Building my first HTPC need a few tips (1 Viewer)

[pisoj1]

Hey guys, I recently found mediaportal after looking through probably 20 other media centers w/e you want to call them

Anyway I plan to build a fairly simple pc for mediaportal...

there are two things I want to know I can do before I build....

What TV card is recommend to use with media portal (I'm in Australia, if that makes any difference) also will I be able to view like a 7 day EPG and program what I want recorded when etc

Next I want to be able to plug in a satellite box into my computer and view it on it and record it...can media portal do this? Also what hardware would I need...I think I would just be doing it through RCA cables...would this be a capture card?

If you any advise not even related to this I would still love to know it

 

[Baron of L/S]

Some tips
1 Read the Wiki, lots of good stuff on setting up and requirements
2 Search the forum, it's full of good info but it takes a little patience as there's lots there
Good luck
ps I'm using a tiny twin usb stick which works fine in Oz

 

[un_dave]

Hi pisoj1,

I've just built a media centre pc, and the only thing left to buy is a new tuner... I've almost settled on the HAUPPAUGE HVR2200, as it gets commonly recommended, but the (newer?) Hauppauge Wintv Nova-T 500 seems to be better suited, with similar features, without the unnecessary analog tuners.

Does anyone have any thoughts on these tuners?

 

[mm1352000]

Hi pisoj1

I believe DVB-T EPG should work with any tuner you choose since Aussie uses the EIT standard, which is pretty much universal. An HVR 2200 would be fine. It would be great for plugging in a sat box since it has hardware encoders. Unfortunately you can't have both DVB-T tuner working at the same time as the analog input - they're hybrid tuners...

Connecting the sat box with one channel in MP is relatively simple, but if you want EPG for the sat box channels and/or to control the sat box with MP then the setup could be relatively complicated. It can be done though...

Regarding the capture card: MP does not support pure capture cards (exceptions: Hauppauge Colossus, HDPVR). You need a tuner with analog input(s). I'd recommend a card with hardware encoders for the analog tuner/input over a software encoding tuner. It may be a little more expensive, but the reliability should be better, and it will reduce the load on your CPU...

mm

 

[pisoj1]

Hi pisoj1

I believe DVB-T EPG should work with any tuner you choose since Aussie uses the EIT standard, which is pretty much universal. An HVR 2200 would be fine. It would be great for plugging in a sat box since it has hardware encoders. Unfortunately you can't have both DVB-T tuner working at the same time as the analog input - they're hybrid tuners...

Connecting the sat box with one channel in MP is relatively simple, but if you want EPG for the sat box channels and/or to control the sat box with MP then the setup could be relatively complicated. It can be done though...

Regarding the capture card: MP does not support pure capture cards (exceptions: Hauppauge Colossus, HDPVR). You need a tuner with analog input(s). I'd recommend a card with hardware encoders for the analog tuner/input over a software encoding tuner. It may be a little more expensive, but the reliability should be better, and it will reduce the load on your CPU...

mm

THANKS mm135200! A lot of what you mentioned helped My intention was to plug the sat box into analog inputs (svideo I think it's called) in the tuner and record from there

Avermedia AVerTV TwinStar DVB-T PCI-E
Avermedia AVerTV TwinStar DVB-T PCI-E [AVTV-TS-PCIE] - $89.00 : PC Case Gear

This is the tuner I am looking at, I don't want to go "all out" on a tuner as it wont be my main use This tuner however seems to be a duel tuner with svideo so I could plug the sat box into the tuner through svideo rca plugs? and this would allow me to record the sat box as well? This would then appear as a channel in the tuners options i'm assuming?

Only had one tv tuner before and that was 2-3 years ago never tried to do anything with it besides watching tv time to time on my pc.

 

[Quarter]

This is the tuner I am looking at, I don't want to go "all out" on a tuner as it wont be my main use This tuner however seems to be a duel tuner with svideo so I could plug the sat box into the tuner through svideo rca plugs? and this would allow me to record the sat box as well? This would then appear as a channel in the tuners options i'm assuming?

If its scrambled signal then I don't think it will work even after its decoded.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

If its scrambled signal then I don't think it will work even after its decoded.

How do you figure that?

THANKS mm135200! A lot of what you mentioned helped My intention was to plug the sat box into analog inputs (svideo I think it's called) in the tuner and record from there

Okay. The picture quality may not be fantastic, so don't set your expectations too high in that department, but other than that I think that should work fine.

Avermedia AVerTV TwinStar DVB-T PCI-E
Avermedia AVerTV TwinStar DVB-T PCI-E [AVTV-TS-PCIE] - $89.00 : PC Case Gear

This is the tuner I am looking at, I don't want to go "all out" on a tuner as it wont be my main use This tuner however seems to be a duel tuner with svideo so I could plug the sat box into the tuner through svideo rca plugs?

That card doesn't have hardware encoding like the HVR2200, so it may not work as reliably and setup could be trickier (especially if you don't use MP 1.2.0b). Have a read of -->this<-- wiki page for some background. I can tell you right now that the Avermedia software encoder is not MP compatible, so you'd have to find alternative encoders from somewhere...

...and this would allow me to record the sat box as well?

Yes, although note that you'll only be able to record the channel that the sat box is tuned to. Also I can't tell if that tuner is a hybrid tuner so I'm not sure if you'd be able to use the s-video input at the same time as both DVB-T tuners. My suspicion is that it *is* hybrid, so you could have 2 x DVB-T or DVB-T + s-video or DVB-T + composite.

This would then appear as a channel in the tuners options i'm assuming?

The s-video input would likely appear as an analog tuner. You would use the "add s-video channels" button (info here) to add the s-video input to the channel list.

Hope that helps...
mm

 

[pisoj1]

If its scrambled signal then I don't think it will work even after its decoded.

Yeah I was wondering that as well...but atm I am watching free sat channels anyway.

Okay. The picture quality may not be fantastic, so don't set your expectations too high in that department, but other than that I think that should work fine.

Don't have a HD sat bot so not a big issue, I rarely watch it, more other people in the house that do.

That card doesn't have hardware encoding like the HVR2200, so it may not work as reliably and setup could be trickier (especially if you don't use MP 1.2.0b). Have a read of -->this<-- wiki page for some background. I can tell you right now that the Avermedia software encoder is not MP compatible, so you'd have to find alternative encoders from somewhere...

The HVR2200 is a little out of my price range atm...looking at the HVR1700 now...it seems to be the same but can't have analog and digital channels showing at the same time from what I understand...I don't think i'll ever use the analog anyway...any other reason to pick the 2200 over the 1700?

Your post helped a lot thanks

3am...830am for my exam, >_<

 

[mm1352000]

Don't have a HD sat bot so not a big issue, I rarely watch it, more other people in the house that do.

Just remember you can only watch/record the channel that the sat box is tuned to, so if other people are using the box then you're at the mercy of their channel watching preferences...

I don't think i'll ever use the analog anyway...

The 1700 is good because it has a hardware encoder - that will make setup much simpler. However I don't think you've quite understood how the card works - you need to think of the "analog" as *including* the analog tuner + s-video input + composite input (+ any other analog input). In other words, with the 1700 you can only watch DVB-T *or* analog tuner *or* s-video input *or* composite input. Unless I am *very* mistaken you couldn't watch/record the s-video input at the same time as the DVB-T input...

...any other reason to pick the 2200 over the 1700?

Think of the 2200 as two 1700's crammed onto one card. It is really a question of whether you can live with 1 "input" or 2 and whether you can afford the 2200.

3am...830am for my exam, >_<

Hope it goes (or has gone) well!

 

[pisoj1]

Just remember you can only watch/record the channel that the sat box is tuned to, so if other people are using the box then you're at the mercy of their channel watching preferences...

Not an issue since sat box is in living room where htpc will be

The 1700 is good because it has a hardware encoder - that will make setup much simpler. However I don't think you've quite understood how the card works - you need to think of the "analog" as *including* the analog tuner + s-video input + composite input (+ any other analog input). In other words, with the 1700 you can only watch DVB-T *or* analog tuner *or* s-video input *or* composite input. Unless I am *very* mistaken you couldn't watch/record the s-video input at the same time as the DVB-T input...

Think of the 2200 as two 1700's crammed onto one card. It is really a question of whether you can live with 1 "input" or 2 and whether you can afford the 2200.

Ahh this makes a lot more sense. What shame...really don't want to fork out $180 or so for the 2200 as it wont be used that often but it's something I want lol. I think I may grab the 1700 and buy a second 1700 when I have the cash or when I find I need it

Hope it goes (or has gone) well!

23 pages Was a terrible exam. Fairly sure I passed...got no sleep before it. oh well

After Wednesday next week (last exam) I will be looking to start ordering parts for the htpc.

Any recommendations for a keyboard? I would like it to be backlit and full sized. I hate those little mini keyboards.
Would be nice to have some sort of mouse control either a touchpad trackball or w/e

Also I was considering maybe buying a cheaper tuner without s-video and buying a sat card? I am only using the sat box for free channels and I could add a card reader if I ever need it at a later point...do sat cards work with media portal? Also are there any sat cards which maybe have a tv tuner built into it as well? I doubt there is but never know

Again thank you for the help so much