What's the best DVB-S card to use with Sage ?

[Berg]

In light of recent developments, I think I will give DVB-S a try as a source on my Sage system (I might try first setting up a "test" server so I don't messed with something that "just works")

So before I take the plunge, I am looking for a little bit of guidance. What is the best DVB-S card to use with SageTV.

Of course, also allow me to ask why ?

Thanks in advance.

[Berg]

OK, I have done my homework on a couple of other forums and I think the Genpix SkyWalker1 would be a could "card". http://www.genpix-electronics.com/in...iewDoc&docId=9

Anyone using this inside of Sage ? Any experience with this card ?

Thanks in advance.

[azmouse]

Hey Berg,
I have been using 2 iPro-1000's for over a year now and while they work great, I wanted to be able to get HD content as well. I came across the Genpix a couple of weeks ago and from everything I can find, it apears to be the best option out there. Especialy since it is the only one that supports:
Turbo-coded QPSK
Turbo-coded 8PSK
Turbo-coded 16QAM


I found this thread over at Happysat:
http://dvbn.happysat.org/viewtopic.p...33e89dad2b0732

It looks like to get it in to Sage you will need to also run MyTheater. Someone wrote a conduit for Sage to Control My Theater, My Theater is able to control the Skywalker1. So it would be Skywalker1 -> MyTheater -> Sage

I think I am going to order one and give it a try here in the next week or so but it seems like people are having great success with this device.

Now we just need to encourage Sage to provide native support ....and not via a BDA driver....the BDA driver model seems to limited for the full functionality of the device.

[Berg]

Thanks Azmouse.

I am there with you. I was thinking about using MT or DVB Dream, but with the most recent beta, I am hoping that I can use the card directly within Sage.

The questions is could you have two of theses in the same machine ?

I am thinking about buying one myself ... but I am still not sure.

If you get one, post your experience here and I'll do the same.

Cheers.

[technazz]

I don't think the Skywalker will be supported directly in Sage. You best bet is MT/DVBDREAM with network encoder plugin.

Technazz

[Berg]

Originally Posted by technazz

I don't think the Skywalker will be supported directly in Sage. You best bet is MT/DVBDREAM with network encoder plugin.

Technazz

Would you know why not ? Are there significant advantages to using MT or DVBDream ? (other than card support)

[kiddm60]

I don't know anything about whether GenPix device will be supported in SageTV, but I own a GenPix Skywalker-1, and have it working with both MyTheatre and DVB Dream.

The network encoder that I have used with SageTV only works with Mytheatre application. The channel change method is very specific to MyTheatre, if I recall correctly from glancing at source code for the encoder. Mytheatre does not support h.264 stream reception, but does support MPEG2 HD reception.

DVB Dream does support H.264 HD stream reception, but no network encoder exists to interface it with SageTV. Another drawback to DVB Dream is that, as near as I can tell, it will always display video when a receivable channel is tuned.

I suspect this (DD always displaying video) would conflict with SageTV if someone ever got around to writing a network encoder for DVB Dream.

That is all I currently know on the subject. Just thought I might add a little to your considerations. I keep trying to come up with the ultimate HTPC solution. In my opinion, SageTV provides the best program guide (with Malore custom menus for searching the guide), and DVB Dream provides the best support for HD streams over Satellite, but the two don't work together and I don't think anyone has plans to change that.

Good luck.

[marsh9man]

DVB Dream does support H.264 HD stream reception, but no network encoder exists to interface it with SageTV. Another drawback to DVB Dream is that, as near as I can tell, it will always display video when a receivable channel is tuned.

If you check the DVB Dream section at DVB Network, you will see that a network encoder has been written. Currently H.264 does not play correctly in Sage, but it is being worked on by the author. Also, the option for a true and permanent renderless mode has been added.

Right now there are some other issues with the network encoder, but it is supposed to be fixed with the next release.

[kiddm60]

Thanks very much for the lead on the network encoder.

[Dinesh_H]

The author of the DvbDream network encoder has not responded to my emails for weeks. I wanted continue his work on the network encoder.

Instead I have wrote my own. It is working for a few h.264 channels. However most h.264 channels cannot be played in SageTV. I have been communicating with SageTV technical support. They are trying to fix the problem. It appears that SageTV thinks the files are mpeg1. I will update this tread with more details.

[marsh9man]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_H

The author of the DvbDream network encoder has not responded to my emails for weeks. I wanted continue his work on the network encoder.

Instead I have wrote my own. It is working for a few h.264 channels. However most h.264 channels cannot be played in SageTV. I have been communicating with SageTV technical support. They are trying to fix the problem. It appears that SageTV thinks the files are mpeg1. I will update this tread with more details.

That's awesome...thanks for your efforts.

[azmouse]

Very cool that there is interest in this.....I can't wait to see where this goes.