Hardware advice on DVB-S cards for Europe

[swissueli]

What is the best DVB-S card to build my gbpvr mediacentre. If possible with support for HDTV and Conditional Access module.

[sub]

GB-PVR doesnt support conditional access at this stage.

My TwinHan DVB-S device seems pretty good.

[Kevl]

Beware that there are issues with twinhan cards and other aquisistion cards in the same pc. The twinhan site says that no other BT848 type devices should be in the pc. I have found that some will work however. So if you have other PCI aquisaition cards in the pc then you must look harder before handing over cash etc.

Kev

[deen]

My first post, I should say thanks to sub for his work on gb-pvr.
I have had good success with 1 x pvr350 and now plan to add dvb pci card(s) to my system.

The advice I had from Twinhan support was that their DVB-S and DVB-T PCI cards should not be used together in the same PC and further that their DTV card should not be used with an analog TV tuner card in the same system.
Any PCI cards with Conexant BT878 on board and their drivers should be removed before installing a Twinhan DVB card.

This confirms what Kevl mentioned be careful before buying !

Perhaps someone can comment which DVB-S and DVB-T cards they have found to play nicely together and with the Hauppage 150/250/350 etc that most of us are already using.

[sub]

My twinhan DVB-S words fine in my machine that also has a PVR150, 350 and ATI550

[deen]

Wow, very different from the Twinhan support answer! Thanks for good real life input.

I had planned to buy Twinhan 1022A DVB-S then later a 3020C DVB-T to complement the PVR350 I already have.

Have you ever tried both Twinhan DVB-S + DVB-T with PVR350 ?

[sub]

I think there is a problem with having a twinhan DVB-S and twinhan DVB-T device in the sample machine. Someone posted about this a few days.

Wow, very different from the Twinhan support answer!

I suspect they were referring to their own devices rather than manufacturer's devices. So I think you cant mix the types of Twinhan devices in one machine.

Have you ever tried both Twinhan DVB-S + DVB-T with PVR350 ?

No. We dont have DVB-T here in New Zealand.

[Kevl]

twinhan DVB-S and Twinhan DVB-T do not work together in the same PC under GBPVR. They do however work in recent versions of Mediaportal. I now use a Twinhan DVB-S with Hauppauge Nova-T and MCE500 PVR all in 1 pc + Xcard and sweetspot. These seem to work ok.


Kev

[deen]

Thanks for comments on which PCI cards been seen to work together, it gives me confidence.

I was just about to go for a NOVA-T USB2 to avoid compatibility issues with the PCI cards I want ( Twinhan DVB-S and PVR350 ) .

Now sounds like I can choose Nova-T as either PCI or USB.

Any comment on which might be the smarter choice for the NOVA-T PCI or USB version ?

[Kevl]

regret I have no experience of usb cards. My setup has enough wires already. :-)

Kev