Cheapest way to achieve dual DVB-S tuners in NZ?

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Asmodeus

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#25158 13-Aug-2008 15:28

Hi,

Assuming all DVB-S tuners are basically equal (correct?), from what I can see without doing loads of searching, the cheapest way to achieve dual DVB-s tuners in NZ is to buy 2 Nova-S cards. At around $110 each, that comes to $220.

Does anyone know of a cheaper way to do this or should I give up looking further? I like the look of the blackgold card but its 90 pounds plus shipping...

plus I already have an HVR2200.

What have you done/would you do/recommend?

Cheers

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#156635 13-Aug-2008 16:30

I found this Pinnacle card a while ago, but I've yet to find a NZ retailer or distributor for it.
I'd like a dual tuner DVB-S card to go with my HVR-3000, as I only have two PCI slots in my media PC.

Regs

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Snowflake

#156655 13-Aug-2008 17:55

i wish they were still making this card:
http://www.digitalnow.com.au/product_pages/QuattroS.html

Four tuners on one PCI-e card. This device is equipped with two DVB-S tuners and two Hybrid (Digital or Analogue) tuners supporting FTA Digital TV (satellite and Terrestrial) as well as Analogue TV and FM radio broadcasts. Supports all Australian DVB-T formats including 1080iHDTV (MP&HL) and AC3 Audio.

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Asmodeus

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#156743 13-Aug-2008 22:47

Those are all nice cards... It's a shame there are so few dual DVB-S cards around. Id love to not have to use two cards

I found the pinnacle (OEM version) for 30 pounds but it doesnt look like they ship internationally. Ive sent them a nice email to find out anyway :) Will let you know if it works out and how much $

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=809136

richms

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#157411 16-Aug-2008 13:28

USB tuners then? http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12258 - $43 US and they have BDA drivers, there were some posts on a forum that I read that it has issues powering LNBs but if you have something else to power it, then it seems like the cheapest way to get a dvb-s tuner.

Richard rich.ms

billgates

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#157541 17-Aug-2008 17:48

I am getting this when I build my new PC....6 in 1 tuner....Dual digital satellite (DVB-S), Dual freeview (DVB-T) & Dual Analogue terrestrial.....NZ $280 including shipping.....No VAT since we are not in EU!

ps - you might be now thinking why I want DVB-S and DVB-T....I have a satellite on the roof off which I want to record FTA channels off Optus D2....

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xcubed

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#157597 17-Aug-2008 21:37

That's a nice find billgates, but are they happy to ship it to NZ?
When I was looking for the Pinnacle card, the retailers I found weren't willing to do any international shipping.

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billgates

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#157617 18-Aug-2008 00:03

xcubed: That's a nice find billgates, but are they happy to ship it to NZ?
When I was looking for the Pinnacle card, the retailers I found weren't willing to do any international shipping.

yep they charge 17 quids for NZ which I included in the NZ$280 or GBP111....they ship via Royal Air Mail so expect min 2 weeks for the order to turn up.

Note - This card requires a PCIe slot.

Do whatever you want to do man.

xcubed

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#157658 18-Aug-2008 10:45

billgates: yep they charge 17 quids for NZ which I included in the NZ$280 or GBP111....they ship via Royal Air Mail so expect min 2 weeks for the order to turn up.

w00t! Thanks billgates.

Asmodeus

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#157771 18-Aug-2008 16:25

Yes that Blackgold is the card that I was whinging about the price of in my original post

It is a nice card though... but I already have an HVR2200 so was hoping to just find a dual DVB-S card to go alongside it. I guess I could sell the HVR-2200...?

Scan in the UK said they wouldnt ship the Pinnacle OEM card (28 pounds) to NZ via their standard methods BUT they said if I arrange my own courier it should be fine. They even gave me their sales teams phone number and said theyd help me do that if I wanted so I may give them a call tonight and see what the damage will be.

Will report back

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=809136

euanandrews

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#157784 18-Aug-2008 17:29

I looked at that card myself some time ago, as I to want dual DVB-T & DVB-S tuner...

But to what I can read of the specs, the DVB-S will not work here in NZ due to the frequency range...
The frequency range required for Freeview Satellite in NZ is 11300
The frequency range covered by the BlackGold BGT3540 is 950MHz to 2175MHz

At least thats how I read it.

xcubed

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#157812 18-Aug-2008 20:18

TheBartender:
But to what I can read of the specs, the DVB-S will not work here in NZ due to the frequency range...
The frequency range required for Freeview Satellite in NZ is 11300
The frequency range covered by the BlackGold BGT3540 is 950MHz to 2175MHz

I'm not sure if those frequencies are accurate, as they list support for Freesat via Astra D2 further down on the same page. This page here suggests that Astra D2 is in the 10000 MHz range, so my guess would be that they omitted a trailing zero from those figures (so the range is actually 9500Mhz to 21750MHz).

According to Wikipedia, if it did only cover 950MHz to 2175MHz, it would only pick up UHF.

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richms

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#157855 18-Aug-2008 23:23

Those freq's are correct, the LNB converts the freq's down to what the tuner supports.

Richard rich.ms

euanandrews

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#158034 19-Aug-2008 16:32

richms: Those freq's are correct, the LNB converts the freq's down to what the tuner supports.

So are you saying that this TV tuner will support NZ Freeview DVB-S then? (with the help of the LNB)

If so, great, I will be buying one then...I have sent BlackGold an email asking this same question for confirmation.

billgates

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#159072 22-Aug-2008 22:16

TheBartender:
richms: Those freq's are correct, the LNB converts the freq's down to what the tuner supports.

So are you saying that this TV tuner will support NZ Freeview DVB-S then? (with the help of the LNB)

If so, great, I will be buying one then...I have sent BlackGold an email asking this same question for confirmation.

did you get a reply?

richms

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#159091 22-Aug-2008 23:55

TheBartender:
richms: Those freq's are correct, the LNB converts the freq's down to what the tuner supports.

So are you saying that this TV tuner will support NZ Freeview DVB-S then? (with the help of the LNB)

If so, great, I will be buying one then...I have sent BlackGold an email asking this same question for confirmation.

Yes, the frequancy the tuner tunes to is the actual frequancy less the local oscilator of the LNB. Most software has you specify the actual frequancy and the local oscilator and does the subtraction for you, since computers are usually better at it then most people.

Richard rich.ms

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