so who has a stable Digital OTA build in USA

[Pderbidge]

Does anyone have a stable HTCP that works for playback of over the air Digital Broadcasts as well as recordings of such? I am not looking for QAM tuner support or any cable/sattelite recording type HTCP's as I have found people who seem to do that well, but rather just a good ol plain DVR for OTA HD only. Before I delv into this again I need to make sure that is stable. My definition of stable is = less than 1 to 3 crashes a month, prefferably no crashing for reliable recordings. For some reason the OTA recordings seem to be the hardest thing to get right, at least in the USA

Background:
about a year ago I tried to delv into the HTPC thinking it's been around long enough it should be pretty stable by now. About 3 mos later, countless hours I didn't have and a very frusterated wife I had to give up. I settled for a dvd/hD recorder. Sure it had a clunky interface not unsimilar to scheduling recordings with a VCR but it worked right out of the box and I didn't have to have a monthly subcription to make it work such as TIVO, etc... although I did consider it. I used both Media Portal and GBPVR and favored GBPVR as it seemed to be more stable but still had quite a few crashes.

Problems I had:

I tried multiple codecs but some channels were smooth while others looked choppy, Not pixelated but rather stuttered movements as if it were a codec issue. i tried PureVideo, coreAVC and just about every codec imaginable as well as FFDshow but nothing seemed to solve the issue.

HardwareI tried:

I had a PCchips MOBO capable of core 2 duo cpu's but I just has a 3.0Ghz single core Celeron in it.

The MOBO had an AGP slot for video so I tried an Nvidia 6200 and a 7200 and an ATI 2400 pro.

I tried the Hauppauge HVR1600 and ATI 650. The ATI seemed to have the best picture.

I had 1 gig of RAM, I probably needed 2.

I had a 320 Gig Western Digital SATA drive.


Case cooling was not an issue and the cpu was always running around 40C

The reason I'm am looking at this again is I am wondering if my system was just not up to snuff. If I get some good feedback from folks who are doing OTA recordings successfully then I will try it again.

Thanks, in advance, for your replies.

[bogyver]

My setup has worked basically non stop for ota for the past 3 years since I started using ota. The 2 largest problems I have had with ota are due to signal issues (The dorm I lived where on the lowest level part of which was below ground and on the opposite side of the building form the transmission towers) and stuttering like you mentioned. The stuttering occurred on 1080i channels (nbc and cbs). The only way I was able to get rid of it was to use the fse render and a fairly powerful video card. I would recommend that you use the 2400 or higher video card with the nvidia decoder or get a 2.5ghz ish core 2 duo and do software decoding with what ever video card you like.
My setup info is out dated but right now I run a client with dedicated server setup where the server runs nonstop, I think it has run nonstop for over a month with no problems.
Hopefully I have been coherent (I need to go to sleep ) and provided you with some good info, If you have more questions ask away.

[tblockey]

Mine works with MCE. I bought a $11 sound card with optical out and it has been fine.

[TonyXL]

Was your CPU maxing out during HD playback? If so, you need a video card / decoder combo that uses hardware acceleration.

[Anthony]

Have you considered a network media streamer?

I record shows on the PC in my home office, then stream the recorded shows to the TV in my living room using a Tvix M6500 (I had a M4000 until a couple of weeks ago). This keeps the noise, heat, keyboard, mouse, etc. in the office. The media player is small, runs quiet, and has a nice remote control and menu.

I've been using GBPVR and a couple of HVR-1600 tuner cards for the last 2-3 years to record over the air broadcasts. I use the ATI multiplexer, and frequently record 2-4 channels at once. I couldn't get the HVR-1600's to lock on to QAM cable (regardless of the signal strength), but they work flawlessly with a good outdoor antenna. I just picked up a HVR-2250 card that IS working great with QAM cable.

Anthony

[sgilani]

I've got a HVR-1600 working just fine for OTA; most critical piece of the puzzle is finding a working combination of demux and decoder.. for me, DVR-MS has never, ever worked. (sound but no picture).. Cyberlink seems to do the trick with no hiccups at all.

[Satori]

I use the system below. It is smooth with no tearing or stuttering. It looks completely "Live". I can't tell it is recording even though I have "Live preview" turned off in config.

I use:
ATI MPEG Codec (From AVIVO 8.12)
ATI Mux (From AVIVO 8.12)
FFDShow for AC3 and MPEG Audio

I have set all the presets to "use application setting" in CCC except for VGA Sync which is set to always on. Deinterlace is set to "Vector Adaptive"

I have recorded 3 things at once while watching 1080i HD with no issues.

I keep trying the TS mux but I have significant reception issues sometimes which cause failed recordings. For some reason the ATI mux keeps recording in those situations, although that is the one time the video skips and/or stutters.

I also used the FFDShow video Codec with good results, but I don't like the deinterlacing as much as with the ATI MPEG Codec. It is rock solid even with ticker tapes.

[elbryyan]

My setup below has been working great for about 2 years now. DVR-MS is the only way I can get good playback at all though so I'm different that others. I just set up the client machine recently and it is working well for me as well.

[rob11252]

I am using mine for OTA reception only for about a year. Even with a powerful system and amplified antenna located in the attic, there were some "growing pains". It took me some time before all puzzle pieces started to fit. But I am happy now.
I am recording in dvr-ms format, using nvidia, cyberlink, occasionally ATI video codecs, and AC3filter for audio.
Playback starts to stutter if the PC is not reset for too long of a time, but that's Windows issue.

[Hoogineer]

I have been running a HTPC successfully for about a year. I have the HVR-1600, although I have had issues getting all of the QAM channels I want with my current cable provider, so I have relied on ATSC (OTA) here in the U.S. Due to reception issues, I only get FOX and ABC really well. NBC is so-so. CBS never comes in. Since it's a dual-tuner, I'm able to record both an HD and an SD program at the same time.

Tuner: Hauppauge HVR-1600 (ATSC/QAM and NTSC tuners; PCI)
CPU: Athlon 2000+ XP (1.8 GHz; extra one that I had for years)
Mobo: ASUS A7V8X-MX (bought off eBay)
RAM: 512 MB DDR PC-2100 (cannibalized from another system)
Sound: On-board
Video: ATI Radeon 9600 XP
Network: D-Link 802.11g USB adapter
HDD: Seagate 500 GB (I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than this)
CD-ROM: Generic 40x (plan to buy a DVD-ROM or DVD burner when I see a good sale)
Case: An old mini-tower from my wife's college computer; will get a nice one for a media cabinet eventually
OS: Windows XP MCE -- I use the DVR-MS MUX in GBPVR; I used to use MC for PVR


It gets by just fine with only 512 mb RAM; I can't tell. I used Windows Media Center from Jan/Feb '08 until last month when I switched to GBPVR. (My goal is to get QAM to work eventually, but I've deferred that for now.) The nice thing about ATSC is that you can get all of the physical channels on antennaweb.org and you don't have to worry about anyone moving the channels around (until June at least). Oh and it doesn't crash.