How can I watch cable TV on my PC?

[sub]

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.

It depends where you are...

This is a common difference between the US and the rest of the world. In the US, your cable channels can be just tuned in like regular over-the-air broadcasts. That is not the case most other places. Typically analog cable shows are transmitted with some sync-suppression or inversion other technique to ensure you're not able to just plug the cable into another TV (or PC or VCR) etc without a legal cable box.

You've been very lucky in the US to have this. I wish we also did.

[chud]

You've been very lucky in the US to have this. I wish we also did.

it has been win-win in the past, but now it is mute with digital cable and our 30fps nightmare...

seven, i would imagine when you say "cable box" that you have digital cable. the tuner internal to your pvr card is an analog tuner. it will only see the channels that you would see if you plugged the cable directly into your tv. as has already been mentioned here, if you require a stb from your cable provider to decode the digital signals then you will always need some hardware to then control this box. this is not the "fault" of GB-PVR. it can interface with various methods of controlling the stb.

the hauppauge pvr-250 USB does not come with an IR blaster so you will have to get some extra hardware/software to do this as someone previously linked you to. some of the other hauppauge internal cards (pvr150, pvr500) come with a IR blaster to do this function so if you've just purchased this PVR unit from a return-friendly retailer, you might want to reconsider...

[Pioneer4x4]

It depends where you are...

This is a common difference between the US and the rest of the world. In the US, your cable channels can be just tuned in like regular over-the-air broadcasts. That is not the case most other places. Typically analog cable shows are transmitted with some sync-suppression or inversion other technique to ensure you're not able to just plug the cable into another TV (or PC or VCR) etc without a legal cable box.

You've been very lucky in the US to have this. I wish we also did.

I have Comcast Cable, and I can only get channels 1-70 via internal tuners. channels 101 and up are on the digital box only.

[groover km]

I have Comcast Cable, and I can only get channels 1-70 via internal tuners. channels 101 and up are on the digital box only.

Same here, these are the analog cable channels. They are the ones that 'go dark' in 2008.. 2009.. whatever the date is, and are then switched to purely digital.

[seven]

Ok first of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to post in order to help me out. I think I now understand how this works. And yes, I have digital cable and it looks like the only way to get the channels on my PC is to go through the cable box.

Naturally, all this new information that you guys have shared with me has sparked a couple of more questions. So I hope you don't mind me asking away.

1) About the IR Blaster

Ok, here is a pic of the IR Blaster that comes with the PVR150:



It looks the same as the ones being sold HERE and HERE

Those are really cheap compared to the recommended $50 USBUIRT

Would those cheap ones work for me?
Where do I plug it in and how do I use it?
What advantage would the USBUIRT give me that the others don't?



2) About Connecting the Cable Box to the WinTV-PVR

I would have loved to be able to get rid of the cable box and plug the wire directly into my PC. But since I am now aware that this is not possible, what would be the best way to connect my cable box?

Right now I am using the COAX cable (Tv-Out) from the cable box to the WinTV-PVR. Would it be better to use S-Video instead?

I know my cable box has S-Video-Out. And the PVR has an S-Video-In port. And I hear that S-Video gives better picture quality??

I just want to be able to view/record TV in the best possible quality.

[elite]

Ok, I beleive the 150 doesn't have a blaster just a IR receiver for the remote - so you will still need the blaster and maybe someone else can chip in with experience of the 'cheap' ones, but I suspect there will be compatibility issues...

As for the connection I would use svideo for the cable box and coax for terestrial tv..

[groover km]

Okay, can't be bothered to quote properly, but here goes -

The picture shows the PVR-150 which is what you want; DON'T confuse this with the PVR-150MCE which is for Windows Media Centre and comes with no remote or blaster.

See that black wire on the right? The grey jack at the top of the picture plugs into the card and there are then two wires coming out of it. One terminates in the grey round thing which you see on the right - that's the receiver for the remote control. The other (thinner) wire terminates in the IR-Blaster (which is underneath the CD in this photo - typical) which is a little plastic thingy that you stick on your cable box over the IR receiver. Obviously, your cable box will need to be close enough to your PC as dictated by the length of the thin cable.

Operation: when you change channels in gb-pvr (or wintv, or whatever), your remote will send the signal to the IR receiver, the blaster will pick it up and transmit it to your cable box. In effect, your card stays on channel 3 and your cable box changes channel (just like your tv now). Make sense?

If you get the card pictured, you don't need anything else (except patience...)

If your cable box has s-video out, use s-video. Don't forget you will need a std stereo phono cable for the audio as s-video is video only. This will cost you about $5 max from radio shack.

Hope this helps. If you are still stuck let me know and I'll post some pics or alternatively, you can download the PVR-150 manual in .pdf from the Hauppauge website and read it.

[Pioneer4x4]

I have the retail 150 with ir receiver and blaster. I am not using either, so basically, i bought a 150 and missed out on the FM!

My connection is.
coax cable into cable box
rca a/v jacks into the pvr 150
I also have a serial cable going from my pc to the 'data' port on my cable box, and using gbpvr's girder functionality to send channels to the cable box.

[chud]

you want to use the s-video connection between the cable box and the PVR hardware. there is no more resolution carried (480 lines) but the signal is cleaner because luminance and colour information are on separate wire pairs rather than combined as in coax / composite. you will need an RCA to phono wire as groover mentioned as there is no audio carried.

with this setup i find it is even worth having HD because the downsampled picture from the stb looks cleaner and more detailed than the SD channel, and can be zoomed in to fill a 16:9 tv with a custom aspect ratio in GB-PVR. doesn't quite look like HD, but it's getting there.

as for the IR blaster, i am not sure that is what you need. those ebay listings are indeed for IR blasters, but plug into specific hardware. does your PVR USB hardware have a place to plug this in? i think you will need a USB or com port solution.

[groover km]

I've just checked the ebay listings (site's blocked at work), and they aren't gonna do you any good unfortunately as there is no where to plug them into on the PVR-USB2.

If you have a live data port on your cable box, Pioneer4x4's solution is probably the way to go if you keep the PVR-USB2.