HD Cable in MP, Help Please (1 Viewer)

[TyGuy]

Hello!
I have used media portal for the past year or so and think it is an amazing HTPC program. I would like to use my computer to watch and record (use like a DVR) my HD Cable subscription from Cox in Northern Virginia. I bought the Hauppage 1600 Dual Tuner Card in hopes of accomplishing this. I uninstalled my old version of Media Portal and re-installed and set up the TV-Server. All went smoothly until it came time to actually GET the HD Cable that I am paying for.

I have a set top box from Cox that I am currently using to watch HD Cable so I know the cable is actually working. I switched the coax from the set top box to the tuner card.

The card is recognized by MP. I scanned ATSC channels and only received NBC HD and a few other random channels. Then I scanned all the different QAM options. The QAM standard returned about 280 TV Channels (NONE had any info attached to them) and a bunch of radio. I was happy about this because it seemed I picked up all the HD chans I am paying for. However when I went into MP and tried to watch them it gave no info in the guide AND said they are scrambled.

I have done lots of research on this topic and it seems most people use tuner cards to try and pull HD cable they dont pay for and dont get a set top box. Was I naive to thing I could get the HD cable I am paying for available to watch and record on my computer?

If it is not possible to watch my HD Cable (like ESPN HD and all that good stuff I pay for) on my computer someone please tell me. Otherwise, does anyone have an idea on how to actually get it so I can watch them?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[BornToLive]

getting same thing done in 3weeks for myself. (HD-cable, austria).
my thoughts are that the box will "decrypt" the channels.
if not, i'm in troubles too then......

 

[TyGuy]

Yea, I thought that running a coax to the box then using the boxes coax out would allow me to view HD on the PC. However, I quickly realized that the tuners aren't meant to run like that, and all threads I've read generally involve either a coax out of the wall or directly from an atenna. I think this is less a MP issue and more just "the setups" capability.

 

[moab]

Hello!
I have used media portal for the past year or so and think it is an amazing HTPC program. I would like to use my computer to watch and record (use like a DVR) my HD Cable subscription from Cox in Northern Virginia. I bought the Hauppage 1600 Dual Tuner Card in hopes of accomplishing this. I uninstalled my old version of Media Portal and re-installed and set up the TV-Server. All went smoothly until it came time to actually GET the HD Cable that I am paying for.

I have a set top box from Cox that I am currently using to watch HD Cable so I know the cable is actually working. I switched the coax from the set top box to the tuner card.

The card is recognized by MP. I scanned ATSC channels and only received NBC HD and a few other random channels. Then I scanned all the different QAM options. The QAM standard returned about 280 TV Channels (NONE had any info attached to them) and a bunch of radio. I was happy about this because it seemed I picked up all the HD chans I am paying for. However when I went into MP and tried to watch them it gave no info in the guide AND said they are scrambled.

I have done lots of research on this topic and it seems most people use tuner cards to try and pull HD cable they dont pay for and dont get a set top box. Was I naive to thing I could get the HD cable I am paying for available to watch and record on my computer?

If it is not possible to watch my HD Cable (like ESPN HD and all that good stuff I pay for) on my computer someone please tell me. Otherwise, does anyone have an idea on how to actually get it so I can watch them?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Have a similar set up except no set top box.
QAM standard is the one to use for the channel scan.

If you purchase basic cable (without the set top box) you get any analogue channels plus the free HD channels.
1600 card has 2 coax inputs (1 analogue + 1 ATSC/QAM). So you need a splitter to connect the coax cable out the wall to each card input. There is some signal loss doing this but should be ok.
The channel scan will detect all the channels. Most are scrambled so cannot be viewed.

If you want to view some of these extra "paid" = scrambled channels then that is when you need a cable box and upgrade to a higher level cable package than basic cable. This is what you have.

If you are happy with the free HD channels then downgrade and get rid of the cable box. If you want the paid HD channels then you have to pass your signal through the cable box to descramble the signal. In order to change the channel on the cable box an channel IR blaster is used (which came with your 1600 card) to change the channel on the cable box. So there is some additional configuration.

These days we hardly watch cable as most shows are available to watch whenever we want on the media providers website, often with less (or no) ads. We also use Netflix WatchMeNow. Clearly there is a shift from the ad saturated & spoon fed cable to the watch what you want when you want internet.

Hope this helps clarify.

 

[TyGuy]

Yes, it does. In short for others who read this topic -- this confirms my belief; currently, fully integrating (read: using a single remote, guide, and record system) paid (subscription) HD Cable into a PC system for viewing / DVR is not possible.
Thanks for the reply