Black Gold BGT3595 Now Available (Dual DVB-S2 + DVB-T + Analogue)

bob123456

Available for order that is, shipping week closing 12th July.

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3595

167 inc vat and delivery to Ireland.
It says OEM only but it went into the cart for me (didn't order though).

BGT3595 Premium multi-tuner PCI express X1 dual digital satellite DVB-S2, dual digital terrestrial DVB-T, world standard analogue terrestrial product

The BGT3595 is designed to transform a personal computer to a high-end audio video entertainment system supporting multiple external video streams and High Definition (HD) broadcast streams. (Worldwide DVB-S, S2 and DVB-T HD streams, not UK DVB-T2 HD)

Hardware receiver support - Analogue terrestrial, dual digital satellite (DVB-S2) including DiSEqC2.0, dual digital terrestrial (DVB-T)

Hardware External Video – Composite video CVBS, Separate-video, Component video YPbPr, Component video RGB

Hardware remote – IR remote receiver, learning receiver, remote wake-up

Hardware profile - Low profile solution supports half and full height PC systems.

The perfect Windows 7, Vista & XP Media Center TV partner solution:
1. 32 and 64 bit Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA) drivers
2. Windows 7 and TV pack 2008 Media Center satellite tuner support
3. Media Center remote control support including S3 wakeup (option)
4. External video equipment connection via adapter cable supporting Composite video - phono, S video - mini DIN, RGB – phonos and stereo audio – phonos

Watch, record and pause multiple Freeview (DVB-T) TV, FreeSat (DVB-S) and Analogue channels SIMULTANEOUSLY with the optional BGT3560 Ultimate PVR application.

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3560

The BDA driver supports multiple BGT3595 card installations.

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Mr McBoatface

Nice card, I've been waiting a good long while for these to appear . It was due to appear September/October of last year and then again at the start of this years so I'm not sure if that a good thing or a bad thing.

I'll get one eventually but I'll wait for a another bit longer and check out the reviews for any problems.

slegs

Have ordered one...lets hope it lives up to the specs...

Mr McBoatface

slegs wrote: »

Have ordered one...lets hope it lives up to the specs...

Be sure to let us know how you get on.

subway

any indication that they will actually ship to retail on that day.
ive been waiting a long time for these to be released and am ready to buy 2 once they ship and somebody provides evidence that they are as good as they seem

FrankGrimes

Have been keeping an eye out for these for a while. Was hoping they'd be available when I was doing my latest rebuild but I had to opt for a Pinnacle 7010i (or is it 9010?).

I have 2 x freeview satellite feeds and 2 x digital antennae feeds - is there any advantage this card will give me in the short term or is it more a case of it future proofing to support future formats and future Irish HD signals?

My Pinnacle does a decent job but on some channels (e.g. ITV 4) I get a bit of pixelation every few seconds - would this card likely help with that (assuming reviews confirm if does what it says on the tin)?

Mr McBoatface

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Have been keeping an eye out for these for a while. Was hoping they'd be available when I was doing my latest rebuild but I had to opt for a Pinnacle 7010i (or is it 9010?).

I have 2 x freeview satellite feeds and 2 x digital antennae feeds - is there any advantage this card will give me in the short term or is it more a case of it future proofing to support future formats and future Irish HD signals?

My Pinnacle does a decent job but on some channels (e.g. ITV 4) I get a bit of pixelation every few seconds - would this card likely help with that (assuming reviews confirm if does what it says on the tin)?

Hi Frank , In relation to Irish DTT viewing this card will offer nothing new over the 7010ix , both have DVB-T tuners.

The BGT3595 main advantage is it can receive DVB-S2 sat signals. Currently BBC-HD and ITV1-HD are on a DVB-S signal and can be received by the 7010ix, but it's likely these channels will change to a DVB-S2 signal.

I'm not sure when that change is going to happen but I've heard when BBC1-HD launches or some time after that but then again it could be a few years after this , I can't say for sure as I've not be following the subject.

I doubt the pixelation you're getting is due to the card, it may be down to a weak signal on those particular channels (slight misalignment on the dish) or the codec you're using.

martythespark

just wanted to ask you guys if this card can be used with vmc with media pack update to receive 2 sat channels at once. Maybe a bit off topic but seems as good a place as any. Thanks. Cant wait to get rid of sky+ so we can watch 2 things at once via xbox 360.

gtg60

Any update as to whether or not these are shipping to retail customers yet?

slegs

gtg60 wrote: »

Any update as to whether or not these are shipping to retail customers yet?

Hi gtg60!

I got notification that mine shipped but havent received it yet.

gtg60

slegs wrote: »

Hi gtg60!

I got notification that mine shipped but havent received it yet.

That'd be great slegs! Currently have 2x DVB-S tuners, 1x DVB-S2 and 3 x DVB-T tuners in my setup so looking forward to the upgrade!

slegs

OK got this during the week. It was in the post office for a couple of days!

Physically Installed the card easy enough.

The drivers werent automatically installed when Win 7 rebooted so I downloaded from the Blackgold site and manually chose the driver folder from device manager.

The devices then installed OK and all looks good. Even rebooted to be sure

Went into Media Centre directly and DVBLink (software for managing multiple cards towards Media Centre) but the card isnt recognised by either.

Thought it would be picked up by Media centre at least without issue. I still have my dual DVB-S Pinncale installed also and this still works fine.

Have dropped Blackgold a note to see what is next step.

Would advise people to hold off until these become generally available as Blackgold are using this "OEM" period as a some kind of Beta field trial.

Will let you know how I get on.

subway

thats a shame, keep us up to date, will be buying a pair of these once the teething problems are solved

Mr McBoatface

slegs wrote: »

OK got this during the week. It was in the post office for a couple of days!

Physically Installed the card easy enough.

The drivers werent automatically installed when Win 7 rebooted so I downloaded from the Blackgold site and manually chose the driver folder from device manager.

The devices then installed OK and all looks good. Even rebooted to be sure

Went into Media Centre directly and DVBLink (software for managing multiple cards towards Media Centre) but the card isnt recognised by either.

Thought it would be picked up by Media centre at least without issue. I still have my dual DVB-S Pinncale installed also and this still works fine.

Have dropped Blackgold a note to see what is next step.

Would advise people to hold off until these become generally available as Blackgold are using this "OEM" period as a some kind of Beta field trial.

Will let you know how I get on.

Apparently it needs a 4pin power connector to be used. See set-up manual - http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_Installation_Guide_1-0-0.pdf.

There is an issue with DVB-S2 channels not being detected on one of the tuners but BG have acknowledged the issue and are working on it - http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Categories/Support/Product_Hot_Topics/BGT3595/DVBS2_Detection_issue.

Some interesting reading from page 4 onwards on the avforum thread - http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-entertainment-pcs/1183026-latest-bgt3595-update-4.html

slegs

OK, didnt read the PDF about the power cable...will play around some more tonight.

gtg60

Interesting stuff, have heard on the DVBlink forum that there were issues with the second DVB-S2 tuner.

Keep us informed, even though I'll probably end up getting one from the next batch anyway!

gtg60

I see they're taking orders again, estimated delivery time is 14days, even if it only works as a dual DVB-T, DVB-S and DVB-S2 until they get the new drivers in order then it's still better than what I have at the moment!

So, I ordered one...

gtg60

Lastest from the website re the second DVB-S2 tuner:

w/c 30/08/10: We are now testing a new driver pack which addresses the above issue. We hope to release this very shortly.

gtg60

New drivers just released:
http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_20100906.zip

gtg60

Got mine today, tested with new drivers, seems to be working fine, finds all channels on both tuners, great bit of kit for the money and looks absolutely tiny compared to my Pinnacle 7010!!

slegs

Thanks GTG..must try these new drivers with my card tonight as i previously couldnt get it recognised by Win MC or DVBLink even though the card was recognised by the OS (drivers seemed to install correctly)

slegs

New drivers applied and my card is recognised! Now for some playing...

slegs

Works like a dream with the new drivers. Can now recommend this card fully.

Dual DVBS2 and Dual DVB-T for under 150eur - brilliant value

sfag31

thanks for the updates - does that mean the win 7 media center now recognises the card and works ok with it. ?

gtg60

sfag31 wrote: »

thanks for the updates - does that mean the win 7 media center now recognises the card and works ok with it. ?

Isn't that what myself and slegs have written?

sfag31

gtg60 wrote: »

Isn't that what myself and slegs have written?

Note quite - you said "
Got mine today, tested with new drivers, seems to be working fine, finds all channels on both tuners, great bit of kit for the money and looks absolutely tiny compared to my Pinnacle 7010!! "

I wanted to make sure.
I have past of experience of cards that are supposed to work with win 7 and even win 7 mce - and they the do former but not the latter.

There is something else you might be able to help me with.
I only have one pci-e slot - its currently taken up with a graphics card. I'd like to resort to the on board graphics and slot this new blackgold card into that sole pci-e slot - can you see any problems with that.?

gtg60

Yes, card works with Win7 64bit MCE and I haven't heard anybody complain about issues with it not working in 32bit either.

As long as your onboard graphics are powerful to cope with whatever you need then I see no problem, why did you add an external one anyway?

There are only 2 issues with this card at the moment, one is slight fitment problems in certain cases if you use the half height bracket. The second is that nobody seems to know how to use the Analogue inputs yet but then this card hasn't started public shipping yet so I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

Win7 has a bug handling dual tuners but have released a fix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981129

Highly recommended card, probably buying a second one in the near future.

Mr McBoatface

Does Windows 7 MCE support DVB-S2 natively ? If BBC-HD and ITV1-HD move to DVB-S2 will the only means of getting them on WIN7 MCE involve DVB-link ?

sfag31

gtg60 wrote: »

As long as your onboard graphics are powerful to cope with whatever you need then I see no problem, why did you add an external one anyway?

.

The external question: I held on to my old CRT TV for a long time. I only recently moved to a samsung LCD - 42 inch.
The CRT picture was superior to any flat telly. Still is when watching football although my new flat tv is not too bad.
Alas to connect my computer to it I had to add a card with tv-out.

thanks for the other advice.
I am gonna buy one of those cards.

gtg60

jobyrne30 wrote: »

Does Windows 7 MCE support DVB-S2 natively ? If BBC-HD and ITV1-HD move to DVB-S2 will the only means of getting them on WIN7 MCE involve DVB-link ?

Yes and MPEG4.

You won't need DVBlink if they remain FTA which they will.

DesG

Anyone know if there are linux drivers for this card, I would love to put a couple of them in my system.

Cheers, Des.

slegs

Dont think so yet

sfag31

slegs wrote: »

OK, didnt read the PDF about the power cable...will play around some more tonight.

I dont understand this bit. I thought these things were plug and play. I've having trouble. WMC finds this card but crashes when it trys to scan the satellite, The dvb-t parrt is fine - I can tune the Irish channels.

The manual refers to things like sli and crossfire enables and a pcb - what on earth are these.

What do I plug the 4 pin into.?

gtg60

sfag31 wrote: »

What do I plug the 4 pin into.?

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Categories/Support/Product_Hot_Topics/BGT3595/Not_able_to_find_DVBS_Channels

sfag31

gtg60 wrote: »

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Categories/Support/Product_Hot_Topics/BGT3595/Not_able_to_find_DVBS_Channels

wow - thanks for the quick reply - no wonder i'm having trouble. i'll do that and report back.

sfag31

Well even that wasen't easy.
I had to make up my own floopy extension lead and run it from an large 4 pin ide connector to a floppy plug and connect it that way.
No such adapter or extension lead came in the box. No instructions came either.

The card lights up now but Win 7 MCE still cant find any channels.
I tried dvb viewer with it but it also cant find channels - Is there any other pvr software that will work with this card.

Is there anything else I can try?

I only have one satellite source and have tried it in both lnb sockets on the card.

sfag31

Could it be that my problems are because I am using win 7 32 bit? After reading around the net it seems that only 64 bit people have had success?

gtg60

What driver are you using and did you not receive an email from Blackgold the day the item was shipped with full instructions?

gtg60

Instructions:
http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_Installation_Guide_1-0-0.pdf

Latest driver:
http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_20100906.zip

sfag31

gtg60 wrote: »

Instructions:
http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_Installation_Guide_1-0-0.pdf

Latest driver:
http://home.btconnect.com/blackgold/Downloads/BGT3595_20100906.zip

I'm using that driver (although the one on their support page is earlier ) - where did you get that one?
Don't know if i got an email - wouldn't have expected a shipping email to contain instructions.

The installation guide is not that helpful - eg it uses very technical terms - refers to PCB's when it means the pci card, floppy conecters when pc's stopped having floppys years ago, and so on.

I'm handy inside a pc but have never had to supply separate power to a pci card - would never have expected this.

The very least I would expect would be to have a power extension/ double adapter included. Power leads are pretty snug and short in my Dell PC.


I bought the card having read the recommendations here - was not ready for the little shortcoming - such as it not working with win 7 32 bit.

Can you confirm that you have got it working on win 32 mce setup - I needs ta know?

Oh - I should add their customer service is crap - they never responded - I mailed them 4 days ago.

slegs

I am using Win 7 64 but until I put the new driver on I was in the same boat as you...deinstall the previous driver and make sure you are using the new one. My case and power supply were brand new but there still was a floppy power commector...are you sure you didnt have one?

Mr McBoatface

If you have not already done so , you should install the MS dual tuner fix too. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67986423&postcount=27

Neffa2

Hi,

I have a "spare" HP PC which has two slots - one a PCI-E 16x and the other is a PCI slot. Both are effectively half-height as it is a slimline chassis.

I'd like to try the Blackgold card - will it work in the PCI-E slot (the BG card is PCI-E 1x - will it work (physically and electrically?)

Thanks for any advice!

gtg60

sfag31 wrote: »

Can you confirm that you have got it working on win 32 mce setup - I needs ta know?

Oh - I should add their customer service is crap - they never responded - I mailed them 4 days ago.

As stated before I never used it with Win7 32 bit.

I had problems when emailing them too, can't remember whether going through the site or emailing direct worked but one I got no response and the other took about a day to respond. You could always ring them.

Neffa2 wrote: »

I have a "spare" HP PC which has two slots - one a PCI-E 16x and the other is a PCI slot. Both are effectively half-height as it is a slimline chassis.

I'd like to try the Blackgold card - will it work in the PCI-E slot (the BG card is PCI-E 1x - will it work (physically and electrically?)

The card will work in either PCIe slot, 1x or 16x.

It could be a tight fit when using the half height bracket all depending on your particular case.

sfag31

jobyrne30 wrote: »

If you have not already done so , you should install the MS dual tuner fix too. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67986423&postcount=27

I tried this but its not for win 7 ?.

sfag31

slegs wrote: »

I am using Win 7 64 but until I put the new driver on I was in the same boat as you...deinstall the previous driver and make sure you are using the new one. My case and power supply were brand new but there still was a floppy power commector...are you sure you didnt have one?

I did have a floppy power lead but it was designed to reach a short distance - would have required a power extension or adapter - not easy to pick up just anywhere.
The only driver i have used is the one recommended here.

A fresh install of win 7 with the car in place causes the win 7 install to crash.

With all that in mind I'd have to say this is not an easy card to work with.

sfag31

Does anyone know if this card will work with any other pvr software?

sfag31

MCE question.

The recordings using win 7 mce are huge in size - 9 gig for 2 hrs and 25 mins.
Furthermore recording using mce and the new Irish terrestrial digital signal you end up with .wtv .h264 files which cannot be transcoded to a smaller format

Has anyone else encounterd this?

sfag31

gtg60 wrote: »

I had problems when emailing them too, can't remember whether going through the site or emailing direct worked but one I got no response and the other took about a day to respond. You could always ring them.

.

they have no phone number listed or email address. there is only an onscreen message send facility - gawd knows if it actually does anything.

gtg60

sfag31 wrote: »

I tried this but its not for win 7 ?.

Are you for real? It clearly states it's for Win 7.

support@blackgold.tv

+44 1865 338008

slegs

sfag31 wrote: »

MCE question.

The recordings using win 7 mce are huge in size - 9 gig for 2 hrs and 25 mins.
Furthermore recording using mce and the new Irish terrestrial digital signal you end up with .wtv .h264 files which cannot be transcoded to a smaller format

Has anyone else encounterd this?

9 gig sounds way too big. Is this HD?

I get about 1 gig per hour

There is a function in Win 7 to convert .wtv to .dvr-ms format (another MS format) which can be read by VLC and Media Player

See here

http://www.pcworld.com/article/196255/convert_windows_7_tv_recordings_to_dvrms_format.html