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TV Tuner + XBMC (Frodo)

  • 12-02-2013 1:50pm
    #1
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭


    Since Frodo has support for PVR I thought I'd check it out for the craic. Have no TV point up in the bedroom (or anywhere upstairs) so some form of TV / recording would keep the GF happy.

    I have the laptops + tablet synced to the HTPC but channel streams from the likes of Filmon and whatnot are too unreliable at the moment. Plus, she wants a TV in the bedroom so I'd use one of the spare laptops and set it up to be synched with the HTPC.

    Source of connection is UPC analogue (Standard free channels) so I'm wondering what standard tuner card would be best for my HTPC, PCI slot (or USB even)? Don't want to overkill by buying a higher model card than needed.


Comments

  • #2
    Knasher
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,370 ✭✭✭Knasher


    If you are buying an analogue tuner card, you are best getting something with a built in hardware encoder, so your cpu isn't needed to turn the analogue signal into a digital file. Something like the Hauppage PVR-150 should suffice (make sure you get the PAL version (probably the PAL-I version, but I'm not 100% sure)), there are also dual tuner versions available (which you will need if you want to watch and record or watch two streams on different tvs at the same time. You should be able to find a second hand one pretty cheap on ebay. The backend will have to get its listings online, but that isn't too hard to do (at least it wasn't on the backends I've used).

    Honestly though if I were you, I'd consider getting a DVB-S2 and DVB-T card and putting up a satellite dish + saorview antenna. Analogue signals just aren't worth it anymore. The DVB-S2 cards are somewhat expensive, but you could get a USB DVB-T card for very cheap (about €10).


  • #3
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭Duggy747


    So I got a standard ASUS My Cinema-P7131 Hybrid DVB-T receiver on the cheap and gave it a quick whirl last night. Didn't spend too much time so while I have a system working, it's not fully completed or configured to the way I want it.

    This is just for testing sake and since it's only the UPC analogue signal at the moment I didn't want to splash out on a card and then not be satisfied with the current setup. I've no plans to setup satellite any time soon, either.

    Had to do a bit of reading in terms of finding the best suited backend for me but the card was easy enough to setup and tune once I tried a few.

    Originally wanted to try NextPVR but it only picks up the digital side of the tuner. It should pick up the analogue side since it's listed under it's config file but no dice, I'll return to it today after work and have a longer look.

    Anyways, running MediaPortal server at the moment which is running fine and streaming TV to everything in the house, including the Nexus tablet. A bit stuttery for the first few seconds of opening a channel but then it's perfect quality afterwards with no lag or stutter.

    Was hoping for it to be integrated through XBMC but they've RTSP streaming disabled at the moment and channel switching takes about 7 - 10 seconds so on the lookout for a good backend that works better with XBMC.

    Anyways, a fun little project to keep me busy :)


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