tuner recommendation, low power, dual, easy to work with satellite boxes

[scottlindner]

I am currently using an HD HomeRun for ATSC OTA recording. I need to add another tuner to resolve some conflicts. I'd prefer to get a dual tuner card, and one that does not produce a huge amount of heat. Some day we plan on getting either cable or satellite, most likely satellite TV. For now, we'll stick with the OTA broadcasts. Is there a dual tuner that works easily with the satellite tuners? I have never recorded QAM channels before since I don't have them at the moment so I might not be asking the right questions. If the tuner is totally irrelevant, then I'll just get another HD HomeRun, but if it does matter knowing that some day we plan to have satellite, I'd like to buy that tuner now. I doubt we'll ever need more than four tuners.

Scott

[mayhem70]

If your intent is to record in HD from a satellite box or cable stb, then there is only one option...the HD-PVR. There is no clear QAM on satellite.
If you went with cable, then you can go to the silicondust website and query your zipcode, they should have a list of qam channels.

[scottlindner]

Yes, my intent is to record HD. So the way this unit works is to snags the analog and that's how we beat the QAM? Anyone here using it successfully with Dish or DirectTV?

Scott

[dmk11]

QAM is used with cable company. no QAM in satellite boys. But yes, you're recording what comes out of the satellite box (or cable box, for that matter)

[TomXP411]

Another one for the Wiki... (I'm about to start one myself, if SS won't do it...)

There are 2 options for you, and they're not 100% compatible:
1. You can go satellite or digital cable and use the HD-PVR. It is the highest quality option, and it records HD, but it requires a set top box. (It looks freakin' awesome, tho!). The down side: you need set top boxes, and the unit is expensive: they go for $250 retail.

2. You can get an Hauppauge 2250. This is a FULL dual-input card. It has 2 tuners, either of which can capture analog, digital, or s-video. But you can only use the digital inputs with OTA TV or ClearQAM cable. You cannot get any cable-only channels in high definition.

What I've done is try to get the best of both worlds: I have an HD-PVR on my cable box, and I also have 2 hybrid tuners and one analog tuner. Wiith this, I can record up to 3 shows in hi-definition (as long as 2 are network TV shows) and one show in SD on the analog cable channels. this works for me, since most of the shows I watch are network shows (and all the shows that overlap are network shows).

[scottlindner]

Originally Posted by TomXP411

Another one for the Wiki... (I'm about to start one myself, if SS won't do it...)

There are 2 options for you, and they're not 100% compatible:
1. You can go satellite or digital cable and use the HD-PVR. It is the highest quality option, and it records HD, but it requires a set top box. (It looks freakin' awesome, tho!). The down side: you need set top boxes, and the unit is expensive: they go for $250 retail.

2. You can get an Hauppauge 2250. This is a FULL dual-input card. It has 2 tuners, either of which can capture analog, digital, or s-video. But you can only use the digital inputs with OTA TV or ClearQAM cable. You cannot get any cable-only channels in high definition.

What I've done is try to get the best of both worlds: I have an HD-PVR on my cable box, and I also have 2 hybrid tuners and one analog tuner. Wiith this, I can record up to 3 shows in hi-definition (as long as 2 are network TV shows) and one show in SD on the analog cable channels. this works for me, since most of the shows I watch are network shows (and all the shows that overlap are network shows).

This sort of thing would be good for reference in a Wiki. Thanks for the write up. You answered some questions I didn't even know to ask. I think the Hauppauge 2250 is what I'm looking for. Either that or another HD HomeRun. IF, what I choose for cable/satellite TV in the future doesn't work out with what I decided to go with today, I'll just deal with it and get yet another tuner. This really helped. Thanks.

Scott

[scottlindner]

I lost track of the benefit to the Hauppauge 2250 over the HD HomeRun for satellite or cable TV. Does it have a way of changing the channel on the tuner box? It seems like all it adds is composite and S-Video capture, and NTSC which is going to be useless very soon. If it's just another Clear QAM tuner, then I'll stick with the HD HomeRun to keep my HTPC slots available and running cool and quiet. Am I missing the value add to the Hauppauge 2250?

Scott