Recommended Tuner for Comcast Digital?

[Tessian]

I've been using BTV happily for the past 9 months or so with regular cable using a Hauppage PVR MCE250 or whatnot...but next month I am moving into a new apartment where Comcast Digital Cable is included in the rent.

Obviously I'll need to buy a new tuner...but which one have people had the most success with Comcast Digital with HD and all?

Thanks in advance,

[queonda]

HDhomerun but will only do unencrypted HD. But to get all your digital channels you still need a cable box.

[Tessian]

Originally Posted by queonda

HDhomerun but will only do unencrypted HD. But to get all your digital channels you still need a cable box.

I'll have a cable box, yeah...so I've put this off but I know nothing about hooking BTV up to Digital cable, let alone what tuner to use.

[queonda]

I don't think we are on the same page. What exactly do you want to do? There are NO DIGITAL tuner cards.

the 250 is like a regular tv. What ever you are able to get with cable (regular or digital), you can see on your 250. If you want the digital channels, then you have to attach your digital cable box to your 250 via s-video and control the box with serial cable or IR.
and can get what ever you box gets (SD ONLY).

If you want HD, then HDHR will give you unencrypted QAM via cable.

[Tessian]

I guess that's what I'm not getting..I assumed I needed a new tuner because I was switching from analog coaxle to digital cable from a box.

I was always confused by wtf the IR blaster is...do I even have one? All I see in the back of the tuner is a coaxle connector, FM radio antenna connector, S-video, and component connectors...

This thing actually is set up to receive digital cable channels? And what's this HD Homerun?

[queonda]

Yes, digital cable from a box allows you to get digital channels you cannot get from an analog tuner. BUT whatever you can get on your tv without the box, that's analog and that's what you can still use your 250 for. The 250 also has s-video and you can connect the output of the digital cable box to get those other channels you can't get from the analog tuner. s-video don't use the analog tuner at all.

I don't know for sure but i think the 250 can use a minijack ir to control the cable box. Nope doesn't look like it. YOu can get a USB-irt and BTV will control the box through that.

HDHR: http://www.silicondust.com/

[Tessian]

I'm an idiot and just found out I don't have a 250...I have a PVR-150MCE...the kind that comes packaged with BTV for analog cable.

Does this change things? Should I just be cutting my losses and getting a new card, or is this salvagable?

[mayhem70]

You should have the AV plugs on that card to connect your cable box (non-HD). A IR blaster would be the last piece to purchase. That will control the cable box while BTV handles the front end part.

[sgregg]

I have comcast digital cable with a motorola dct-2425 cable box connected to a pvr-150, the pc control the cable box via a serial cable, works great no problems been using it like that for over a year

[btvfreak]

To be clear, the digital cable box allow you to view encrypted digital channels (Ex. ESPNHD, HBO HD, NFL Network, etc). Channels you cannot view via regular analog cable (cable direct to your TV or tuner).

If you want to be able to view these channels in an SD resolution, then all you need is an IR blaster, so BTV can change the channels on your cable box. The PVR-150MCE card will work just fine. A bit more complexity here is changing channels via serial cable. This is more reliable and faster since it's a hardwired solution. The problem is that not all boxes have a serial input, and some that do just can't make use of it. I have an old Motorola cable box (non-HD) and it has a serial port that works on it. You can find a null modem cable (serial cable) for cheap. I got mine at Fry's for $5.

If you want to view HD shows at HD resolutions, then you'll need an HDHomeRun as mentioned. Setup is not straight forward though. With it you can view and record any unencrypted digital cable shows (no cable box needed). Most, if not all, cable companies leave their local cable shows unencrypted, so you can view and record shows from NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS in HD.

HDHomeRun instructions:
HDHomeRun QAM + BeyondTV Instructions
http://projecthtpc.wordpress.com/200...-tv-hdhomerun/

[Tessian]

Thanks for the clarification...I know I'll need an IR Blaster, gotta love such a small thing is $50 when I coulda gotte the PVE150 (non-MCE) for $4 more and it woulda came with it...

What about the whole S-Video thing talked about earlier in the thread?

I guess other than that if I want HD I might as well just get an HD Antenna...that Homerun device is pretty pricey for someone who's got to deal with moving expenses currently...

[btvfreak]

Originally Posted by Tessian

Thanks for the clarification...I know I'll need an IR Blaster, gotta love such a small thing is $50 when I coulda gotte the PVE150 (non-MCE) for $4 more and it woulda came with it...

What about the whole S-Video thing talked about earlier in the thread?

I guess other than that if I want HD I might as well just get an HD Antenna...that Homerun device is pretty pricey for someone who's got to deal with moving expenses currently...

s-video: depends on how you want to capture the video from your cable box. s-video is the best quality although I just connect a coax cable from my cable box to my PVR tuner and the quality is great to me. If you do use s-video, then you'll also need to connect RCA (red/white) cables from the box to your tuner card since s-video only captures video.

Just getting an HD antenna isn't enough. You'll need a card capable of capturing the HD signal (transport streams). Your PVR-150 cannot. Over-the-air (OTA) cards run from $70 to $150+. The HDHomeRun is a dual-tuner, networked device that can capture OTA or unencrypted digitial cable. Pretty good deal to me for $170. You can place the HDHomeRun anywhere in your home as long as it's connected to your network.

[Tessian]

Alright so basically I can continue using my current setup if I just buy the $50 USB-IRT...and if I want to start recording HD and all that fun stuff it's gonna start costing...so basically something I'll look into in a few months.

One last question-- right now I have a splitter set up so that I have my analog cable connected to both the Tuner and the TV itself (computer connects with analog monitor cable), this way I can still watch TV while recording without getting a 2nd tuner...

Would I be able to pull something like this off with Digital? I'm assuming the cable box would have some problems with this...but I'm hoping that I could use BTV for all normal channels...and in case I want to watch something else while recording OR to watch HDTV I could watch straight off the TV...is this possible? The only way I see this happening is if I do the split BEFORE the cable box (then no longer needing a Blaster)...but then how much would I be losing on BTV? Would I lose channels after 125, or what?

[btvfreak]

Originally Posted by Tessian

Alright so basically I can continue using my current setup if I just buy the $50 USB-IRT...and if I want to start recording HD and all that fun stuff it's gonna start costing...so basically something I'll look into in a few months.

One last question-- right now I have a splitter set up so that I have my analog cable connected to both the Tuner and the TV itself (computer connects with analog monitor cable), this way I can still watch TV while recording without getting a 2nd tuner...

Would I be able to pull something like this off with Digital? I'm assuming the cable box would have some problems with this...but I'm hoping that I could use BTV for all normal channels...and in case I want to watch something else while recording OR to watch HDTV I could watch straight off the TV...is this possible? The only way I see this happening is if I do the split BEFORE the cable box (then no longer needing a Blaster)...but then how much would I be losing on BTV? Would I lose channels after 125, or what?

You could get a serial cable and try that if the box has a serial input. Older Motorola boxes do. I have one. That would be much cheaper, but if not, then the USB-UIRT is good.

You can split the cable before the cable box, and have one input going into the box, and another going directly into your TV or PVR. You'll lose the ability to view the digital channels in whatever you connect the coax that's coming from the splitter. For example, if you connect the digital cable box into your TV, then you cannot view and record digital channels with Beyond TV. It will be like your current BTV setup, but you can view the digital channels on your TV without interfereing with BTV recording.

[Tessian]

Can you define what exactly counts as a "digital channel" ? I assume you don't mean just HD channels...

You've been an awesome help, btw, thanks.