Looking for HDTV Tuner card for my Media Center PC

[raynist]

I have a Media Center PC with 2.8 Pentium D processors, 1gb ram and built in video card (128mb ram). I am looking for a HDTV Tuner card to record HD programming and then use my Xbox 360 to view the programs on my HDTV. Can someone recommend the best card for my needs? I was thinking of the ATI card.

Thanks
Ray Nist

[ngamer007]

I'm in a similar situation, only my computer doesn't have MCE, so I'm going to have to wait until they sell it in stores. (or until Vista comes out)

[GPowers]

[QUOTE=ngamer007]I'm in a similar situation, only my computer doesn't have MCE, so I'm going to have to wait until they sell it in stores. (or until Vista comes out)[/QUOTE]

There are places you can buy MCE 2005 OEM version of the software OS.

[Commodore 64]

SageTV will let you record and extend TV and video to other PCs on your network. You don't HAVE to have MCE for anything.

[GPowers]

[QUOTE=raynist]I have a Media Center PC with 2.8 Pentium D processors, 1gb ram and built in video card (128mb ram). I am looking for a HDTV Tuner card to record HD programming and then use my Xbox 360 to view the programs on my HDTV. Can someone recommend the best card for my needs? I was thinking of the ATI card.

Thanks
Ray Nist[/QUOTE]

I'm using the vBox USB HDTV tuner. They also make PCI turner cards. There are only a few HDTV cards that will work with MCE.

I use the USB version becaues I only have two PCI slots free. One is being used by a SATA array card. I did not want to use my last open PCI slot for the HDTV tuner.

[raynist]

But if you are going to use the Xbox 360 as the extended/interface to the TV you would need MCE right?

--Ray

Anyways, what TV Tuner card would be best?

[Commodore 64]

Yes, I think so. Get a Vbox card. They were the reference cards used by Microsoft when developing MCE.

www.pcalchemy.com has them.

[raynist]

[QUOTE=GPowers]I'm using the vBox USB HDTV tuner. They also make PCI turner cards. There are only a few HDTV cards that will work with MCE.

I use the USB version becaues I only have two PCI slots free. One is being used by a SATA array card. I did not want to use my last open PCI slot for the HDTV tuner.[/QUOTE]

USB would be great. I too am limited in the number of open slots that I have. How much was that tuner? I will have to look into that.

--Ray

[raynist]

[QUOTE=GPowers]I'm using the vBox USB HDTV tuner. They also make PCI turner cards. There are only a few HDTV cards that will work with MCE.

I use the USB version becaues I only have two PCI slots free. One is being used by a SATA array card. I did not want to use my last open PCI slot for the HDTV tuner.[/QUOTE]

Hi Greg,

Is this the one you have?

http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/pName/vbox-cats-eye-usba3560-atsc-terrestrial-hdtv-receiver/cName/hdtv-tuner-cards

Is this all that woud be needed to record HD programming on my PC? Do you need the remote for this or would you change the channels with the Media Center software?

Thanks
Ray

[Commodore 64]

You would change the channels through MCE. Microsoft sells a remote made just for MCE but it works in SageTV and Media Portal too.

If you have MCE 2005, that USB tuner is all you need. Wait. You'll need an antenna to receive OTA channels. have you checked www.antennaweb.org to see if you can even get digital stations in your area?

[GPowers]

[QUOTE=raynist]Hi Greg,

Is this the one you have?

http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/pName/vbox-cats-eye-usba3560-atsc-terrestrial-hdtv-receiver/cName/hdtv-tuner-cards

Is this all that woud be needed to record HD programming on my PC? Do you need the remote for this or would you change the channels with the Media Center software?

Thanks
Ray[/QUOTE]

I purchased mine from CopperBox (http://www.copperbox.com/lite/popinfo.php?lc_code=USB-A-3560-FF). They were running a special when they first bundled the card with BeyondTV and had a great price.

The only problem i had was with the sound. I guess MCE 2005 does not come with the drivers needed for 5.1 sound. I installed BeyondTV and the correct drivers got loaded and the sound works using MCE 2005.

You need MCE 2005, an analog TV tuner card, Lots of disk space and the vBox. My MCE system can only record 67 hours of HDTV in best quality. That with an 800gig sATA two drive array with 700gig reserved for MCE.

You can change channels using the remote that came with MCE or on the ten foot user interface screen using the mouse and keyboard.

[raynist]

Greg,

I bought the Vbox you showed me. What format do I need to record these in in order to play them in Windows Media Center? It is recorded in TP? format?

I use my xbox 360 to watch these shows on my tv. I do not record in WMC as beyondTV gets better reception.

It is strange though, all of my channels say they get 100% signal strength, but only one channel has smooth video, the other have pauses every couple of seconds. Would an internal card work better or could ther be some other factor?

Thanks
Ray

[GPowers]

I do not have that problem with the USB card.

Some other factors could be the speed of the computer, memory, and disk drives. The systems i use has a 100gig IDE drive that has to OS and all the programs. All the shows are recorded to a two drive RAID 0 SATA array. The system also has 3 gigs of memory and is a 3.2 intel processor with HT. And i use MCE. Oh and the USB device needs USB2.0.

[raynist]

I have a new Sony Vio towet, 3.0 Pentium D (dual core), 1 gig of ram.

It is strange, my CBS station is absolutely fine, the others are not.

I am sure I have USB 2, but how can I tell for sure?

Thanks
Ray

Also, are there any good forums for the VBox?

[resonator]

eDTA-164 will ship later this year.

[GPowers]

[QUOTE=raynist]

I am sure I have USB 2, but how can I tell for sure?

[/QUOTE]

If the computer is new it is most likly USB2

But here is more info How do I Know (http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000602.htm)

[raynist]

This has to be a signal issue. I have a roof top antenna, so it is not easy to move it. I just hooked up a Terk Amplifed antenna. If I moved it facing due east, I got one of the channels that was having problems before perfectly, of course, I lost some of my others. The signal meter in the setup menu must not be very accurate.

I also can't seem to get the signal utility that came with the Beyond TV software to work.

--ray

[GPowers]

Looks like your going to need to buy an antenna rotor.

[VideoJames]

[QUOTE=raynist]This has to be a signal issue. I have a roof top antenna, so it is not easy to move it. I just hooked up a Terk Amplifed antenna. If I moved it facing due east, I got one of the channels that was having problems before perfectly, of course, I lost some of my others. The signal meter in the setup menu must not be very accurate...[/QUOTE]

Have you checked the AntennaWeb site to see which direction your antenna will receive the strongest signal from? Just enter your zipcode, and it will give you compass directions for each digital channel in your area.
Link: http://www.antennaweb.org/

[QUOTE=raynist]I use my xbox 360 to watch these shows on my tv. I do not record in WMC as beyondTV gets better reception....[/QUOTE]

Not sure what you meant by this. Are you using BeyondTV or Windows Media Center? Using both is probably going to cause you conflict problems. In Media Center, after you have connected your HDTV tuner and installed the drivers, did you run the TV setup again? Once you do that, Media Center will add your available HD channels to the Program Guide, and you'll then record HD programs with Media Center in the dvr-ms format, and they will appear on your XBox360 extender in Recorded TV and be available to watch.

[raynist]

I am using Beyond TV to record the shows and then I watch them via Media Center. Beyond TV seems to pull the stations in better for whatever reason.

--Ray

[raynist]

Could it be my video card?

This machine came with a Radeon 9200

[raynist]

Sorry, Graphics card is an ATI x300

[VideoJames]

[QUOTE=raynist]Sorry, Graphics card is an ATI x300[/QUOTE]

Your graphics card has nothing to do with the strength of the HDTV signal you are receiving. The HD tuner card and antenna you are using will determine how well you pull in the HD signals.

You may also find that the ATIx300 isn't the best video card for displaying HDTV. Once you have strong signals consistently being pulled in through your antenna, you may find that the video is slightly jerky or pixelated. Thats when you should think about upgrading your video card. If you like ATI, look at their model x700 or x1600.

[raynist]

I am just confused as to why one station is perfect while the others are jerky. I hate to spend $200 on a video card if that is not the problem

Thanks
Ray

[raynist]

I just installed a Radeon X800xl and there is no change....

[VideoJames]

[QUOTE=raynist]I just installed a Radeon X800xl and there is no change....[/QUOTE]

Have you uninstalled BeyondTV yet? Make sure Media Center is the only tuning application running on your PC. Then go through the tuner setup in Media Center, and when you get to the digital tuner setup, use the antenna strength meters to assure yourself that all the networks you want to tune have strong signals; all showing as green colored bars in the strength meter.

Also, be sure you have the antenna pointed correctly towards the antenna tower of the broadcasting station you are trying to tune. Are all of the networks broadcasting from the same area? Like I live just east of NY City, and all of the networks I pull in broadcast from the Empire State Building. So I am have my antenna facing west-north west at about 297-298 degrees, and receive strong signals. The adjusting and fine-tuning can be tedious, but once you get it just right, you won't usually have to do it again.

[raynist]

Yes, I have Beyond TV installed.

In both apps, the antenna strength is 100%. I am using the same antenna (roof mounted) that I use for my HDTV in my gameroom.

I am baffled that I get 100% signal strength but continue to have this problem (except with CBS).

--Ray

[raynist]

Issue resolved, I hooked the Vbox up to an externally powered USB hub and now no issues

--Ray