Can I use this TV card with Sky+ cable/dish?

ceejay · 04-01-2008 10:16am #1

I recently got this AverMedia A700 TV card which has a F-connector for digital satellite signal input. What I was wondering is whether I could use one of the cables feeding my Sky+ box and connect it to this card, and if I did, would I be able to receive anything, e.g. FTA channels? I haven't had the chance to just try it and see yet, but if it works could I put a splitter in the cable to feed both the Sky+ box and my TV card?

Thanks,

Ciarán.

Tony · 04-01-2008 10:24am

No satellite cables may not be split, you need a separate cable from the dish.

watty · 04-01-2008 12:20pm

However with a separate satellite grade coax from dish it will do all the non-HD FTA channels. (BBC, ITV etc).

ceejay · 04-01-2008 1:56pm

So I could use one of the two cables currently going into the Sky+ box, as long as I don't split it? Would this mean I could still use Sky+, apart from not being able to record two things at once or watch and record at the same time? Is there somewhere that I can get a list of what channels I could get FTA off the Sky satellite? Why would I be limited to non-HD channels - the TV card is supposed to handle HDTV I think?

Thanks,

Ciarán.

watty · 04-01-2008 2:26pm

In theory yes.

HDTV is problematical on PC.
Unless you have the right codecs and good graphics card support and a large 1920 x 1200 or better display, forget about HD.
Also on Satellite while BBC HD trial is on DVB-s, all the real HD services will be DVB-s2, I don't think your card does DVB-s2.

I have a 2.4GHz AMD64 with DVBS2 card and high end ATI graphics with H.264/MPEG4 support and the performance is terrible. An additional problem is that for best quality the monitor needs to go at 50Hz or 100Hz. Almost none go at 50Hz and few at 100Hz. PC LCDs also are often fixed refresh rate.

see ICDG in my sig for list of free channels. or the Sky+ box with no card (a few BBC & ITV not listed on your Sky+ are also free), the channels that you can view without a card are free

Tony · 04-01-2008 2:29pm

ceejay wrote: »

So I could use one of the two cables currently going into the Sky+ box, as long as I don't split it? Would this mean I could still use Sky+, apart from not being able to record two things at once or watch and record at the same time?
Ciarán.

yes and yes

ceejay · 04-01-2008 3:02pm

That's great, thanks to both of you for your help.

Ciarán.

Can I use this TV card with Sky+ cable/dish?

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