TV Tuner

SoAdCrAzY

SoAdCrAzY

SoAdCrAzY

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So, I live in a flat that already has an existing Sky satellite and two cables coming out of the wall.

I would like to watch the free TV channels and want to buy a cheap TV tuner card. The cheapest ones I have found only have a socket for one cable but would I need a card with two sockets (PCI, PCIe or USB)?

Sorry I am not very technical.

Thanks.
 
Hi,

The two cables are for a sky box, one to view and one for recording another channel. If you just want to watch live tv? then a card with one aerial connector on it will do, but the card will also need to be a freeSat one to use the sky dish anyway. ;)
 
You're looking for a DVB-C tuner, you can find various brands, Hauppauge are a well known brand that do PCI-E tuners.
 
Broady21.pb said:
Hi,

The two cables are for a sky box, one to view and one for recording another channel. If you just want to watch live tv? then a card with one aerial connector on it will do, but the card will also need to be a freeSat one to use the sky dish anyway. ;)
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andy_mk3 said:
You're looking for a DVB-C tuner, you can find various brands, Hauppauge are a well known brand that do PCI-E tuners.
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Thank you for the replies. I have looked and can only find a USB TV Tuner that supports DVBC. I'm not sure if I can post the link as it's not on OCuk. It's name is Hauppauge WinTV-dual HD - Dual, Triple Mode, TV Tuner for Freeview (DVB-T), Freeview HD (DVB-T2) and Cable (DVB-C) broadcasts £64.99.

Is this a good model for my needs? I'd like the option to record too.

Thanks.
 
I went through a bit of a breakdown about 2 years ago , that lasted about a year, in which I was trying to build the perfect Media PC.

Among my issues, I wanted to be able to watch one channel and record another.

I was mostly using Windows Media Center, but I also ended up buying a small number of other programs that had varying levels of success / ease.

Similarly, the Hardware that I bought was also varied too!

For a great deal of time, I was using 2 PCI cards, and I did have a real horror of a time, where certain channels, ITV being one of them, would simply randomly decide whether it was going to bother recording or not?

The issue was, that man ychannels would show up twice... For example I would have 2 x ITV 1's.

I would try to record a series, for example Emmerdale for the missus, and I set it up to recod the TOP of the ITV1 and then I would setup the bottom one to record corrie for example, but they would still be random on whether they recorded... I was adamant that this was because there was 2 cards, but it also sometimes failed to record een if I set it up to record BOTH.

What it was, was that the aerial was kind of picking up 2 signals... btu the TV itself was fine with it, but the computer saw both.

I am currently using a single TV card, but its a dual one. Its a DVB-T so it uses a Digital aerial NOT a SAT Dish. It also works flawlessly now, and thats because once I realised, I had the aerial moved a little, but now I am in a new house.

As has been said, hauppauge ( or however its spelled ) are possibly the ones to go for, but mine is a rather rare and nice one, that I cannot remember the name of.. Black-something or other???

I have bought tons on ebay and they have all given me some levels of rubbishness. I also have a couple of USB ones and they have been just as good as the PCI ones to be fair.

For me, some of the better software is DVB-VIEWER and I also love JRiver however, I have never bothered to try to setup Live TV on that... Dunno why? I just dont really seem to gel with Kodi even though I have used XBMC on and off for years... Im an idiot like that!

Have I even answered you here or like usual, I just waffled havent I?
 
If you are connecting using the Sky cables (for freesat) then you want a DVB-S2 card not a DVB-C as that is intended for Cable (ie. Virgin Media) connections.

If you wish to use an old existing aerial cable then as above, a DVB-T card will get you freeview channels.
 
Kol said:
If you are connecting using the Sky cables (for freesat) then you want a DVB-S2 card not a DVB-C as that is intended for Cable (ie. Virgin Media) connections.

If you wish to use an old existing aerial cable then as above, a DVB-T card will get you freeview channels.
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Make sence thanks for pointing that one out.

DVB-T (Terrestrial) DVB-C (Cable) and DVB-S2 (Satellite)
 
Thanks a lot for your replies. I've found a DVB-S2 card. I hope it'll be straight forward when working out which of the two cables goes in the tuner.

Thanks,
Matthew
 
The tuner is not working. I have used both cables that come out of the wall but neither pick up any channels on WMC. I'm not sure what else to do.
 
SoAdCrAzY said:
The tuner is not working. I have used both cables that come out of the wall but neither pick up any channels on WMC. I'm not sure what else to do.
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I suppose the question is: are those cables connected to anything...
When I had a new build flat, there was nothing actually plugged in at the other end until I activated Sky, and then some bloke came round and hooked it all up.
Maybe see if you have any nice neighbours, and you could either plug in your PC briefly to check you've not got a faulty card, or buy a dish secondhand and hang it off you balcony etc, aspect permitting of course.
 
SoAdCrAzY said:
The tuner is not working. I have used both cables that come out of the wall but neither pick up any channels on WMC. I'm not sure what else to do.
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First thing is to check the cables are actually connected to the LNB (that's the thing on the end of satellite dish arm).

I'd also recommend not using WMC, it was designed for cable and terrestrial TV and doesn't fully understand satellite systems. DVBViewer is a much more capable piece of software, it costs 20 euros but there's a demo version available so you can check it works with your system. You need to set it to scan the satellites at 28 degrees east (28E) to get UK Freesat channels.
 
your leads maybe freeview , satellite and radio(VHF). One of each. I have just got back on the Tv recording bandwagon. WMC works ok with freeview/HD. You can even reassign the channels/source on the guide. You could look at a company called Blackgold for hardware (high qual/hi price) .Software I found useful was videoredo, but that again is a bit overpriced (but works).
I haven't touched recording off satellite as that seems filled with murdoch-fear, murkiness.
 
Well, I'll check that the satellite dish is actually there still. I'll try dvbviewer.

There is also a freeview cable coming out of the wall on the other side of the room. Is there such a way to connect an aerial to that and make the computer pick up that signal?

Thanks.
 
SoAdCrAzY said:
Well, I'll check that the satellite dish is actually there still. I'll try dvbviewer.

There is also a freeview cable coming out of the wall on the other side of the room. Is there such a way to connect an aerial to that and make the computer pick up that signal?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
You need a DVB-T tuner for that I believe
 
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