Recommend a HDTV Satellite PC Card....

zaphodbeeb

For freesat / FTA with HD and record, preferably two inputs so can record one watch another etc.

Clueless on this and looking for advice from someone who knows rather than just my doing a Google.

Running Windows 7 btw...

Also do these cards come as PCI or one of the newer PCI variants? Is there viable USB versions?

Thanks in advance :-)

needbeer

I have a Tevii S470 , it's PCIe, single tuner DVB-S2 card. It's got fast channel switching and havent had any problems with it using Win 7 x64, so I'd recommend it. They've also got a dual-tuner version of it now (S480).

I have a technotrend USB card as well, but I think a PCIe card is better, as the USB one needs an external power supply, and channel switching seems a lot slower.

zaphodbeeb

I thought from what some other posters were saying here that such a card could be got for the 30 - 40 quid mark...

needbeer

Sounds expensive. dvbshop.net has the S470 for €66

watty

Or even cheaper than €30

boomslang

Dabs.ie do a videomate S350 €25 plus shipping which looks pretty decent

watty

USB is supposed to be 5V @ 500mA max. =2.5W

Satellite needs 13V and 18V and up to 300mA

Thats nearly 7W when you add voltage converter losses. Also you need the power for the actual tuner and bus interface.

There are some expensive USB satellite "tuners" that are boxes with a separate PSU brick. An internal card is better.
If you want to ever control a Motor you need a card with a Power Supply connector as PCI or PCIe can't supply enough power.

you need to make sure any card is DVB-S2, not just DVB-S

This is card I have. Better is available http://www.hdtvtotal.com/module-pagesetter-viewpub-tid-1-pid-888.html

€75 http://www.dvbshop.net/product_info.php/info/p148_Satelco-EasyWatch-HDTV-S2-PCI--Basic-Edition-.html

This is more expensive as it has a CI for CAM (Pay TV) €92
http://www.dvbshop.net/product_info.php/info/p103_TechnoTrend-Budget-S2-3200-HDTV-S2--Budget-CI-TT-Viewer.html

€49 http://www.dvbshop.net/product_info.php/info/p2317_TeVii-S464-DVB-S2-HDTV-PCI-Diseqc-1-2-2-0-Low-profile.html

put DVB-S2 into their search box.

See also
http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/products/data_novahds2.html

http://www.dvbshop24.net/TT-Budget/DVB-S2-HDTV:::66_72.html

PeterDuggan

Anyone know if these will work if HDCP is ever introduced?

watty

HDCP depends on your graphics card's HDMI working properly. Virtually all do. Only some older DVI digital out don't work.

zaphodbeeb

http://www.dabs.ie/products/compro-videomate-s350-dvb-s-pci-card-6L3F.html?q=videomate


Presuming the image is right it seems to have two lnb inputs...

watty

Don't get one without DVB-S2

The S350 isn't very good, obsolete. The 2nd connector is a useless IF loop out. (perhaps for analogue Satellite box), Single tuner and poor quality analogue capture. I have one.

DVB-S digital TV signal input (F type connector), DVB-S TV signal output (Loop through, F type connector)

PeterDuggan

watty wrote: »

HDCP depends on your graphics card's HDMI working properly. Virtually all do. Only some older DVI digital out don't work.

Thanks. Will they record?

watty

Sure, the Satellite card recording simply records the demodulated Transport stream as it is with no MPEG, MP2, AAC or whatever decoding or examination of what is in it.

At playback the MPEG4 or MPEG2 decoders, MP2 or HE-AAC decoders etc are using the data as if it's a live signal.

Conceptually PC digital recording direct from a Tuner is just a time delay.

This is one reason why on "Pay TV" you need the valid viewing card, subscription and a working signal to "playback" as the HDD recording is played via the CAM and viewing card to decode the PayTV encryption. A Sky box adds an extra layer of encryption at record time though so that even FTA channels can't easily be played back without subscription.

PeterDuggan

watty wrote: »

Sure, the Satellite card recording simply records the demodulated Transport stream as it is with no MPEG, MP2, AAC or whatever decoding or examination of what is in it.

At playback the MPEG4 or MPEG2 decoders, MP2 or HE-AAC decoders etc are using the data as if it's a live signal.

Conceptually PC digital recording direct from a Tuner is just a time delay.

Ahhhh. Can I still edit out ad breaks and things from a recording with hdcp then?

...and/or compress to avi, mkv, or similar?

watty

As long as it's a FTA transmission, you can do what ever you want.
On the transmission "HDCP" is just a flag. The data is not encrypted. That would not be FTA.

PeterDuggan

watty wrote: »

As long as it's a FTA transmission, you can do what ever you want.
On the transmission "HDCP" is just a flag. The data is not encrypted. That would not be FTA.

Sorry to be dense on this but I've read that the BBC are thinking of adding HDCP to their HD channels because of pressure from the content providers. What implications if any will that have for people like us with pc's and satellite cards?

watty wrote: »

A Sky box adds an extra layer of encryption at record time so that even FTA channels can't easily be played back without subscription.

Can FTV be played back without subscription somehow then?

Thanks again for the advice.

watty

Absolutely no.

FTV (Free To view) = Encryption, needs CAM and viewing card to play back at all. Basically PayTV without a montly subscription, but needs purchase of viewing card which is revoked from time to time. An Annual charge in some countries. Basically low cost PayTV subsidised by a Broadcaster.


FTA (Free To Air) = No Encryption. CAM or Viewing card never needed.


The BBC issue is not about HDCP. It's about actually encrypting the EPG information and potentially adding DRM (encryption) so that only a Freesat HD box can view some HD programs and the Freesat HD PVRs will not record some programs, or only allow playback for a certain period of time or certain number of times.

HDCP affects Bluray playback. If the HD port (DVI or Component or HDMI) doesn't implement HDCP, then a Bluray disk is supposed to either not play at all, or only play in SD.
The DVI or HDMI connection is encrypted when HDCP flag is set. The Monitor or TV with HDMI input implements HDCP decoding.

The HDCP is only to stop the raw data from BluRay being "recordable". HDCP is of no value on FTA transmissions as they are not encrypted and thus can be directly recorded and played or copied.
The BluRay disk file is like a PayTV recording. It's already encrypted, so a copy doesn't work unless you know the key. HDCP is to maintain the BluRay encryption or PayTV encryption on the HDMI cable. It doesn't really matter to FTA broadcasts as you can record the Transport stream.

If the BBC genuinely make it that a PC can't record and playback transmissions, then that's not HDCP, that's making the Transmission FTV (with a Freesat HD Box having a "virtual" CAM and viewing card rather than physical card) instead of FTA.

It's likely the most they would be allowed is to encrypt the Freesat EPG. But with Ofcom you never know.

Carter P Fly

I have a hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 card in My PC, I waited around looking on ebay and got one for 55 euro shipped. Its been great so far with BBC HD etc working perfectly.