Current Thinking on Dual Tuners

Goodspike · #1 11-27-2006, 09:08 AM

I thought I asked this about a year ago, but can't find the thread. I'm thinking again of adding a second HD tuner card (actually a third, but MyHD doesn't count).

I currently have a Fusion 3. Just from a stability/conflict perspective with Sage, would people recommend a Fusion 5 to use the same drivers, or a Vbox to use different drivers?

Also, the Vbox (Cats Eye) tuner cards seem to be scarce right now. Anyone know why?

paulbeers · #2 11-27-2006, 06:54 PM

If I were you, I would wait to see if the QAM enabled solutions become a complete reality. You may not use QAM, but it seems stupid to buy a "second" card that you would have limited use for (what if you decide you want to use QAM some day?). Just my .02 worth though. That is why I am waiting on buying a second card.

thomaszoo · #3 11-27-2006, 08:43 PM

I would recommend the HD HomeRun. It is dual tuners that is connected via your network. Hook up you cable / antenna, plug into your network, plug in the power, shutdown SageTV, run SageTV HDHR app, restart Sage and a couple of minor configuration settings for OTA (not sure of QAM) and you are in business! Not even a reboot. The HDHR goes for about $170. I am very happy with mine. At this point it is my preferred HD tuner in Sage.

Goodspike · #4 11-28-2006, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaszoo

I would recommend the HD HomeRun. It is dual tuners that is connected via your network. Hook up you cable / antenna, plug into your network, plug in the power, shutdown SageTV, run SageTV HDHR app, restart Sage and a couple of minor configuration settings for OTA (not sure of QAM) and you are in business! Not even a reboot. The HDHR goes for about $170. I am very happy with mine. At this point it is my preferred HD tuner in Sage.

I'll have to look into that. I'm connected to my network via a wireless USB adaptor. Can I just connect this to the HTPC directly via eithernet?

Goodspike · #5 11-28-2006, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulbeers

If I were you, I would wait to see if the QAM enabled solutions become a complete reality. You may not use QAM, but it seems stupid to buy a "second" card that you would have limited use for (what if you decide you want to use QAM some day?). Just my .02 worth though. That is why I am waiting on buying a second card.

QAM wouldn't be bad, because as the third card I'd be pushing my antenna with too many splitters. I was actually thinking of adding a second antenna (the existing one is in the attic, and I now have a line I could use that's a former DirecTV cable). But I do have a cable run to the TV already, so that would be easier.

I haven't been keeping up. How close are we to QAM becoming a reality, and is it dependent on the tuner card?

paulbeers · #6 11-28-2006, 10:39 AM

The HD Homerun mentioned earlier can do it in the beta versions. So can the OnAir GT. I am not sure if all the bugs are completely worked out in them though, so tha is why I am waiting until they release a "stable" version of 6.0 (rather than the betas) and I will feel comfortable spending the money. My thoughts are the HD Homerun also, so that I don't need to use another PCI slot and it is a dual tuner solution (I will end up with 3 tuners then). Just my .02 worth.

thomaszoo · #7 11-28-2006, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

I'll have to look into that. I'm connected to my network via a wireless USB adaptor. Can I just connect this to the HTPC directly via eithernet?

You can but you then need to run a DHCP server on your PC. This is what I am doing using tftpd32 (a freebie). If I had a router or switch close by I would have simply plugged into that. Unfortunately, the HDHR only does DHCP, it doesn't support a static IP address. Maybe a future firmware upgrade.

Goodspike · #8 11-29-2006, 09:34 AM

Looking into this, it seems like it the HDHomerun has it's own programing to record, which to me would be a negative. I'm looking for something that Sage Service can control directly.

thomaszoo · #9 11-29-2006, 10:53 AM

The DHCP server is only for an IP address and only necessary if you plug the HDHR directly into the network port on your PC. If you add it to your network and have DHCP enabled in your router (typical configuration) there are no extra steps. Sage controls all of the programming just like it would for any other tuner, whether it is a PCI card or USB device. Or were you talking about something completely different?

Polypro · #10 11-29-2006, 11:40 AM

Just to echo,

Once you set the HDHR up, Sage totally controls it. It appears as two tuners just like 2 PCI cards would. As a bonus, changing channels on the HDHR is about 3x faster than a Fusion5 PCI card. I set mine up Sunday and had Sage perfect performance in about 30 minutes...which included the optional DHCP server setup.

P

Goodspike · #11 11-29-2006, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaszoo

The DHCP server is only for an IP address and only necessary if you plug the HDHR directly into the network port on your PC. If you add it to your network and have DHCP enabled in your router (typical configuration) there are no extra steps. Sage controls all of the programming just like it would for any other tuner, whether it is a PCI card or USB device. Or were you talking about something completely different?

It's something different. I understood Sage controlled it, but I was wondering what process actually does the work. Does Sage just tell some HDHomerun application to start recording, or is it doing it directly as it does with a BDA compliant tuner card?

What I'm concerned about is this. Right now if Sage starts a recording, there's no drain on system performance during the startup. But if say I have MyHD start a recording (totally outside Sage), while the MyHD program is starting up, playback is affected by the load on the system while loading the MyHD program.

A secondary concern is that with Sage Service, if a recording stops for some reason, the service will restart and continue the recording after reloading. If Sage just starts the recording using other software, but doesn't monitor the recording, that presumably wouldn't happen.

Goodspike · #12 11-29-2006, 03:46 PM

One other question. Could this be set up through Sage so that one tuner is QAM and one OTA?

AndyS · #13 11-29-2006, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

What I'm concerned about is this. Right now if Sage starts a recording, there's no drain on system performance during the startup. But if say I have MyHD start a recording (totally outside Sage), while the MyHD program is starting up, playback is affected by the load on the system while loading the MyHD program.

My understanding is that Sage issues a "start recording" command to the HDHR and passes the required filename and path to it, along with the required channel to be recorded. The HDHR creates the file directly. As the HDHR is outside of Sage, no extra load is placed on the CPU of the Sage server (outside of the minimal CPU required for the network activity and file writes of course).

Andy.

thomaszoo · #14 11-29-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

It's something different. I understood Sage controlled it, but I was wondering what process actually does the work. Does Sage just tell some HDHomerun application to start recording, or is it doing it directly as it does with a BDA compliant tuner card?

What I'm concerned about is this. Right now if Sage starts a recording, there's no drain on system performance during the startup. But if say I have MyHD start a recording (totally outside Sage), while the MyHD program is starting up, playback is affected by the load on the system while loading the MyHD program.

A secondary concern is that with Sage Service, if a recording stops for some reason, the service will restart and continue the recording after reloading. If Sage just starts the recording using other software, but doesn't monitor the recording, that presumably wouldn't happen.

I think Andy hit most of the points in his post. I have a couple of MyHD cards and it is nothing like that. In fact, I think it is faster at thing like changing channels than an internal PCI card. The very small application that it uses currently is not a service, but several people have made a request that it be modified to run as a service. My guess is that it will be done in the next week or two. Right now they are working on getting the IR receiver working via software (not sure if this will work with Sage). EDIT: I am currently using XYNTService to run it as a service.

And yes, you can use one tuner as QAM and the other as OTA. A really versatile little device.

Goodspike · #15 11-29-2006, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaszoo

And yes, you can use one tuner as QAM and the other as OTA. A really versatile little device.

Well that might be what gets me to try this. It might save me putting up a second antenna, although reading through the other thread it seems like channel assignments might be an issue. That would really be the case probably when you're mixing them.

Goodspike · #16 11-30-2006, 09:20 PM

Okay, a few more questions before I buy. Rather than running some software to handle DHCP, could I just connect a spare router to the computer, even if that routers is not connected to anything else? And if I did that, would it mess up my existing wireless connection?

Morgan111 · #17 12-01-2006, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

Okay, a few more questions before I buy. Rather than running some software to handle DHCP, could I just connect a spare router to the computer, even if that routers is not connected to anything else? And if I did that, would it mess up my existing wireless connection?

You could use a spare router to do that, but you would then have an extra cable, box, power supply, and outlet used. The DHCP utilities (like tftpd32) are really not that big of a deal to install, and you don't have to see it once you install it. I'll take that anyday over more "stuff" hanging off my server. Go for it!

Goodspike · #18 12-01-2006, 09:54 AM

I think I will, and I think I may make both tuners QAM to start. That way I can leave my existing two tuners OTA without affecting signal strength. I'd planned on removing the MyHD card (due to the signal strength issue, not due to lack of slots), but that won't be necessary.

If this thing works, this will be the second time my expandability plans have been totally unnecessary. When I bought my TV I paid particular attention to the type and number of inputs, and now I only use one input (for the HTPC). When I bought my motherboard I paid particular attention to the number of PCI slots, so I could add more tuners, and if this works, that won't have been necessary. I guess having too many is better than having too few.

Polypro · #19 12-01-2006, 10:11 AM

The HDHR works

Just re-read the HDHR thread here, and all of Silicon dust...and you should be G2G.

P

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)