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NO cable available only Satilite is there a Ceton type solution???

post #1 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:06am
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In this day and age I am actually building a beach home in a place with no CABLE. Not that this a problem because the cable company in the city is about 15 years behind anyway.

Was going to us the Ceton, install on one PC, and then have the three TVs in the home access the tuner via an extender of some sort attached to the TV (assume the new Sony device would have worked?). Then all I would have had is a Ethernet connection to the TVs to the PC. And then the Media Center interface on the extender to access the tuners on the PC - that would have work right?

But without cable, I guess I am left with DISH with a Slingbox attachment? Does this work like the above? Do I need to have three of them so I can have three independent tuners? I had been kind of set on the Ceton, until I found out last week that cable was not running down my street (it is on the main road to access my street, just not down my street).

I need to get up to speed quickly with what is available, so any help on where to get "good" information would be appreciated.....

Thanks
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post #2 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:14am
There is not something like the Ceton or HDHR available for satellite on the market. I have seen pictures of them being tested alongside the older ATI external tuners, but never seen them make it to market.
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post #3 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:26am
Check into other solutions, such as video over DSL and FiOS. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Probably not, for you sound like you live in a rural area. I have friends in the same boat.
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post #4 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:27am
DirecTV was supposed to be working on a PC satellite tuner but the project has long since been abandoned. Your only method of recording satellite programming to an HTPC is with a set-top box and a Hauppauge HD-PVR.
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post #5 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_video View Post

DirecTV was supposed to be working on a PC satellite tuner but the project has long since been abandoned. Your only method of recording satellite programming to an HTPC is with a set-top box and a Hauppauge HD-PVR.

As said, this is the only way in America. Europe is different, but their satellite tuners won't work here. The downfall with the Hauppauge is you can only watch/record one channel at a time. If you want multiple tuners, each Hauppauge will require it's own STB, but it will work with every satellite channel and record up to 1080i.

Another option, if you can receive OTA local channels, is to use a regular 2-tuner such as Aver Duet A188 to record your local channels so you can save the 'premium' Hauppauge tuner for non-local satellite channel recording. Most people find the shows they record the most are from local channels.
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post #6 of 12
5/8/11 at 8:56am
For Dish, you can get a modified VIP211 with an r5000-hd mod. Only one tuner per stb, so you need 4 to match the ceton card (this is more expensive), but will get you pure h.264 from dish without reencoding. No options at this point for Directv.

The FCC is trying to require a new standard ip based way for 3rd party devices to get video content (they call it allvid) but all the cable companies etc... Oppose it. If we had allvid today, what you want would be easy.

Thx
Mike
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post #7 of 12
5/8/11 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrwalte View Post

As said, this is the only way in America. Europe is different, but their satellite tuners won't work here. The downfall with the Hauppauge is you can only watch/record one channel at a time. If you want multiple tuners, each Hauppauge will require it's own STB, but it will work with every satellite channel and record up to 1080i.

Another option, if you can receive OTA local channels, is to use a regular 2-tuner such as Aver Duet A188 to record your local channels so you can save the 'premium' Hauppauge tuner for non-local satellite channel recording. Most people find the shows they record the most are from local channels.

If he can't get cable where he is living, he most likely isn't receiving an OTA signal...or at least a reliable OTA signal. I find that OTA varies quite a bit, but doesn't make it near as far as analogue did. It's much more finicky now that it's digital.
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post #8 of 12
5/8/11 at 10:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmerfreak0 View Post

If he can't get cable where he is living, he most likely isn't receiving an OTA signal...or at least a reliable OTA signal. I find that OTA varies quite a bit, but doesn't make it near as far as analogue did. It's much more finicky now that it's digital.

The main difference between analog and digital reception is that you could still get a crappy image with analog if you didn't mind watching TV in a snow storm. With digital, you pretty much either get it or you don't, although you can get a marginal image with lots of pixelisation. The secret to good digital reception is an antenna that's designed to work in your area. That's where sites like antennaweb.org, solidsignal.com, or tvfool.com are invaluable for good getting OTA reception.
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post #9 of 12
5/8/11 at 2:30pm
Living on the beach why the need for 700 channels of TV ?
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post #10 of 12
5/8/11 at 3:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 View Post

Living on the beach why the need for 700 channels of TV ?

This is exactly what I was thinking, especially in all the rooms of the house!

Enjoy the beach and some books, and have 1 DISH STB / TV Room if you really need it.

Just my 2 cents
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post #11 of 12
5/9/11 at 11:07am
If there is no cable or phone, you will need internet access to get guide updates.

But, in reality, as many have said, this is a beach house, enjoy the beach, camp fires with smores, and if really need TV, there are probably some OTA channels that you can get.
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post #12 of 12
5/9/11 at 5:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeSM View Post

For Dish, you can get a modified VIP211 with an r5000-hd mod.

they no longer provide support for Windows Media Center.
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