Hauppauge HVR-1250 (3 Viewers)

[poppabk]

I have the same card as you and am currently having problems with getting the HD channels through comcast running smoothly. I have a very similar spec machine so i don't think power is the issue. In your system you don't have a H.264 codec installed - is this correct. I know that mediaportal is using my H.264 codec to display the HD channels - however in my tvserver_tv.log they are listed as mpeg2 streams.
ie
2009-01-11 00:32:23.718565 [19]: subch:1 pid:FE video type:MPEG-2
2009-01-11 00:32:23.719565 [19]: subch:1 map pid:FE video type:MPEG-2
2009-01-11 00:32:23.719565 [19]: subch:1 pid:FF type:86
2009-01-11 00:32:23.720565 [19]: subch:1 pid:100 audio lang:eng type:AC3
2009-01-11 00:32:23.720565 [19]: subch:1 map pid:100 audio lang:eng type:AC3
2009-01-11 00:32:23.721565 [19]: subch:1 stop tif
2009-01-11 00:32:23.721565 [19]: WaitForPMT: sending PMT to CAM took 0.006 seconds.
2009-01-11 00:32:23.742565 [19]: card: Tuner locked: True
2009-01-11 00:32:23.742565 [19]: **************************************************
2009-01-11 00:32:23.743565 [19]: ***** SIGNAL LEVEL: 0, SIGNAL QUALITY: 94 *****
2009-01-11 00:32:23.743565 [19]: **************************************************

My signal is split multiple ways, which might be why I am seeing signal level of 0 and might be the cause of my problems - can you confirm that with this card you see a signal level above 0? Thanks for your help.

 

[milhouse]

On my clients, I do have a h.264 codec installed. It's just the ffdshow Video Decoder, so it's software only, I think.

On my server, I've got no codecs installed.

I think your signal is OK. Here's what I've got in tv.log:

2009-01-11 14:01:12.734375 [10]: WaitForPMT: sending PMT to CAM took 0.015625 seconds.
2009-01-11 14:01:12.781250 [10]: card: Tuner locked: True
2009-01-11 14:01:12.781250 [10]: **************************************************
2009-01-11 14:01:12.781250 [10]: ***** SIGNAL LEVEL: 0, SIGNAL QUALITY: 100 *****
2009-01-11 14:01:12.781250 [10]: **************************************************
2009-01-11 14:01:12.781250 [10]: card: tuned user: milo subchannel: 0

 

[x4mer]

rtsp=no

Thanks for the lead on the rtsp=no setup Milhouse. I set it up & it's working fine. I didn't however exactly follow the instructions in the thread you posted.

I just posted in that thread the following:

Why do the instructions say to share the root drive of the folders?

I shared the recordings & timeshift folders only, & set them in the config as \\server\recordings & \\server\timeshift. I set the rtsp=no option on the client, & everything works fine as far as I can tell, including comskip working now.

Is there some reason to share the root of the drive, that is going to cause me problems I just haven't encountered yet?

 

[poppabk]

FYI, I have everything set up just how I want it. Or at least close.

Conclusions:
1) The HVR-1250 works great for digital channels.
2) The HVR-1250 is currently NOT working for analog channels - not sure why. I just get "unable to start timeshift, unknown error occurred". I thought it was working earlier this week, but not sure. 2 other analog cards, so it's possible it never worked. Even if I make this tuner highest priority, it seems to get skipped. I'd guess it just doesn't work with MP Tv Server.
3) QAM from digital cable is a real pain. My cable company, at least, does the very minimum. The provide the minimum required by law, but they are not required to make it easy, apparently.

Thanks for your help earlier, helped me eliminate the signal strength as my problem. I switched from VGA to HDMI and I now have HD working. I also have the 1250 analog working with MP. I had to install windvr3, which is discontinued but the trial version is still available on the net, to get the mpeg encoder (the hauppage encoder refuses to install) and I had to create a separate folder for the timeshift buffer. I have had to create separate folders for the timeshift buffer for each of my cards to get them to work well together, not sure if this is a requirement or not. The quality is poor relative to my pvr150, but it is fine as a back-up for the small number of times that I need 2 tuners.

 

[milhouse]

Thanks for the point on the encoder.

Is the trial version all I need for the encoder, or will it stop working on me after xx days?

 

[poppabk]

Thanks for the point on the encoder.

Is the trial version all I need for the encoder, or will it stop working on me after xx days?

I believe it will keep working after the trial is up, but I won't know for certain until the trial ends! If you can get it to work there is a software mpeg encoder on the hauppage 1250 disk, but when I try to install it fails, saying it can't detect what card I have installed.

 

[milhouse]

Yes, that's the error I get. The SoftPVR that came on the install disk just refused to find any card it would support. Maybe it was confused by the hardware encoding cards.

I'll try the windvr3 stuff.

 

[poppabk]

Word of warning when using QAM. Apparently my cable provider doesn't encrypt its VOD signals, so I have several channels that are VOD streams that only have signal if someone is watching something - and they can be watching anything. I labeled one channel as HBO as that was what was on when I tuned it in. The next afternoon the channel had no signal. That night however - hardcore porn. I also have seen a lot of horror movies etc on these channels so if you have kids you may want to remove them from your list.

 

[milhouse]

Thanks for the advice on the WinDVR3 - now the analog side works as well!

I think my final conclusion is that there's nothing wrong with the HVR-1250. There are better cards out there, but this one works fine with MP (though better for digital than analog).


milhouse

 

[altered3]

Latest version of Hauppage 1250 support cd includes working encoder

Just go to the Hauppage support web site and download version 4.6 of the installation CD for WinTV and the drivers for the 1250. This CD contains a folder called "MCE_soft_encoder," with the file SoftMCE_Setup.exe. Run that setup file, and you should have no problems using MediaPortal with your 1250 card.