help choosing hardware for multiroom dvr setup

[ismisunderstood]

Hello all!

I'm in the process of building a multi-room DVR/HTPC system. I'm trying to decide on my capture cards now, and I'm having some trouble; hoping you all can help me out.

All my programming will be coming from cable set top boxes. It will all be SD. I'm planning on having just two cable boxes, and running them via some sort of IR blaster. I will be running the recording from a single server, then streaming the content to one of two different boxes.

I'm trying to decide now between two Hauppauge cards. Either the WinTV-PVR-150 MCE, or the WinTV-HVR-1600. I'm assuming that even though the 1600 has two tuners, it can only record from one at a time in gb-prv, correct? If this is correct, then either way I'm looking at two cards. In addition to these cards, I'm going to have to have some sort of IR blaster. I can buy one of the prebuilt - supported ones ($50), or use the included ones in the 1600. The 150 is about $50 right now, the 1600 is like $84. So I'm looking at a total of $150 for two 150's plus a blaster, or $170 for two 1600's that come with them. I 'may' at some point in the future end up adding OTA HD, which is why I'm kind of leaning towards the 1600s.

Also wondering how much the format is going to matter with each of these cards. I'm not sure I'm asking that question correctly...basically I'm thinking I'm going to go from the cable box to the cards via coax cable. Is the cable box outputting the signal in analogue anyway, or is it coming out as something else? (I'm trying to learn all this stuff as I go).

Finally, if I do end up going with the 150, do I actually need windows MC? I have it available if so; I just thought I might save some power/space by using xp pro, since I'm not going to be using the media center part of it anyway.

Anything else I'm forgetting? I'm sure I'll be posting a bunch more questions as they come up.

[wtg]

I'm trying to decide now between two Hauppauge cards. Either the WinTV-PVR-150 MCE, or the WinTV-HVR-1600. I'm assuming that even though the 1600 has two tuners, it can only record from one at a time in gb-prv, correct?

I don't have a 1600, but yes, I believe that it correct. It can record either digital or analog, but not both at the same time.

If this is correct, then either way I'm looking at two cards. In addition to these cards, I'm going to have to have some sort of IR blaster. I can buy one of the prebuilt - supported ones ($50), or use the included ones in the 1600. The 150 is about $50 right now, the 1600 is like $84. So I'm looking at a total of $150 for two 150's plus a blaster, or $170 for two 1600's that come with them.

With the Hauppauge blasters, you can only use one of them regardless of how many cards you have. The drivers don't support sending different commands to different blasters. In my setup I use one Hauppauge blaster and one USB-UIRT.

I think I read the MCE blaster supports two different transmitters, but you should probably get confirmation from someone else. It's a pretty common question so I'm sure searching the forum will find answers.

I 'may' at some point in the future end up adding OTA HD, which is why I'm kind of leaning towards the 1600s.

This and the fact that you are probably already receiving your local digital channels in clear QAM from your cable company should make you consider at least one 1600.

Also wondering how much the format is going to matter with each of these cards. I'm not sure I'm asking that question correctly...basically I'm thinking I'm going to go from the cable box to the cards via coax cable. Is the cable box outputting the signal in analogue anyway, or is it coming out as something else? (I'm trying to learn all this stuff as I go).

You STB's coax, composite and component outputs are all analog. In order of preference for SD capture: SVideo first, composite second, coax last.

Finally, if I do end up going with the 150, do I actually need windows MC? I have it available if so; I just thought I might save some power/space by using xp pro, since I'm not going to be using the media center part of it anyway.

No, MCE isn't necessary to use the 150 card.

[whurlston]

The 1800 supports simultaneous recording from both tuners (one NTSC and one ATSC/QAM). The soon to be released 2250 will be dual tuner in any NTSC/ATSC/QAM combination.

[ismisunderstood]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

So, if I were to go with the 1800, would I be able to use the digital side with one STB, and the non-digital side with the second STB? Or is the digital side going to "require" a digital signal?

[gazoo]

The 1600 has 1 digital and 1 analog and lets you use both at the same time. However, since you are using analog only, you might want to go with something else with dual analog tuners.

[mvallevand]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

So, if I were to go with the 1800, would I be able to use the digital side with one STB, and the non-digital side with the second STB? Or is the digital side going to "require" a digital signal?

You can't do STB recording through the digital tuner. You would need to use the analog svideo or component turner. The 1600 and 1800 are also similar in this respect except for the PCI PCI-e difference. I don't know if any the new dual tuners improve on this. I only see one analog input on the 1950

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/d...r1950.html

Martin

[gazoo]

I think there's a new coming out or already out from Hauppauge with two tuners, but each can do either digital OR analog. It my be a 2000 series or something- sub would probably know best.

[wtg]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

So, if I were to go with the 1800, would I be able to use the digital side with one STB, and the non-digital side with the second STB? Or is the digital side going to "require" a digital signal?

The composite, coax and component outputs from the STB are analog only. However, if you're cable provider is supplying clear QAM signals of your local channels (and legally they are supposed to), you should be able to hook the cable straight to the card and record those digital channels directly, bypassing the STB. It's probably only your local stations, but it's better than an analog recording. And some cable providers include more than just the locals in clear QAM, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

The analog outputs of your STB will still be necessary for recording the encrypted digital channels, using the analog input of the card.

By the way, if you go with the 1600 and you want to record clear QAM digital stations, be sure to check the model numbers. Only some of the 1600 series cards can record clear QAM. Again, searching the forums or the net, you'll find references to the specific models of the 1600 that can do this.

[ismisunderstood]

thanks for all the tips everyone!

So now I'm thinking I'm going to go with two 150's, a USB-UIRT, and two IR 'bugs' (these guys) from the UIRT to control the set top boxes. Once I get everything stable and running, I may look into getting an additional card, probably something like a 1600, and adding an outside HD antenna. I can then pull my locals in HD, and everything else will go through the box.

As a slight aside; am I going to be disappointed with the quality of analogue recording this way? I guess I'm just thinking...since the output from the STB will be analogue no matter whether I run it straight to my TV or through a tuner card first...I'm not really loosing any quality doing this am I? It won't matter a ton to me, since I rarely watch TV to begin with...but I certainly don't want it to be unwatchable.

Again, thanks for the help everyone!

[stustunz]

pvr500 is effectively 2 pvr150's on the same board meaning you only use up one pci slot
a mce blaster is the cheapest way to go comes with 2 senders and a remote(way cheaper than what you are looking at doing)

you need to tweak the settings a little with the pvr 150/500 sharpen the picture etc but its not a bad picture once you get it sorted (not ever going to be as sharp as digital signal)