Inexperinced HTPC'er (1 Viewer)

[jj72uk]

I.m very new to HTPC, but not new to building and maintaining computers. I've been drawn to MP due to the fact its open source and free and as I have loads of XP reg keys i thought it would be a perfect front end.

Recently I have upgraded my own desktop and as usual have some oldish parts flying about, so i thought it would be a perfect chance to build a HTPC so I can record tv shows for my kids etc etc

realistically all i need is a tv card and a case with all my spare parts and while a case is easy to buy lokking for and knowing what tv card to get is another matter.

I'm in the UK and in a area with digital terristial tv, currently i am using a set top box to watch digital tv.

What im looking for is a PC solution, Ive done a bit of research and am guessing i need to get a dvb-t tv pc card, also looking it seems best to get one that uses hardware encoding rather than software based.

One thing id also like to do is watch one thing and record another, so would this require 2 dvb-t cards or just a dual?

One thing that has confused me is in regards to the arial, lets say i have a dual tv card, with one arial input, will my arial cope with picking up 2 signals at once? or isnt this how it works?

It would be nice to be recommned a tv card thats not expensive but would do the job.

One last thing...how do connect to my TV? I dont have a flash lcd/plasma/HD tv ...yet ... so i have a standard TV with scart inputs and a the 3 red,white,yellow inputs. Ideally Id want to use one of these, how would i do this?

I know its alot of questions, and i hop e someone can help

Thanks

 

[clovek1]

my personal opinion

here are my thoughts to your questions (i hope nobody will feel insulted by them, but i like tell the truth even if its sometimes unpleasant)

- Media Portal in the Server+Client configuration is everything else, but noob friendly (developers may forgive me). It's the most complicated Media Center solution i have ever seen and setting it up has taken me many hours (i think i needed more than 4 hours to just len it run with the simplest default settings). the Media Portal 0.2.3.0 (no server) is much more easy to set up, but has some drawbacks compared to Server+Client setup and is not very simple to set up too.
I do personally use the MP (server+client) because of the unbelievable rich possibilities to set it up (i can modify more setting than i had ever imagined before) and because of the beatifull Xface skin . MP is actually the only SW able to replace Windows Media Center in every way, as far i know.

- to receive digital terrestrial TV you will definitely need DVB-T card. if you pay for cable Tv, it could be possible to use DVB-C card. if your TV is scrambled, you will need a TV card with CI slot (you will need a CAM module for decrypting + deconding card from your provider).

- you will definitely need 2 tuners to watch one TV programm and record anothe at the same time. i think 2 physical cards could be more compatible to most software, than 1 card with 2 tuners.
another thing is, how do you want to distribute signal from 1 antenna to 2 cards, or 2 inputs of one card ?
i tried this (dvb-t dual tuner card and 1 antenna) and got no success (i lost signal , when i connected the same antenna output to both card inputs).

- if your TV card has one arial input and 2 tuners, then it should generally be able to use both tuners with one antenna

- for the list of MP compatible cards see the compatibility list

- you can connect your TV through Scart or trought the yellow+red+white cables. You will need a graphics card with TV-out.
cinch red, white = stereo audio signal (left+right channel)
cinch yellow = composite video signal (VHS recorder quality)
Scart = scart has many pins and generally contains: stereo auto (identical to the red+white), composite (identical to the yellow wire), RGB (noticably better video quality, not transported in some scart cables, some scart connectors in some TVs dont work with RGB signal). there are Scart <-> red,yellow,white cables too.

i hope some of my answers helped you to get further.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Personally use a Hauppauge T500, which connects via a single Aerial Input and has great reception, this with TVE3 aka TVServer allows me to record upto 12 channels at a time, whilst watching 1 channel.

Whilst your digging through your old parts box, MP requires a DX9 Graphics card to work properly, ie Nvidia FX5200 or ATI9600 both 128mb or higher.

 

[jj72uk]

dx9 card is fine

I wasnt planning to use the TVserver, only the MP as a front end, would this give me all the required options i need to watch one channel and record another by using a dual dvb-t card?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

I wasnt planning to use the TVserver, only the MP as a front end, would this give me all the required options i need to watch one channel and record another by using a dual dvb-t card?

Yes

sorry originally wrote a long answer, but my internet going on\off like a yoyo atm

Recommend Pinnacle dvb-t dual pci for normal MP use, reception not so good as hauppauge, but not 2 usb tuners on a pci card like the T500 which can effect Standby\resume failing to record programs.

 

[clovek1]

dx9 card is fine

I wasnt planning to use the TVserver, only the MP as a front end, would this give me all the required options i need to watch one channel and record another by using a dual dvb-t card?

note that there are more TV cards compatible with TV server, than with the standalone MP (see compatibility list).
the stability of the Server+Client solution is better too. in case of MP Client crash, the server usually continues to run with no problem and a simple Client restart can help.

as far, as i know, in the future only the Server+Client solution will be developed.

 

[jj72uk]

ok..Which pinnacle?

Can you explain the server+client solution? As im now confused :s

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Pro PCI 2000i - DVB-T receiver - PCI

Sorry first one found, just search for best price.

TVServer is a service and runs on boot, so anything scheduled gets recorded WITHOUT MP itself running, so you can easily do other things.

MP then becomes a client, even if its on the same pc, so when you have got MP all setup you then need to install the client plugin (which is part of tvserver installation package)

If it sound complicated, its actually not, watch the video and keep the instruction page open when doing bits is the easiest way of setting it up.

MEDIAPORTAL - free MediaCenter HTPC Software - TV-Server Tutorial Videos

 

[hakuna]

I have placed server in the basement, with tv cards. Around the house I have 2-3 clients with MP (with SVN build also).
I also have two different dvb-t tuners, I used a threeway splitter for the antenna, the signal was weaker. Obviousluy, since it says 3dB loss on it... I just started working with this multi tuner thing yesterday.

[tv server]You can watch and record two channels with one tuner, as long as they are on the same transponder (mux).

For tv connection, I used the s-video output (and setting of PC) of my fx5200. There are scart converters with s-video (small DIN contact) converter.

I have Twinhan 3030 with CI and a Hauppauge hvr-900, I recommend the first, but I am just getting started, will be able to compare zapping times later.

Welcome to a new great hobby! /Niclas

 

[jj72uk]

Ok, am i getting this right...it would be easier to build a htpc and install tvserver+client on just the one single machine, having nothing else connected to this server and this would be better than just MP? How so?

If i just want one htpc connected to just one TV and running MP on boot would MP be the best option or server+client?