Necommer whom is a little confused.

[ElZombie]

Good afternoon everyone,

I've recently discovered the Media Portal software and found it to be a perfect fit for a project I'm planning. Basically my partner loves to watch Tellie and at the moment we have 6 remote controls and many, many boxes pulled into my tellie.

So I want to streamline everything. I've only just finished installing Cat6 cable though out half of my house, eventually I will have a port in every room. At the moment, I'll have the Media Portal Server in my main lounge room connected to my TV and another TV with the client in the master bed room and of course the Media Portal Client on every computer in the house.

Now I have a few questions, if someone has the time to answer them. Basically I am getting a universal remote and thinking of getting the Logitech Harmony 525, has anyone used one of these, and if so, hows the complatibility?

Another question is streaming TV. I understand that the Media Portal Server is still in beta, but I after thinking though it all I've decided that I'm only going to be able to stream the one channel though out the hose, arent I?

I know its kind of a long post for my first, hope it makes sense and thanks in advance for reading.

[userjan]

I'm using the 885 of logitech myself, and i hooked a mate of mine up with a 525 ...

Just get one of those remotes it won't dissapoint you.... you can fully adjust the settings on those remotes, it uses a big online database with remotes/devices and device where you can choose from, and if the device is unknown you could just learn the commands into the 525 from your original remote.

You could create for instance a activity "Music Mediacenter", and with one press on the button, it will send the signals to set your audio,tv and mediaportal system on the right inputs, and put unused devices off.

[charli181]

Originally Posted by ElZombie

Another question is streaming TV. I understand that the Media Portal Server is still in beta, but I after thinking though it all I've decided that I'm only going to be able to stream the one channel though out the hose, arent I?

If you are looking at free to ait stuff (2,7,9,10,SBS) then with the TV Server, you can just add extra tuner cards which allows for streaming of a second channel, the more cards the more streams. I would suggest at least 2 so you can record a channel whilst watching another. A digital Tuner card (starts a $45 dollars) which will give you the SD and HD cahnnels (2,7,10 have different programs running sometimes).

For you Foxtel/Optus,etc you could only run one stream as the settop box will connect to an analogue tuner card within the TV Server. ( I don't have Pay TV so the card type might be different?

[ElZombie]

Originally Posted by charli181

If you are looking at free to ait stuff (2,7,9,10,SBS) then with the TV Server, you can just add extra tuner cards which allows for streaming of a second channel, the more cards the more streams. I would suggest at least 2 so you can record a channel whilst watching another. A digital Tuner card (starts a $45 dollars) which will give you the SD and HD cahnnels (2,7,10 have different programs running sometimes).

For you Foxtel/Optus,etc you could only run one stream as the settop box will connect to an analogue tuner card within the TV Server. ( I don't have Pay TV so the card type might be different?

Thank you both for your advice. Im just look at free to air HD and SD stuff charli. Can you recommend any TV cards at all, I'm still a little vague on the specifics at what I should be looking for in a TV Tuner. If I put two cards in, will that mean I'll be able to watch i.e. 10 on one Tellie while streams i.e. 7 to another computer hooked to a tellie?

[charli181]

have a look at the wiki for TV server TV-Engine 0.3 - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation for all requirements.

The TV card side of things, everyone has there own preferences, but for FTA Digital stuff, you will need a DVB-T type card. Have a look here for the full list supported Supported TVCard DVBt - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation

I have a Leadtek 1000T (approx $45), which gives me 1 digital tuner on the card. My second card is a Twinhann VisionPlus, again 1 tuner on the. My preference is the LeadTek as the Twinhann is an old version. The other advantage of the leadtek 1000t is that it has an antenna pass through connection which eliminates the need for a splitter box if you have more than one card. It also does have a composite input (yellow analogue) input but I cannot get it to work in MP (have no need for it anyway-so never really tried). There are other cards on the market that have 2 digital tuners on the one card and thus if limited on PCI Slots, this would be the way to go. Just depends on your budget and your personal preferences.

Other users have other cards and I would suggest searching the forums for some other suggestions.

If I put two cards in, will that mean I'll be able to watch i.e. 10 on one Tellie while streams i.e. 7 to another computer hooked to a tellie?

this is correct, and just to confuse you even mopre, there is even a feature with TV Server that eg. if one card is tuned to channel 10 SD and shown on the first Client/TV and the second Client/TV asks for 10 HD, it will only use one Tuner card. This is because the 2 channel streams are being received from the same signal. This is only for channels from the same station.

I would suggest 2 TV Cards as a minimum.

There is a flow chart also in the wiki that shows the logic behind the channel selecting.TV-Engine 0.3/Cardalgorithm - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation


Hope this helps, a good luck with your venture to the MP world. Bye the way, Welcome to the forums........

[ElZombie]

That is probably the most wonderful reply ever. Pretty much everything you just said clicked. I've been eying the Leadtek myself, so I might pop two of those in then. Is it at all possible to change the channel on the client machine, I couldn't quite figure that out from the doco.

And I am able to add a thanks to your profile or something, I seen a few people with those?

[charli181]

The client machines run MediaPortal, and then you install the TV Client Plugin which is included with the TV Server Install. Then from mediaportal, you will select My TV and the EPG will show and you can select you channels from there. The TV Server is a service which can sit on a stand alone machine without MediaPortal Installed or on one or more clients in a Master/Slave configuration.

My setup I run a server which is a web proxy/filter for the kids, Email server, Web Server and the Fiels storage. This is where I run my TV Server and is on 24x7. MediaPortal is not installed on this Server at all and only TV Server with all the Tunercards in it. Then I have a dedicated HTPC in my lounge connected to 42" Sony LCD and 5.1 Kenwood Amp. This machine is for MediaPortal only although I could do other stuff. My other PC's in the house, are not spec'ed to run mediaPortal, so I use the MP TV CLient MP TV Client - MediaPortal Forum and VLC
Check My System in the left hand column of my post to see more.or here although Have not updated it for sometime My Ongoing Hobby - SIGH

If MediaPortal is to big for your needs, there is a MP TV Client.exe , which connects to the TV Server, shows tv epg and recordings and then whatever you select, Tells TV Server to start streaming and then sets up VLC (open source media player (google VLC)) to play that stream. I use this on one of my machies at home P3 500Mhz- 384M Ram, NVidia 570LE Graphic card and SD TV works fine. HD is no go but it is only meant to be an emergency TV (wife and kids can overpower main TV....)

As for the thanks button, check the bottom of this post and you should see a "thanks!" button if you feel I do deserve one.

PS if you are in Sydney, PM me and we can hook up for a verbal chat sometime if you want some help.

[Paranoid Delusion]

As for the thanks button, check the bottom of this post and you should see a "thanks!" button if you feel I do deserve one

2 posts to go, before Thanks button becomes visible.

[ElZombie]

Ah Chali, you are a champion. I think I understand what can be done now and media portal is sounding better and better.

I think I'm actually trying to do a small scale copy of what your doing, so wish me luck... I'll let you all know how it goes.

[charli181]

good luck, and when in trouble, search the forums. You will find the answer.