Sky TV on HTPC (legally!) without a STB

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495 posts

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#144657 8-Jul-2008 14:46

Satch - Yep I'm in Auckland...

I was going to try a Blue 17XXX card in the weekend but I still haven't found one... Seems everyone I have talked to has the 45XXX cards...

As for HD - having used the technology and now understanding how it all works there is absolutely no reason why HD won't work - assuming Sky don't change the card technology - which by all accounts they're not.

The big caveat is the actual benefit gained ie the only way to sign up for the HD channels is by getting a MySky HD box, and subscribing to the HD channels. I expect the picture quality to be close to identical, and anything you gain in useability/convenience will be negated by only having a single tuner, while the very expensive multi tuner Sky HD box sits there gathering dust. Unlike the SD solution where you gain a huge amount in both usability and picture quality...

This would all change if Sky had a 'standard' HD decoder - but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

eXDee

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#144751 8-Jul-2008 16:22

Ah that sucks, interesting that no one you know has it. I was hoping someone could test a 17XX gold card also, but these might be the same as the blue cards.

About HD - it was mainly the capability to do it or not, which could be useful to some people. I hopefully want to get Mediaportal + MDAPI + NDSCam + Jaycar reader working, but i dont think its going to be that easy. If its a complete failure i might use GBPVR instead. Theres a bunch of stuff on happysat as mentioned earlier about how to get mdapi working good, and the orignal thread used NDSCam and mentioned it should work with any MDAPI capable app.

RustyGonad

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#144777 8-Jul-2008 16:51

eXDee: Ah that sucks, interesting that no one you know has it. I was hoping someone could test a 17XX gold card also, but these might be the same as the blue cards.

About HD - it was mainly the capability to do it or not, which could be useful to some people. I hopefully want to get Mediaportal + MDAPI + NDSCam + Jaycar reader working, but i dont think its going to be that easy. If its a complete failure i might use GBPVR instead. Theres a bunch of stuff on happysat as mentioned earlier about how to get mdapi working good, and the orignal thread used NDSCam and mentioned it should work with any MDAPI capable app.

I've found a gold 17XX card to try - should be able to try that out by early next week. Unfortunately it doesn't live in Auckland...

I will also try the HD cards once they're out, although like I said - they look like using the new 45XXX cards, so they should work, will confirm at the end of the month.

If you go to the DVBSBridge/ProgDVB forums there's a thread about using it for Medial Portal - it just needs the "tuner" added into the hardware tuning profiles. It doesn't sound too hard - but I found it after I got MCE working - so I haven't tried it. Downside is it will still be single tuner, which the other more direct MDAPI Media Portal options may work around.

Satch

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#144900 8-Jul-2008 19:29

I've got a Blue 17XX card here in Auckland that is itching to be tried!

What part of Auckland Russell? Perhaps I could bring it over to try at some stage.

RustyGonad

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Ultimate Geek

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#145605 9-Jul-2008 18:39

Satch: I've got a Blue 17XX card here in Auckland that is itching to be tried!

What part of Auckland Russell? Perhaps I could bring it over to try at some stage.

Mission Bay - I'll PM you...

idkpmiller

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#145831 9-Jul-2008 23:38

This isindeed good news, we may actually get to see if a blue 17xx card works.

What is also interesting is that you are asking people in Auckland and most common seems to be Blue 45xx cards where as people I have asked in Wellington all had Blue 17xx. perhaps a region thing with card stocks running out in Auckland first??

Waiting to hear with bated breath.

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Asmodeus

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#146573 11-Jul-2008 08:23

Damn it, I have a gold 17xxx card, I guess I'm screwed?

Mattv

242 posts

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#146961 11-Jul-2008 20:06

A few questions for those that have this up and running, particularly for those using the fiji beta. I have kind of been put off by the problems using Mediaportal and GB-PVR etc so think I will give up on HD DVB-T for now. (praying that Microsoft will include H.264 support in Fiji when it is released but not holding my breath anymore!)

I have a current digital subscription and a blue 45XX card. I am thinking of getting a DVB-S card and the other bits to add to my HTPC rig (see signature below)

My questions are

1. Can you get both the Sky digital channels and the Freeview ones through the one DVB-S card (obviously only one at a time)

2. Do you get the EPG info for both SKY and Freeview automatically using Fiji?

3. Using Fiji with a DVB-S card and my other cards (HVR-2200 and PVR-150) will it all work? (using the analogue tuners for now)

4. Has anyone tried this with a twin DVB-S card or using 2 seperate cards?

5. I am thinking the Hauppauge Nova S Plus card will do the job. Any reason I should go with anything else considering the other cards I already have?

6. Finally does anyone know how Fiji (and the fact it records in WTV rather than DVR-MS) works (or will work) with the XBOX 360 (or other extenders)

Any other help or advice much appreciated.

RustyGonad

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Ultimate Geek

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#147021 12-Jul-2008 08:18

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes - there are a few bugs/glitches in the early beta but I don't expect these to make production...
4. Yes - works - with the bug caveat above. Have tried 2 x DVB-S (1 x Freeview, 1 x Sky), 1 x DVB-T (NZ Freeview) at the same time. There are tuning space issues, but I would expect these to disappear once the correct NZ tuning space is added for DVB-T.
5. Yes - only reason not to would be to include DVB-S2 support ie for Sky HD ie HVR-4000, BTW you can probably get a HVR-3000 for the same price...
6. Sky works well with the XBOX 360 - all functions including guide work. h.264 still doesn't work though.

So even if they pull h.264 from the final release most of what you want to do will still be there...

Mattv

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#147081 12-Jul-2008 12:13

Hi Russell - thanks for the reply. Looks like it may be worth a go.

A couple more questions - is the card reader this CAT. NO. KC5361 on Jaycar? if so is it easy enough to put together? What port does it connect to on the PC. I have a serial printer port and a serial header on the motherboard. Can the kit be installed within the PC case or do you need some other sort of external "case" to put it in. I have a fairly standard ATX midi tower with a few free bays which is hidden away in a cupboard behind the TV.

Thanks again.

shanek

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#147086 12-Jul-2008 12:17

Yes the kit is quite easy to put together takes about an hour, the kit is made to go into a 5 and a quarter inch drive bay in a 3 and a half inch mounting bracket, im going to mount mine in a floppy bay though.

Yes you should be able to hook it up to the comm1 header pins fine and then it also users a HDD power connector.

All nice any tidy,

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Mattv

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#147138 12-Jul-2008 14:31

Thanks for that. Looks like I will have to do a bit of shopping. Computer Lounge have the Nova S Plus for $107 incl delivery at the moment so that seems a pretty good deal.

Satch

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#147173 12-Jul-2008 17:01

Bad news for blue 17XX card owners I'm afraid...

I went around to RustyGonad's place this morning to try my blue 17XX card in his Jaycar smartcard reader set up, and unfortunately it did not work (RustyGonad might like to explain in more detail why as it was a little over my head...)

It seems that I only have the following options left to me:
1. Somehow get Sky to replace my blue 17XX card with a 45XX card
2. Contact the ndscam authors to see if they can update their software to acknowledge the blue 17XX cards
3. Take a risk and purchase a USB smartcard reader from overseas.

Does anyone here have one of the USB card readers successfully working by any chance?

eXDee

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#147192 12-Jul-2008 17:44

Satch: 2. Contact the ndscam authors to see if they can update their software to acknowledge the blue 17XX cards

That might be a good idea.
http://dvbn.happysat.org/viewtopic.php?t=38864&postdays=0&postorder=asc
Account to use for viewing (posting you might want to register):
User: bmnot
Pass: bmnothing

BTW: what ndscam version did you use? 0.0.7 is newest.

Satch

1985 posts

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#147207 12-Jul-2008 18:54

eXDee: BTW: what ndscam version did you use? 0.0.7 is newest.

Rusty is using 0.0.7

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