Tuner for OTA Broadcasts in the US (1 Viewer)

[crawdaddy]

Well, now that I no longer have cable, my trusty Hauppage PVR500 can no longer service me. I need to find a new tuner card (preferably dual-tuner) that will allow me to recieve over-the-air (OTA) DIGITAL standard and high-def broadcasts in the US. After reviewing Hauppage's offerings, I've found the Hauppage HVR-1600 tuner. However, I'm not 100% sure it will work for me with the OTA digital broadcasts in the US. I'll be the first to admit that I am not up to snuff on current TV standards, and what card can do what. Will this card work for digital OTA HD in the USA, and will it work with MediaPortal and TV-Server? I'm guessing/hoping yes to both, but I'd rather get a tad bit of confirmation before spending my hard-earned cash. Also, as a side note, will I be able to use the OTA program guide for guide data in MP? Thanks for any and all help. Here's links to the product description of the card:

WinTV-HVR-1600 Product overview

Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 ATSC/ClearQAM/NTSC TV Tuner White Box 1101WB PCI Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices

Thanks again!

 

[moab]

Yes and Yes.
Works great for me.

The card has 2 connectors (1 digitial + 1 anologue) so you need a coax splitter and some short coax cables.
Get at least a 3 way splitter (HP 1600 digital input + HP 1600 analogue input + TV input).
That way whilst recording you can watch channels via the TVs built in tunner (if TV has one).
You can record both 1 digital and 1 analogue at the same time which is nice.
The only issues I heard are with some old versions of the card which are no longer sold retail (except on ebay).
I wish I had a second 1600 card so I can record upto 4 shows at the same time (2 analogue + 2 digital).
I used the digital input on the card for both OTA (ATSC) and Cable (QAM) so it works great.
It will probably take years before my rural OTA broadcaster goes all digital.

 

[crawdaddy]

There's still broadcasters in the US broadcasting in analog???? I thought they were supposed to have stopped already, with all the FCC rules saying you could only broadcast in digital (albeit you could broadcast digitally, but in standard def) Also, is this confirmation of being able to use the guide broadcasted over the air, or will I have to subscribe to the zap2it replacement guide group thingy?

 

[depassp]

moab, how did you get the ATSC side of the hvr-1600 to work? What driver version are you using? What version of MediaPortal / TVServier?

 

[winterescape]

O.K lets step back one min.

If you just want to receive OTA ATSC in the US, this is digital TV, you want dual digital tuner cards. This 1600 analog tuner will most likely do you no good.
The 1600 has a hardware mpeg encoder. Why would you want to pay extra for this if your intent is to record & watch broadcast HD TV?

I have the HP WinTV-HVR-1250 (get the boxed version with remote)
Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250 Hybrid Video Recorder 1196 PCI-Express x1 Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices

and it works great. I do not use the analog tuner. If you want dual tuner buy two. Make sure you have two PCI express slots.

I have not used any of the following but I see recommended the HP2250

Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner 1213 PCI-Express x1 Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices

and the Hdhomerun.
Newegg.com - SiliconDust HDHomeRun Network-based Dual Digital HDTV Tuner Ethernet Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices


Both cost more than 2 of the HVR-1250 digital tuners, and you would have a spare remote.

moab can you add some detail to your comment "It will probably take years before my rural OTA broadcaster goes all digital. " ???? I did not think it was legal to bodcast any analog anywhere in the US after June 12th 2009
Digital television transition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EDIT : Just found this. hmm news to me...
"Analog broadcasting did not cease entirely following the June 12 deadline: under the provisions of the Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, approximately 120 full-power stations briefly maintained analog "nightlight" service, ending no later than July 12.[6] In a separate category, low power television stations will be permitted to continue analog broadcasts for several more years.

"

 

[crawdaddy]

Winterscape, thank you for your input. Unfortunately, I do not currently own any computers that have any PCIe slots, hence going with the PCI version. The network adapter seems like a really neat idea, especially if it works with Media Portal. Are you saying the 1600 will not do the job at all that I want it to do, or is it just that since OTA digital service is MPEG2 already (didn't know that, learn something new every day) the mpeg encoder on it is extraneous hardware? Thanks.

 

[winterescape]

Winterscape, thank you for your input. Unfortunately, I do not currently own any computers that have any PCIe slots, hence going with the PCI version.

Good point on PCI express.

Are you saying the 1600 will not do the job at all that I want it to do, or is it just that since OTA digital service is MPEG2 already (didn't know that, learn something new every day) the mpeg encoder on it is extraneous hardware? Thanks.

Just that you have no use for hardware mpeg2 encoding. As you said, OTA US broadcast is an mpeg2 stream. A digital tuner card just tunes the stream and shovels it on to the interface bus. The hardware encode would come in handy if you had cable and needed to take cable analog rebroadcast of signals and compress them as mpeg2 content to store and playback.

In your case I would then give serious consideration to the Hdhomerun. Slickdeals had a post about it being $113 with shipping
Silicondust HDHomeRun (dual tuner) @ thenerds.net for $112.98 shipped - SlickDeals.net Forums

Please search the MP forum to read about what folks like and dislike about this solution first as I have no personal experience with it.

One last thing, if you get the 1600 you will only have one digital tuner, if this was not clear

 

[moab]

moab, how did you get the ATSC side of the hvr-1600 to work? What driver version are you using? What version of MediaPortal / TVServier?

I have used both the CD driver and an updated one and both work.
MP & TS v 1.0.2 (no SVNs)
Click the My System link on the left window under the photo for more details.
I have heard that some old 1600 cards have issues.
My card says ATSC/QAM on the silver decoder unit on the card.

If you are having problems I would break it down into troubleshooting steps.
1. confirm your coax has ATSC signal by pluging it into TV input and scanning for the channels (you need a digital TV with digital tuner).
2. now take the known good coax and connect it to the ATSC port on your 1600.
3. use the CD software (or download) that came with card and confirm it works.
4. use MP and do a scan for channels. This takes a while.

If you are one of those lucky people who lives where all your OTA channels went digital then dont by a 1600 card.
If you only need digital then get a dual digital tuner card as obviously you will never need an analogue tuner.

Winterscape -
[rant mode on]Yes I am furious about the lame ATSC digital roll out that has more holes than swiss cheese.
They should have stated in all those expensive adverts listing the exceptions.
Instead I had to dig for it myself as they keep that dirty secret hidden away.
I suppose I should be grateful for the few digital channels I do get.
Until then I have to rely on the fuzzy old analogue channels which are still the majority.
My area is defined as rural.
Aparently the FCC think we are hillbillies and carry a pig under each arm.
Ironically I live in part of Silicon Valley.
I have almost given up on OTA and Cable. There is so much more content on the net now and I have Netflix for movies.
If only I could get the BBC iplayer service over here.
[rant mode off]

 

[depassp]

Thanks, moab. I figured it out. Apparently there is an issue with the HVR-1600 on Windows 7.

I solved it by upgrading to the latest mediaportal-svn-11-06-2009--19-18-Rev24047

The HVR-1600 is replacing my old PVR-150. In Canada, the Analog phase-out is happening much slower than in the US (as slow as even that is happening), so unfortunately I still have a need for a hardware encoder.

 

[crawdaddy]

Whaddya know, I found that I DO have 2 PCIe x1 slots and a PCIe x4 in my main desktop. However, it is my main desktop, and I have recently started putting it into standby. But for the price of one of those 1250s, I might just have to give it a shot if it'll fit my needs! I just hope I can get the powerscheduler working right to make it wake up for recordings. Also, I don't think it was answered yet, but will I be able to pull the guide off the OTA signal, or do I need to subrscribe to schedules direct? Thanks again for all ya'lls help!