Motorola 6200 + Firewire + BTV

[DancesWithLysol]

I live in Canada (and I'm Shaw subscriber in Alberta). To date my HTPC running BTV only records standard definition cable (3 tuners with standard cable, 1 tuner hooked up to a standard definition STB with a USB UIRT to change channels).

I would like to be able to record HDTV content as well, however the main issue I have with doing this is that my only option appears to be a Hauppuage HD-PVR with a STB (Shaw uses Motorola DCT6200 STBs) and a external tuner for each tuner that I want to have. This means that for each tuner there will be a huge mess of cables compared to what I have now (coax cable split to a couple PCI cards and just one set-top box).

Not to mention that by most accounts the Hauppage HD-PVR with BTV is rather sketchy right now.

Yesterday I ran into an interesting possibility: I read in some forums (Sage TV forum) that some Shaw subscribers have found that the Firewire port on the DCT6200 is active, working, and one can use it to both change channels and get a video stream. BTV Externinator, an addon for BTV also seems to support this sort of a tuner implementation. This means that for each "HD tuner", all I should need is a DCT6200 plugged into my computer via Firewire. That seems to be about as efficient as we can get without going to some future generation CableCard solution.

I have some questions for the BTV community before I go ahead and order a DCT6200 or two:
1. Does anyone currently use a setup like this (STB --> PC via Firewire using BTV Externinator for tuning and video capture using the Firewire connection)? I'm especially interested if you're a Shaw subscriber.

2. Is it possible to setup more than one STB with this kind of configuration using BTV Externinator, or can it only deal with one external tuner?

3. Is there something I'm missing? If the Firewire port on your STB works, then on the surface it looks like a much better solution when compared to a Hauppauge HD-PVR setup? I know that many cable companies disable the Firewire port, but for cable companies that don't, this appears to be an ideal solution and I'm surprised I don't see more people doing it.

[TomXP411]

I made the same query a few days ago, and I was told that the FireWire port only works for unencrypted channels (AKA ClearQAM channels), so it's no better than using a ClearQAM enabled capture card.

Having said that... I haven't tried it myself, yet. I do have a spare FW card; i may have to plug it in and test it one of these days real soon.

And yeah - multiple HD-PVR's hooked to multiple cable boxes would be a huge mess. In addition to the HD-PVR's, you'd need a USB-UIRT. (Only one Hauppauge blaster can be used, even if you have 2 or 3 Hauppauge devices, like I do.)

[Bigbird999]

RU sure that you can get HD QAM channels. FWIW, I am a Cogeco user with a Moto 6200 firewire enabled STB. I use it to change channels and dabbled with firewire capture but to my chagrin, the only chanels that are in the clear without 5c encryption are the SD channels that I am already paying for. I do get 1 or 2 HD channels but they are without sound.

Have you checked through the digital home Shaw forum http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36

They will probably have lots of info on this. I'm pretty sure that you won't find much in the way of HD or premium channels (except the occasional PPV that your neighbors order) in clear QAM.

And would you please issue a recall of your Alberta weather. It is -25 here today! By western standards (Saskatoon boy, here) it isn't cold but by eastern standards it is brutal.

BB

[DancesWithLysol]

Interesting.

I'll go find those forum threads again where people claimed to be able to watch video. They specifically said that the vast majority of the HD channels didn't have the "5c" flag and they were able to watch video via Firewire using VLC.

I'll be back with links to those threads.

[DancesWithLysol]

I finally had some time to go find some references to people successfully recording shows off of the firewire port of Shaw-provided set top boxes.


Here:

After trying a variety of firewire chipsets, the ones that work the best are the latest Agere chips FW323 v61 with no priming ( More Details Here) As for tuning, some SD channels simply will not work, for example all the Galaxy music only channels between 401 and up (we use our low def tuners via svideo for those). All our HD channels work including the "HD Plus" channels like Discovery HD, National Geographic HD, A&E HD, HD Movie channels, etc. However the 5C flag has been on in the past and maybe in the future.

I've found a couple other examples of people claiming to successfully use the firewire interface to record HD content using their PC. Some cable providers encrypt (5c=1) all their channels, but Shaw apparently does not currently do this.

I've decided to take the plunge and order a DCT6412 since it apparently has two tuners, and right now only costs $100 more than the single tuner 6200.

I'll update this thread with my progress.

[kelliot]

How did this work out? I've got an HD-DVR and my provider supplies Motorola 6416 III DVRs.
If I could use BeyondTV just for tuning that would be great. I can timeshift just using the HD-PVR.

[awsamuel]

I am a Vancouver Shaw customer with the Motorola 6200 STB. I've used firewire to connect directly to my Mac using Apple's Firewire SDK, and miracle of miracles, Shaw has left the Firewire ports active and YES! you can get HD channels. I don't get HBO/Movie Central (so I can't say whether that is encrypted) but all the HD channels we get with our HD box (CBC, ABC, etc) plus other digital channels that require the STB (e.g. our timeshift channels) all come through and work great via the Firewire ports. I'm able to do channel changing and recording, too.

I'm now working on a way to get a better interface via SageTV, which turns out to be a bit more challenging. But I can confirm that yes, the Shaw STB does indeed allow full access to channels via Firewire. It's a much wider range of channels than I have been able to access via EyeTv (using coax or S-Video) since that only lets me pull in the clear QAM (unencrpyted) digital channels, which means no HD and no timeshifting stations or superstations.

[mrgrocery]

I am a shaw customer and I am currently looking at this as well. Can anybody tell me how many pins the firewire is on the back of the 6200? I don't want to order the wrong wire.

To answer some previous questions I have experimented with firewire recording on MCE and it does work on all channels(including movie central) except sometimes it will not let a certain movie record saying the provider has disabled recording and some movies I could not place shift, which is why I am looking at firewire tuning with the hd pvr

[nemo129]

Originally Posted by mrgrocery

I am a shaw customer and I am currently looking at this as well. Can anybody tell me how many pins the firewire is on the back of the 6200? I don't want to order the wrong wire.

They are the 6 pin.

google motorola dch6200 user guide

-or-

http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/...df?localeId=33