Is my PC strong enough to handle 2 PVR-150 cards? Splitter?

[h00ch]

I have a Pentium 3 1Ghz PC with 512MB RAM and a Radeon 9600 Pro video card. Currently I have 1 PVR-150 tuner card but I'm thinking of buying another because I frequently (almost daily) have programming conflicts. Do you think adding a 2nd PVR-150 card to my setup will cause any difficulties? I know these tuner cards have hardware processing, so I figure things should be OK.

Also, since I'll now have to split my cable going into these 2 cards, what can I do to minimize signal loss? What should I look for when buying a "good" splitter or maybe some sort of booster if they're not to expensive?

[votum76]

since all the encoding is done on chip of the pvr-150 adding an additional pvr-150 shouldn't make that much of a difference. only work is writing to the hard drive which shouldn't be a problem on a old dma 100 80 gb I record 2 shows all the time without an issue. I have 2 pvr-150's I would try it.
How is your performance with those current specs ?

for splitting cable the most inportant part is good cables and nice tight connections
I did by a motorola booster which might have helped the signal my cable is split 4 ways
cable modem,2 pvr-150's and normal signal to tv

I had some signal issues and the booster seemed to help it was about $50

depending on how many splits you've got I'd just get some good cables and see how it turns out before buying a booster though.

[A_Brass]

I think your going to be fine. I'm not sure how cable companies are in Canada but in the US they do "leakage" check's. So if you add an "booster" or amp, it could make your signal too strong. And the cable comp might cut your signal back. (Happened to me once) If your on basic cable and your splitting it right before it goes into the 150 cards you should be fine. If your splitting it 100ft away it might be an issue.

[h00ch]

How is your performance with those current specs ?

Works fine currently. I can watch a previously recorded show as I'm recording something else no problem.

for splitting cable the most inportant part is good cables and nice tight connections
I did by a motorola booster which might have helped the signal my cable is split 4 ways
cable modem,2 pvr-150's and normal signal to tv

I had some signal issues and the booster seemed to help it was about $50

depending on how many splits you've got I'd just get some good cables and see how it turns out before buying a booster though.

Currently my cable is split 4 ways (PVR PC, digital TV, internet, analogue TV) and the signal seems good. I need to buy another splitter. Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?

[stu8080]

Im wondering about splitter/boosters myself too. Id like to know if there are anythings (specs) i shouls be looking for when buying a booster?

[h00ch]

Yes, that's what I meant. What specs to look for when buying a splitter...

[votum76]

mine are from radioshack
I just get the standard splitter that goes to 1000Mhz to make sure it works with the cable modem I have 1 3 way spliter that goes into another spliter for my pvr-150's

nothing special to look for that I know of

[jksmurf]

Sorry if this is a bit of a hijack, but I'd like to add just another "me too" with similar specs i.e. runs fine (Good Sturdy Old PC...).

I have a Pentium III 1.2Ghz Celeron PC with 512MB RAM and a Nivida FX5200video card. I only ever watch TV on the MVP though. Can be bit stuttery ON the PC but never bothered trying the S-Video out. Works great.

k.

[HtV]

mine are from radioshack
I just get the standard splitter that goes to 1000Mhz to make sure it works with the cable modem I have 1 3 way spliter that goes into another spliter for my pvr-150's

nothing special to look for that I know of

Afaik the best way is to use (if possible) one big splitter instead of two or three smaller ones in series. You can read the signal loss onthe splitter. if you put 2 splitters in series you add up the values. So you can do the math yourselves. Of course if it works there is no problem. Also depends a lot on the signal strength that is coming in, that differs a lot in my experience.

[zehd]

Here's a couple of pointers...

Think of TV coax as plumbing. The more you split it off, the less the pressure. If you split far away, or closer it won't make much difference ( as long as the pipe is the same thinckness all along the way....) It's the quality of the splitter that does...

All splitteres will degrade signal, it's a question of how much.. Most splitters will have a 'db' value affixed to the outs.. A + 3.5db degradation is better than a +7 db...

At Shaw cable, they used to provide three way splitters that had one +7db and two +3.5 db outs. So it was possible to find splitters that mix different values...

The degradation is cumulitive: that is, if you split once, and then branch off again, and again, the end of the line will be worse then that line with fewer splitters in the path...

Now if you have split and split and split, the signal may be pretty weak and a booster would be approriate. Just do some math and count the splitters. add up how much db you lost and make it up with the boost. There wouldn't be much problem with the cable company then...

And there is a difference bewteen satelite and Cable coax stuff