Dual DVB-S2 + Dual DVB-T2 on one card

[tony_park]

Excellent - I'll probably end up buying one of these after the digital switchover, and things settle down... Will test that DVB-T still works after switchover first of all...

However still tempted by the 4 channel dvb-s2 tuner... choices choices...

Tony

[milli260876]

are BG cards problematic? read a few posts about signal drop-out with the S2 and T2 tuners?? i'd love one of these tbh. along with the 6981 and nova-s2 think i could probably retire my nova-t !!!

[asm495]

I recently switched from two Pinnacle 7010ix's to two BGT 6981s (twin DVB-S2). I've had no problems whatsoever with them.

[davewilldo]

Hi Folks,
Thought I would report that I have used BGT3540 and then BGT3595 and have had good results from both.
Currently the 3540 is on a Vista OS and the 3595 is in my Win7 machine under the TV.
The latest drivers zoom into Win7 well and everything seems to work OK. The BG cards have superceeded my forays into most of the Hauppauge cards and I think they definately are one of the best products around for MC.
Support on the website is OK, latest drivers always available and some general FAQS which give good setup tips, email support is good, but only after you have nagged them silly by bombarding them with emails until they give in and reply!
I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH BLACK GOLD other than buying the cards, thought I would make this clear before my post looks like some advertising for them!
That's my experience, I hope it helps.
Regards

[holidayboy]

Now showing as £139 + VAT and shipping

EDIT:

BTW, what happened to the BGT3595 in the product list?

I've had an ongoing problem that BG refuse to acknowledge (the card completely disappears now and again - even during POST) and this makes me even more suspicious!

I think if an alternative to the 3600 appeared, I'd be looking at it - it's a shame because when the 3595 card shows up, it works great.

[WarrenH]

The new 3600 is OEM only so good luck trying to find one

[tony_park]

Now showing as £139 + VAT and shipping

EDIT:

BTW, what happened to the BGT3595 in the product list?

I've had an ongoing problem that BG refuse to acknowledge (the card completely disappears now and again - even during POST) and this makes me even more suspicious!

I think if an alternative to the 3600 appeared, I'd be looking at it - it's a shame because when the 3595 card shows up, it works great.

yep, they don't seem to offer much in the way of retailed products currently - wonder if they're being overwhelmed with support queries and have decided to offer only as OEM so save them needing to support the products.

I had a similar problem with my pinnacle 7010ix card - meant that a large number of recordings failed. Eventually even my script to reset the tuner on pc waking stopped working, so it was ripped out of the case. Never had the problem on 32 bit windows, but now using 64

[davewilldo]

Hi Chaps,
I have installed and been using the BGT3600 card in Windows 7 32 and 64 bit Home Premium under Media Center and have had good results.
Tuning the Terrestrial TV HD channels was no problem, it appeared to find all that is available in our area, however signal quality is so poor that Terrestrial HD is unuseable.
That's a freeview problem that most people have and will doubtless remain considering that terrestrial digital is never going to be a service that will work in this country. (They never got the old analogue system to cover the UK correctly so what they were thinking trying to go digital I do not know.)
Digital Satellite is fine except you have to re-scan individual transponders to get all the HD channels, then re-arrange them into the Freesat, (or your own), numbering sequence.
The Digital Satellite problems are more down to the guide listings being incorrect than card problems. If you do a full scan you can get just about everything, it just takes time to sort it all out how you would want it. And you MUST turn of the Media Center background channel scanning otherwise Windows keeps replacing the channels and wrecking the order you have made.
The AV inputs do not work in Media Center, I have heard of people getting them to work but I do not think it's under Windows, not Media Center.
Black Gold support takes the "speak no evil" route if challenged about it and goes quite. They have recently posted drivers that are supposed to address this problem but I can report that they make no difference under Windows 7, so don't buy the card for AV inputs, best to use Hauppauge for that in my opinion.
So in my opinion a good TV card if you want Terrestrial and Satellite combined.
I hope this information is useful.
Cheers.