QAM HD capture choice...

[Rezolution]

I'm kind of limited to what QAM HD capture card I can use...

I was thinking of getting the HVR-1600 bue everyone seems to think they are a total piece of garbage. I haven't read one single good review on them for QAM signal reception.

I can't go with the HVR-1800 because it's PCI-e.

I don't really want to go with the 1950 because it's USB 2.0 and I have lots of other USB devices I don't want it interfereing with.

I read lots of great things abouht the HD Home Run, but I'm not really sure how it works. It looks like it's just a stand alone box with an Ethernet connection. I'm guessing that somehome SageTV is set up to talk to the box directly to get the mpeg-2 stream off of it. My only concern is that I saw someone complaining about how channels are programmed in when using it. Do you have to run 3rd party software in addion to SageTV, or do you just add it as another capture card? Does it support the same channel options, as say, adding in an HVR-1600 where you just tell it that you live in an area and you are using the 'digtal package'? The only problem I see there is the HD Home run does do analog channels...

I think really what I'm looking for is an HD Home Run that does analog LOL.

Is the HVR 1950 similar to the HD Home Run in quality or does the HD Home Run blow it away? I could live with the USB connection with the 1950 becuase it does analog as well, but I'm concerned that it's going to have problems like the 1600 does...



Suggestions???

[Conejo]

Originally Posted by Rezolution

[...] I read lots of great things abouht the HD Home Run, but I'm not really sure how it works. It looks like it's just a stand alone box with an Ethernet connection. I'm guessing that somehome SageTV is set up to talk to the box directly to get the mpeg-2 stream off of it. My only concern is that I saw someone complaining about how channels are programmed in when using it.

Do you have to run 3rd party software in addion to SageTV, or do you just add it as another capture card?

As you said, the HDHR is a stand-alone box with an Ethernet connection. Any computer on your LAN can connect to and tune a full Transport or Program Stream, once you've loaded the drivers and setup/application software.

SiliconDust and SageTV have recently modified their software to make it easier for SageTV users to set up and use the HDHR. Even more recent beta files lower the Ethernet traffic datarate by having the HDHR strip and stream your specific program from an ATSC or QAM multi-program Transport Stream. This is good.

Does it support the same channel options, as say, adding in an HVR-1600 where you just tell it that you live in an area and you are using the 'digtal package'?

The HDHR is set up the same way any other tuner is set up; you normally select a free tuner and assign a lineup so it will have an Electronic Program Guide. The difference in the set up for SageTV using the HDHR is that it has a 'pre-set up' routine to help the SageTV setup process go smoother. Some have complained that it's duplicate effort. This is an evolving process, and SiliconDust has been working with application developers like SageTV to offer better integrations and operability. Currently the set up requires some manual data entry but overall it's really not that difficult.

The only problem I see there is the HD Home run does do analog channels...
I think really what I'm looking for is an HD Home Run that does analog LOL.

No, unfortunately the HDHR doesn't do analog. But it does do digital ATSC and QAM very well. I use a PVR-500 dual-tuner Analog Card along with an HDHR and they seem to balance each other.
But I may soon add an PVR-HD since my Cable Co has put all my favorite non-local stations on channels that require one of their STBs to tune. And I don't think they're going to make those stations clear-QAM any time soon.

[Rezolution]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. After reading all of your comments I think that the HDHR is probably going to be my best bet

[AJ Bertelson]

There is also the 2250 that does both analog cable and QAM, but I believe getting them both to work is difficult.

[reggie14]

To be fair, I've been using a HVR-1600 to tune QAM channels for the last year and haven't had any problems that I couldn't resolve. A lot of other people have had the same experience. What does seem to be the case, though, is that it's a little picky when it comes to signal strength. If it's too high, then you can't change the channel. If it's too low, then you have problems with the video stream. At my previous apartment the signal strength was too high, so I needed to use some splitters to drop the signal. At my current apartment I needed an amplifier before I split the signal 6 ways. I think if you're willing to work with stuff like that you can get away with the HVR-1600.

I think there's wide agreement that the HD Home Run is better for QAM reception, but if analog tuning/capturing is important to you then maybe the HVR-1600 would be a better fit.