Multiple chanels with satellite?

[Fred Hebert]

I am thinking about switching from extended basic cable (no box) to satellite. With Satellite I know I need a separate box for each channel I want to watch/record simultaneously.

How do these dual tuner cards work with satellite? I know I will need 2 satellite boxes to watch 2 separate stations, but don't these dual tuner cards have only 1 input?

Can Beyond TV control 2 (or 3) satellite boxes?

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Fred Hebert

I know I will need 2 satellite boxes to watch 2 separate stations, but don't these dual tuner cards have only 1 input?

While they can internally split the analog input to feed both tuners, they also come with 2 sets of composite/s-video/audio inputs, generally using a second bracket...

Can Beyond TV control 2 (or 3) satellite boxes?

With a USB-UIRT using different zones, sure.

[jkirk]

Originally Posted by Fred Hebert

I am thinking about switching from extended basic cable (no box) to satellite. With Satellite I know I need a separate box for each channel I want to watch/record simultaneously.

How do these dual tuner cards work with satellite? I know I will need 2 satellite boxes to watch 2 separate stations, but don't these dual tuner cards have only 1 input?

Can Beyond TV control 2 (or 3) satellite boxes?

works fine. i used to run two satellite boxes (dish) simultaneously(usb-uirt no zones) and was debating adding a third box. i was using a hauppauge pvr-500 dual tuner card and was debating adding a 150 on top of that but we moved and now have standard cable.

you will have to change the sat box's remote ir channel and manually program the remote in btv to use it without zones.

[Cal]

No issues. I have 4 bell boxes. Just make sure your capture cards can accept the inputs from the sat boxes. My dualtv card for example has 2 separate svid inputs on it. Thats one of the reasons I got it. Other cards sometimes need an add on to accept the extra inputs.

The usb-uirt can do as many sat boxes as IR sets you can program. No need for Zones if you can use IR sets. But not all Sat boxes can do that. If you need zones then you max out a 3. (I think).

I use 4 without any zone stuff being involved.

[Aerosmith]

Cal,


Can you describe how you set that up to work properly with your USB-UIRT setup? I know how to set the IR sets on the sat boxes (for example, using 4 different Dish 311 boxes) but how does the program know what set to use etc? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

-NrF

[Fred Hebert]

Thanks for the feedback, I was thinking about the PVR-500, but had not considered using the video inputs. I did some more research, and indeed it seems that many satellite boxes have video outputs, not just RF. Great.

I still don't fully understand about the USB-UIRT, but I am sure I will figure it out...

I am planning to eliminate the AIW cards in my and my wives PCs. They have always been a pain and the software that came with my latest one is the worst ever...

I replaced my old P4 2.8Ghz system and turned that in to my Beyond TV box. I love it and it blows the AIW software out of the water!

Right now the Beyond TV box has only one tuner, but I intend to add a dual tuner card then I can use the Beyond TV link software to watch TV on my PC. I am going to trash the AIW and just get a decent video card. As for my wives PC, I am about to get her a new system for her birthday, but I will NOT get another AIW.

Do you think my plan is reasonable?

[jkirk]

Originally Posted by Aerosmith

Cal,


Can you describe how you set that up to work properly with your USB-UIRT setup? I know how to set the IR sets on the sat boxes (for example, using 4 different Dish 311 boxes) but how does the program know what set to use etc? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

-NrF

set up your dish 311 boxes to different channels(see your users manual)

then follow these steps outlined on the usbuirt website(for each reciever). also when programming the ir commands give each reciever setup a unique name ex> box1, box2, box3, etc
TIP: turn off the recievers you are not programming in this way if you select the wrong tuner input you will see a blank screen at testing phase.

http://www.usbuirt.com/BeyondTV/beyondtv.htm

[jkirk]

Originally Posted by Fred Hebert

I am planning to eliminate the AIW cards in my and my wives PCs. They have always been a pain and the software that came with my latest one is the worst ever...

I replaced my old P4 2.8Ghz system and turned that in to my Beyond TV box. I love it and it blows the AIW software out of the water!

Right now the Beyond TV box has only one tuner, but I intend to add a dual tuner card then I can use the Beyond TV link software to watch TV on my PC. I am going to trash the AIW and just get a decent video card. As for my wives PC, I am about to get her a new system for her birthday, but I will NOT get another AIW.

an aiw card is not great for btv however the video card component is on par with other ati cards. actually i prefer ati cards since you can do dual monitor setups with clone mode easier than nvidia imo. i currently use nvidia so you won't go wrong there either if that is what you want. i used to run an 8500dv aiw with btv with no issues but since it is not a hardware encoding card you are going to have tradeoffs. personally speaking if you already own the ati cards use the video portion of those cards then record using hardware cards unless the ati cards are super old.

[Fred Hebert]

The problems I am having with the new AIW card are so bad I am just going to trash it! $275 in the can. The performance is REALLY bad and the drivers are flakey. I have been using ATI cards since the days of the EGA Wonder, yes EGA. The performance of the AIW cards has never been great, usually somewhere in the middle of the pack, but I am not a gamer and it has not been a problem. My new system is a HOT Core 2 Duo Extreme, and the AIW makes it run like a PIG. I went in with a friend and we bought 2 identical systems, except for the AIW, and his runs much better than mine. I have tried a few benchmark utilities and the video performance is incredibly bad.

I listen to my MP3s while working and often a screen update will cause momentary dropouts in the audio. Watching video is the same thing, almost anything will upset the video stream and when watching video there is a serious impact on system performance. Sometimes the audio just goes away and won't come back unless I power down. A soft boot doesn't even fix it. At first I thought I had a bad card, but I RMA'd it and the second one is exactly the same.

In comparison my older AGP AIW, which is now in my wives system works fine. None of the problems. Since all new systems come with PCI-X, I will have to buy a new card.

By the way the tuner in my Beyond TV box is not an AIW, it is an Avermedia card I bought for $65 and works fine.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Aerosmith

Cal,
Can you describe how you set that up to work properly with your USB-UIRT setup? I know how to set the IR sets on the sat boxes (for example, using 4 different Dish 311 boxes) but how does the program know what set to use etc? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

-NrF

Sorry, been gone for a week.
Do a search for my name. I've described it before in detail. I see another user described the basics. Thats pretty much it.

You setup the Boxes in BTV. Pick custom remote and learn each IR set into BTV. BTV takes care of what box to use when.