TV Tuner to push freeview

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muttz

18 posts

Geek

#223240 20-Sep-2017 14:11

Hi all, im after some assistance

im after a tv tuner card to push freeview channels out around the house, ive just started researching into it and just need a couple things confirmed.

How i understand the backend is, computer with a tuner card connected to a sat dish for dvb-s2 or dvb-t for terrestrial UHF antenna's. some software to do its thing

Front end is just a device that can read the information from the backend host.

My setup is

HP N54L, used as my media server. 2x AFTV and RPi3 as end devices. I have just been given a HP Pavillion P6-2302 that i was thinking of using to dish out the freeview as I think the N54L will be under powered plus the PCIe slots look extra small.

I was looking at a hauppauga card as they seemed to have good reviews. Would a single tuner be fine? i had a quick look and found this one on PB tech

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TVNHGR1585/Hauppauge-WinTV-HVR-5525-HVR-5525-6-in-1-Hybrid-TV

We currently only have a sky dish for freeview, but i can get a UHF (might take me a while to put it up tho)

Any assistance is greatly appreciated

Muttz

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347 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1869514 20-Sep-2017 15:40

If you want to watch 2 DVB-T (UHF) channels simultaneously that are transmitted on a different MUX, such as TV1 and TV3 then you need a dual tuner, which this one doesn't appear to be. That will also be required for satellite but I'm not sure what channels are on what frequencies on the satellite.

rb99

3425 posts

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#1869559 20-Sep-2017 16:28

Believe HDHomeRuns are the best for DVB-T. Or popular anyway. Think you plug the aerial into them and they send the signal out over ethernet. Not for DVB-S though. Might be worth checking out. They cost a bit. Could use, maybe NextPVR on the PC if you want to record stuff. Emby / Plex to distribute to other PC's, phones etc. Also cost money. If you're interested in HDHomeRuns you might be able to access that direct from any device in the house if there's an app for it.

Personally I use an older Hauppauge PCI-E card in the main PC with Emby, but I'm stuck with DVB-S anyway.

Could also try out IPTV for some of the channels if so inclined, there's a thread on here somewhere to do with Freeview and Kodi I think.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

SumnerBoy

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#1869561 20-Sep-2017 16:30

Is there a reason there is nothing like the HDHomeRun for DVB-S? Just a supply + demand thing? Or is there a techincal reason?

muttz

18 posts

Geek

#1869569 20-Sep-2017 16:42

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. just looking into the HD Home run now, pitty there isnt a DVB-s

rb99

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#1869586 20-Sep-2017 17:18

Always assumed they're American and are doing just fine in that market and don't think DVB-S(2) is worth the effort.

BTW...

https://nicegear.co.nz/htpc/silicondust-hdhomerun-connect/

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

muttz

18 posts

Geek

#1869834 20-Sep-2017 21:55

Cheers guys, so after some reading and review watching im going to take a gamble an go with the HD homerun connect, only thing thats putting me off is the subscription thing for series link and recording. im guessing there is another way to do that stuff on another computer or my media server

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#1869840 20-Sep-2017 22:09

If you want DVB-S2, the best way really is either PC with tuner cards or Sat>IP tuners; both can be fed in to TVheadend or DVBLink, while only the PCI-e tuners can be fed in to MediaPortal as MP doesn't support Sat>IP. Sat>IP is quite cool as it effectively converts the DVB-s2 stream in to an IP stream and FTA can be received directly using apps on tvs and devices without the need for a pc... However a pc will enable recording and timeshifting etc.

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rb99

3425 posts

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#1869846 20-Sep-2017 22:23

Again, bearing in mind I don't actually have a Homerun, far as I can tell you could use NextPVR on a PC to record stuff and Kodi to play it, both being free. Or use Emby or Plex, which aren't free.

Guess you should get a UHF aerial first to make sure about that signal though...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

ANglEAUT

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#1869862 20-Sep-2017 22:59

muttz: ... im going to take a gamble an go with the HD homerun connect, only thing thats putting me off is the subscription thing for series link and recording. im guessing there is another way to do that stuff on another computer or my media server

We have a discussion here about HDHR and Plex specifically. Here are some extra thoughts about the HDHR

As you said, there are other ways to record the HDHR output. I use my paid for Plex server which gives me 7 days of EPG. The free version only give 2 days of EPG
There is a HDHR app for pretty much any platform
Plex records the shows in .ts files which VLC can read. Don't know if you can use any other viewer for HDHR recorded items
The HDHR app on my cheap Android phone and iPad Mini 2 fails & stutters. Many people complain in the HDHR forums about Wi-Fi issues. I've only had the HDHR for less than two weeks, so need to continue troubleshooting.
I had to move the TV aerial cable coming into the HDHR. While the TV itself didn't have a problem displaying a clear picture, the HDHR did have a problem with the all of the cables behind the TV being in a jumble.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

muttz

18 posts

Geek

#1870551 21-Sep-2017 23:01

Cheers lcl for the link to the discussion, interesting reading. so i didnt hit the buy button last night, thought i might keep an eye on that thread and do a little more reading and research

elpenguino

3427 posts

Uber Geek

#1870565 21-Sep-2017 23:45

i'm using a hauppage quad pci-e card which seems to work very well (~$200). I thought 4 tuners would be overkill but the dual tuner cards were not that much better value(>$120 ish). And yes, sometimes you do need to record more than 2 things at once.

It integrates very well with next PVR and kodi - impressive combination actually.

Has a high WAF factor too = easy to drive.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

sparky1685

82 posts

Master Geek

#1870567 22-Sep-2017 00:03

It takes surprisingly little processing grunt to push Freeview signals around your home network if you're not transcoding the signal.

I've got a couple of $10 USB DVB-T tuners from Aliexpress plugged into our low end Synology NAS (a DS-216J) which has the TVHeadend software running on it. I just tried simultaneously watching live TV1 on the PC and live TV3 on my phone (both running Kodi) and it works fine - CPU usage on the Synology is hovering around 15%.

If your media server is running some form of linux (and you don't mind a bit of fidgeting to set it up) putting TVHeadend on it might be a cheap solution.

muttz

18 posts

Geek

#1870571 22-Sep-2017 00:21

My media server is just windows with smb out to my AFTV with Kodi. I have a separate computer doing nothing that a was looking at converting and adding a TV card to distribute an record to, I have a couple drives spare to chuck in it.

elpenguino is this the card you have?

https://m.pbtech.co.nz/product/TVNHGR1629/Hauppauge-tunersWinTV-quadHD-New-Model---WinTV-qua

SumnerBoy

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#1870648 22-Sep-2017 08:16

Yeah I am running TVHeadend on my home server (debian) with a single DVB-S PCI tuner card. Works really well and has done for years. I am keen to upgrade to a quad tuner card tho, so looking for recommendations as well.

elpenguino

3427 posts

Uber Geek

#1870937 22-Sep-2017 13:24

muttz:

elpenguino is this the card you have?

https://m.pbtech.co.nz/product/TVNHGR1629/Hauppauge-tunersWinTV-quadHD-New-Model---WinTV-qua

Yes, that's the one.

Next PVR on the PC and FWIW I have Kodi on an android tv and openelec / Kodi on a raspberry pi 3 for another TV.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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