Newbie looking for advice

[Tag]

Hi all

I am new to these forums, and I have been reading the for a while on and off. I read about GBPVR sometime ago, I was inpressed by the support given by the community as well as the actual program, and thought at some point in the future, I would like to build a PC and record TV inputs and then use GBPVR on the familys PC's / Laptops and look at the single source of recording, as clients.

If possible, I am looking for some advice, please excuse this post, I am a bit of a n00b on the recording, but PC wise, I am okay.

My ultimate aim is to record Analogue and Digital TV, maybe have 2 x duel Cards to record up to 4 channels at once, however, starting with a single.

The PC I am building is quite a decent spec, as below

Optical Drive - LG GGW H20L Super Multi Blue CD-R and HD-DVD http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduc...=CD-065-LG
Memory - HyperX/2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 (4GB) http://www.pcwb.com/catalogue/item/V0001741?
Mobo - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelm...3=584&l4=0
Case - AOpen G325 http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/ProductPag...=122116771
Processor - Core 2 Quad Q6600/775 2.40G FSB1066 8MB http://www.equanet.com/catalogue/item/V0001543

Okay now the questions

1) Can GBPVR be used as a client, ie, install andrecord at one source, and then installed on multiple machines and point to the recording directory to view recorded TV and / or other media on the network ?

2) Is there support presently, or possibly in the future for watching something you are currently recording ?

3) Has anyone ever tried to get SKY into their PC, maybe by using the Scart out on their Sky Digital decoder and changing it into a normal ariel input, or does anyone have any tricks / suggestions on that one.

4) Some TV Cards have SVGA input's like the Leadtek DVR 3200 http://www.leadtek.com/eng/tv_tuner/over...nameid=377 can these be set as a recording channel within GBPVR ?

5) Any advice on a Good Duel Channel card, I have had a look around, but not totally sure, I would prefer two inputs (physical inputs) on each card, and preferably PCI-e x 1

6) I think the answer is no, however, I will ask nevertheless. Can GBPVR playback Blu-Ray or HD-DVD ? .. I have other software for that, Nero, just asking the question

Any help, advice gratefully recieved, and keep up the good work

Tag

[martint123]

Ah, a local

1) Yes, I have a server (old P4 with big disks) sat in the shack, running gbpvr with two tuner cards. One dual Freeview pointed at Belmont and one PVR150 to grab normal stuff and also from a Sky box. With that I can record three sources at once. An identical install, with slight config changes, turns gbpvr into a client PC, to control the server for playback and setting recordings up.

You might also be interested in a Hauppauge MVP, this is a small (tiny in fact) box that plugs in to the TV with SCART, the network with UTP and does most that a client PC would do - these are "magic boxes" for the price.

2) You can watch what is being recorded either as it happens or delayed (well in fact it is always delayed, but can be a short delay).

3) I'm recording Sky by using RF2 output and up coax to the shack. Back the other way, the PVR150 can send IR codes back to the sky box to change channels when needed (I use a digi-eye to get it back down the coax).

4) dunno

[jeeves5454]

6) GBPVR supports playing HD-DVD and Bluray through the addition of a Custom Task. I managed to set this up last night with a (now dated) XBOX 360 HD DVD drive. I had to install Cyberlink PowerDVD, and the Custom Task can launch the program through the Main Menu

Some Caveats -> 1) Arguments that will auto close the program on completion or stopping will help a lot. (Too bad I dont know what they are)
2) Argument to launch the program in disc mode (for the HD/BD drive) would be best. This has to be manually set the first time and everythime you watch something else in file mode. Again, I dont know the arguments to set this on launch.

Essentially if someone had a list of arguments valid for Cyberlink, then this is a definite and resounding YES.

[Tag]

Ah, a local

Indeed

You might also be interested in a Hauppauge MVP, this is a small (tiny in fact) box that plugs in to the TV with SCART, the network with UTP and does most that a client PC would do - these are "magic boxes" for the price.

Not Totally Sure why I would need this, but I will take a look at it

2) You can watch what is being recorded either as it happens or delayed (well in fact it is always delayed, but can be a short delay).

Great, I must have read an early post that said you could not, or mis-read more like

3) I'm recording Sky by using RF2 output and up coax to the shack. Back the other way, the PVR150 can send IR codes back to the sky box to change channels when needed (I use a digi-eye to get it back down the coax).

Not totally clear on this, I will have to check my old Sky Box, I believe it is an old Pace unit, probably 2 Scart out and 1 Coax in from the dish, will check

Thanks a bunch for the info, and the quick response.

Tag

[Tag]

6) GBPVR supports playing HD-DVD and Bluray through the addition of a Custom Task. .

Ah Great, well that should be easy enough, and I will look into this further down the line, I have purchased a copy of Nero8 with everything needed to playback BD and HD-DVD

Thanks for your input and quick response

Tag

[martint123]

Not Totally Sure why I would need this, but I will take a look at it

Instead of an expensive/noisy PC at a TV, an MVP is cheap, quiet and tiny. £41 at ebuyer, cheaper on ebay.
http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/product...iamvp.html

Great, I must have read an early post that said you could not, or mis-read more like

There are some incompatibilities with different stream types. Choosing mpeg2 and streaming works for most AFAIK

Not totally clear on this, I will have to check my old Sky Box, I believe it is an old Pace unit, probably 2 Scart out and 1 Coax in from the dish, will check

The Sky box has normal aerial in, sat aerial in, RF1 and RF2 out to TV's.
The RF2 also has the ability to receive remote signals from a digi-eye.

With something like the PVR150 tuner, you can set it up to always tune to channel 36 (for example) for satellite channels and to send IR signals to get the sky box to change channels. As well as normal channels for bbc1 etc.

[Tag]

Instead of an expensive/noisy PC at a TV, an MVP is cheap, quiet and tiny. £41 at ebuyer, cheaper on ebay.

Yeah I understand what it does, however, my aim is the full media centre PC playing BD etc. I already have 90% of the PC and built and working, just not sure on cards yet. The machine is quieter than the DVD/HDD recorder that is there currently, so in this case I may get a brownie point from the wife .. MAY !!.
Ultimatly, I will replace any fans with water cooling at some point, I just need it all running for a while to test heat in its natural environment.
I have 3 sata's in there, 1 x 400gb and 2 x 750gb, these will need cooling also

The Sky box has normal aerial in, sat aerial in, RF1 and RF2 out to TV's.
The RF2 also has the ability to receive remote signals from a digi-eye.
With something like the PVR150 tuner, you can set it up to always tune to channel 36 (for example) for satellite channels and to send IR signals to get the sky box to change channels. As well as normal channels for bbc1 etc.

I understand, I am a little slow, but I usually get there in the end.

Cheers and thanks for the help

Tag