FTA DVB with PC DVR

[Shawn95GT]

Has anyone had much luck with this? It looks like most people are having mixed results with MythTV but I'd like to hear what anyone has working.

One of my SD Tivos is about to come off of it's pre-paid service and I think I'm going to retire it. When doing so I'd like to setup a HTPC in it's place. The resulting PC should be able to schedule / record by name from analog cable & ATSC at a minimum. If I can get it to work with my WorldDVB tuner and possibly get guide data for some of the FTA channels out there this will be a BIG plus.

I may end up going to MythTV but I'll need a new TV tuner card AND DVB device as I don't think the WorldDVB box is flying on Linux yet.

As far as I can tell...

BeyondTV doesn't support DVB at all.
SageTV does
MythTV does.

Am I missing any?

Thanks!

 

[Zero]

There are alternative solutions to this. I am in the same boat now and still trying to figure out the best solution. My advice would be to decide on the software and then go for suitable hardware. If you going for Linux, MythTV is very good, but not for the weak hearted. Setting up is not easy, unless you are good at Linux. I started building the HTPC with Linux (Ubuntu) and ended up with Windows instead. Check ubuntuforums / mythtv forums and select the hardware which has the highest support.

For Windows: I have bought DVBViewer Pro since it supports Skystar2 card. Still not finished the complete HTPC set up. GBPVR, Media portal are some other options and they are free too.. GBPVR supports DVB-S to some extent as I understand with some plugins.

 

[Shawn95GT]

I'll probably end up doing something hodge-podge... Like Beyond TV and manually record form DVB using DVBDream.

I'm also leaning towards Windows because I have an ATI HDTVWonder card (ATSC / NTSC) tuner I'd like to use.

Sage seems to be a really cool solution - I'll have to see if they have a demo version to see if the DVB support is worth pursuing.

Fun stuff - lol.

 

[iammike]

I've been using Sage with both KU and C band dishes for several months now. I use MyTheatre for controlling the DVB card, and the MT network encoder for Sage. It works pretty well. I have a VBox for the BUD, and its pretty cool seeing the thing start moving on its own when a Sage recording starts.

The Sage implementation of DVB sounds like it's still in its infancy. People have it working, but it doesn't support diseqc yet. I've got a couple PC's and 4 dishes tied to my Sage system through MT. I set a favorite up for Get Smart a few weeks ago. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid. It's amazing just how many of episodes there are on the RTN's. As of a couple days ago, I had something like 51 unique episodes recorded.

That reminds me, one really cool thing about Sage is you can get guide information for just about any channel. I've got just about all the G10 stations programmed (except KEGS) and I've also got stations as remote as the Virgin Islands mux on G4 on the BUD. Sage uses Zap2It for guide info, so all you've got to do is find the station id on Zap's web site and punch it into Sage and wait a few minutes and the guide populates. Finding the station id can be a challenge at times, but if you can find a U.S. zip code or a Canadien postal code with a provider who carries the channel, then you can enter the code on Sage and pull up the provider's listings and get the station id.

Mike