clueless noob with a HVR4000

[nisiwi]

Hello,

I'm based in the UK and purchased a HVR4000 with PowerCinema a couple of months ago.

I quickly realised the limitation of PowerCinema and the inability to record and watch seperate live tv channels.

So I wanted to add an additional receiver to my system for recording but needed capable software.

I came across GBPVR which looks amazing. So I thought I would have a go at setting it up with the HVR4000 before getting a new card.

I am ofay with PC's, but satellite is pretty new to me so I have not got a clue how to set this thing up and remain mistified about the capture source settings, althought I did manage to get the analogue side work (accidently).

During configuration it asks for a capture source which requires
a) recorder
b) EPG
c) channel changer

I am not sure what I should be plugging in here to get this working correctly.

Initially i want to focus on get the DVB-S side working and was wondering if somebody has and idiots guides that I could use or some advice to get this working on the HVR4000 for UK, using Sky Satellite.

many thanks,

nic

[stefan]

Welcome to the forums

First question: have you found and read our wiki?

http://www.gbpvr.com/pmwiki

The configuration/capture source part is of most interest to you. If (when ) you have read it and still have more questions, we'll be glad to help you

[nisiwi]

Stefan,

Thanks for the welcome. Yes I read it, and took a look at the manual and followed the PVR-150 example. Still don't have a clue what actual settings I should be using for the HVR4000.

For example how do I know if I should use Direct Recording or BCA or what kind of EPG to use.

With PowerCinema I just selected DVB-S and which sat i was pointing to (Astra) and everything else just happened, it was relatively idiot proof, but quite inflexible.

So the recorder and channel changer was automatically configured.

For the EPG I selected one of the built in services and of it went.

GBPVR is very flexible, but for a sat noob like myself its not very easy to understand exactly what these settigns are refereing to or how I find out what they are ?

Sorry to be a pain, just being honest.

Nic.

[stefan]

I understand that things can be hard to grasp. The only thing to do is to read up on the subject or ask

I don't know much about the hvr4000, to be honest, but it should have BDA drivers. I'm quite sure it does. So, what you need to do is to select it to be a BDA device. You don't need a channel changer (that is used when you need gbpvr to change channels on a set top box).

But before you do that you need an EPG. I'm not based in the UK, so I'm not sure, but I think people generally use something called Birtles. You will need to learn how to run that program, or find someone who knows it, cause I don't

When you have run it, it should generate an XMLTV file. This file should be pointed out by you in gbpvr's config when you have chosen XMLTV as your EPG source. Later on you will want Birtles to be run automatically every day (or night). There are a few approaches to accomplish that.

Let's start there, shall we?

[nisiwi]

OK, I will start with that - thanks stefan!

Funnily enough I was just looking at the very same EPG software - so no problem with that either - it looko like a parser that will dump and XML file into a specific location. Think I can handle that bit.

Thanks for putting up with my lack of sat knowledge.

Feel like I can make some progress now that I know what I sohuld be plugging in as the basics anyhow.

[nisiwi]

Stefan,

I now have XML feed working and have configured two sources in GBPVR. One for analogue (direct), the other for sat (BDA).

Analogue picks up channels as expected however I cannot get the sat side to work though. :confused:

I have selected Astra 2A, 2B, 2D - not sure what to use for the LNB settings though as when I scan I get zero channels detected.

It does work as I am using it with the same satellite config in powercinema OK but I guess it preselect the LNB settings.

Any ideas ?

Thanks !

[stefan]

I've never used a sat card(only dvb-t), so I can't help you on the LNB settings, sorry...

[sub]

I have selected Astra 2A, 2B, 2D - not sure what to use for the LNB settings though as when I scan I get zero channels detected.

It does work as I am using it with the same satellite config in powercinema OK but I guess it preselect the LNB settings

You'll most likely need to change the default LNB settings. The defaults are ideal for my setup used here in NZ. In europe they tend to use different LNBs.