How can I watch cable TV on my PC?

[seven]

Hello everyone,

I am totally new to GBPVR and I can't figure out how to set it up properly.

I have the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 and I am trying to hook it up to my PC so I can watch cable tv.

I unplugged the "Cable In" wire from the back of my cable box and plugged it directly into the "TV In" on the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 and hooked it up to my PC with the USB cord.

The only problem is, I can't watch cable tv. All I am getting is about seven free basic tv channels. Am I doing something wrong?

Maybe the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 is no good. I can still return it for a refund back to the store if necesary. What should I do? Does anyone have this particular model and have it working properly? :confused:

[groover km]

I unplugged the "Cable In" wire from the back of my cable box and plugged it directly into the "TV In" on the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 and hooked it up to my PC with the USB cord.

Plug that cable back into your cable box, take the cable that comes out of your cable box and into your tv, disconnect it from the tv, and reconnect it to the tv in on your pvr-usb2.

[seven]

groover km, I gotta hand it to you. You are the most helpful person at this forum.

I followed your instructions and now I am able to watch cable TV through my PC.

There is still one slight problem though. I can't change the channels from my PC. Instead I have to set GBPVR to channel 3 and use the cable box to change channels. Is that normal or am I still doing something wrong?

[groover km]

groover km, I gotta hand it to you. You are the most helpful person at this forum.

I appreciate the thanks, but you'll find everyone helpful here!

To enable gb-pvr to control your cable box and switch channels for you, you are gonna need some form of IR-Blaster that connects to your pc and then attaches over the IR eye of your cable box. I use the one that came with my pvr-150 so I'm a little out my depth here, but basically I think you need one of these...

http://www.usbuirt.com/

or

http://www.redrat.co.uk/start.htm

You may have seen the option to set one of these up in the config. There are plenty of members here who DO use one of these, so I'm sure one of the others may be able to point you in the right direction.

Good luck and welcome!

[seven]

I appreciate the thanks, but you'll find everyone helpful here!

Yep I'm sure everyone here is wonderful. And hopefully one day I can be the one helping the newbie :p

But so far I've posted two topics here at this forum and you have been the one to help me through them. So, at least to me, you are the most helpful.

So thanks again for the info and help

[seven]

Hey I just noticed something.

Without being able to change channels from within GB-PVR then that defeats the whole purpose of the PVR functionality right?

I mean, I basically can't schedule automatic recordings. Which means I will have to actually sit here and record my shows manually.

In the GB-PVR homepage it doesn't mention anything about this in the requirements. All it says it that I need Windows XP, Microsoft .NET v1.1 runtime, and any of the supported Hauppauge PVRs.

Also, since GB-PVR has to be on channel 3 at all times, the built in Channel Listings are useless. It always tells me I am watching channel 3 even though I am not.

There has to be something wrong with what I am doing here. There must be a way to change channels through GB-PVR rather than the actual cable box without having to buy additional hardware.

I hope someone understands what I am saying here because I am kind of confused myself.

[djtaylor]

Hey I just noticed something.

Without being able to change channels from within GB-PVR then that defeats the whole purpose of the PVR functionality right?

I mean, I basically can't schedule automatic recordings. Which means I will have to actually sit here and record my shows manually.

In the GB-PVR homepage it doesn't mention anything about this in the requirements. All it says it that I need Windows XP, Microsoft .NET v1.1 runtime, and any of the supported Hauppauge PVRs.

Go back and read what groover put about using an external Ir jobbie to control the cable box. There is NO third party PVR that can automatically switch your cable box channels without having some way of interfacing with it!

To be fair, yes there might be no mention of the fact that you need this extra bit but many of us don't control cable boxes. I have two digital tuners in the PC, nothing else needed. Remember, this is a platform, the author doesn't have any control over how you choose to use it.

David.

[fhmanas]

I was reading up on the PVR-USB2, I was wondering, shouldn't it have it's own 125 cable ready tuner, if so, why do you need a cable box. It should work without the cable box.

Seven, I think you should try out the provided hauppauge software just to make sure everything is working. If not, you might have a defective unit and just replace it.

[groover km]

Maybe the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 is no good. I can still return it for a refund back to the store if necesary. What should I do? Does anyone have this particular model and have it working properly? :confused:

I honestly don't know enough about the PVR-USB2 so take this with a huge pinch of salt, but I suspect the "125 channel tuner" is the same as the PVR-150; it will tune up to 125 channels that are broadcast on different frequencies (hence the OP's 7 channels originally), but for a cable box broadcasts on a single frequency ("channel 3") it's not gonna help you. I know the PVR-150 does not decode cable channels without the cable box, and suspect the PVR-USB2 is the same.

But like I say, I'm guessing.

A final alternative if you don't want to buy more hardware may be to take it back to the store and exchange it for a PVR-150 if you have a free PCI slot. That will give you everything you need - card, software, remote, ir-blaster.

[Pioneer4x4]

If you have a Motorola cable box with the 9 pin serial "Data" port on the back, you might be able to get the girder channel changer to work with out buying any hardware. (You might have to buy girder).