Installing BGT 3600 TV Card?

brynne

My husband, R, has recently built an HTPC which has has an Intel DH61CR motherboard and uses a Yamaha RX-V367 home theatre system for audio. The video element is played through a projector, rather than a television screen. For movies and music, it works great. The only thing that was missing was live TV. So, after much research, R bought the above TV card, hoping that this would do away with our set-top Freesat box.

We've now installed and configured it using Media Centre, but although the satellite signal appears to be strong, hundreds of channels appear to have been detected, and the TV guide has downloaded, any attempt to play a TV channel results in the same message: 'Service is unavailable. No TV signal detected. Channel may be temporarily off the air. Try again later.'

What is going on here? Do we need the set-top box after all? Or is it more likely that there is something wrong with the way we have connected the satellite cable/other connections?

Any ideas gratefully received.

subway

Have you plugged the power from the psu to the tv card?
I think all the current bg cards need an internal power connection other tan he bus itself

brynne

subway wrote: »

Have you plugged the power from the psu to the tv card?
I think all the current bg cards need an internal power connection other tan he bus itself

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the power is plugged in correctly.

This might seem a ridiculously stupid question, but does the tv card require a set-top decoder to receive the actual programmes? We have been working on the assumption that it takes the place of the set-top box - otherwise, why bother with the card at all, unless simply to use the Media Center menu/programme guide?

subway

you dont need a set top box, it sounds like the issue that happens when the card is not powered correctly.
i would check its seated properly, that the 12v cable is connected and locked in, that the PSU is powerful enough etc.

after that, when you run the media centre setup, it should give a signal strength indicator. is this at 5 green bars? media centre has a channel database (doesnt pull them OTA) so it doenst need a signal to complete the setup.
make sure the sat cable is connected properly (to both f-connectors) or if you only have 1, make sure you only set that one up in media centre.
make sure you've selected the correct satellite in media centre setup also.

if all that fails, check the cable via the STB and make sure it hasnt been damaged somhow and that you still receive channels there.

if everything works except the pc, try some 3rd party software to test.
if you still dont get channels, its proabably a faulty card

brynne

subway wrote: »

after that, when you run the media centre setup, it should give a signal strength indicator. is this at 5 green bars?

Yes, we actually have 6 bars! From this, it doesn't look as if there is a power issue.

subway wrote: »

make sure the sat cable is connected properly (to both f-connectors) or if you only have 1, make sure you only set that one up in media centre.
make sure you've selected the correct satellite in media centre setup also.

There are two f-connectors on the tv card. Do we need to get a splitter to connect the single incoming satellite cable to both? Alternatively which one should we use if we only have the one incoming cable - Sat 1 or Sat 2?

We've selected 'Astra 2 A-B-D (28.8E), Eurobird 1 (28.5E)', Would we still be getting 6 bars on the signal if it were the wrong satellite? Certainly the Satellite Transponder Scan seems to find 500+ channels.

subway wrote: »

if all that fails, check the cable via the STB and make sure it hasnt been damaged somhow and that you still receive channels there.

Tested ok. So it would seem there is no issue with the incoming cable.

Very much appreciate your help. Thanks again.

subway

brynne wrote: »

Yes, we actually have 6 bars! From this, it doesn't look as if there is a power issue.

i dont have that exact card, so its hard for me to 100% diagnose the symptons, but the internal 12v power cable is to power the LNB so its possible you could receive a signal but not be able to tune channels if this was faulty.
keep it in mind as you continue troubleshooting

brynne wrote: »

There are two f-connectors on the tv card. Do we need to get a splitter to connect the single incoming satellite cable to both? Alternatively which one should we use if we only have the one incoming cable - Sat 1 or Sat 2?

a splitter wont work on satellite cable (well, you can split, but you can only tune 1 transponder at a time on each LNB so its not practical)
connect it to 1 or 2, when you do the Media centre setup it will find 2 tuners, untick the one that isnt connected.

brynne wrote: »

We've selected 'Astra 2 A-B-D (28.8E), Eurobird 1 (28.5E)', Would we still be getting 6 bars on the signal if it were the wrong satellite? Certainly the Satellite Transponder Scan seems to find 500+ channels.

its a while since ive done the intial setup, but afaik, the channels are preset in media centre, so a scan will pick up the 100s of channels in the list by default so dont take this as a 100% indication that everything is ok.

brynne wrote: »

Tested ok. So it would seem there is no issue with the incoming cable.

so you're looking at a card or setup issue.
to rule the card in or out, try installing this trial software
http://www.dvbviewer.com/en/index.php?page=downloads

brynne wrote: »

Very much appreciate your help. Thanks again.

no worries

brynne

Hoorah! Don't know what R did, but the TV card is now working.

Thanks again.