About to update from MP 1.0.0.0 (1 Viewer)

[mickb]

Hi,

I am hoping to get advice on upgrading my current system. I have been using 1.0.0.0 almost from it's release and found it to be very stable and met all of my needs. I never utilised the TV side of the system and only used it for the Videos, movies and phots as well as access my home town radio station while I was living overseas.

Now back home in Australia I want to uprade the system to 1.2 (when the stable is released) and up the OS from XP Pro SP3 to Win 7 Home Premium 32 bit and make use of the TVE and other new features that have been included.

My questions are:

1) What is the recommended TV card for MP. Internal, external or networked? Networked may be a benifit if they are compatible so I can get the football etc on my laptop when working, but that would just be an extra if it was there and not my basic aim.

2) My pay TV provider is Austar and I am about to be upgraded to their MyStar service (same as the Foxtel IQ). Is it possible to integrate the signal for this into MP? I get my feed via satellite.

Looking forward to your feedback and advice.

Mick

MediaPortal Version: 1.0.0.0
MediaPortal Skin: Blue 3 Wide
Windows Version: XP Pro SP3
CPU Type: AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz Triple core
HDD: Segate 160GB SATA
Memory: 2GB Kingston DDR2 800Mhz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
Video Card: ATI 7 Series On Board Video
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card: HDA Digital X
Sound Card AC3: Coaxial Out
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Not used
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Satellite - Austar (Townsville Australia)
HTPC Case: Accent HT-400B
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: Microsoft MCE (Harmony 525)
TV: Panasonic 106cm Neo Plasma
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

 

[mickb]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum, would appreciate any suggestions on where to go for this type of info.

 

[rekenaar]

Hi there

Sorry for the lack of replies...mostly just a timing issue as the community is mostl very active and helpful.

If you install 1.2 with the TV server, you can enjoy TV on your whole network. Providing MP requirements are met.

See this recent discussion about TV cards:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv-cards-333/dual-tuner-dvb-t-97070/

 

[mm1352000]

Hi Mick

It is my understanding that Austar uses NDS Videoguard and/or Irdeto 2 for encrypting their channels.

Regarding NDS Videoguard: it is my understanding that there are no [legal] CAMs. That means that you could buy a tuner with CI slot but you wouldn't be able to buy the CAM that you'd need for your smartcard. Of course I could very easily be wrong about that as I live across the ditch. Sky NZ uses NDS and the people who want to access Sky on their HTPCs over here use cardreaders and softcam plugins. We don't allow discussions about that sort of stuff on this forum as it is illegal in most countries.

If Austar uses Irdeto 2 then there are CAMs available. You'd want a DVB-S2 tuner for a start - DVB-S2 so you can get the HD channels. A tuner that supports MTD (decrypting multiple channels at once) would probably be best - TechnoTrend tuners are really the only tuners that you can still buy that support that. If you can find one then a DigitalEverywhere DVB-S2 tuner would also be suitable, but they're not made anymore. Another option would be a Digital Devices Octopus type setup - a different "style" of MTD that is awesome but quite expensive. As a last resort a Terratec, Twinhan, Azurewave or KNC One tuner may also be okay - support for MTD with those brands is experimental. Keep in mind that *the CAM also has to support MTD for it to work*.

Another option would be to connect the outputs from your STB to analog inputs on a tuner. MediaPortal supports that *for cards with tuners*, but *not* for general capture cards (exceptions: the Hauppauge HDPVR and Colossus). You may also be able to set up a blaster to tell your STB to change channels when you change channels in MP. That kind of setup can be complex, so you'd have to be prepared to put in some serious time learning and fiddling. It also only allows you to watch/record one channel at once, can be unreliable (especially if you get a tuner that requires software encoders), and picture quality might not be as good as what you'd get if the connection was digital.

Hope that helps,
mm

PS: keep in mind that all of the above options are possibly illegal and almost certainly break your providers terms of service. We don't want (and can't afford) to get into a legal fight with pay TV providers so please consider the questions that you ask on this forum carefully...

 

[mickb]

Thanks to Rekenaar & MM for the replies. It would seem at this time there is no neat way of getting Austar into Mediaportal, so that will need to wait. Maybe if Foxtel take over Austar it may change.

I think I will concentrate on configuring what does work "out of the box" so that I make use of more of the features that I have previously not used because they took a bit of configuration. MP is still streets ahead of MCE and 1.2 looks like it will raise the bar again. WAF is a high priority as once she can do what she wants with MP doesn't like change. Left to her we would still be running the original version I installed 5 years ago so I need to ensure that the upgrade goes well.

I am looking forward to upgrading and the continued support of the users in the forums.

Cheers

Mick

 

[mm1352000]

1.2.0 should be a big boost to the WAF.

It would seem at this time there is no neat way of getting Austar into Mediaportal, so that will need to wait. Maybe if Foxtel take over Austar it may change.

Unfortunately I don't think it will - my understanding is that Foxtel uses the same "difficult" encryption systems as Austar. If you had a setup that worked for Austar then it would probably work for Foxtel too (and vice-versa)...