hvr-1600 on it's way!

[ram4x4nut]

Hi all,

I bought a Haup HVR-1600 and it should be here tomorrow. Anyone have any tips / suggestions / lessons learned they want to share before I install it? It will be installed in a box that already has a pvr-250 which will stay in the box.

I want to set it up so that the HVR digital side handles HD OTA and QAM stations, the pvr-250 handles all analog stations and then the analog side of the HVR handles analog stations if the pvr-250 is busy.

Thanks in advance!

Ram

[Anthony]

Ram,

> hvr-1600 on it's way!

Congratulations!

> I want to set it up so that the HVR digital side
> handles HD OTA and QAM stations

Unfortunately, it's an either/or situation, you can't have both. There's only one antenna connection for the digital tuner. If you connect it to an antenna you'll have to configure GBPVR to use the ATSC tuning mode to receive over-the-air digital broadcasts. If you connect it to cable, you'll have to configure GBPVR to use the QAM tuning mode.

The good news is "if" you can get the QAM tuning to work properly, your cable company should have all your local broadcast stations available as free QAM channels, no cable box needed (I read somewhere they're required by law to carry them, but I don't know how accurate that is). Unfortunately, based on my experience, QAM tuning with the HVR-1600 doesn't appear to be as reliable as broadcast ATSC tuning. It seems much more sensitive to signal strength and quality than the ATSC method. I've found a desktop HDTV antenna to work better than cable. Your mileage may vary...

> Anyone have any tips / suggestions / lessons learned they
> want to share before I install it?

When you configure your capture sources, make sure you only "enable" the stations that that tuner supports. For example, don't enable an analog channel on the digital tuner. I've made this mistake many times and GBPVR used the wrong tuner and I missed my show.

You'll need to install and/or select a MUX for the digital shows. I've had the best luck with the ATI MUX. The DVR-MS MUX comes with Windows, but produces files that are incompatible with most other applications. The Cyberlink MUX works OK, but there are often issues with audio/video sync.

> the pvr-250 handles all analog stations and then the analog
> side of the HVR handles analog stations if the pvr-250 is busy.

It should work fine. Configure one capture source for the pvr-250, a second capture source for the analog side of the HVR-1600, and a third capture source for the digital side of the HVR-1600. Enable the proper stations for each source, and you should be good to go.

Have fun!

Anthony