Building Mediaportal server need help (1 Viewer)

[frontline2010]

For years now I always wanted to setup a PVR system so now that I got a little time I'm trying to put together a 13 tuner card server system using WinTV-HVR-1600

I want to get this right as best as I can on the first shot...
But I am kind of a noob when it comes to knowing whats the right parts to use to get this ship off the ground

would I need a really powerful CPU to run this set up?

look at pics to show you what i have so far

 

[dvbkiwi]

SO I guess the first thing I have to ask is why 13 Tuners?

If you are using cards with hardware encoding you don't need a powerful CPU. I have have 3 Hauppauge HVR-3000's 2 for recording as I have 2 different transponders that I receive signals from and the third is dedicated to just downloading the EPG. While recording 8 channels at the same time my core2 duo 2.4 is running below 10% load.

Hard drive speed is important for recording multiple channels and even more important if you are recording in HD. If you are going to be recording multiple channels in HD I recommend multiple hard drives. The most important choice is the tuner card and be sure you actual need 13 of them.

good luck and have fun

 

[razblack]

i would think that you should check the power requirements for the cards you spec'd... add up the amps and stuff required and see what you get?

i'm a noob at math unfortunately.


http://www.pcisig.com/specifications/conventional/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Component_Interconnect


so, let's say worse case scenario each card uses 5V at 25W @13 = 65V / 325W
minimum might be like 3.3V at 7.5W = 43V / 98W

... i'm guessing based on wikipedia for PCI specs.. not on what the manufactures states.


... errr ( i keep editing) Amps = Watts divided by Volts.

so 325/65 = 5amps
or 98/43 = 2.3amps

??? quick.. someone double check my noobness.

then check power reqs for your CPU and other items.
if you got the power, i would think any latest CPU i5/i7 quad core would be sick slick.

 

[Owlsroost]

Rather than diving straight into the hardware, what do you actually need the system to do - 13 tuners is an awful lot - most people run 1, 2 or 3 (the most I've ever come across on the forum is a 6 tuner setup).

If this is digital TV, the channels are grouped together in 'muxes' with each mux carried on a single RF channel, so a single tuner can handle multiple simultaneous TV channel viewing/recording provided they are all in the same 'mux'.

I'd also prove that a MediaPortal setup with the HVR1600 works properly first, before embarking on the hardware for a mega-tuner project.

Tony

 

[chillibeans]

For years now I always wanted to setup a PVR system so now that I got a little time I'm trying to put together a 13 tuner card server system using WinTV-HVR-1600

I want to get this right as best as I can on the first shot...
But I am kind of a noob when it comes to knowing whats the right parts to use to get this ship off the ground

would I need a really powerful CPU to run this set up?

look at pics to show you what i have so far

Hi, run a dedicated MP TV server @ home, 13 Tuners ?? wow, 13 Tuners will handle more than 13 channels, on DVBT/S your broadcaster will stream more than 1 channel on a data stream(MUX), EG, with TVNZ (here in New Zealand) on 1 tuner I can get 5 Channels before another tuner is activated or when I chose another broadcaster. 3 of those channels are 720P and 2 420P. So I can record and watch with MP up to 5 channels simultaneously before another tuner is required.

I have 4 Tuners and never (yet) ran into a combination of not having an available tuner. But I realize in the US you will have hell of a lot more TV channels.

I am also running multiple MP clients off that server.

CPU isn't an issue depending on what else you are going to run off the server, but MP server requires stuff all CPU power, HDD Read/Write is going to be your big issue here and depending on how many clients you run and what quality TV stream like 1080P channels, be aware of network bottle neck.

Someone might explain this better than I have.

Chillibeans

 

[frontline2010]

I notice that most of you asked the same question “Why 13 tuners?” and the answer is very simple....

Why would somebody by a fast sports car that can do 210MPH
Why do recording artist record audio tracks at 128khz when the human ear can only hear up to 32khz

The breakdown “Flexibility and extra headroom”

Here is a link of somebody else who uses the same idea “Godzilla PVR 11tuner setup”
SnapStream Blog Blog Archive Godzilla PVR

I want to take that idea a step further using Mediaportal

I wanted to build a all in one solution to the “what if I move to a new home that is bigger and need more client boxes?” as of right now I have 7 clients

 

[dvbkiwi]

The difference of course is that with MP you can record/watch multiple channels on a single card where beyond TV uses one card per channel.

I guess you could associate just one TV channel per card in order to force MP to use a dedicated card for each channel but then I would rather spend the money on building more clients en getting more screens.

Like your car analogy, Id rather have a twin-turbo 2L 4 Cylinder pocket rocket than the 4.8L V8.

 

[Gixxer]

exactly, why 13 tunners?

mediaportal can record all channels of the same mux with one tunner. so i find it useless to have so many, as dvdkiwi said, i prefer using the money to have more clients.

 

[frontline2010]

Guys I’m from the USA we use ATSC/ClearQAM/NTSC not DVB that uses mux we can only record one channel for one tuner at a time........so 13tuners is not alot ........the last time I looked into it we can’t even buy a DVB tuner card in the US

 

[Gixxer]

Guys I’m from the USA we use ATSC/ClearQAM/NTSC not DVB that uses mux we can only record one channel for one tuner at a time........so 13tuners is not alot ........the last time I looked into it we can’t even buy a DVB tuner card in the US

that explains a lot !! Still a lot of tunners but i was thinking that if here i can record/watch around 4 channels per mux 4 x 13 = 52 recordings/timeshifts at a time which i didnt find logical.

now i understand a bit more your setup, although still some big thing u are building there