NTL Cable TV PVR setup?

[joshley]

Hey!
I'm new to all this in the last week, but I have been digging through every forum and every piece of information I can find to try to figure out a setup that works!
I live in the UK and subscribe to NTL Cable television.
I want basically what everyone else wants:
1) To be able to pause/rewind TV
2) To be able to schedule recordings using an EPG and NOT worry about leaving it on the right channel (i.e. it will change channel for me, I don't mean being able to watch one channel and record another).
3) To watch DVDs
4) All above from a dedicated PC

I have a mobo, RAM, chip all the rest. All I need is advice on the right TV Card that will work with Cable television (I am using NTL in UK), a sound card with a good digital out and how to output the bes picture (XCard?).
If I got a Hauppage PVR USB2, an XCard and a sound card with S/PDIF out and used GB PVR, would all the above be possible?
Please help, there is so much conflicting advice out there I just need a set up that works!
Thanks very much in advance!
In hope,
Josh

[John Brett]

I'm not sure I can give you a definitive answer, but I can tell you what I'm using:

Hauppauge 350 (although I no longer use its TV out, so a 250 would do as well).
USBIRT for channel changing
Radeon 9600XT 256MB Bravo DVI/TV-Out/VIVO for TV-out.

Can't offer any opinion on the XCard - don't have one.

[Guest]

Thanks John,
Does this set up allow you to record and pause TV AND change the channel from the PC? So if you scheduled a recording on channel 3, and left it on channel 1, would it automatically change the channel for you?
Also, using GB-PVR can you schedule recordings in the manner of seeing a program in the EPG and selecting to record that program, rather than scheduling the start time and end time yourself?
Thanks!
joshley

[colin]

Hey Joshley

o At the minute you can watch live-tv - you cannot pause/timeshift/record yet.

o You can load in a EPG and schedule recordings by browsing the EPG. Sub has added in a UK option for EPG now.

o You can do season recordings, individual recordings and even setup manual recordings.

As for the USBIRT stuff, i have no idea about it. A few people on the forum use these so they should be able to advise you,

cheers,
Colin.

[Guest]

Hi,

I use the TV out on a PVR-350, and USB-UIRT to get the PC to change channels. I use XMLTV with --slow parameter to get the show details. GB-PVR is pretty good with the USB - UIRT (I also have an NTL cable box) . Word of caution - switch off the NTL OSD , it gets visually confusing !

Cheers

Mark

[Guest]

Sorry to jump in late here, but my setup might be of interest to the original poster.

I have an NTL analogue cable connection, which is advantageous. I plug the cable connection from the wall straight into my PVR-350 RF input, bypassing the cable box with a splitter. The PVR is able to tune directly into about 80% of the channels I have, with only some of the encrypted ones not working. For the ones the PVR can't tune to directly (Living TV, UK Gold, Trouble and a couple of others), I have a second capture card that takes the output from the cable box.

The second card probably isn't even necessary, since I could use the composite output from the cable box to the composite input of the PVR.

FYI, this is also all done using MythTV and not GB-PVR. I've been watching GB-PVR for some time, and as soon as it does DVB-T, I might give it a look. However, the PVR-350 should be able to receive the analogue cable whatever HTPC software you use.

Cheers,

Steve

[joshley]

Thanks for all your help people!
LongSteve: I have NTL digital for which there is no input on the 350 that will accept the cable straight from the wall.
My set up at the moment consists of S-Video out from NTL box to S-Video in on 350, channel changing will be done from probably USB-UIRT when I get it, Bleb for my EPG (does anyone know of a free EPG I can use with GB-PVR that includes all Sky/NTL channels i.e. UK Living etc.?) and outputting back via S-Video out from my 350 to the TV! GB-PVRs pause function works a lot better than WinTV 2000!
mjp: What do you mean by 'XMLTV with --slow parameter'? Pardon my ignorance! Does this give you all the NTL channels on the EPG?
Colin: Thanks! Although I can pause TV fine with GB-PVR.. (I went for it and set it all up!?