WMC 7 & DirecTV options?

[newfiend]

I recently built my son his first HTPC. He lives with his mom and they have DirecTV. I haven't used WMC with anything other than CableCARD so I'm looking for guidance on how to best get WMC to record shows from his DirecTV receiver, if that is even possible?
We have a WinTV HVR-1250 tuner card and are open to other tuner options if you know of any. HD-PVR etc. Would like to be able to use WMC to schedule and record.
Also can the HVR-1250 still be used with a OTA Antenna since the digital TV change over in the U.S.? Would I just need a HDTV antenna to do OTA if my DirecTV options are limited?

Thanks for any help on this.
newfiend~

[kingwr]

HD from DirecTV is problematic. Unless your son is a computer geek, you may want to stick to SD for DirecTV. HD-PVR and Collosus are finicky devices, and once you get them setup and tweaked and working, you still have to reboot them (or your PC) rather frequently. Also, there is still no extender that I know of that will play an MPEG-4 video in a WTV container, which is what you get from the HD-PVR. The Echo reports to be able to do so, but I never got it to work in the early stages of that device (before sending it back). That said, a good SD capture card with an S-Video feed from a DirecTV receiver will look pretty good. This was the state of the technology a couple of years ago, of course, but I don't think it has changed.

EDIT: Another consideration is the receivers available. I used older satellite receivers for my DirecTV SD installation that had S-video ports. They may be hard to come by these days, so you are looking at composite, more likely.

[newfiend]

System specs for his PC:
Intel DG965OT mainboard
Intel Q6600 CPU
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GT 640 graphics card
WD Raptor OS drive
WD 3TB storage drive
Samsung BD optical
NMedia 5000 case
HP RC-6 ir receiver and remote control.

[IownFIVEechos]

HD-PVR works well with echo and xbox. Atleast they do for me. But it is not a smooth process etc... My resulting files always went to .ts extensions. I would give it a bitrate of 7 or so.

[mark1234]

Also, there is still no extender that I know of that will play an MPEG-4 video in a WTV container

I thought the Xbox 360 would handle this?

[newfiend]

Ok so if I am looking at composite inputs what would the best way of getting that into the PC? Suggestions? Thanks for the replies everyone!

[newfiend]

I believe the HVR-1250 I have has a s-video input.

[holidayboy]

^^^ Yep, or the Echo..... on a good day.

[newfiend]

So I guess the question is should I bother trying to get the satellite signal into the PC or just go OTA? I know it will be less channels etc but with a good HDTV antenna would that be a better option?

If I do go composite I will need to use an IR blaster off the HP RC6 ir receiver to the DirecTV box to change channels etc correct?

[jlader]

I have been using DirectTV or Dish for years. I end up switching every couple years because thye have better deals for new customers than for regular customers (Drives me nuts!!! ). Used to input off of S-video/composite w/ ATI 550 capture cards and they worked fine. With the option for HD, it was a waste not to use it. Been using HD-PVR (Not the HD-PVR2) w/ good success. Have used w/ both Ceton Echo & X-box without problems. Though there are quirks, you can work around them.
1. Hauppauge, like many others are not putting effort into MCE drivers. I found their MCE package problematic. Instead I use the DVBLink package from 1geek1tool (Vs 3.4). Again, they have discontinued any development on this & DVBLink hasn't taken over. Still, the older version works fine. It does require some occasional maintenance. changes in channel numbers require manual fixes in the DVBLink server.
2. The HD-PVR requires frequent power recycling (Turn off/on). It will do several days, but then stop working until it is re-started. This is annoying, but still workable. I regularly reboot my media center pc. I have set up a daily task to do this (c:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -r -f). To accomodate the HD-PVR, I changed it to shutdown, not reboot (c:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -s -f). This is scheduled @ 5:00AM. I have the computer, the HD-PVR, & 2 Silicon Dust Homeruns (Found they need occasion cycling) powered through a digital timer. The Time is set to turn off @ 5:05AM & back on @ 5:10AM. In the computer BIOS I set it to start after power failure, so when the power turns back on, it automatically starts-up. This has been working fine for a long time.
The only issue I have is w/ MCE. Since MS has orphaned it, 3rd party manufacturers, like hauppauge, have stopped any software development. I can see myself looking for an alternative to MCE in the near future (Perhaps XBMC). But as long as it's working & I keep getting the EPG I will probably stick with it.

[jlader]

By the way... An advantage to the HD-PVR being component, the copy protection flags are removed, so you can save/copy/edit the files . You do loose the Close captioning though, if you need it and only 1080i is supported.

[Scallica]

An advantage to the HD-PVR being component, the copy protection flags are removed, so you can save/copy/edit the files

The HD-PVR supports CGMS-A protection.

[jlader]

An advantage to the HD-PVR being component, the copy protection flags are removed, so you can save/copy/edit the files

The HD-PVR supports CGMS-A protection.

I have yet to have ANY recording copy protected through HD-PVR. With SD through the ATI 550s it was frequent.

[IownFIVEechos]

The HD-PVR uses the 'analog hole' and I think no info is included, it simply captures the stream so no way can anything be added into it. That's why you lose the Closed Captions etc..

[newfiend]

Ok I may look into the hd pvr as an option.. That will most likely be an option for him. The biggest issue I have is that my son lives in Seattle and I live in Massachusetts. So he will have to do the tv tuner configuration himself. He is somewhat PC literate but used to using a MAC. So this will be a bit different for him.

Should I bother installing the WinTV card in the PC at this point before he takes it home? I am not sure how he is going to go with importing the tv signal into MC yet so I want him to have the most options available to him. Thanks again everyone for the info.

[jlader]

Ok I may look into the hd pvr as an option.. That will most likely be an option for him. The biggest issue I have is that my son lives in Seattle and I live in Massachusetts. So he will have to do the tv tuner configuration himself. He is somewhat PC literate but used to using a MAC. So this will be a bit different for him.

Should I bother installing the WinTV card in the PC at this point before he takes it home? I am not sure how he is going to go with importing the tv signal into MC yet so I want him to have the most options available to him. Thanks again everyone for the info.

If you put in his zipcode, you should get the correct channel line-up, though you can't scan for additional OTA Channels. If he gives you his DirecTV channel line-up you can edit the DVBLink server & MC to match. W/O the DirecTV remote & reciever, you won't be able to configure the the IRBlaster.
for remote access of his computer, look at Team Viewer (Free for non commercial use):
http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

[newfiend]

Would a collosus be better/easier than the hd pvr external? Could I use that instead and set up the PC to reboot daily to help avoid missed recordings etc? Will that work with dvblink from 1geek1tool?

[newfiend]

Trying to keep as much external wiring fuster cluck to a minimum

[jlader]

Would a collosus be better/easier than the hd pvr external? Could I use that instead and set up the PC to reboot daily to help avoid missed recordings etc? Will that work with dvblink from 1geek1tool?

I've never used, though others have w/ success. You will need to use the 1geek1tool DVBLInk 4.0 beta server / plugins. I found them a bit quirky for the HD-PVR.
I have run into heat issues - the more in the case / the hotter. Hotter means more fans. More fans mean more noise. More noise, the Wife acceptance factor drops .

[kingwr]

Also, there is still no extender that I know of that will play an MPEG-4 video in a WTV container

I thought the Xbox 360 would handle this?

You are right about that. My XBox 360 did handle. But my Linksys DMA2100s and the Echo did not. If I remember correctly, the DMA2100s gave "unsupported format" error, while the Echo played the audio but the video was more like a slide-show than video.