Please help me add a PVR500!

[harvanmp]

I have a PVR350 which I had installed and working with gbpvr on my desktop and to an MVP. I bought a PVR500, added it to my system and tried to configure everything. I could view 2 shows and record a third, but I got nothing but lousy pictures from all 3 tuners, very snowy. The quality did vary per channel with some better than others, but none as good as my original setup.

I went back to my original setup with the 350 and my picture was fine again. On my second try, I removed my 350 entirely and put my cable feed into the 500. I uninstalled all the Hauppauge stuff, installed the latest 500 drivers I could find (24034) and reconfigured gbpvr. I still get lousy pictures!

I realize this is most likely a Hauppauge problem, not gbpvr, but I'm desperate for help!

Is there anything I missed? Is there anything else I can try?

[cosmocat]

Snowy pictures are a signal strength problem. By adding the extra tuner you are cutting the signal power to each by half. I am using DVB Nova-T boards and they need very strong signals.
Fit a multi output signal booster to the aerial feed to the PC and connect each tuner input to a seperate output of the booster. Best get a variable gain type booster ( a bit more expensive ) as too much signal can cause other problems ie ghosting, interference etc. Adjust the booster gain for the best picture.

[pcostanza]

Right after I got my 500, I had problems with the picture too and noticed that the pinwire on my cable was not long enough to make a good connection on my 500 but worked fine previously on my 350. I adjusted the pinwire to a longer length, the signal increased and my picture is perfect. Might be the same for you.

[harvanmp]

Thanks for the reply. I bought a signal amplifier from Motorola that has an 18 db gain. It only has a single output though. I put the amplifier just before I split the signal to the 2 cards. It seems to have helped some, but I still get a lot of snowy channels.

I am going to try putting it where the signal comes into the house since now I am boosting the noise as well as the signal. I also need to try just using the 500 with a signal booster. I'll check my cables too.

Do you have any suggestions for a different signal booster?

There are so many things to try. I just wish I knew for sure that the card was good to start with!

[HtV]

I guess you have been fussing around with cables and splitters and stuff, make sure you haven't broken something in a cable or a plug.