Quad DVB-T tuner ??

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snowkiwi

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Topic # 87035 18-Jul-2011 13:56

Hi All

I want to use my older PC for 4 or more simultaneous channels of UHF digital TV recording.

I've got an AMD 64 x2 4400+ CPU with GF8800GT 512MB GPU, 2GBRam, 350GBHDD, 500WPSU

Does anyone know of any PCI Quad DVB-T tuners that my rig could handle or see any problems here?

Or maybe a dual DVB-T that I could double or triple up on. Like a Hauppauge WinTV maybe?

My TiVo and DVD/HDD Recorder are working fine - I just have a spare PC and want to record everything :) And the 1TB TiVo expansion is fast filling with kids/wife stuff.

Jaxson

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Reply # 494719 18-Jul-2011 14:01

As an aside to this:

Depending on your software you'd only need 3 terrestrial tuners to cover all of freeview.
If your software can record multiple channels of the same TP then you'll be fine.

If you go satellite you only need 2 tuners to cover every channel on freeview. This makes a satellite twin tuner PVR's better (on this count) than their terrestrial cousins.

snowkiwi

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Reply # 494745 18-Jul-2011 14:25

Cheers Jaxson

So let me get this right. The software jumps the tuner through hoops getting it to record/buffer a fraction of a second off one channel - change to the next channel - record a bit - next channel etc etc.

I imagined each channel would need its own dedicated/tuned hardware route.

So lets say I go DVB-S and install a new dish, I could attach a dual tuner to my pc and record 4 or more channels at once? Is the tuner card handling most of the workload or my PC CPU ?

Jaxson

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Reply # 494752 18-Jul-2011 14:45

snowkiwi: So let me get this right. The software jumps the tuner through hoops getting it to record/buffer a fraction of a second off one channel - change to the next channel - record a bit - next channel etc etc.

No more like the tuner is receiving a single TP with all the TV channels on it. It's already getting all of it and writing bits of it (the TV channel you want to record) to your hard drive. Clever software can work with more than one TV channel from the same TP at once.

Every TV channel on freeview comes on just 2' streams' via satellite, or spread across 3 'streams' on terrestrial. Hope that makes some sense? You need one tuner per 'stream' / TP / Mux.

mm1352000

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Reply # 494792 18-Jul-2011 15:21

To answer the original question: there are no quad DVB-T tuners available for PCI that I am aware of... but there is a PCIe one.

davidcole

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Reply # 494808 18-Jul-2011 15:30

Not quite.

There are 3 frequencies in use by Freeview. Some PVR software, GBPVR and mediaPortal for instance, can record the whole frequency at once. Think of it like a stream from a hose....the water being the frequency....you can introduce splits in the water to divert little sections of it (channels) to different lications (files)

So with one tuner, you can record, for example, tv1, tv2, U, tvnz7 all to separate files, a 2nd tuners for tv3, c4

I do this with one Dual DVB-T tuner, and one trimode (DVB-S and DVB-T) - if I wanted to, I could record a program from every possible freeview channel, my main limitation would be disk access.

This feature is not possible in Windows 7 Media Center, and for this you need one tuner per program. I'm not sure if Myth TV can do this either.

Previously known as psycik

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snowkiwi

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Reply # 494827 18-Jul-2011 15:47

Thanks Jaxson - that makes sense

snowkiwi

149 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 494834 18-Jul-2011 15:58

davidcole - Ta. That makes some more sense. So I need to find the correct software.
I guess software comes with most digital PVR cards anyway. Any brands better/easier than any others?

mm1352000 - Oooh! So that may be my Terrestrial answer (requiring 3 tuners for DVB-T). will need to check if my 3yo A8N mobo has a PCIe free.

davidcole

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Reply # 494856 18-Jul-2011 16:22

I've always stuck with hauppauge gear. Bit have heard good things about the hdhomerun. Both are supported well in the windows environment (w7 mce, mediaportal, gbpvr). Would probably ignore the software that comes
With them tbh, as they aren't set up for an alway on recording device, but a watch tv now.

davidcole

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Reply # 494858 18-Jul-2011 16:23

Oh btw. Apart from hard drive size (I have 2tb) your system is bigger than mine, and I have now issues recording or playing any NZ broadcast content.

snowkiwi

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Reply # 494929 18-Jul-2011 18:41

So looks like my PC with a basic hauppauge card will work a treat

Cheers for the info.

mrbig

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Reply # 494934 18-Jul-2011 18:49

if you used vlc player you can rec 1 whole mux at a time

snowkiwi

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Reply # 494969 18-Jul-2011 19:59

mrbig: if you used vlc player you can rec 1 whole mux at a time

Any idea what channels are on each mux ?

mm1352000

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Reply # 495032 18-Jul-2011 21:52

Any idea what channels are on each mux ?

On DVB-T:

mux 1 = TV One, TV 2, U, TVNZ 7
mux 2 = TV 3, FOUR, C4, TV 3 Plus 1
mux 3 = (everything else... Prime, tvCentral, Stratos, Parliament TV etc.)

On DVB-S

transponder 1 (12483H) = TV One (x 4 for regional advertising), TV 2, U, TVNZ 7
transponder 2 (12456H) = (everything else...)

snowkiwi

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Reply # 495315 19-Jul-2011 15:29

thanks for that info. mm1352000