[ftlee]

If you have a Sattellite Box (DSS) or a Cable Box hooked via S-Video to a capture card in your HTPC, how does it work? Specifically, how do you get the channels to change on both the HTPC and the set-top box?


Thanks,


Frank T. Lee

 

[Emarc]

Frank,

When you change the channel via the tuner on your cable box or satellite box, you will seen the channel change on your HTPC monitor. There are computer cards such as WinTV or Creative Digital Video Blaster which have a tuner so you can change channels via computer rather than the set top box. If your capture card has a tuner, I would use a direct connection since it is redundant to hook up a cable box tuner to a capture card with a tuner.

 

[salsbst]

If you have an external tuner, I would use that tuner and supply S-video to the capture card. Your external tuner is in a better environment (better shielding) and should, in most cases, do a better tuning job.


Also, if you send an RF signal to the HTPC, you won't get digital cable channels.


If you do go this route, you don't need to be concerned with the audio tuning features of your capture card, which can vary. On the other hand, this means you have to send audio from your set top box to your PCs sound card (or straight to the tv or stereo, which would preclude any VCR-type features for your HTPC).

 

[ftlee]

Well, I have DirecTV so, I have to keep the external tuner. I wanted to use my HTPC for PVR funtions but, it seems that I can only record what is currently playing on the DirecTV box because there is no way for it to interact with the EPG on the HTPC.


-ftlee

 

[salsbst]

Yes... although its not so much the EPG that is the issue, but the tuning (or whatever it's called in satellite land)... if you want to record one thing while watching another, you need two tuning devices. This is true for DSS just like it is true for cable.


I believe two DirecTV receivers is the way to go. If all you want is PVR, there's also DirecTiVO?

 

[clayfree]

Frank,


You will need a coulpe of pieces of software and a cable you can make yourself:

DirecTV Serial Control Utility by Kevin Timmerman

(sorry I don't have the link)


Advanced TV Scheduler by Jason Hoomani
http://hoocanhelp.com/pvras/


Kevin's utility uses a serial cable to change the channel on your external sat receiver.


Jason's scheduler take the info from TitanTV to schedule the recording and uses Kevin's utility to change the channel as needed. His scheduler was designed to work with the WinTV PVR 250 but I think he is trying to make it work with other video cards.


I use this set up and it works very well.


Clay

 

[chap]

WOW!!! Thats great. I have to try that.