Capture VHS from ati tv wonder

[Chroner]

I came across an old ati tv wonder in the closet and i'm trying to get it setup to capture from a vhs player to convert some old tapes to dvd. Sage doesnt list it as a tuner in the device menu (im not surprised as its so old). I don't want to mess with the settings on my primary tuners (nvidia dual tuner), but i'd still like to capture from the vhs player.

What's the best way for me to proceed from here? My gut tells me that the ati tv wonder isnt supported by sage. If this is the case, is there some free software that i could use to record from the tv wonder?

Alternatly, is there a way that i can use the nvidia dual tuner to capture from the vhs player without messing with my current setup (both tuners are recording from stb's via s-video).

im not overly concerned about the quality of the recordings from the vhs, i just want to get them on dvd so i can put the vcr and tapes in the attic and forget about them.

Thanks

[Chroner]

I was able to get sage to detect the ati card (updated drivers) but I am having trouble setting it up as a source.

I selected it from the sources menu and set it up as a tuner. The VCR is set to output on channel 4. The problem occurs when the preview loads in the setup window. The video comes in fine, but the audio is strange. It loops the first second of audio indefinately and the volume slowly increases. I have no idea what is going on.

Can anyone help?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by Chroner

Alternatly, is there a way that i can use the nvidia dual tuner to capture from the vhs player without messing with my current setup (both tuners are recording from stb's via s-video).

You could hook upt the VCR via either the coax or maybe wire up one of the composite connectors.

Then, just add in a second source in Sage that points to the coax/composite and pick a second lineup. Just about any lineup will do, just delete all the channels except channel 4. You could then set up a manual recording on channel 4 and once the recording is done, rename it as needed.

As fro the ATI wonder, I think it is a software encoder, and you'd probably be better off just dealing with the nVidia card.

[Chroner]

Will sage allow me to setup 3 sources from the 2 tuners on the nvidia card? Obviously, it wont be able to record from all 3 sources simultaneously, but are you saying that as long as one of the stb's isnt using one of the tuners I can record off of the 3rd source (vcr via coax)?

i thought that i tried that and it didnt seem to like it, but i'll try again this evening.

Thanks.

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by Chroner

Will sage allow me to setup 3 sources from the 2 tuners on the nvidia card? Obviously, it wont be able to record from all 3 sources simultaneously, but are you saying that as long as one of the stb's isnt using one of the tuners I can record off of the 3rd source (vcr via coax)?

Yup, you can setup as many sources as you have connections on your tuner cards. Sage knows that there are only 2 tuners and will only record 2 sources at a time, but that it has additional sources to use to make the best schedule.

[Chroner]

Great, thanks for the suggestion. I'll definately give it another shot tonight.

I'm still curious if anyone has experienced something similar to what I described with the ati card. It records the video feed fine, but only records the first second or so of the audio feed and then loops it.

[Chroner]

Looks like I got it working. Thanks for all your help ke6guj.

I setup a third source on the nvidia card and configured it to tune to rf cahnnel 4. Now I can chuck that old ati card out the window along with all these old vhs tapes.

[davephan]

I use an small adapter that converts composite video into S-video. I bought the adapter at Radio Shack, but they are probably available at many stores.

Here's a link to the unit I bought

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search


Dave