Help on tv cards

Fallschirmjager

hopefully I can get some help on this and get some education on it from the people who know.

Setup
Ubuntu server backend running i5, also is plex server, upstairs, soon to be in attic.
Ubuntu front end on a nuc
Raspmbc on raspberry pi for bedroom
Sky HD box for tv in living room

Would anyone care to make some suggestions on what is possible. For example the tv in the bedroom has no channels other than the xbmc box. I would like to distribute some channels to that without paying sky a kings ransom and also I don't have the space for a second sky box upstairs.

I have considered running another cable from the controller on the dish outside thru the attic to the tv upstairs. Got about 50% of the way to completion on that before I got diverted. I realise that won't give me a lot of the channels but I understood I could get the free to air satellite channels, is that correct?

One other restriction is that my broadband is total pants. About max 300kb per second.

So is there a way I could get a 'card' to do the sky box work and then distribute that to the 2 tv's? Even the free channels?

I have looked into some of the plugins on xbmc (mashup if I remember correctly had a channel option) on free channels but it was never family friendly IMHO, any suggestions on that.

Thanks for the help

Knasher

If you already have a server running, I'd definitely be looking to put a dvb-s2 card in that and running some sort of backend (like mythtv) on it. Then you could watch the free to air channels on all the xbmc boxes, and also use the server to do any recording you want. I use a tbs6981, which has two dvb-s tuners on it (so I can watch or record two channels at once) so I can vouch that it has reasonably good linux support. I also have another dvb-t card for the Irish channels. http://whatson.freesat.co.uk/tvguide/ <-- those are the main channels that are unencrypted on freesat.

Johnboy1951

I have two TBS cards and only use Linux. Both dual tuner .... one DTT and the other Sat.

I am now running my backend using Openelec with TVHeadend .... and Openelec on the client machines, such as R-Pi & NUC as well as laptop and desktop using XBMC installed on Linux full OS.

Sometimes it is good to have the full mux/transponder made available on the LAN and not just the tuned TV channel.

So presently two tuners mean all devices on the network can view any channel from Saorview they wish, regardless the number of devices ...... until the LAN gets overloaded of course

XBMCHub on all clients provide all the options I want along with the LAN TV channels .... and of course recordings from any client are stored on the backend for all to watch.

I am not into a lot of stuff I see mentioned so I guess this is only a basic set up .... but it works very well for my needs.

keithclancy

Knasher wrote: »

If you already have a server running, I'd definitely be looking to put a dvb-s2 card in that and running some sort of backend (like mythtv) on it. Then you could watch the free to air channels on all the xbmc boxes, and also use the server to do any recording you want. I use a tbs6981, which has two dvb-s tuners on it (so I can watch or record two channels at once) so I can vouch that it has reasonably good linux support. I also have another dvb-t card for the Irish channels. http://whatson.freesat.co.uk/tvguide/ <-- those are the main channels that are unencrypted on freesat.

Is that any better now ?
I found MythTV and XBMC was a bit problematic, especially when it was importing the EPG from my Freesat Bouquet.

It was just a lot of messing for a lot of hassle and wasn't 'wife proof'

In the end I went for an Engima based receiver running OpenViX

Fallschirmjager

Okay I think I get it, sort of

So I need
A dvb-s2 card preferably dual tuner with good ubuntu support
I need a dvb-t for irish terrestrial channels with good ubuntu support

I need a crap load of coax
So I run 2 cables from the dish to the card in the server (I have a 4 port lmb thingy on the dish)

I then need a terrestrial ariel (saw thAt you can have them in the attic now as well which is cool as the server is going in there.)


Then I have a software backend server running to 'do something' like record on the server

Then the xbmc clients need, something, not sure yet

Then I plonk my arse down and from the xbmc client I can scroll thru channels on satellite or terrestrial from a TV guide interface.

Am I close or can ye not read this because of the tears in your eyes laughing

So the backend server software is...not sure
The xbmc client addon is a not sure

As for the mix/ transponder jeasus I have to google that, not a clue what that is or does or even means.

Thanks for the help and recommendations I will check some of the buy sites

Johnboy1951

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

Okay I think I get it, sort of

So I need
A dvb-s2 card preferably dual tuner with good ubuntu Linux support
I need a dvb-t for irish terrestrial channels with good ubuntu Linux support

let me correct that for you .....

I need a crap load of coax
So I run 2 cables from the dish to the card in the server (I have a 4 port lmb thingy on the dish)

OK

I then need a terrestrial ariel (saw thAt you can have them in the attic now as well which is cool as the server is going in there.)

Whether the aerial will work in the attic or not is dependent on your location and other factors.

Then I have a software backend server running to 'do something' like record on the server

The backend software, such as tvheadend, will manage the interfacing with the tuners, including tuning transponders, EPG, recording etc.
Have a look at some pics on line to get an idea of what is there.

Then the xbmc clients need, something, not sure yet

XBMC would need to load a plugin to communicate with the backend (tvheadend for instance) to manage the display of the chosen tv channel and to pass on info about what to record etc.

Then I plonk my arse down and from the xbmc client I can scroll thru channels on satellite or terrestrial from a TV guide interface.

After all the set up is done, yes.

Am I close or can ye not read this because of the tears in your eyes laughing

You are close, but probably need some more reading to get a better understanding of what part is managing which bit of the whole process.

So the backend server software is...not sure
The xbmc client addon is a not sure

As I said you choose the backend software and a suitable plugin for xbmc to interface with that backend software.

As for the mix/ transponder jeasus I have to google that, not a clue what that is or does or even means.

A mux or multiplex is a group of terrestrial channels transmitted on one frequency.
A transponder is a similar set up for Satellite.

Saorview has only two muxes presently, so with two tuners multiple devices can view any channel, because all the channels are exposed for each mux tuned.
In the case of Sat, all channels on a transponder are exposed per tuner, in a similar manner.
Of course there being hundreds of Sat transponders, and only two tuners, then only the channels on the two transponders tuned in by the two tuners will be exposed for use. But all channels will be viewable by multiple devices for the tuned transponders.

Thanks for the help and recommendations I will check some of the buy sites

My comments above about channels being exposed per tuner, does depend on higher-end tuner cards being used, as suggested.

For instance, cheaper cards do not have the function of exposing multiple channels and only tune into one channel on a mux/transponder.

Each mux/transponder could hold some 6 to 10 tv channels.

I hope I have not confused things even more

Fallschirmjager

Thanks John oh, much clearer..and for clarifying the mux/ transponder