newbie integration questions (1 Viewer)

[scotstrength]

I am still in the beginning stages of setting my HTPC up for tv viewing and have several questions.
It looks like the only way i will be able to view all my cable channels (cablevision in connecticut USA) is through my cable box going into the pc. I was only able to pick up 75 channels with the tuner card - a kworld-115- and after looking at my cable package i know that i will need the use of my cable box.
Now what i was planning to do is to send back the kworld 115 and get a Hauppauge win-tv 150 as it seems to be natively supported through media portal and there are only like 5 local channels that come through in HD so i am not going to bother with that.

Which connection should i use from the cable box to the pc? should i use the coaxial out, svhs out, or i have see people discussing firewire as well.

I assume the audio would not travel through the svhs yes/no?

Will media portals tv function still operate with regard the channel line up/xmltv guide/pause live tv etc?

Now to operate the machine what would be my best options? I presently have an Imon vfd and remote which has been working great with my movie collection, music etc. It seems like i would need some sort of IR Blaster to operate the cable box through the pc. Can i use the Imon remote in some way for this? possibly remap the keys and diasble the IR receiver within the vfd perhaps.

Will this one remote change the cable channels and still handle all media portal functions? How does the IR receiver know which signals to send to the cable box and which ones are to be sent to the pc? (sorry if this question seems a little daft, i just want to figure it all out)

Alternatively would i be better getting the media centre remote that comes with the Hauppauge card and ditching the vfd altogether and integrating that into the system with a seperate IR blaster? or could the media centre remote still control some of the vfd functions like the power on/off?

I know there are alot of questions and i apologise if i haven't posted corretly. I am just trying to figure out the post approach instead of going through days of trial and error and weeks of sending parts backwards and forwards i hope you understand.

thankyou very much in advance,

scotstrength

 

[scotstrength]

integration questions

anyone with any suggestions??

thanks
scotstrength

 

[infinite.loop]

sorry, i have no clue about the cableboxes you have there in the US

if you receive plain analog TV over the cable, then the easiest way is to:

1. buy an Hauppauge PVR card with hardware mpeg2 encoder
2. plug that into your HTPC
3. connect the antenna-outlett with an coaxial-cable to the Hauppauge PVR
4. do a channelscan
5. all done

 

[scotstrength]

initial tv integration

So after much searching and playing about i have established that cablevision connecticut USA encrypt pretty much everything apart from family basic so the only thing i can do to watch all my shows is to feed a svhs from the cable box to the capture card.
I have ordered the WinTV-PVR-150 with media centre remote from newegg which appears to have the IR blaster so this should enable me to control media portal and the set top box channel changing. I know i will have questions with this set up as i want to have all the channels in MP so i assume i will have to manually add them plus the information - i know it's not going to work first time!!

After checking various threads both here and at avs forums i have established it is possible to integrate the imon vfd by installing front view, then clicking on the graphic equalizer logo and selecting plugin and finally enabling the plug in within media portal.
I have got this to display what i am actually surfing through on media portal but i lose it if i close and reopen MP. It returns when i restart the pc but i was wondering if i can get it to display other information seperately such as weather or a news ticker?
Does anyone know if i would still be able to switch the pc on and off with the media centre remote being as the connections are still in place with the vfd?

I guess i am slowly answering my original questions but i feel it is important to log this here so others can hopefully learn from my mistakes and speed up their initial integration.

thanks to all
regards
scotstrength

 

[jburnette]

I know i will have questions with this set up as i want to have all the channels in MP so i assume i will have to manually add them plus the information - i know it's not going to work first time!!

Whichever EPG provider you decide to go with (Schedules Direct or CTTV) will supply all of that information and its plugin for MediaPortal will automatically add all of those channels as external s-video (or composite) channels. That way you don't have to manually enter hundreds of channels.

 

[scotstrength]

thanks for the info jburnette, my new card will arrive tomorrow so i can have a go at the weekend.
Does it also mean that the MCE remote will change the channels within MP or through the cable box..or both?
thanks
scotstrength

 

[jburnette]

thanks for the info jburnette, my new card will arrive tomorrow so i can have a go at the weekend.
Does it also mean that the MCE remote will change the channels within MP or through the cable box..or both?
thanks
scotstrength

You'll be able to use the IR blaster that comes with your PVR-150 to control the cable box like you said. The MCE remote is natively supported by MediaPortal and should work no problem. It won't control your cable box directly but will control MediaPortal which will in turn be controlling the cable box via the IR blaster.

As far as your VFD goes, I've never used one of those.

 

[scotstrength]

thanks again JB i will keep updating as i progress and will probably have more questions......be ready
cheers
scotstrength