Collection components, almost ready to build, need advice! (1 Viewer)

[Chris091309]

Hi Guys, I'm a newbie to HTPC but have always been interested. I'm recycling an old desktop PC I don't use very often into my first HTPC, and need some advice/guidance on a few things.

First my equipment:

evga 680i mother board
4 g DDR2 ram
EVGA 8800 GTX video card
Intel E6600 2.4ghz dual core proc
about 2 TD SATA HDD storage
Ultra ChillTec thermal proc cooler
nMedia 6000 HTPC case
Vision PLus DVBS card
Win 7
DirectTv D11-100 STB


My question is this. From doing a bit of research online on my DirectTv receiver it appears it is possible to control via PC to change channels with a USB/Serial cable. I'm looking for some detailed information on how to do this with MediaPortal.
I'm also not sure which video capture device would work best. Because my Video card and other cards (DVBS and wireless pci card) use most of the card space, I am looking into USB capture devices. My STB is not HDMI, so I'm not looking for 1080i. I'm looking hard at the Diamond VC500 but have a couple questions. First being, and this may be a dumb question, but I understand it has a button to "instantly record". Is it required to press this button to record, or can my HTPC control when it will allow signal to flow through it? Next question is.. The reason I was attracted to the VC500 is because it is advertised as being able to record to mp4 format. I haven't noticed this format supported by any other USB capture devices.
Ultimately what I would like to do is be able to use my DVBS pci card to populate the EPG on MediaPortal and then decode the channels using my DTV D11-100 receiver, all the while changing channels via USB/Serial from the receiver to my PC and capturing/timeshifting, time recording all with the VC500 using MediaPortal.

Am I dreaming or can the above be done without too much grief? If the DVBs card to pull the EPG is a pain that's not a big deal, I can always subscribe to scheduledirect.

My biggest concern is getting the DTV receiver to change channels correctly as well as I am curious how well the VC500 will work for.


Please provide me with as much constructive criticism as you think I can bear


Thanks for any feedback or comments. Am I one the right path?

~Chris

 

[mm1352000]

Hello and welcome Chris

Before I say anything else I think it should be said that MP is not designed to do what you're wanting to do. Some people are able to make such setups work with a lot of persistence... however more people fail than succeed.

My question is this. From doing a bit of research online on my DirectTv receiver it appears it is possible to control via PC to change channels with a USB/Serial cable. I'm looking for some detailed information on how to do this with MediaPortal.

Unfortunately you're unlikely to find detailed information. In most cases if you're trying to control an STB you should be looking at IRSS and the TVE 3 blaster plugin (comes bundled with IRSS). I can't advise on the specifics of USB/serial control with IRSS but basically you'd need to find some way to get IRSS to recognise the serial port and/or deliver the required commands.

I'm also not sure which video capture device would work best. Because my Video card and other cards (DVBS and wireless pci card) use most of the card space, I am looking into USB capture devices. My STB is not HDMI, so I'm not looking for 1080i. I'm looking hard at the Diamond VC500 but have a couple questions.

That Diamond unit is not going to be a starter.
Please keep in mind the golden rules for tuner support from the wiki:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/11_Preparing_Your_System/01_Supported_TV_Cards

If your tuner has a BDA driver (most DVB and ATSC/QAM tuners do) and is not listed in the unsupported list then there is a very good chance that it will work.
In general, MediaPortal's TV Server supports:
...
The Hauppauge Colossus and HD PVR video capture devices. TV Server also supports capture inputs on cards with analog tuners, however other capture cards without tuners are not supported.

The Diamond unit is not going to work because it is not an analog tuner, and it is not a Colossus or HD-PVR.

First being, and this may be a dumb question, but I understand it has a button to "instantly record". Is it required to press this button to record, or can my HTPC control when it will allow signal to flow through it?

If the unit were supported then you would not need to press the button. The HTPC could do things automatically.

Next question is.. The reason I was attracted to the VC500 is because it is advertised as being able to record to mp4 format. I haven't noticed this format supported by any other USB capture devices.

You wouldn't get mp4 from MediaPortal no matter what the advertisement says. MediaPortal records to TS files. For analog/capture inputs the video and audio is almost always MPEG 1 or 2. Colossus and HD-PVR are they only exceptions I know of. They give TS with h.264 video and AAC or AC3/DD audio.

Ultimately what I would like to do is be able to use my DVBS pci card to populate the EPG on MediaPortal...

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record: that's not possible. As far as I know DirecTV use signal modulation schemes (DSS or DVB-S2 ACM) that most PC tuners don't support. For that reason unless your tuner is really special I don't think it is going to be able to lock onto the signals. Even if it were able to, MediaPortal doesn't support the proprietary stream format that DirecTV uses, let alone the EPG format.

...and then decode the channels using my DTV D11-100 receiver, all the while changing channels via USB/Serial from the receiver to my PC and capturing/timeshifting, time recording all with the VC500 using MediaPortal.

Am I dreaming or can the above be done without too much grief?

Dreaming I'm afraid.
Believe me: that's not the answer I want to give, but it is the truth. You're going to have some serious challenges making that configuration work even if you use a supported tuner for capture. Expect to spend weeks figuring it out, with no guarantee that you'd succeed.

If the DVBs card to pull the EPG is a pain that's not a big deal, I can always subscribe to scheduledirect.

SD or some other XMLTV based option would be the way you'd have to go.

My biggest concern is getting the DTV receiver to change channels correctly as well as I am curious how well the VC500 will work for.

As above:
1. VC500 will not work.
2. For changing channels, look at IRSS and see if it can do USB/serial control for your receiver model.

Please provide me with as much constructive criticism as you think I can bear


Thanks for any feedback or comments. Am I one the right path?

I hope I haven't scared you away with negativity.
In general I lean towards pessimism rather than optimism, however I think I've been fair in the assessment above.

mm