What is the benefit of a PC DVB Card

[glen4cindy]

I have 2 STB's already so I don't know if I can loop thru 2 receivers to have all three on the same coax with the same dish, but, I have to ask.

What benefit is there to have it on your PC? I know you can record shows this way so you would have a PVR, but, what other benefits are there to having one of these cards in my PC?

There are lots of them on Fleabay so, one would be easy to come by.

Do they have enough power to move a SG2100 motor? Do they support an Invacom dual L and C LNBF?

Thanks!

 

[qwert1515]

The PC DVB card can move the motor, but it is better to use a STB to do that (More control and the STB has more power).

The main advantage is that a PC card allows you to use codecs on your computer to decode other video formats that are used, for example 4:2:2, HD, and H.264. (You would need a very expensive receiver to do all of those, probably a commercial one)

They will support the Invacom as long as you are using a switch (The DVB card only has one input)

You can loop from another receiver, but remember only the master receiver controls the polarity (unless the receiver is off) (I currently have a Coolsat connected to my Twinhan PC card which is connected to another PC DVB card (BLSA) (Spectrum analyzer))

(Sorry, I am in a rush but I wanted to add as many things as I could think of )

 

[glen4cindy]

Will a DVB card show FTA DCII feeds?

 

[updatelee]

the genpix skywalker-1 will tune DGII, but only zero-key stuff, much of what lyngsat lists as Free is accually encrypted. its just encrypted with a fixed key. when you subscribe they send the key down, when you desubscribe they dont remove the key, so you can still watch the channel.

4dtv wont let you subscribe a skywalker-1 so you cant watch those channels.

the skywalker has a voltage output of 850ma, so its one of the few that have more then enough power to move a motor, it gets its power from a seperate power adapter, not from the usb port.

the skywalker can also tune dss. and turbo-fec 8psk, there is occationally some truefta on DN, not allways though.

 

[brentb636]

You should bear in mind that a PCI DVB solution is more expensive than a typical stb, but also much more flexible ( Updatelee has outlined the advantages ) . It is also a more rewarding learning experience. Using the skywalker-1 and Tsreader , you can learn a lot more about the satellite technology through hands on experience ( looking at the packet breakdown, etc and all the data overhead and descriptive information). There is a wealth of information on the Tsreader screen, plenty to keep you confused and enlightened at the same time. Tsreader streaming the data to VLC is possibly the most stable way to view the HD and 4:2:2 feeds available with an actual dedicated stb.

 

[Larry1]

a PCI DVB solution is more expensive than a typical stb

The PCI card is less expensive than a set top box if you do not include the price of the PC. In my case, I have a PC with two DVB PCI cards and an OTA USB tuner. The PC turns on and off throughout the week when I am not home to record my programs. On the weekend, I transfer the programs over to a hard disk for storage, or to a DVD for viewing at another location. (not at the computer). The computer is not just used for DVB and OTA recording, but as my main PC at home. A set top box would also perform these functions for me, but were not that available when I started out. I also wanted to archive the shows away, so the PC is great to transfer the shows to either hard disk or DVD without any loss of quality. The same PC is used for editing the shows as well. The PC is not left running all the time, but powers on and off by itself when needed. As with others here as well, the PC, the satellite and the OTA are a hobby to me and I am always making changes and planning what changed to make. i.e. looking at making yet another OTA antenna, and need to adjust some of my LNB's once the snow goes away. First though is to fix a fan that is starting to make some noise and set up some timers for KCBU not that we have some new shows.

 

[yapagaldil]

, much of what lyngsat lists as Free is accually encrypted. its just encrypted with a fixed key. when you subscribe they send the key down, when you desubscribe they dont remove the key, so you can still watch the channel.

could you explain this little more if you can.

Thanks

 

[Stefan]

could you explain this little more if you can.

Thanks

It's pretty much what he said except the part of them "not removing the key". I think actually it's just that there's a certain key that's used for all fixed key signals and all DCII receivers either already know this key or get it whenever they're authorized for anything. I say this because there are some DCII receivers that seem to be able to get fixed key signals out of the box (dsr-4800). Also once your authorized for one fixed key signals you can get them all. Note however that in addition to what he said there are also some signals listed on lyngsat as "free" that aren't even fixed key. They are actually encrypted , and not with the fixed key we're talking about here, but they are authorized for "free" whenever you subscribe to other services. An example of this is American life TV which is not fixed key but is free on a 4dtv receiver as long as you subscribe to something. Bottom line is the DCII is a lot more complicated than DVB.

4dtv wont let you subscribe a skywalker-1 so you cant watch those channels.

They couldn't if they wanted to. These adapters are just a tuner that just so happens to be able to tune to and lock DCII signals. They don't have the mechanism needed to decrypted DCII signals nor do they have a unit authorization number which would be needed to subscribe. The only way to get that part of the puzzle is to buy a DCII receiver which has all of that in it. Furthermore 4DTV providers are only allowed to authorize 4dtv receivers anyway and aren't allowed to authorize any others like commercial DCII receivers or even starchoice receivers, but that's moot anyway with regard to the skywalker, genpix, or dvbtech adapters because as I said they don't even have the necessary mechanisms in them anyway.

Bottom line if your interested in receiving DCII, your best bet is just to pickup a 4dtv receiver and subscribe to at least a small package or something. The only alternative is to buy a used commercial receiver on ebay and for most people here this is not the way to go because they're expensive, very complicated to operate, and in the end there's very little you'll really be able to get with them. Also DCII is really an older technology and the trend is away from it and toward more modern methods like 8psk dvb-dsng and dvb-s2. That's probably why a lot of commercial DCII receivers have been showing up on ebay lately.

 

[Anole]

commercial receivers: one reptiles opinion

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, or expand on the matter if I don't cover it all , but . . .

From my reading, the commercial receivers need either a conversion table or a calculator to set them to a particular frequency.
Most are made to receive just one channel at a time.
They do not 'scan' at all, and are very unfriendly to use other than in their intended mode: single dedicated channel reception.
Many of the parameters must be input manually.

There is some discussion in another thread about obtaining the entire mux or wideband transponder with a commercial receiver, then feeding that to one or more computers to decode the individual channels.
If I'm not mistaken, the same can be done with some DVB receiver cards...
It's even possible to record an entire mux, and then play back a single channel from it later.
The bandwidth requirements are considerable, and I've not run across anyone touting the benefits of that approach.
(though, I'll admit I have not been keeping up with the subject)
But, if I found it desirable, I'd darn sure pursue the matter with a computer and tuner card, not a commercial receiver.

edit: one argument in their favor, is if they will receive some format we cannot get with a DVB card.
And of course, folks who use them in their daily work will be quite comfortable with commercial receivers.
I'll leave that discussion to another time.

 

[dashaund]

Holy cow! You guys are getting super technical about this, haha. It's pretty awesome though and very enlightening. For me, the primary advantage of having a PCI DVB card is the ability to open the door to much more content that you could with a STB. Yes, the STB have come a ways over the past couple of years, but you still can do more with a PCI card. As long as you have a fast computer (and I'm talking 3GHz P4 or more processor speed in some instances...my AMD 3400+ wouldn't cut it so I stepped up to a 2.67GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo) you can watch anything you come across. If you're a sports guy, a PCI card is a must have. Unless it's a small college or high school something, it's almost never in 4:2:0 SD anymore.

 

[Stefan]

From my reading, the commercial receivers need either a conversion table or a calculator to set them to a particular frequency.

Some receivers are tuned in L band frequency and some aren't. Many of them are. However I believe the DRS-4800 can be tuned using actual frequency as mine does. So, the answer is it depends. However, if tuning in L band is too complicated for someone they'd best stay away from commercial receivers anyway as they will likely find them difficult to operate.

Most are made to receive just one channel at a time.
They do not 'scan' at all, and are very unfriendly to use other than in their intended mode: single dedicated channel reception.
Many of the parameters must be input manually.

Correct. Also if there are multiple channels in a mux, the receiver will only decrypt the one it's tuned to, Though it may pass the entire mux out the digital transport stream output all other program streams will be encrypted. Also the desired channel must be selected using it's virtual channel number. All parameters must be input, including FEC rate.

There is some discussion in another thread about obtaining the entire mux or wideband transponder with a commercial receiver, then feeding that to one or more computers to decode the individual channels.
If I'm not mistaken, the same can be done with some DVB receiver cards...
It's even possible to record an entire mux, and then play back a single channel from it later.
The bandwidth requirements are considerable, and I've not run across anyone touting the benefits of that approach.

Are we talking DCII here? My comments above were with regard to DCII receivers. Anyway, the digital transport stream out on most commercial receiver can output the entire transport stream, but one thing that complicates this with DCII is that the fixed key channels are technically encrypted too and they must go through the decryption mechanism and be decrypted before you'll be able to do anything with them. So, while you may get the whole transport stream only the virtual channel selected is decrypted.

The key point here is basically that with DCII even the "free" channels are encrypted and must be decrypted by a decryption engine inside the receiver.