DVB-s USB tuners, where have they all gone?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › DVB-s USB tuners, where have they all gone?

Old Grey Geek

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#181409 14-Oct-2015 17:58

HI guys,
I guess I am not alone in noticing the lack of availability of USB DVB-s tuners in NZ.
I had a WinTV unit from Hauppage but it bit the dust and I replaced it with an AverMedia R889 unit.
Now I want to upgrade to a three tuner setup and try as I will I cannot find them in NZ.
Is there a reason for this. I would have thought as DVB-T is only available in the main centres there would be quite a demand for these units, are they discouraging the use of HTPCs now?.
Like to hear your comments and suggestions.
Cheers,
Steve

joshhill96

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#1405888 14-Oct-2015 19:03

Where art thou?

Where art thou?
Have you had a TradeMe?

Old Grey Geek

149 posts

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#1405901 14-Oct-2015 19:14

Well I did look on trade me and found nothing. Google sent me to Aquire and they have had none for ages and said their suppliers have none either.
Just checked TradeMe again. They have a cheapo thing that says its DVB-S but my previous ones were DVB-S2 which seems to be what is required here, am I right?.

AS to where I am...
Northland, out of Kaitaia.

mdf

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#1405912 14-Oct-2015 19:43

You should have a word with Hadley at nicegear.co.nz. Not showing anything in stock, but he is great at ordering stuff in for you if you ask.

mm1352000

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#1406015 15-Oct-2015 00:41

If you're looking to find a USB unit with 3 tuners then I think you'll be out of luck whether searching NZ or globally. The most satellite tuners I've ever seen in a USB-connected product is 2. As far as I'm aware, this is the only one on the market at the moment:
http://www.buydvb.net/tbs5990-qbox-ci-dvbs2-tv-tuner-usb-p-98.html?cPath=3

P.S. I may be interested to buy your R889 for testing with MediaPortal if you're selling at a reasonable price. Feel free to PM.

Old Grey Geek

149 posts

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#1407086 15-Oct-2015 10:07

Funny you should mention that...
I have been looking at the TBS units mainly this one..
http://www.buydvb.net/tbs5922se-dvbs2-tv-tuner-usb-box-p-108.html
I don't really want a dual unit, I have seen deals on pairs of dual units, giving you 4 tuners which is a bit of overkill for here for now.
I want to use ganged single units for the reason that if a unit fails I still have a usable system.

The main reason for my post was the lack of DVB-S2 gear in NZ which seems strange since we only have DVB-T in the cities and the rest of us are hung out to dry, same ol' cheapo solutions we get when trying to "Keep up with the big boys" here, don't get me started on the TPPA.
I guess I will just have to go with the TBS units from overseas and see if they match up with the AverMedia R889, which I intend to keep, sorry ;-).

I have not tried Media Portal, I am more than happy with NPVR with Kodi for the front end for movies and straight NPVR for recording and playing TV.
I can highly recommend NPVR and it plays well with the R889 unit.
Quite happy to discuss my setup, which has been working well for a good few years now, and NPVR in general.
Cheers

mdf

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#1407095 15-Oct-2015 10:19

For what it's worth, I'm a big Media Portal fan (though I'm currently toying with Linux options). A really cool feature, and potentially a software solution to your hardware sourcing issues, is that Media Portal lets you record multiple channels at the same time on the one tuner card, so long as they're on the same mux. I use DVB-T and it may be a little different for DVB-S, but for example I can record TV3 and Four at the same time with just the one card. I don't watch that much broadcast TV, but two cards with the multi-mux thing has meant I have never had an issue with conflicting recordings.

Good NZ support in the wiki and forums too.

lxsw20

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#1407128 15-Oct-2015 11:32

AFAIK only Sky use DVB-S2, Freeview is DVB-S

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Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

mm1352000

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#1407179 15-Oct-2015 12:07

Old Grey Geek: I don't really want a dual unit, I have seen deals on pairs of dual units, giving you 4 tuners which is a bit of overkill for here for now.

Well, 4 tuners would enable you to record/view all the current Freeview Satellite channels simultaneously.

Old Grey Geek: I want to use ganged single units for the reason that if a unit fails I still have a usable system.

That being the case, there are plenty of options. TeVii, TechnoTrend, DVBSky, TBS, Hauppauge, PCTV Systems, Anysee... all have at least 1 USB DVB-S2 tuner product. None are directly available in NZ at the moment, but it is pretty easy to order via BuyDVB, DVBShop etc.

Old Grey Geek: The main reason for my post was the lack of DVB-S2 gear in NZ which seems strange since we only have DVB-T in the cities and the rest of us are hung out to dry, same ol' cheapo solutions we get when trying to "Keep up with the big boys" here, don't get me started on the TPPA.

In my opinion 87% coverage for DVB-T is not too bad, especially considering the terrain we have in some parts of the country. It's frustrating for the 13% who don't get coverage, but the business case for extending the network is probably very unfavourable.
With regards to tuner availability: even DVB-T tuners aren't particularly widely available unless you consider the cheap single tuner DVB-T units on TradeMe to be adequate (I don't!). This probably just reflects a low demand for Freeview-capable PCs. HTPCs have always been quite a niche thing.

Old Grey Geek: I guess I will just have to go with the TBS units from overseas and see if they match up with the AverMedia R889, which I intend to keep, sorry ;-).

Okay.

Old Grey Geek: I have not tried Media Portal...

To be clear: when I mentioned MediaPortal testing, I didn't mean I was trying it out. Rather, I'm one of the MediaPortal developers. I'm curious to check if the R889's CI slot works, and if not, to try my hand at making it work. The CI slot doesn't serve any purpose here in NZ, but they're widely used for pay TV reception in Europe and certain parts of Asia.

openmedia

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#1407258 15-Oct-2015 13:26

mm1352000: If you're looking to find a USB unit with 3 tuners then I think you'll be out of luck whether searching NZ or globally. The most satellite tuners I've ever seen in a USB-connected product is 2. As far as I'm aware, this is the only one on the market at the moment:
http://www.buydvb.net/tbs5990-qbox-ci-dvbs2-tv-tuner-usb-p-98.html?cPath=3

P.S. I may be interested to buy your R889 for testing with MediaPortal if you're selling at a reasonable price. Feel free to PM.

I'm considering getting that dual tuner unit. I'd be interested in any local reports.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

Old Grey Geek

149 posts

Master Geek

#1407917 16-Oct-2015 15:15

Well, 4 tuners would enable you to record/view all the current Freeview Satellite channels simultaneously.

I was thinking 3 would do the job for freeview but you made me doubt that and I checked and discovered 4+1 is on 12644, bugga...

In my opinion 87% coverage for DVB-T is not too bad, especially considering the terrain we have in some parts of the country. It's frustrating for the 13% who don't get coverage,

Well, I am one of those frustrated 13%ers. From my house I can see the old Kordia mast sitting there, lonely and unloved, serving only as a repeater for emergency services or something.
The Warehouse in Kaitaia is still offering TVs as Freeview ready in spite of the fact that you would have to have a 100Km+ coax to get the signal from Whangarei, I think the losses and cost would make that option a little silly to say the least. ;-)

The CI slot doesn't serve any purpose here in NZ, but they're widely used for pay TV reception in Europe and certain parts of Asia.

As far as I can tell the CI slot will take a card reader for Sky cards, Jcar sell them if I remember rightly, along with a warning no to do anything illegal with them, you should be able to use your Sky card with few problems.
Disclaimer...
I could be talking rubbish, as my wife often claims.
:-)

mm1352000

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#1408013 16-Oct-2015 18:25

Old Grey Geek: I was thinking 3 would do the job for freeview but you made me doubt that and I checked and discovered 4+1 is on 12644, bugga...

Correct.
If your goal is to be able to view or record all available channels without restriction then you'd need 4 tuners now... but there's no guarantee that that won't change in the future. Even now, if you wanted to view/record the Channel 9 feed (the signal appears to still be live, but I'm not sure if it is carrying video/audio) that would be another tuner and cable from the dish (because it's carried on a vertically polarised transponder cf. Freeview and Sky channels which are carried on horizontally polarised transponders).

Old Grey Geek: As far as I can tell the CI slot will take a card reader for Sky cards, Jcar sell them if I remember rightly, along with a warning no to do anything illegal with them, you should be able to use your Sky card with few problems.
Disclaimer...
I could be talking rubbish, as my wife often claims.

It doesn't work like that.

The CI slot accepts a CAM (conditional access module) which in turn accepts a smart card.
http://www.satshop.co.uk/section65/product1483/CAMs-qa.html

Sky encrypts their streams with the NDS VideoGuard conditional access (CA) system, for which there are no CAMs available. That's why I said the CI slot doesn't serve any purpose here.

A card (smart card) reader is a completely separate device which connects directly to a PC (usually via USB or serial/RS232 connection).