are pure digital right? So I'm thinking it would be a vast improvement in upgrading my STB.

Now, while reading the forums, I found out that there are not tuner cards available for Satellite, so I guess i'm stuck using the STB and only being able to record the OTA channels I get from my DTA-150 card.
Question 2: what if I switch to a Cable company (Comcast is the cable provider here). Would I be able to receive DIGITAL cable and feed that incoming cable line into another TV Tuner card? Would that work? Or would that only give me analog regular cable? (i dunno how thats differnet and why all the cable channels arent digital)
Question 3: What is QAM? I keep reading about it, but I have no idea what it is.

This Analog/Digital stuff is kinda new to me, and I haven't grasped it yet, so help would be appriciated.

Thank you.

[patrick]

Originally Posted by karimkb

Ok so Question 1: I currently feed my HD LCD from my Satellite STB thru SVideo Cable.
Would I notice any improvement if I upgraded my STB to a HD receiver
(tho i will not be subscribing to any HD channels) and use the HDMI (or even Component)
out to plug into my TV?
All satellite signals are pure digital right? So I'm thinking it would be a vast improvement in upgrading my STB.

I would think so but I am no expert.

Originally Posted by karimkb

Question 2: what if I switch to a Cable company (Comcast is the cable provider here).
Would I be able to receive DIGITAL cable and feed that incoming cable line into
another TV Tuner card? Would that work?
Or would that only give me analog regular cable?
(i dunno how thats differnet and why all the cable channels arent digital)

Typically, you will be able to tune the ANALOG cable channels (channels 2-99)
with a regular TV card (Ex. Hauppauge PVR-500 or PVR-150) and the coax running to the card from the wall.

The remaining cable channels(100+) you can run from your STB to the same TV cards
svideo input.(This does tie up the STB while recording from those channels.)
So with the PVR-500 (which has two tuners on one card) you could record
two analog channels at the same time or one analog and one digital.

Originally Posted by karimkb

This Analog/Digital stuff is kinda new to me, and I haven't grasped it yet, so help would be appriciated.

A basic setup for something similar to yours:
Tune your HD OTA channels with you existing card.
Get a TV Card that supports additional input like svideo (ex. Hauppauge PVR-500 or PVR-150)
You can then run the svideo out from your STB(sat or cable) to the svideo input on the TV Card.
Now you could record all your Sat/Cable channels and OTA channels.


HTH,
patrick

[karimkb]

Originally Posted by patrick

The remaining cable channels(100+) you can run from your STB to the same TV cards
svideo input.(This does tie up the STB while recording from those channels.)
So with the PVR-500 (which has two tuners on one card) you could record
two analog channels at the same time or one analog and one digital.

So when i connect the SVideo OUT from the Satellite to the Tuner card, that would still be considered analog right?
I guess for my situation I would just need the single tuner card with the SVideo In (the PVR-150 as you suggested)...now, would connecting to the svideo port actually be considered as using the tuner? Or can I still use the Coaxial input on the card?
Also, with this setup, would i be able to record from the OTA card and be watching satellite and vice versa?

The next question I have is how to integrate both the OTA channels and the Satellite Channels....does MediaPortal do that? Would I be able to view a list of channels (both OTA and Satellite svideo connection) and then choose what i want to watch and record? This part is a little confusing as to how that'll be handled, but maybe I wont understand till i actually try it myself.

Also, I know as far as the remote goes, I wont be able to control the satellite box unless i have a serial connection going to the back of the box (or a serial to phone line connection, im vague on that but i'll figure that out later), that doesnt concern me right now....but this is what i was getting to: Basically this is the exact same setup as it would be if I was connecting the SVideo to the TV itself, except now Im just going thru the tuner card so I can record whats coming in correct? I'll be seeing the exact same thing on the tv (the same Satellite Guide, menus etc) that I was before, but all the recording etc will be taking place thru MediaPortal...

Sorry for so many questions...i just wanna be sure before I buy the card as to what exactly the setup would be, i like knowing how its gonna work b4 i try to get it to work

edit: also, all this would work fine under XP Pro right...i dont need windows MCE?

Thanks