Best current UK TV setup for WMC

[cjmccarthy72]

Sorry if I am taking a slightly lazy approach here, but I am wondering if I could get some help with what is the best set up for TV with WMC- I have Win7

I have been living in Texas for the last 2 & 1/2 years- I took my HTPC with me (in fact closely guarded in my hand luggage!) I did not use my HTPC as a DVR- partly due to my lack of interest in American TV shows but also due to not wanting to invest $$ in American TV tuner equipment on what was a temporary overseas job.

I am now back in the UK and wanting some shortcuts on setting up TV for my HTPC. My last UK set up was a small HTPC with no space for internal tuners and so I placed a Blackgold 3650 quad DVB T2 PCI-E TV tuner in my HP Proliant N54L Microserver and used DVBlink software. To be honest I found the DVBlink to be a bit hit and miss and overly fiddly at times.

So what suggestions for getting HD TV into my PC in 2014? I have access to Freesat (S2) and of course Freeview (T2)- I would like to access HD channels on both and would like at least 3 - 4 tuner capacity. I still have the HP Microserver, and so I could use PCI-E in that- is DVBlink the best programme to use? However I like the idea of simple network HD TV tuners- do we have the equivalent of Ceton in the UK? Or should I simply be looking at USB tuners in my HTPC?

Thanks for help with this as I have not been keeping up with UK developments in TV tuners.

[holidayboy]

I've been using a tbs6280 for free view hd and a tba6981 and tbs6892 tuners for freesat hd for a while and they're very reliable in my setup.

There are issues with TBS tuners and certain motherboards so you do need to be careful.

Blackgold also do dvb-s2 tuners so that's another option.

I too found dvblink to be a bit fussy at times so eventually I just used 7MC to tune the cards natively.

Will your microserver be under the TV (I assume the sat coax is?), or are you still looking to use a small form factor PC at the TV?




Loyal MC users look away please..............




To get a server - client TV setup you could also look at non 7MC solutions..... (I use mediaportal now - gasp!)

[STC]

Oh my!

Prepare for the wrath of posts complaining that an admin of this site openly admits using another tech for TV!

[holidayboy]

I still love 7MC of course! I'm still setting people up with it whenever I build an HTPC for them.

We still use it to watch previously recorded TV shows as well (about 450 soap episodes that the other half can't miss!)

Sorry, back on topic now.......

[CyberSimian]

Or should I simply be looking at USB tuners in my HTPC?

I also use TBS tuners in my HTPC (two TBS 6284 quad-tuner PCI-Express cards), and I am also one of the people who has motherboard problems with the TBS cards (defective motherboard BIOS). However...

TBS also manufacture a DVB-T2 USB dual-tuner unit, the TBS 5281 (its predecessor the TBS 5280 may also still be available). I have never used either, and neither seems to be available from UK resellers. But there are internet and ebay sellers who advertise the 5281.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[CyberSimian]

We still use it to watch previously recorded TV shows as well (about 450 soap episodes that the other half can't miss!)

Is this because your existing recordings are WTV files? MediaPortal plays WTV files without problem, and even retains the resume point for partially-watched files. The only limitation is that it does not extract the metadata, so you cannot see the programme details for the recordings.

All of my existing recordings were DVR-MS files (from Vista), so I used a program to extract the metadata from the DVR-MS files and create the XML files that MediaPortal uses. Sadly, this program does not work for WTV files.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[holidayboy]

^ viewing old recorded TV in WMC is due mainly to nostalgia to be honest!

I still really love the interface, it's the client - server thing that ultimately steered me away from sticking with MC in the the long term.

Softsled has a lot to answer for!

[cjmccarthy72]

Cheers for this. I will check out the TBS tuners.
Yes, using a HTPC sat under a TV- a Sandybridge ASRock Vision. Unfortunately the TV is on the other side of the room from the Sat coax and the aerial coax. Also there is only one feed for a S2 tuner as not able to access the roof, hence the need for additional DVB-T2 tuners from Freeview. So considering using the Server next to where the coaxes are to save having cables running across the room- although I realise that I the HTPC/server connection will be only over wifi.

My router is situated next to my coxaes- so the easiest option would be TV tuners plugged directly into the internet router- and so be accessible to PCs and tablets- are there any HD options in the UK like the USA has with Silicondust and Ceton?

[mercalia]

I use cheap internalcard tuners I got from Ebay - Hauppage and videomate E700

eg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VideoMate-Vis ... 3a998a24a4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hauppauge-Win ... 2c8fc2bbd2

Paied less than £20 for mine. These are non HD though which is good enough for me

or some thing like this --

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PCTV-Systems- ... 2c734fdba8

[holidayboy]

I'm unsure about network tuners - there are certainly some out there that will work with dvblink. Anysee make one:
http://www.anyseedirect.eu/en/Network-T ... ducts.html

Another option would be to setup MC on the bigger PC where the cables are and use wireless HDMI to transmit to the TV?

I set up a system like this a while back where the PC was in a cupboard and it worked well. I used an IR repeter to transmit remote control commands to the IR receiver located in the PC.

[milli260876]

you can use serverWMC with mediabrowser and xbmc, I have it implemented in my mediabrowser setup but mainly use it to schedule recordings...