which card for analog input

[toomanyhandles]

Hi all-

I first had a hauppauge 350 (with GBPVR) which had very nice analog signal.
I now have a 1600, using it with analog. the output was always just OK, not as good as 350, and now it appears the analog tuner is losing it- quality is always horrible.

I have hooked up ATSC QAM via the huge antenna in the attic ; ) and the quality for most channels it gets is good, but winTV and not surprising thus NPVR are pretty horrible at succeeding when changing channels (from one channel with great ATSC signal to another with great ATSC signal).

I would like to end up with 2 analog tuners plus one tuner for ATSC QAM.

What manufacturer would folks recommend I look at for these tuners? I am not against trying Hauppauge again but from my experience and what I read, they may not be what they once were.

Win7 64, 10GB RAM, dual core 2.93GHz

thanks,

Brian.

[mikeh49]

You could look for an ATI 650 Theater Pro on ebay. There used to be plenty available as Dell branded/part number for about $30 as Dell used them for their HTPC options. I have two, and the QAM tuners are just fine. I've only just tested the analog tuner, and it seemed to be OK. The price is right at around $30.

Around here, the Hauppauge 2250 seemed to be well liked for analog.

I'm surprised to hear your channel changing issue. The ATI on QAM is fine for me, not as fast as the TV or cable box though. I'd estimate 3 seconds or so.

[sub]

I have hooked up ATSC QAM via the huge antenna in the attic ; ) and the quality for most channels it gets is good, but winTV and not surprising thus NPVR are pretty horrible at succeeding when changing channels (from one channel with great ATSC signal to another with great ATSC signal).

That's an odd one. I don't remember seeing other users with this type of problem. Does a new file get created in the live tv buffer directory, and does it grow?

[johnsonx42]

the HVR-1600 has always had a very mixed reputation. On the other hand, the HVR-2250 has been pretty much universally great. You will want to bump up the bitrates in config.xml for any analog tuner, I think the defaults are way too low.

your channel change problem may be decoder related, though it's odd you report the same symptom with WinTV7. What MPEG-2 decoder are you using in NPVR?

[toomanyhandles]

thank you for the replies.

@sub: the issue changing channels in WinTV for ATSC is that when I change channels, I get a few sec of picture, then it goes black. if I quit/ fire up winTV again, it is on the new channel and the video is and stays perfect.
NextPVR does the same thing. I've tried several decodes (EVR/ VMR9/7). I don't see this as a NextPVR issue at this time. I will see what happens wtih a new 1600, 2250 (hard to find new) or ATI card.

@mikeh49: thanks! I see those on ebay. not all with a remote. how hard is it to get a compatible remote set up?

[mikeh49]

The remote is easy. Get one of these, it's an MCE remote that NPVR supports, and you're good to go. You can tweak the configuration using registry edits. See the thread on here by pBs, MCE remote no software. Or, you can use a Harmony remote.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Microsoft-MC...33808f0466