VCR as second source?

[klaberte]

OK, I am sure this has been addressed here and there, but I have not found all the details in one place. Hopefully this thread (or a pointer to another thread) will document this once and for all...

I have a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250. It works OK for channels > 7, but not so well for channels 2-7. Channel 4 is particularly bad.

I also have an idle VCR that has a perfectly nice analog cable tuner. I would like to make this VCR my only tuner for ch 2-7, and my secondary tuner for channels > 7. It seems reasonable that I should be able to do this by attaching the VCR's video and audio output to the input of my PVR250 and assigning it as a seperate tuner in Sage.

Q1: Can you define for Sage two distinct tuners, one as the internal tuner on the PVR250, and a second as the composite input to the same PVR250?

OK, the next issue is how to change the channel on the VCR automatically from Sage. It appears that V3 of Sage has built in support for USBUIRT. I am willing to buy a USBUIRT to switch the channels on my VCR if it will work. The manual for V3 seems to show how to set this up, including teaching the USBUIRT the IR codes for various key punches.

Q2: Once I purchase my USBUIRT, will changing channels on my VCR from Sage be as easy as it looks?

Finally, one of my main goals is to have two different tuners. I would like to simultaneously record, say ch 33 and 44.

Q3: Does the PVR250 onboard encoder have the bandwidth to encode both streams simultaneously, e.g. ch 33 AND 44 from 8-9pm?

There are some posts that suggest I cannot use the same EPG for two different inputs (the internal TV tuner and the composite input). There are others that say Sage can be taught, or tricked, into making this work.

Q4: Can Sage use the same EPG (in my case, the lineup for Extended Basic from Comcast) to give me the ability to use these two lineups essentially independantly?

Thanks!

Ken

[mdmint]

PVR250 is a single tuner/encoder, period. And it should tune in channels 2-7 fine, mine does with Comcast Extended Basic analog cable no problem, any and all of 6 tuners fine. (2 PVR250, 2 PVR500) If you want to be able to record more than one thing at a time you'll need another tuner. Hint: PVR500 IS a dual tuner card so adding it would give you three.

As far as using a VCR to tune in for Sage you're on your own!