Home made DreamBox PVR

[grusome]

I use a Pansat 2700a that I picked up pretty cheap a year or so ago. Works well, on blindscan. There are others like the Traxis that a lot of people seem to like as well. Just be sure that whatever you get has -hardware based, blindscan. And I would stay away from the Viewsat's, even though the Xtreme is supposed to have hardware based blindscan, it stinks for controlling a dish & motor. ( I tried one ) And it still didn't seem to find everything that my Pansat 2700a did.
grusome



Forgot to mention, there are plenty of posts in the main fta forum on how to setup a dish & motor along with some diagrams and explainations.

 

[FordPrefect]

Thanks Grusome...

 

[FordPrefect]

Well the project has taken some time to get going…a week or so ago I finally got a dish PrimeStar 75e for free…I purchased a SG2100 motor (great deal $59 with shipping), I also found the elusive SkyStar 2 ver. 2.3p for $48.00, and just waiting to get it…will order cable and fittings and will try to install the dish and motor on a good day…I did purchased Coolsat 6000 premier black for $168 for backup, as well to help me setup the dish.

So almost all of the items are in place, will order box, a good Nvidia based graphics card and will try to use Tyan mother board with dual Pentium 3 Tualatin 1.13GHz CPU’s just to see if there are any DMA issues as was reported in a Linux forum…If I buy Technotrend Premium S-2300 DVB S card I do not foresee an issue with the power of the dual Pentium 3 Tualatin’s when it comes to decoding MPAG2, at least not with this card from what I read, and it provides great sound quality…

Soon I will have a great revised document of the project…along with lots of pictures of parts…

 

[FordPrefect]

I posted this from the DVB PCI cards, a member asked why I decided to use The Technotrend Premium S2300 since it had no hardware blind scan…

The Technotrend Premium S2300 is identical to Hauppauge Nexus-S 2.3, but additional Features! Tuner: ALPS BSBE1-502a, Audio Audio-DAC Crystal CY7C024AV-25AC…It also comes with Linux support, For Linux please use dvb-kernel CVS or Kernel 2.6. The current Kernel 2.6.12 uses the driver of the dvb-kernel CVS and works properly (23.06.2005)…

I purchased a SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.3P which has hardware blind scan support due to VP310 chip…so now I will combine SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.6C and SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.3P and Technotrend Premium S2300. So my Dreambox will have 3 tuners in one box, perhaps I will use one card with FORTEC STAR FS6D 180CM C/Ku Prime Focus Dish for C band reception, and the SS2 ver, 2.3P with my motorized PrimeStar 74e for Ku band reception…the SS2 ver. 2.6C I will combine with a DishNetwork dish I am getting for free in spring comes with a motor and a roof mount but I will set all tree dishes on pole mounts…

As I put all these elements together and start to test I will decide…on what kind functionality my Dreambox receiver will have…

 

[FordPrefect]

Does anyone know how to connect the equipment below…Iceberg any suggestions?

I purchased a SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.3P which has hardware blind scan support due to VP310 chip…so now I will combine SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.6C and SkyStar 2 Ver. 2.3P and Technotrend Premium S2300. So my Dreambox will have 3 tuners in one box, perhaps I will use one card with FORTEC STAR FS6D 180CM C/Ku Prime Focus Dish for C band reception, and the SS2 ver, 2.3P with my motorized PrimeStar 74e for Ku band reception…the SS2 ver. 2.6C I will combine with a DishNetwork dish I am getting for free in spring comes with a motor and a roof mount but I will set all tree dishes on pole mounts…

 

[bubba_x]

ford did ya get er done

well ford did ya get er done. i just found this and was considering doing the same thing.and if all goes well maybe building a few for some techies i know around here to sell. as for the card what type of support have you found as far as locked channel surfing? get back to me im interested in hearing how it turned out so i can start mine. i dont have the cash or spare parts to experiment with so your project is just what i need to see... thanks bubba

 

[FordPrefect]

well ford did ya get er done. i just found this and was considering doing the same thing.and if all goes well maybe building a few for some techies i know around here to sell.

I have not installed anything yet...I am waiting for my SS2 ver. 2.3P and I need to install my dish...soon.

as for the card what type of support have you found as far as locked channel surfing?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=51170

get back to me im interested in hearing how it turned out so i can start mine. i dont have the cash or spare parts to experiment with so your project is just what i need to see... thanks bubba

Well bubba_x, there are many such project’s all over the internet, that have been completed already, so you can get instant feedback. I am in no hurry to put together a home entertainment center, it’s not about the cost for me, it’s about getting it done right the first time, time is not a constraint for my project…but I am creating something I want or I will use and I want it to last at least 5 years…my intent was to share the knowledge of putting such a project together…software and hardware related to PC’s are my strengths, unfortunately my weakness is DVB S/T hardware and software, but I am reading a lot of information every day…I may build two version of this Dreambox…one with the hardware I already have and the other with very powerful dual AMD Opteron CPU’s server motherboard…all the rest will be the same as I have listed…software and hardware…I suggest that others that have financial constraints make slight modifications to the project such as graphics card, and either concentrate on a single operating system, instead of dual operating system…as well as other cost reducing methods, keep in mind you can always add as you go along.

 

[bubba_x]

cool thanks fer the reply ford . i will look around and see what been done in this category . i just wasnt sure if the dvb cards were worth it . with the dream box out .im more intrested if there will be key support for the pci boards the way there is for the dreambox...it seems to me with the surplus of older cpu's out there that evryone would be better off building a dream box of their own . that way you get the dvr and unlimited record cabability and the power is totally up to the end user .p3,p4 amd64 and so on..im just about to the point where im going to do it just to see for myself and then do as you have done with a step by step build up.. the hell with american chopper when we can have american cpu chopper/tv tester.................:

 

[FordPrefect]

I decided to add one more card to my Dreambox Reality I PVR Dual Tuner DVB S Receiver…I just have to decide which card to use…perhaps one of the members might make my decision easier.

I am leaning towered getting a MyHD MDP-130…no Linux support but sooner or latter someone will write a driver for this card…in the mean time I can use it with Windows XP PRO…this card comes with great software.

This is the also reason why I chose to use a dual operating system via (VMware Workstation 5.5); this is a huge advantage in a home theater PC. If you have a piece of hardware that is not supported with the operating systems you are using in your home theater PC, with a dual system this problem is eliminated. I will use Microsoft Windows XP PRO for my DVB T card which only has Windows XP PRO support…thus my Dreambox Reality I PVR TRI Tuner DVB T/S Receiver…hardware will always have software support.

This card is got all the features it has support under windows as well as Linux…AirStar-HD5000AV-PCI ATSC/8VSB HDTV PCI Card but it does not have QAM.

Check out the details at this link…
http://www.cyberestore.com/airstarhd5000avpci-atsc8vsb-hdtv-card-free-shipping-p-103.html

On the other hand this card has great support under Windows…MyHD MDP-130 PCI HDTV Tuner/Decoder Card with QAM with DVI Daughter Card…main feature is hardware decoding…let the hardware do the decoding…then I can use a dual Pentium 3 Tualatin 1.13 Ghz…

Check out the details at this link…
http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/mdp130.asp

Very soon I will start to put all the hardware together…I have one more dish to play with my brother ordered a special Traxis DBS 3500 receiver and a Xtreme II LNBF 0.3dB and a Winegard DS2076 30" Dish which I have put together but need few item, I will ghetto move it for a while till I get everything working then I will permanently mount all the dishes I have, I think back of the house (facing true south) will be the best.

 

[dishwasher]

Home made Dreambox

I saw this some time ago and I just wondered how it turned out and what things you would change if done over? Thanks I think it's a great idea and hours of hands on learning with promises of great rewards!

 

[FordPrefect]

I saw this some time ago and I just wondered how it turned out and what things you would change if done over? Thanks I think it's a great idea and hours of hands on learning with promises of great rewards!

Actually I have not done much, since I missed the opportunity to install the dishes, so it makes no sense to do anything else till dishes are installed. I did not ordered the case yet, not sure I like the case, I need to order VMware Workstation 5.5, graphics card, hard drives, just to get the project started…so looks like spring…I do have hardware on hand to install the operating systems but hate to do it twice…and I do not have the dishes installed hence can’t test anything…so might as well wait to get new hardware and do a single install…

What I have done is read more about various parts of the project, such as software, and hardware, different Linux versions that work great with MythTV, and good programs that work under Microsoft Windows XP. So bottom line time was not wasted, Rome was not built in a day. I have found many great links, couple great DVB T cards, which work under Linux/Windows…so a better revision of the project will be available soon, minus details on software installations since that needs to be documented well and with lots of pictures.

This project is unique, no one has created a dual operating system Dreambox DVR/PVR tuner, HTPC…I know that I will enjoy my home entertainment system much more knowing that my Dreambox can do much more then all the plain Jane systems utilizing a single operating system can do.

 

[dishwasher]

Hi FordPerfect! I am really interested in following your project. I have a Dreambox myself and though I like it it does have some draw backs as mine doesn't come with a hard drive and though some people have done it I am having trouble with watching it on my PC. Now that I have found some great sites for them they do have great support. But your project would be the ultimate. Do you believe that the same emu's and immages might be able to be used in your version? Thanks for your input

 

[randomq]

FordPrefect,

VMware Server is free, oddly enough. Try that out first and see if it does what you need!

 

[randomq]

Also, you might have trouble accessing hardware from within VMware... Might be better off running the PVR and VMware from within Linux, and then Windows within the VMware. Or just forget about Windows and run IceWM/Firefox/etc.

 

[FordPrefect]

FordPrefect,

VMware Server is free, oddly enough. Try that out first and see if it does what you need!

randomq,

Yes, I am aware that the VMware server is free. I already have the free server, but latest versions are much better then my old free version, and yes it will do everything I need it to do…that was verified few years ago, not in this application, FTA Dreambox project but non the less it passed for the application I used it for at the time…the only issues to resolve what OS will be the host…Linux or one of the versions of Microsoft Windows or Apple OS 10…not very important which any one will do the trick…

You can also go to a VMware demonstration and get the latest server version for participating…

 

[FordPrefect]

Also, you might have trouble accessing hardware from within VMware... Might be better off running the PVR and VMware from within Linux, and then Windows within the VMware. Or just forget about Windows and run IceWM/Firefox/etc.

randomq,

No hardware access issues from VMware. No hardware access issues from Microsoft Windows. And definitely no hardware access issues from Linux. I think the only issues are which OS will be the host, Linux or one of the other two…Apple or Microsoft or perhaps a third OS player. Suggestion of IceWM/Firefox/ will be look at, but I made up my mind on what I want in my Dreambox, I am going to leave certain choices for people that intend to use my project as a guide. But every suggestion is a great addition for this project, and all suggestions will be looked at to see how it can benefit the final product.

Thanks randomq.

 

[FordPrefect]

Hi FordPerfect! I am really interested in following your project. I have a Dreambox myself and though I like it it does have some draw backs as mine doesn't come with a hard drive and though some people have done it I am having trouble with watching it on my PC. Now that I have found some great sites for them they do have great support. But your project would be the ultimate. Do you believe that the same emu's and immages might be able to be used in your version? Thanks for your input

dishwasher,

I am not trying to replicate the exact image of the Dreambox, just most of the functionality that it offers…Thank you for following the project and you are welcome to use it any way you chose, a new version is coming soon with table of contents, introduction, etc…it will be quite lengthy and a choice of Linux versions as well as other OS’s will be suggested but not necessary adopted for the project…the final configuration will be left up to the reader, do as you chose, since being the end user you will purchase what you can afford, I am totally leaving those decisions to the end user, that was my intent all along.

Do not know enough about the Dreambox actual configuration, to be able to answer your question honestly at this time, what I know is what functionality Dreambox offers to the end user, and that is why I started the project, it is like Tivo on steroids. So I am not sure if one can use the same emu's and immages on my version of the Dreambox Reality. Feel free to provide any suggestions and information; it might be adopted by the project if it is worthy. Let me just tell you that my Dreambox Reality project is based on MythTV, and Fedora Core Linux, but Knopix will also be one of the choices for the less technically gifted end users.

 

[FordPrefect]

If anyone has any question or suggestions feel free to ask or suggest away…I thought I made my mind up on hardware but as I get into details, I decided that I am really going to spend the money; my intention is to build this HTPC once and not have to upgrade the unit every 3 years…the biggest change in my design is the actual box, and the most expensive piece of hardware…I have tree choices and I will make up my mind as I get close to putting it all together.

LIAN LI PC-V880B Black Aluminum ATX Desktop Computer Case, Black
OrigenAE X15e HTPC Case w/TFT Touchscreen and IR Module, Black
OrigenAE S21T HTPC Case w/TFT Touchscreen 1920x1080 TFT resolution and IR Module, Black

http://www.origenae.com/en/htpc_s21t.htm

 

[dishwasher]

Hi FordPerfect, I am wondering if you had a chance to work on this project yet, I bought a pci card Twinhaun 1027 and have finally got it up and running on windows and mytheatre, and I am thinking of doing the same thing (build a system) but I am wondering about how the Linux based system works as apoesed to windows, and if you have built the dreammachine can you tell me if you would have done anything different? Thanks