DVB-T in Ballinteer

MAJJ

Hi Folks,

This is my first post here so be kind:) I have been reading through this forum trying to pick up some info. I have a HTPC that will form the hub of my requirments, that's the background.

The PC came with a TV card that can handle analogue, DVB-S and DVB-T, so my hope is I can pick up some DVB-T signal.

I live in Ballinteer and can pick up the basic 4 channels perfectly from a coat hangar (the rabbit ears broke), I assume from 3 Rock. I know the idea of expecting DVB-T from a coat hangar is odd

The end plan is to get a FTA satellite dish and using an analogue signal or better still DVB-T and having it all hooked into the HTPC and use it as a PVR.

There are probably many questions here but I will try to limit them and using a bit of guidance, hopefully, I can go research a bit more.

Should I be able to pick up a DVB-T signal? and assuming my card would pick it up, what software (I have MCE)? and arial would be reasonable?

If am looking at a FTA satellite - something midrange - what would people suggest?

Really what I want, all in, is something that gives me the 4 Irish stations and a selection of the UK ones and anything else is a bonus.
A general awareness of emerging standards, and future proofing would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance if you've taken the time to read this. I suspect there may be too many questions and perhaps this should be split amongst 2 forums but I hope that this is ok to start with.

Cheers,
MAJJ

mjsmyth

With regards to some FTA equipment, well personally I use satellite.ie for my equipment, I also use them for my friends equipment. Its a personal choice, but service has always been excellent.

If all you want are the FTA channels at 28.2/.5, then a 60cm dish should do fine. Personally I have an 80cm dish on a motor, it makes for a wide and varied channel choice, especially if you like sports. Who knew that Romanian football could be so interesting...

Expect to pay about 40 to 50 euro for a dish. Others here will tell you the correct way to install a dish, I just point it in the general direction of where the neighbours dish points and fiddle with it for a about 20min till I get a good to very good signal.

Can you see Three Rock from where you are? Basically (not knowing Ballinteer all that well), is there a mountain in the way? You could pick up a cheap indoor aerial and see if you get anything using that. Depending on results, you may want to upgrade the aerial then.

Was there no software with the card? I presume it did come with software to allow you to view and record. Maybe Watty or one of the other guys and gals can offer more suggestions with regards to the software.

Windows MCE is fine, personally I don't like it myself, but it does the job. Its not a patch on XBMC as a media centre though..

anyway...

mj

Anyway.

watty

You can chuck stones at Three Rock from Ballinteer from my memory...

We used a coat hanger for aerial when I lived there as the Cable RTE was unwatchable and we cancelled it. Possibly I upgraded to A TV aerial lying on a hedge, but that might have been Limerick. I seem to think maybe a lot of front gardens were US style with no fences to make the cubby holes seem more spacious.

Krusty_Clown

You should be fine for the DVB-T from Balinteer. The problem with Media Centre is that it probably doesn't support Irish DVB-T (from an EPG perspective) given that there is no official Irish DVBT product.

Media Portal should serve your needs pretty well and it is Open Source. It even supports receiving more than one DVB-T channel on a single card at a time, as long as they are on the same transponder. Media Portal also supports multiple sources/EPGs so you may be able to use the Hybrid nature of your card, or add additional cards..

Make sure that your DVB-T card is supported before you begin though... Could be a waste of your time if it is not..

MAJJ

Hi Folks,

Thank you all for your responses. You too watty for your landscaping observations, only kidding I've seen your post count and guess you've been throught this topic a few times.

watty - your right about proximity to 3 rock, coat hangar reception, but I do have a wall in front of my cubby hole/home

mj - I like the look and the info on satellite.ie and will follow up with them. Thanks for the recommendation. The card is controlled via MCE and works fine for analogue terrestrial. But I can't seem to pick up any DVB-T but will follow up and try Media Portal as suggested by krusty_Clown.

Krusty_Clown - Hi there, been reading your stuff over at HTPC forum. Yeah I had a feeling that is why I didn't get any DVB-T on MCE. It's at least one reason. I have a d/load of Media Portal and will give it a go. I think I need to learn more about my card (and compatability) - it supports DVB-S,DVB-T and analogue but has 2 inputs at the back labelled analogue and DVB-S. Any guesses on which option is more likely to relate to DVB-T? I can think of reasons for both.

So if I understand things correctly and this next bit includes specific bits for me and an oversimplification. I can put a satellite on the back of my house pointed approx where my neighbours one is pointing. I will read through all the help on setup and might yet pay for an installer. I can have this motorised to change direction and pick up a signal from diffeent sattelites. Is this part done as I change channels or is their more required?

This next bit is specific to my home and to do with aesthetics and wiring. and the fact that we have finished with modernisation new skirting....etc so want to keep things neat.


The satellite will be approx half way up the back of my house. Does it need a power source? I intend on routing the wire up the back of my house to near the chimney and lifting a tile (already done for my digiweb broadband) and running the wire through the attic, downstairs through a conduit and out into where my TV lives. Would the signal degrade as this could be about 30 metres (very rough guess)? and would I need to amplify it.

I also would intend on putting a basic arial in the attic to pick up the 4 Irish stations and maybe DVB-T (but am less sure about that bit than all the rest) . Should I use the same kind of cable from the satellite and the arial - some kind of satellite grade cable.

So then, for the basic TV option, I end up with 2 separate feeds that I need to plug into my TV (arial feed), STB (satellite feed).

This is where Krusty might have a view from a practical use of a HTPC. I wouldn't want to have to watch TV through or have to have a HTPC powered up all the time, standby or off a lot of the time. So when recording it needs to have the signal feeds.

I think if I get the right LNB type I can run a additional cable from the satellite one to a STB and the other to the HTPCs TV card? I could also split the arial cable in the TV room and send it to both the TV and the HTPC.

Basically I am trying to plan in advance, learn from others experience in the hope I can get things right, quicker and cheaper. I will happy to report back how things go in the hope it can help others.


Feel free to shoot holes in the above - it's only my view based on basic knowlege.


Thanks for your time.

MAJJ

Krusty_Clown

Hi Majj, can you post the make and manufacturer of your TV card? Also, as mjsmyth has asked, did it come with its own software/drivers? Typically, PC-based DVB-T cards come with a product like Blaze TV Player.

You might have more luck breaking up your post into different threads on the different forums, specifically, the Satellite, HTPC and of course terrestrial..

JHMEG

Stay away from DVB-T USB sticks that come with Blaze TV. These are all based on an Afatech 9005 chip which is a pile o ****e. The non-compliant "BDA" driver has hooks which allow Blaze TV, and Blaze TV only, to change channel. As a result none of these work with MCE or anything else that's able to use a BDA driver.

However, they're grand if you're happy using Blaze TV and nothing else.

Krusty_Clown

Agreed.. I bought one on eBay for 20 quid, delivered, and it was fine for standalone laptop use, but didn't want to play with anything else (media centre, portal, etc.)..

So MAJJ, find out if there is a software package that works with the card that you already have..

pbirney

Krusty_Clown wrote:

You should be fine for the DVB-T from Balinteer. The problem with Media Centre is that it probably doesn't support Irish DVB-T (from an EPG perspective) given that there is no official Irish DVBT product.

Media Portal should serve your needs pretty well and it is Open Source. It even supports receiving more than one DVB-T channel on a single card at a time, as long as they are on the same transponder. Media Portal also supports multiple sources/EPGs so you may be able to use the Hybrid nature of your card, or add additional cards..

Make sure that your DVB-T card is supported before you begin though... Could be a waste of your time if it is not..

Thanks Krusty. Gave up on MCE 2005 when I could'nt get any signal. Installed Media Portal, added the Three Rock channel and scanned and got all stations first time.

MAJJ

Hi Folks,

Thanks to all for your advice.

Krusty_Klown - the card came with the HTPC and is a Medion SAA7131 triple capture card. The s/w that came with it was MCE and there is an option in settings that brings up some medion s/w that doesn't seem to work or offer any config options.

I am looking at media portal and the card may not be supported but I am looking at adding it using this option from the media portal wiki - http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/Add_TVCard_to_natively_supported_list

Will post the findings.

PBerney - assuming I get my card recognised, what do you mean by adding the 3 rock channel. Are there specific settings - can you please advise?



Mods - feel free to move or let me know if i need to split this up if this has gone off topic. I really don't want to do anything that goes against the spirit here.

pbirney

MAJJ wrote:

Hi Folks,

Thanks to all for your advice.

Krusty_Klown - the card came with the HTPC and is a Medion SAA7131 triple capture card. The s/w that came with it was MCE and there is an option in settings that brings up some medion s/w that doesn't seem to work or offer any config options.

I am looking at media portal and the card may not be supported but I am looking at adding it using this option from the media portal wiki - http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/Add_TVCard_to_natively_supported_list

Will post the findings.

PBerney - assuming I get my card recognised, what do you mean by adding the 3 rock channel. Are there specific settings - can you please advise?



Mods - feel free to move or let me know if i need to split this up if this has gone off topic. I really want to do anything that goes against the spirit here.

When you run the Media Portal Setup following installation, you will notice that Ireland is not listed in the "autotune" section. You will need to edit a file called "dvbt.xml" located in C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\TuningParameters and insert the following code:

- <country name="Ireland - Three Rock" offset="167">
<carrier frequency="738000" bandwidth="8" />
</country>

Save the file and restart the Media Portal Setup. Select "Television" ... "Capture Cards". Highlight your TV card & click "Edit". Select the "Autotune" tab and select "Ireland - Three Rock" from the "Country/Region" drop-down box. You can then scan the channel to add the stations.

Krusty_Clown

Hi MAJJ, well worth your while having a read/browse through this:
http://medion.adslweb.co.uk/

MAJJ

Hey hey hey Krusty,

I have an open post there too. I will spend some time on this and get back with the results.

Thanks,
MAJJ