Using MythTV with NTL Digital?

NullZer0

Just wondering if I was to build a MythTV box how would it work with NTL digital?

Would I only be able to record the channel that I am watching?

Anyone have one?

NullZer0

bump

Mossy Monk

iRock wrote:

Would I only be able to record the channel that I am watching?

Yes unless of course it has another tuner/cam etc. which would then make this thread a violation of board rules.

GerardKeating

Mossy Monk wrote:

Yes unless of course it has another tuner/cam etc. which would then make this thread a violation of board rules.

Not if the second tuner was also supplied by NTL, one can have more than one.

NullZer0

No, I would be talking about keeping my NTL box and connecting the Myth TV to it. Would that work?

Phibsboro

Hey,

I have myth set up with NTL Digital. A few pointers :-

- The current NTL boxes have no mechanism for changing the channel via serial or usb so you will need an IR emiiter thingy (which sticks to the front of the NTL box and is connected to the serial port of your myth computer).

- Logically if you only have one NTL box then when myth changes channel to record something, you will see your live channel change too.

- What I did to get around this was have a second NTL box solely for myth. This costs 7.50 a month i think.

- Bear in mind that myth is not saving the digitial mpeg stream directly (again cos the NTL box has no mechanism for getting at this stream) but rather using a conventional capture board (in my case the PVR-350) to capture the video output via the scart on the NTL box. So the quality, while good, is not as sharp as Sky+ (or presumably the UPC DVR).

The reality is that I don't use it that often now, tho it is handy for recording things for mates cos you can burn a dvd from the resulting stream. Given that the new UPC DVR is also 7.50 (I believe?) I intend to drop my second box and swap to the DVR.

C

NullZer0

Phibsboro wrote:

Hey,

I have myth set up with NTL Digital. A few pointers :-

- The current NTL boxes have no mechanism for changing the channel via serial or usb so you will need an IR emiiter thingy (which sticks to the front of the NTL box and is connected to the serial port of your myth computer).

- Logically if you only have one NTL box then when myth changes channel to record something, you will see your live channel change too.

- What I did to get around this was have a second NTL box solely for myth. This costs 7.50 a month i think.

- Bear in mind that myth is not saving the digitial mpeg stream directly (again cos the NTL box has no mechanism for getting at this stream) but rather using a conventional capture board (in my case the PVR-350) to capture the video output via the scart on the NTL box. So the quality, while good, is not as sharp as Sky+ (or presumably the UPC DVR).

The reality is that I don't use it that often now, tho it is handy for recording things for mates cos you can burn a dvd from the resulting stream. Given that the new UPC DVR is also 7.50 (I believe?) I intend to drop my second box and swap to the DVR.

C

But there would be a third party box out there that "could" be used to do this?

Phibsboro

iRock wrote:

But there would be a third party box out there that "could" be used to do this?

You are going were angels fear to thread there. But the reality is that I'm not sure there is something that could actually be installed into a computer and capture the stream directly. There may be 3rd party boxes that provide the same functionality as the UPC DVR but again we're going somewhere we really don't want these forums to go. I think if NTL are finally getting up off their arse and producing a DVR then we should support them in that effort, or if you do want the further functionality of Myth, get a second NTL box.

C

NullZer0

Phibsboro wrote:

You are going were angels fear to thread there. But the reality is that I'm not sure there is something that could actually be installed into a computer and capture the stream directly. There may be 3rd party boxes that provide the same functionality as the UPC DVR but again we're going somewhere we really don't want these forums to go. I think if NTL are finally getting up off their arse and producing a DVR then we should support them in that effort, or if you do want the further functionality of Myth, get a second NTL box.

C

Yeah, Im not going to go there on this one!

Anyway....

Can you tell me exactly what you can do with your setup and how it works?

adrian.s

iRock,

Since it looks like you're just starting out with Mythtv, I suggest you get started on some reading [1] ! Myth will work ok with NTL Digital, the caveats were mentioned already in this thread. Now, you can split the coax coming into the Myth Box and NTL Digital. Then have two cards, one to decode the analogue, and one for the tv out from the NTL box. Long and short of it is you can add as many different tuners as you like to the the myth box.

Personally, I use Ubuntu Feisty with an svn build of Myth. The link at [2] is pretty good for getting up and running.

I have split out my system to have a thin client in the living room, which is diskless and fanless, and silent. The backend sits elsewhere with 3 tuner cards in it, a Hauppauge 350 (NTL analogue), Hauppauge 1100 (DVB-T) and a Hauppauge 3000 (for satellite feeds, not configured yet due to lack of dish).

TV Schedules download nightly from radio times web site and usually has 13 days in advance. The client in the living room runs only the frontend, and allows full access to all recorded TV, stored music videos etc.

As far prices of these things, well the sky's the limit. Start small to see if you feel it's worthwhile and scale up if you find it getting the use. Right now, it's rare that I watch live tv, pretty much everything comes of the myth box.

Good luck if you decide to use it.

A.

[1] http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/User_Manual:Introduction
[2] http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php

NullZer0

adrian.s wrote:

iRock,

Since it looks like you're just starting out with Mythtv, I suggest you get started on some reading [1] ! Myth will work ok with NTL Digital, the caveats were mentioned already in this thread. Now, you can split the coax coming into the Myth Box and NTL Digital. Then have two cards, one to decode the analogue, and one for the tv out from the NTL box. Long and short of it is you can add as many different tuners as you like to the the myth box.

Personally, I use Ubuntu Feisty with an svn build of Myth. The link at [2] is pretty good for getting up and running.

I have split out my system to have a thin client in the living room, which is diskless and fanless, and silent. The backend sits elsewhere with 3 tuner cards in it, a Hauppauge 350 (NTL analogue), Hauppauge 1100 (DVB-T) and a Hauppauge 3000 (for satellite feeds, not configured yet due to lack of dish).

TV Schedules download nightly from radio times web site and usually has 13 days in advance. The client in the living room runs only the frontend, and allows full access to all recorded TV, stored music videos etc.

As far prices of these things, well the sky's the limit. Start small to see if you feel it's worthwhile and scale up if you find it getting the use. Right now, it's rare that I watch live tv, pretty much everything comes of the myth box.

Good luck if you decide to use it.

A.

[1] http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/User_Manual:Introduction
[2] http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php

Thank for that! - I'll take a look at that now and think I'll make a start in the next few days. Cheers!

Phibsboro

Nice set up adrian

Re what I use it for, I don't really use it anymore. I used to have it as my main source for ripped movies and music as well as using its PVR capabilities. But its music side was never great and when I switched over to a Rapsody N35 for movies I basically stopped using it. I am getting to point where i'm going to turn it off I think. Having said that, it has some features that NTL will never have - I used to really impress my mates in work by logging on to the web server and setting up recordings from my desk:) It was also a great techie challenge to get working - I got months of fun out of setting it all up.

zilog_jones

Do the standard NTL/Chorus boxes have an option for outputting S-video? It should improve the picture quality significantly for analogue capturing, though from my experience cheapo unshielded s-video cables make the picture quite grainy.

gerryo

zilog_jones wrote:

Do the standard NTL/Chorus boxes have an option for outputting S-video?.

Don't think so, but it would be great to get an RGB capture card, these are still far too expensive, however.

bk

adrian.s wrote:

I have split out my system to have a thin client in the living room, which is diskless and fanless, and silent.

Can I ask what you are using as a frontend?

Also would you know is anyone using a PS3 as a frontend yet?

BTW I use a TiVo as my current PVR, first with NTL Digital, now with Smart Vision.

adrian.s

bk wrote:

Can I ask what you are using as a frontend?

Also would you know is anyone using a PS3 as a frontend yet?

BTW I use a TiVo as my current PVR, first with NTL Digital, now with Smart Vision.

I use, this. It's thin enough that it sits behind the telly (wall mounted) and all cabling etc is completely out of side. No major problems with heat either.


Saw some reports of a PS3 being used as an F/E alright, check out the mythtv-users archive here

I thought the fact that it pulls 203 watts of power while idling was a little frightening though for a frontend!

Adrian.