Satellite Tv (1 Viewer)

[Cam]

I am looking into satellite Tv, What is needed as far as tuners for the Tv Server and what is needed from the satellite guys as far as equipment.

Can it be used like the ceton infiniTv tuners for cable cards setup

Would like to have at leased 4 tuners.

I was looking more towards DirectTv, but any suggestions would be welcome

Thanks

 

[RicoHTPC]

Maybe that helps to begin with.
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/4_HTPC/HTPC_Hardware/TV_Cards

 

[Cam]

Hey Thanks,
say I got the tbs6985 card it has 4 inputs for coaxial cable, what does that hook to?
DirectTv says they have a genie box for multiple tv hook ups, does this box have multiple outputs and do they hook to each input on the pc tuner card?

 

[RicoHTPC]

I can't tell about this genie box maybe you ask their support guys.
If you have a sat card with four inputs you can at least use four streams simultaneously.
In order to do so you will need a sat dish with an lnb that delivers four signals (four coax cables).

 

[spachti]

Hey Thanks,
say I got the tbs6985 card it has 4 inputs for coaxial cable, what does that hook to?
DirectTv says they have a genie box for multiple tv hook ups, does this box have multiple outputs and do they hook to each input on the pc tuner card?

There is no way in the US. There are no SAT cards available, Dish Network and Directv will never allow that.
Only way is to use a capture card.

Edit:
After doing some more reading, I don't think this Genie thing promises anything usable in MediaPortal. They allow a max. of 3 remote viewings at the same time, but as I understand, you would need one Genie plus 2 MiniGenies ( because the split screen function doesn't do any good ) to do that. Further on, I see no reasonable way to make that work in MePo.

 

[Cam]

Thank you[DOUBLEPOST=1419446538][/DOUBLEPOST]So they have the US locked up, HUH?

 

[spachti]

Yep.
Even IF cards were on the market, there is no way to decrypt the signal.

 

[Cam]

Ok Thanks

Cable is ridiculous in price so I guess it is throw the antenna up.

 

[spachti]

Depending on where you're located, ATSC is a solution. You would be able to get at least the main broadcasters over the air. And for that, there are cards available. Hi-Def and 5.1 audio.

Edit:
And it WORKS in MePo, perfectly.

 

[mm1352000]

Even IF cards were on the market, there is no way to decrypt the signal.

This isn't technically 100% true. Some people are able to pull in D*sh with the right tuners and configuration. Just takes a fair bit of know how. The standard gear - switches, dishes and stuff - can be tricky to get working with generic tuners if you don't know the technical details of how it really works.

One example of a tutorial:
http://www.satellitesupreme.com/sho...t-CW3K-4K-to-Windows-HTPC-running-MediaPortal

AFAIK DirecTV is out of the question without a capture card. Traditionally they've used non-standard broadcast schemes and non-standard stream formats. D*sh has used unusual broadcast schemes... but not entirely non standard... and their stream format is based on the ubiquitous MPEG 2 TS, which MP can handle.

ATSC is easier, but obviously less choice in terms of channels.
Cable with a CableCARD tuner may be an improvement on that, if you have a provider like Verizon FiOS where most of the channels are marked "copy freely"... but still expensive.
You could still go satellite with capture devices (Hauppauge HD-PVR/Colossus), but the hardware is relatively expensive. One capture card + STB per channel you want to watch or record simultaneously. Also there's the potential for problems with HDMI HDCP.