Capture device connection

[georgew]

Hi, I am not sure if GBPVR can be used with my hardware setup.
I have connected (via Composite video cables) my HD set-top-box to my PC (Win 7 64-bit) via a VHS to DVD converter made by GadgetGeek, connected to a USB port. Through that connection I can view live TV using the supplied s/w, or VirtualDub, or VLC, all of which recognise the capture device (shows up on the config panel as USB 2863 device for video and WDM 2863 for audio). TV tuning is handled by the set-top-box, the capture device is just that, a capture device that accepts whatever the composite cables feed, either a VCR output or a set-top-box output.
My question is: can I configure GBPVR (and how??) to detect the capture device and use GBPVR features none of the above s/w has?
Any help would be most welcome.
Many thanks
George

[sub]

Sorry but I doubt it'll work with this device. It almost certainly doesnt have the required hardware MPEG2 encoder.

[georgew]

Thank you Sub, you are right, it does not have h/w encoding, which is done by the s/w. I can record live TV with any of the three packages I mentioned in my posting, with either .avi or .mpeg output, but they don't have any additional desirable features, like recording schedule, delayed viewing and so on.
Do you have any suggestions on how I might be able to do it?
George

[mikeh49]

This is going to take some work, and I don't know how to do it. But, you could perhaps use the GraphRecorder plugin's external recorder feature to call VLC to capture the stream. This would allow you to use GBPVR's guide and scheduling system. (Graphrecorder is set up as a capture source in GBPVRs config program.)

You would have to figure out how to change channels on the STB; the cheapest may be a MCE remote and its associated blasters.

Search the forums for Graphrecorder and VLC or user Carpevideo for some background. People were trying this a few years ago, but I don't know if they ever got a reliable installation. Or perhaps a PM to Carpevideo who is the author of Graphrecorder.

Depending on what your time is worth, you might want to consider a Hauppauge analog capture device such as a PVR150 card or a PVRUSB2 external device. They would typically include a remote control and the blaster to change channels on the STB and are fully supported in GBPVR.

[georgew]

Thank you mikeh, I installed GraphRecorder and started the GBPVR service but am getting .NET errors. Could it be something is not compatible with my 64-bit Win 7?
In any case i think this is becoming more complex than I would have liked. I think I'll just schedule a batch file that starts VirtualDub recording at a set time for a set duration. Basic, but simple for the likes of me.
Thanks for your help though.
George