Newbie setting up schedules direct (1 Viewer)

[jessek12]

I've just looked into setting my computer up as a DVR so I'm very new to this stuff. I have an account with schedules direct and media portal is installed. I followed this set up http://office.homefrontus.com/mediaportal/S-Direct and right now I have a couple questions. First off when I go into Media Portal and go to TV there is no data under the TV guide. It says "NO CHANNELS" and "NO DATA AVAILABLE." Also there is no TV playing which I was expecting because I don't have a video card or TV tuner yet which is my second question.

I have a Dazzle DVC100 which I don't think I can use as a video card, so since I have to buy a new one should I be looking for a video card or a TV tuner? And with schedules direct I won't be plugging anything into the card right? I will just be using the hardware for video encoding and stuff and will be getting the channels from the internet with schedules direct right? If that's all correct then I need some suggestions about a card. I want to go cheap. I've been looking at
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hauppau...uner/3336561.p?id=1218395157287&skuId=3336561
and
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hauppau...rder/4313827.p?id=1218471854581&skuId=4313827
because they come with remotes. I prefer PCI over PCIe because I only have 1 PCIe port on my computer and am looking to use that with a wifi adapter. Is there an advantage to PCIe? Will the remote work with changing the channels with schedules direct or is the remote a waste of money?

Sorry for so much questions. I want to set this up but before I spend $100 I want to make sure I have the facts right. Thanks

 

[tomtj]

Hi jessek12,
You will need to have the tuner card before you can get your guide listings to work. When you have the card you will have to load the drivers, run a channel scan through the the Media Portal TV (server?) configuration shortcut. The results of the scan show up in a mapping under the same shortcut, you will add the mappings you want displayed to your card, and those channels will be what gets populated in the guide listing. MediaPortal seems to service a whole range of remotess and I would expect it to work without problems. I use a Windows Media Center remote and I navigate through the channels menus etc, just fine.
I'm not a real hardware type, so don't know about the PCI PCIe, I think I would use whichever slot you care to sacrifice. If you really want to spare a slot I use a HDHomeRun tuner from Silicondust, it connects through ethernet so you don't need a slot. If you go that way there is a firewall setting that needs to be adjusted if you can't get the channel scan to find channels.
The wiki is your friend and can be pretty useful to get started.
Good luck ... Tony

 

[TLD]

Welcome to the forum jessek12

First schedules direct only supplies epg data, in other words it supplies the program information you see in the TV guide not the channel streams you will see on the TV. You will need cable TV, an antenna or a satellite dish for the tv streams, you will be hooking whichever one of these you choose to a TV tuner card that's compatible with MediaPortal in your PC. You will still need a video card also to hook up to the TV or monitor.

I have 2 Hauppauge TV tuner cards and they work fine with MediaPortal and MediaPortal supports Hauppauge remote controls so the cards you link to should work.

You really need to start here: http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/11_Preparing_Your_System and read all the beginner stuff first.

 

[jessek12]

Ok then how can I hook up my Directv to my computer? There is a USB and a S-Video on the back of my DVR. Would I run a really long USB or S-Video cable to my room?

 

[jessek12]

Or could I get a coaxial cable splitter and get one of those cables going to my room?

 

[TLD]

Or could I get a coaxial cable splitter and get one of those cables going to my room?

Well, yes that will give you the channel that you are tuned to on the Directv satellite box if the coaxial cable is an output from the satellite box, your TV card will not decode directly from the satellite.
What you really are going to need to do is get another satellite box for your room so you can use a remote control to "blast" (change the channel) on the satellite box that way MediaPortal can change the channel. Or simply use the remote that comes with the satellite box. The problem with this is that the tv server that MediaPortal uses to view/record tv would not be able to change channels so you could only view/record the channel that the satellite box is tuned to.

I don't have satellite TV, so some others with satellite TV could probable help you better that me.

 

[TLD]

Here's a link to a thread that talks about setting up a direct tv connection. https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...a-pvr-for-satellite-boxes-like-directv.54963/

 

[jessek12]

Ok so if I add another satellite box will it increase my bill? I have an extra satellite box laying around somewhere but do you have to pay monthly for each satellite box you have? And with this satellite can I just use a splitter on the cable coming from the satellite?