Help building a new system

[starfire]

Didn't realise BBC HD was DVB-S (not S2), whats the cheapest card that would work with this and Sage? Presumably Sage will work with any card that has BDA drivers?

[planetc]

Originally Posted by bartley9

I use a Sky+ remote control which has different codes to a normal sky remote and no overlaps.

I used the same when I had a single box set up, it worked a treat and was nice and simple. In this config it allows you to use a familiar remote, with the pvr related buttons and have a digibox in the same room with no remote conflict and is therefore ideal. When I switched to a server based system I left my usbuirt attched to the server for the channel changing and dropped back to a budget remote on each client. Low cost is important as the wife just doesn't 'get it'.
I have been tempted to go this route again with my clients, but my remote receivers won't pick up the frequencies so it would mean replacing them all. It is a shame because it would ease the transition for the wife, who at the moment is avoiding use of the system because a plain vanilla digibox still allows her to watch tv. It took her months to stop watching analogue tv and start using sky when I added it some years back, I suspect the same will be true with sage until she twigs that it is actually useful.

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by MCE-Refugee

The only channels currently using DVB-S2 are subscription HD channels. DVB-S channels are not going to disappear for a very, very long time as all regular satellite channels use this protocol e.g. all those millions of Sky & Sky+ digiboxes will never be able to use DVB-S2.

You are correct, however it doesnt make sense to me in buying something which will only work for a while. Hopefully this time next year when Freesat gets going BBC-HD, ITV HD, Channel 4HD and possibly channel 5 HD will all start using DVB-S2 and you wont be able to recieve them without upgrading and if you dont have a spare PCI slot you will be stuffed.

I could also be talking out of my ring peice and they will never move from DVB-S to DVB-S2 like they originally said and everything will be just fine, but thats life I guess esspically if you live in the UK where everything takes soooo long.

[bunch92]

In the end, I have made the following choices regarding hardware (should reach £450):

- Case Antec NSK 2480 380W
- Abit I-N73HD
- Intel E5200
- 2Gb RAM
- HD 500Go
- Cinergy 2400i DT Capture (2 DVB-T tuners, supported by SageTV) PCIe
- 2 * WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 (DVB-S2 tuner, supported by SageTV) PCI


Hope it will be powerful enough for BBC HD ....

Cheers

[jaminben]

Looks good except for the motherboard which seems a little under powered on the GFX side, but I dont keep upto date with these things anymore so it maybe ok.

[bartley9]

I've got to say your system looks very undersized on Disks. I have 600GB just for dynamic recordings with stuff I want to save bening archived off to a different array.

I'm not sure if you might run into bandwidth problems trying to record 4 streams to a single 500GB disk and playing back one at the same time. but I am no expert in this area. In any case you can always add more disks if it is an issue.

[bunch92]

Thx for all your comments. All the parts have been ordered (but with just 1 WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 and 1 Cinergy 2400i DT). Total was £400. I will buy the other WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 and the blu-ray disk when I have more money ...

I should receive them next week, then another week to set it up ... but I will let you know how it goes (especially BBC HD) , also if I get any graphics issues with that Motherboard or any hard drive bandwith issues.

I hesitated between the 500Go and the 1To but my budget was tight ....

[Dvid]

MCE-Refugee, what drivers do you use for the Pinnacle 7010x? I've got one, but could only ever get the DVB-T tuners to work with Sage.

[bunch92]

Hi , here is an update. The system is almost finished (still have a couple of small issues) and it performs nicely. BBC HD picture has an occasional flick but all the other channels are great.

Like bartley9 said, I will have to get another disk soon as it fills up quickly.