FTA and Satellite TV setup advice

Help with tuners from ATI, Hauppauge, AverMedia and more.
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DeadlyChicken

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FTA and Satellite TV setup advice

#1

Post by DeadlyChicken » Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:04 am

Hi,
If I want to set up media center to receive free to air dvb and a feed from a Satellite receiver, that shares some channels.

its a bit of an odd setup, in a poor reception area where free to air is a bit hit or miss, so they have this VAST satellite box which is just the same free to air channels but over a satellite link, and want to be able to utilise both inputs.

cheers for advice on cards and config.

barnabas1969

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#2

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:19 pm

Hi DeadlyChicken,

I don't have satellite setup with Media Center, but I have done some research about it in the past. There are also some users here in Europe and the UK who are using it.

Your post is a little difficult to understand. I think what you're saying is that you want to use a single dish with two coax feeds... one going to a satellite box, and another going to a tuner card in a PC. Is that correct?

If that's what you want to do, then you need (at least) a dual LNB so that you can run separate coax cables from the LNB to the satellite box and PC. If you want the PC to have multiple tuners (there are DVB-S/DVB-S2 tuner cards with 2 or 4 tuners on a single card), then you'll need to have even more outputs on your LNB.

You also didn't say whether or not you're interested in the HD channels. DVB-S tuners can only receive standard definition (SD) channels. DVB-S2 tuners can receive both SD and HD.

I'm sure that if you clarify your needs, someone who is actually using FTA satellite on their Media Center PC will respond.

barnabas1969

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#3

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:23 pm

I just re-read your post. Now, I'm wondering... are you looking to have both terrestrial AND satellite signals received by the same PC? If that's the case, then you'll need a tuner for terrestrial signals (DVB-T/DVB-T2 in Europe/UK, or ATSC in North America... you didn't say where you live)... and also a DVB-S/DVB-S2 tuner. You can definitely setup your PC to receive both types of signals. It's not terribly difficult to do.

You wouldn't need the satellite box anymore, unless you want to keep it. In that case, see my post above.

Again, please clarify what you are hoping to achieve, and where you live.

kingwr

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#4

Post by kingwr » Fri Sep 13, 2013 4:31 pm

I am assuming that you are not in the US, but for completeness, this works without a hitch in the US by simply installing your respective tuners (ATSC and capture card for satellite STB) and setting up the two corresponding TV signals (e.g. OTA locals in your zip code and regional DirecTV) in WMC. WMC shows the guide with the channels side-by-side from the two sources. If your satellite provider provides local channels, you have to map the channels for those you receive successfully over OTA to the OTA source, and leave the others mapped to the DirecTV STB. This is can be done through Guide Tool or an equivalent. This may be handy if you have SD receivers for DirecTV but want high-def locals OTA, for example (HD implementations for DirecTV don't work very well and can't be played back on extenders -- at least I never got it to work).

If you are forced to re-set up your TV signals, you will lose the Guide Tool mapping, however.

barnabas1969

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#5

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:21 pm

I Googled VAST. It looks like the OP is in Australia. So... his terrestrial TV would be DVB-T/2. I believe he is also talking about FTA satellite, which means that he could use a DVB-S/2 tuner in his PC and skip the satellite box altogether (no capture card needed).

But... if he's talking about subscription satellite service, then yes... he would need some sort of capture device like the Hauppauge HD-PVR or Hauppauge Colossus (both for HD video capture) or some other SD capture device if he doesn't care about HD.

milli260876

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#6

Post by milli260876 » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:01 pm

I'd say it's likely he's looking at cardshare. dvblogic tvsource and the like..
if so he will only need a pci(e) card and most of the rest is software. if he's sharing from his receiver. cccam oscam etc...
Lee

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#7

Post by foxwood » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:07 pm

There's a link on the home page of The Green Button to the Australian Media Centre Forum. That might be a better place to ask for specific advice about the details of what are often region specific technologies.

DeadlyChicken

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#8

Post by DeadlyChicken » Sat Sep 14, 2013 4:00 am

HI thanks for the input. I know about the aussie media center community thanks, but tis pretty dead lately so I thought I would come here.

Yes the satellite setup although free to air, does require a set top box and a decoder card so I figured I would need an analogue card to receive from that. and a dual dvb tuner for the antenna. The satellite is kind of a backup as its a weak signal area for local reception.

so the channels should be the same but when the local antenna fails then we fail over to the satellite I guess. it is kinda messy.

milli260876

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#9

Post by milli260876 » Sat Sep 14, 2013 2:25 pm

Do you know the encryption? Some satellite cam card combos will work. But being fta that does sound convoluted!
Lee

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