First of all great forum and great info here.

I am very excited about HD HomeRun and wanted to build my HD DVR soon with Myth and HD HomeRun. I have these questions?

1. How do I connect HD HomeRun box to my Comcast/DishTV box? I don't see any S-video or component inputs to HD HomeRun. I am only interested in HD channels.
Currently I am connecting Comcast Motorola HD box to Plasma via colored cables.

2. I really would like to watch all my stored HD contect back on Plasma TV. What are the cards to look at it in this space for HDMI output?

3. I am thinking of buying a DELL box around $400 for using it as a Video server. Any specific config I should look for?

Thanks a lot..

1) You don't hook it up to your cable box. You hook it up to the cable, and assuming your cable system is set up properly, you can grab your local HD channels, plus whatever else your cable system sends out unencrypted over QAM.

2) If you are only going to watch unencrypted recordings captured via an HDHomeRun, then there shouldn't be much need for an HDMI enabled video card (or more precisely HDCP enabled). I would think a cheap DVI->HDMI adaptor or cable would be fine although some flat panels are extremely unfriendly to being driven at their native resolution over DVI.

3) I have no opinion about 3.

Thanks grhowes.

On point 1, If I understand correctly, I should split the cable or use some kind of Y connector and connect one to HD HomeRun and one to my cable box.. If this is true, is that signal is all encrypted one? My understanding is that from the cable wire all get is encrypted signal and cable box decodes it before feed it to TV.

On point 2, any suggestions on DVI graphics card?

On point 1, If I understand correctly, I should split the cable or use some kind of Y connector and connect one to HD HomeRun and one to my cable box.. If this is true, is that signal is all encrypted one? My understanding is that from the cable wire all get is encrypted signal and cable box decodes it before feed it to TV.I'm not really clear by what you meant by the Y connector, but anyways ...

Not all channels will necessarily be encrypted. Most cable networks will have some unencrypted or "in the clear" channels. These tend to be the local HD channels that are also available OTA, and possibly one or two others. Don't count on receiving any premium channels....although, on rare occasions, there are some lucky folks. You will likely also find unencrypted SD channels too. Anyway, what is and isn't available varies on a case by case basis with network providers. Check the local reception forum to see what is available in your area.

In any regards, the HDHomeRun is capable of receiving only unencrypted signals.

Also if you're thinking "STB to HDHomeRun", it don't work that way. {short and sweet answer .. I've provided the long and boring answer before, but its still unavailbe because of the recent forum post archiving}

[QUOTE=CityK]I'm not really clear by what you meant by the Y connector, but anyways ...

Thanks for the clarifications. What I meant by Y connector is, from the wall cable wire split into two parallel signals and one goes to my cable STB and one goes to HD HomeRun.

So, If I want to keep myself open for future STB HD signals as well, is it a good idea to I go with some capture card which supports S-video inputs etc like:
Hauppauge card data_pvr350

My requirement is to :
- capture HD channels from STB (Comcast, Dish, DTV etc) to capture card via S-video or some other means but not by cable input connector.
- record content and play back to TV.

Looks like in my case, I may have to give up on HD HomeRun solution.

Thanks.

[QUOTE=CityK]I'm not really clear by what you meant by the Y connector, but anyways ...

Thanks for the clarifications. What I meant by Y connector is, from the wall cable wire split into two parallel signals and one goes to my cable STB and one goes to HD HomeRun.

So, If I want to keep myself open for future STB HD signals as well, is it a good idea to I go with some capture card which supports S-video inputs etc like:
Hauppauge card data_pvr350

My requirement is to :
- capture HD channels from STB (Comcast, Dish, DTV etc) to capture card via S-video or some other means but not by cable input connector.
- record content and play back to TV.

Looks like in my case, I may have to give up on HD HomeRun solution.

Thanks.

It's not really possible to capture HD over S-Video. S-Video is standard-definition only. Firewire is really your only choice for recording HD coming out of a STB, assuming you can get the right STB from your cableco, content providers permit this, etc.

You could get nice-looking HD-downconverted-to-SD-resolution over S-Video.

I received my HDHomeRun on Wednesday and have been quite happy with it. If I hadn't had the firewall turned on for my MythTV box, it would have been incredibly simple to install. (Of course, the firewall was on, and I didn't figure what was going on until after I had recompiled MythTV from source.)

MythTV's capacity surprised me. At one point Thursday night, I was recording 3 HD programs (2 via the HDHomeRun), and watching a 4th, all without a glitch. I think MythTV of a year ago would not have been up to it on my oldish hardware, but version 0.20 performed great.

At other times, I was watching a live stream directly from the device wirelessly on my MacBook using VLC and their command line configuration tool. Also glitch free.

I can't think of any reason to prefer a PCI solution to owning an HDHomeRun for OTA captures. Maybe if the HDHomeRun were to clog up your home network, but that is about it.

huh

Not sure if HDHomeRun will work for me or at least how to set it up if it will. My cable provider is my phone company and the signal comes over fiber optic to the house. The signal goes into a box of some sort and the signal comes out over Cat5. The signal over Cat5 goes into a switch that then goes over Cat5 to the STB next to the TV. The Cat5 goes into the STB and coaxil goes from the STB to the TV. The signal comes in as mpeg2. It looks like the HDHomeRun would have to have a signal over coaxial to work right? The only way I can do that is from a STB and a post above says that you can't do that. Is there any way I can get this to work?

Not sure if HDHomeRun will work for me or at least how to set it up if it will. My cable provider is my phone company and the signal comes over fiber optic to the house. The signal goes into a box of some sort and the signal comes out over Cat5. The signal over Cat5 goes into a switch that then goes over Cat5 to the STB next to the TV. The Cat5 goes into the STB and coaxil goes from the STB to the TV. The signal comes in as mpeg2. It looks like the HDHomeRun would have to have a signal over coaxial to work right? The only way I can do that is from a STB and a post above says that you can't do that. Is there any way I can get this to work?

Forget what was said above. If the box connects to your TV via RF, then you can capture it. It would be nice to know what they are sending on the coax though. that can be determined by where it plugs into your TV. I assume you're talking about fios. I don't have it, be was assured it gives a siganal that can re recorded. If it plugs into the ATSC tuner of your TV then any ATSC tuner card can receive it.

So I can plug the STB into the HDHomerun and then on to my network? The only problem is having the STB is in a place that I can have access to it to change the channel but the HDHomerun will record correct?

So I can plug the STB into the HDHomerun and then on to my network? Not necessarily. Your situation is an unordinary case.

With a regular STB from a cable provider, you can't capture the STB's output with the HDHomeRun or regular DTV capture cards -- the STB would be doing the tuning and decoding and then outputting an uncompressed signal, not a compressed TS that the HDHR and other DTV cards need to have as an input. So the point is that, while there are specialized methods for capturing a typical STB's output, you just can't capture the output with the HDHR and regular DTV cards. See here for more details (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7328646&&#post7328646). [You can, of course, take the coax line in from the wall and plug it straight into the HDHR and it will work just fine with the unencrypted content ... and this is indeed the intended method of use with the HDHR]

In your case however, it may be possible to capture the STB's output with a HRHR (or any other DTV capture card) if, and only if this unique STB that your phone company has provided you with is not doing the tuning and decoding -- i.e. its just placing the compressed TS that was carried on the cat5 onto a coax out and relies upon your TV to do the tuning and decoding. Recall wnewell said:
It would be nice to know what they are sending on the coax though. that can be determined by where it plugs into your TV. ... If it plugs into the ATSC tuner of your TV then any ATSC tuner card can receive it.
That said, I would be pretty surprised if this STB doesn't behave just like the regular STB's do (i.e. does the tuning and decoding). In other words, unfortunately, I don't think you will be able to use a HDHR because of the uniqueness of the delivery chain that is employed in setup you described.

So I can plug the STB into the HDHomerun and then on to my network? The only problem is having the STB is in a place that I can have access to it to change the channel but the HDHomerun will record correct?
You are saying there's a coax from the fios box to the tuner input of your TV. If that's correct, and you change channels with the TV tuner, then you are getting unencrypted ATSC signals which should work with any ATSC tuner. Now, everything made sense until you said you had to change the channel on the STB. That might throw a wrench into things, so you need to clarify how you change channels. Do you leave the Tv on one channel all the time for the fios TV? If that's the case, then you could still use it but it'd require an ir blaster to change the channel of the STB.

You are saying there's a coax from the fios box to the tuner input of your TV. If that's correct, and you change channels with the TV tuner, then you are getting unencrypted ATSC signals which should work with any ATSC tuner. Now, everything made sense until you said you had to change the channel on the STB. That might throw a wrench into things, so you need to clarify how you change channels. Do you leave the Tv on one channel all the time for the fios TV? If that's the case, then you could still use it but it'd require an ir blaster to change the channel of the STB.


I have to leave the TV on channel 3 and then change the channel on the STB. So it sounds like this will not work very well for me then. The STB that my provider uses is a AmiNet110 and does the tuning. I was told that the signal I receive is mpeg2 and will later be changed to mpeg4. I was wondering if I would even need a tuner card and could just capture the signal once it was decoded on the computer through software. I think the STB has a firewire out but will have to look to make sure once I get home. Thanks for the help.

I have to leave the TV on channel 3 and then change the channel on the STB. So it sounds like this will not work very well for me then. The STB that my provider uses is a AmiNet110 and does the tuning. I was told that the signal I receive is mpeg2 and will later be changed to mpeg4. I was wondering if I would even need a tuner card and could just capture the signal once it was decoded on the computer through software. I think the STB has a firewire out but will have to look to make sure once I get home. Thanks for the help.
OK, now we've got enough info. you can reord the output of the STB, but to change channels automatically on the stb, you'll need an ir blaster. While this is a little extra work, it's not a huge deal. Just looked at the Aminet110 pdf. I've never worked with this stuff, but there's probably a way to bypass it comletely, plug the ethernet direct to the PC and record everything without the use of any tuners. This portion of the PDF is very interesting.:-)

Multicast Loader
The Amino multicast server software ensures that any DHCPconfigured
Amino set-top (such as the AmiNET110) connecting
to the network, may be rapidly and securely loaded with the
latest signed software image authorised by the service
provider. The multicast loader is installed on a Linux PC at the
head-end, and transmits the software image in a continuous
carousel, ensuring rapid start-up regardless of the number of
set-tops in the system. It is therefore completely scalable.

Also, the Aminet110 appears to be SD only. It doesn't have an ATSC ouput, only NTSC. might want to check with Alan F in the alt.tv.tech.hdtv newsgroup. He also has verizon fios TV and can probaly help with how it works. Either way, you can record it. Just a question of what would be the best way.

SD is all that is offered at the moment but they are going to be making it avaliable soon and switching out the STB to a different one from the same vender and make the switch from mpeg2 to mpeg4 at the same time. It would be great if I could record right off the Cat5 and not have to use another STB to do so. I'll check out the group you mentioned and see if I can get more information. Thanks for all the help.

SD is all that is offered at the moment but they are going to be making it avaliable soon and switching out the STB to a different one from the same vender and make the switch from mpeg2 to mpeg4 at the same time. It would be great if I could record right off the Cat5 and not have to use another STB to do so. I'll check out the group you mentioned and see if I can get more information. Thanks for all the help.
I didn't realize they didn't offer HD. I use their fios phone/internet service but not their TV service. Free OTA HD is great. Can't see going back to sd or having to pay for TV for that matter. Good luck.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that they are going to HD but are not there yet and when they do, it will use a different STB. I was just trying to figure out what options I would have before the HD was ready. Thanks for the help.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that they are going to HD but are not there yet and when they do, it will use a different STB. I was just trying to figure out what options I would have before the HD was ready. Thanks for the help.

More than likely the HD stb will not have an ATSC RF out. If they did, that would be great but I wouldn't counbt on it.

I bought a Vizio 37" LCD and I havn't hooked it up yet. I was wondering if I still need to hook up an external antenna to get unencrypted HD channels if the TV has a QAM, ATSC, and NTSC tuner?

I bought a Vizio 37" LCD and I havn't hooked it up yet. I was wondering if I still need to hook up an external antenna to get unencrypted HD channels if the TV has a QAM, ATSC, and NTSC tuner?

I don't see how this is related to an HDHomeRun. The only way you could hook up your Vizio to an HDHomeRun is via an intervening computer of some sort. In which case you could hook the HDHomeRun either to a standard digital cable (QAM) source or an antenna (ATSC); hook the HDHomeRun to the PC via ethernet, and the PC to the monitor via DVI.

I bought a Vizio 37" LCD and I havn't hooked it up yet. I was wondering if I still need to hook up an external antenna to get unencrypted HD channels if the TV has a QAM, ATSC, and NTSC tuner?
Well, you've got to hook it up to something to get a signal. An antenna would get you ATSC (OTA digital/HD and NTSC.

I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone asking for advice on a new computer:

Generally, you will be better off buying a sustem with dedicated video RAM. Remember, Even in your case, where you may very well be running this thing headless, shared video RAM takes a chunk of your system RAM bandwidth just to send the display the information it needs. Make sure that the system you buy has an x16 PCI-e slot that you can add a graphics card to later.

In all honesty though, I haven't really used any system with shared video RAM where the system RAM ran faster than PC133, but it was so bad that it totally turned me off to the concept, so I have no experience with systems using DDR, or DDR2 shared Video RAM.