Absolute Noob - DVB-T, DVB-S on HTPC

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Absolute Noob - DVB-T, DVB-S on HTPC - need advice

BryanG

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#147096 9-Jun-2014 10:14

Hi there, please forgive me if this is already described - I have searched...

I recently bought an HTPC - which has a DVB-T card (Hauppauge) and a DVB-S card (AverTV).

I plonked the HTPC in the lounge and plugged in the antenna cable to the DVB-T. It was a loose fit in the card....and nothing received (later realised this was still wired to now-removed analogue antenna).
Tried it in the bedroom - still a loose fit but it managed to get the list of programs and briefly displayed some TV when I jiggled the cable.
So - it appears that the aerial plug in the card may be lightly larger than the one in the wall - perhaps I can get a larger one from Jaycar...but the bedroom cable is hooked to the correct antenna and it worked.

Ok - not to worry - I'll try the DVB-S card with the Sky Dish in the lounge (we have MySki - looking to replace with HTPC/PVR).
I have two cables coming from the dish - one black and one white. I have tried them both (one at a time) and have managed to get a channel listing (Optus D1) - but when I try to watch a channel, it tells me on screen "Quality 20%". It works perfectly with Sky.....I have no idea what make/model the Sky Dish is - if this is vital to know to get it working, I can get a ladder and find out.

Also - I found this http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=130860 which says that you can't get HD quality via the satellite..?
"Freeview DVB-S is not HD, unfortunately there isn’t the required bandwidth from the satellite to provide freeview HD broadcasts." We watch Freeview via Sky and I thought it was in HD....

Anyway, the way I see it is I have two choices;

Hook up the antenna plug in the lounge to the digital antenna - may involve crawling around in the ceiling trying to locate the correct wire then splitting it - assuming the signal will be strong enough - could call in an expert here.
Persevere with the Sky dish. There seems to be all sorts of settings and things to play with. I'm not sure about physically re-pointing the Sky Dish because it gets a good signal now - it must pointed to the right place right?

I can't get rid of Sky until I have proven to the missus that my HTPC will record Shorty everyday without fail.
Keen to go for the best and most reliable route here - looking for advice.

Thanks in advance,
Bryan

geekiegeek

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#1061660 9-Jun-2014 10:24

I think Sky show Freeview in HD but if you get it direct its SD. You really want to get DVB-T going for the best picture, I would probably pay for an expert to come out and sort your wiring.

davidcole

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#1061682 9-Jun-2014 11:00

The sky in HD would be via card readers and a valid sky subscription I'd imagine. With some tickering you could probably get DVB-S (Freeview Satellite going).

DVB-T would be the best bet though for picture quality.

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trig42

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#1061705 9-Jun-2014 11:42

DVB-S is good for the Guide listings though.

davidcole

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#1061708 9-Jun-2014 11:43

trig42: DVB-S is good for the Guide listings though.

Slightly easier as you can get it integrated into MCE/NextPVR/MediaPortal/MythTV....but the EPG Collector works pretty well also (for the windows solutions, not sure what MythTV uses).

turb

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#1061709 9-Jun-2014 11:44

geekiegeek: , I would probably pay for an expert to come out and sort your wiring.

Yep you need a UHF antenna, the right way up, pointing at the right transmitter, with the right cable, with the right connectors. If it's not, you'll spend more time talking with us here on Geekzone than with your missus. If she's talking to you at all...

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BryanG

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#1061777 9-Jun-2014 14:00

Thanks for your responses. The other plus point of UHF is no rain fade (as far as I know).

I have booked the antenna/aerial man to take a look this weekend. We already have a functioning UHF antenna - and the wire into the bedroom - just need to split it out to the lounge too.

Thanks again.

Bryan

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RunningMan

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#1061828 9-Jun-2014 15:17

BryanG: The other plus point of UHF is no rain fade (as far as I know).

You shouldn't get raid fade via DVB-S either except in very torrential rain, perhaps less than once per year. A standard 65cm dish for Optus D1 is sized with enough margin to work in pretty much any weather in NZ. If you are getting regular rain fade, then there's a fault with the set-up - most likely the dish needs to be re-aimed as a couple of mm out can cause this.

robcreid

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#1061865 9-Jun-2014 15:41

Providing your HTPC software supports it and since you already have the dish I'd be tempted to try to get both working. More tuners equals more channels being able to be recorded at once.

BryanG

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#1061871 9-Jun-2014 15:46

I'm using Windows 7 Media Center. I might ask the chap coming to connect the cables about the satellite. Would be awesome to have everything plugged in. It has two dual DVB-T tuners and one DVB-S. So would that be 6 channels recorded at once? Haha - talk about overkill.

BryanG

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#1061874 9-Jun-2014 15:48

RunningMan:
BryanG: The other plus point of UHF is no rain fade (as far as I know).

You shouldn't get raid fade via DVB-S either except in very torrential rain, perhaps less than once per year. A standard 65cm dish for Optus D1 is sized with enough margin to work in pretty much any weather in NZ. If you are getting regular rain fade, then there's a fault with the set-up - most likely the dish needs to be re-aimed as a couple of mm out can cause this.

Good point. We used to get it quite often - but then we got a new Sky machine and the man fiddled with the dish alignment - don't think we've had rain fade since.

RunningMan

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#1061878 9-Jun-2014 15:51

You may record more than 6 channels at a time. A tuner will lock on to a mux which will carry multiple channels. If the software can then extract more than one channel from the mux at a time, then you could record quite a few more....