Digital decoder with one channel as output (1 Viewer)

[marioleo]

Hello everyone

I live in Belgium and planning to set up my HTPC with MP, I am gathering data to first buy the necessary HW. The situation is particular and after loooking for hours for an explanation, I still remain dubious about what to do.

Here the situation :
I subscribed to the analogous TV distribution 10 years ago. This is still active. One year ago, I bought a decoder connected to the same analogous network which enables watching programs in digital format. This decoder is therefore connected to the aerial IN and provides TV signals in both formats : analog and digital. The output from within the decoder is a classical aerial RFOUT and also a SCART.I presume the RFOUT is aimed at watching the analogous signal while the SCART outputs the digital signal.Both RFOUT and Scart are connected to the TV

Needless to say that the decoder only outputs one program at once to the TV. Meaning that connecting the HTPC to the system will not allow with one single signal to watch to a program and record another one at the same time.

I will not configure the HTPC to use the analog signal (why spending bucks for a system that will disappear in a couple of years).So, I presume that the only possibility to watch a specific digital program and possibly record another one at the same time is to buy a second decoder and to install two different TV tuner cards in the PC (one for each decoder)

I will not make use of DVB-T....

Is this something making sense ? has anyone ever needed to configure such a system in Belgium (using the BeTV or TVCablenet decoder ) ?

Thanks in advance for any explanation

Mario

 

[Furetto]

Personally I live in Brussels and am a customer of Voo. Is this your case as well ? If yes, I can provide you with all technical details of my setup.

If you're a customer of another cable provider, you'll have to search for some extra information.

 

[marioleo]

Hi Furetto,

thanks for your reply. I live in Genval and I did subscribe to 'Le décodeur numérique" from Tvcablenet, which is pretty similar to Voo (I think the same in fact).As they clearly mentioned that it is not possible to record the digital output and at the same time watch a digital channel, I supposed that the output of Le Decodeur is a single "channel"

 

[Furetto]

Apparently TVcablenet is not part of Voo, so there will be a few open questions after my explanation, but I will point to them.

First of all, I recommend you forget about trying to record the output from your decoder. You would be recording analog , so you might as well just get an analog capturing card for that.

The correct (but expensive way) is to have your computer do the digital decrypting/recording. For this you need a number of extra hardware parts:

• A digital tuner. Personally I got a FloppyDTV which I ordered through Computer Networking Belgium
• Then you will need a CAM card, compatible with the encryption type that your cable operator uses. For VOO, the encryption is Seca or Seca 2, I am hesitating now. But the Aston Mediaguard CAM works perfectly, though I got a slightly cheaper Powercam from doublew near Mechelen/Malinnes. The website has been reworked, and I cannot find it online anymore but I am sure the guy can still get it.
• Last of all, you will need your chip-card. If you can buy an extra chipcard from your cable operator: perfect ! If they are like Voo and only sell a complete chipcard plus decoder set, then you either need to buy a new set from which you will not use the decoder, or you need to switch the chipcard from the decoder to the computer, like I did.

If you are prepared to invest in all this, you need to have a look at the TV-server. In this case, send me a PM with your email, as I prepared a small document about how to set things up for VOO.