WinTV-HVR-2250, Antenna, & Satellite Box

[ktriebol]

I just purchased a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 twin analog/digital tuner card and was intalling it today. I also have a Dish network satellite receiver and I was expecting all of this to work on Vista Media Center. I want to be able to handle two stations over the air (analog and/or digital) as well as handle the signal from my satellite receiver through an S-video connection. My hope is to use these three signal sources for any combination of watching or recording TV. Unfortunately I found out that if I have the satellite receiver connected to the tuner card, Vista Media Center is unable to recognize the two TV tuners on the Hauppauge card. I was kind of surprised to learn this, but the Hauppauge tech support person suggested that I look at Sage TV. Can anyone tell me if Sage TV will accommodate the three TV signal sources that I described? Also, my OS is Vista Home Premium X64, so it would have to work with my OS. If Sage TV will do what I am looking for, I will gladly buy it.

[pjpjpjpj]

While I am not knowledgeable about your particular tuner cards, to answer your base question, Sage itself can handle LOTS of tuners. I have seen several people who have up to 10 tuners running, a combination of internal, USB, network, etc. So, yes, Sage will absolutely handle three sources. I just can't promise you that it can handle the ones you mention (check the Sage system requirements, there is a list of compatible tuners).

[HelenWeathers]

The 2250 has two tuners only so you can only record from two sources at a time. Each tuner can record from Analog, OTA ATSC, QAM or s-video/composit input. Think of it as a two course meal, with your choice of one entre from the list of 4 and your choice of main meal from the list of 4.

With SageTV, I believe you can set this card up as three sources, but you can only record from two at a time.

[ktriebol]

Thank you for the quick replies. Helen, I understand that you are saying that I should be able to watch/record two OTA signals or one OTA signal and one Satellite box signal via S-video on SageTV, correct? If so, this is acceptable. I have downloaded SageTV 6.4 (21 day free trial) and am going through the setup now. SageTV does not list the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 as one of the supported tuner cards, so maybe that will be a problem. This card is quite new.

[ktriebol]

When going through the SageTV setup, my WinTV-HVR-2250 tuner is recognized as a WinTV-7164 analog capture device. It seems that I can continue with the SageTV setup and get analog OTA TV working as well as the S-video satellite box, but I cannot get digital OTA TV working. I imagine this is because my 2250 is not on the list of supported tuner cards and therefore SageTV is not going to work for me. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by ktriebol

Thank you for the quick replies. Helen, I understand that you are saying that I should be able to watch/record two OTA signals or one OTA signal and one Satellite box signal via S-video on SageTV, correct?

Yes, exactly.

Originally Posted by ktriebol

SageTV does not list the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 as one of the supported tuner cards, so maybe that will be a problem. This card is quite new.

In XP it is listed as Hauppauge 771. In Vista it is listed by another number (4 digit I think). Choose this number as source and you'll get a screen to pick which tuner: Analog, Digital etc.
Repeat process for second source (#2)

EDIT: Also read thru this thread for driver info (especially post #11): http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ad.php?t=34355

[MattHelm]

I currently have SageTV using the 2250 as 5 tuners:

2 analog cable tuners
2 QAM cable tuners
1 Analog composite "tuner" using a cable box and the USB-UIRT

I can only record 2 channels at a time, but it can be any mix of the 2.

As I also have a HDHomerun, I cange the merrit on the tuners to always use (if possible) the HDHomerun first, the tuner NOT hooked to the cable box second, and the cable box "tuner" last. That way the cable box is almost always free to record Sci-Fi channel. It wasn't hard for me to do, but I've been using SageTV a while.

Hope that helps.

[ktriebol]

Helen, you said:

In XP it is listed as Hauppauge 771. In Vista it is listed by another number (4 digit I think). Choose this number as source and you'll get a screen to pick which tuner: Analog, Digital etc.
Repeat process for second source (#2)

When I go through the SageTV setup wizard, I come to the page that deals with selecting the video capture device. There are two devices listed on that page:
1. Hauppague WinTV-7164 Analog Capture
2. Hauppauge WinTV-7164 Analog Capture #2

I am running Vista 64 and I went to device manager on my computer to see if there was a 4-digit number given for the WinTV-HVR-2250. Device Manager shows a value of (8880) shown in parenthesis at the end of the 2250 card. Maybe this is the 4-digit value you are referring to. If so, I don't have a clue how to use it in the SageTV setup process. As I said above, only the two 7164 models are shown in SageTV setup. There is no place that I am aware of that I can enter the 8880 value or select it from a list somewhere. Helen, if you have any thoughts on this problem, it would be apprecitated.

Matt Helm, apparently you got the 2250 card running with SageTV. Did the 7164 tuner cards show up in the setup wizard, or did the card show up as a 2250?

[HelenWeathers]

I believe it's the 7164 (this number is read by SageTV from the driver). Select the first one and then you'll get a page to choose input type etc.

Be sure to check for driver updates from Hauppauge support as it seems to me there were some issues with the 64bit drivers shipped with the card.

[ktriebol]

Yes, I do have the latest driver from Hauppauge. I carried on with the SageTV setup using the 7164 tuners that were shown and I seem to have it working now. The satellite receiver is working too. I will need to spend some more time with this to do some fine tuning but at least I am getting pictures and sound now. Thanks for the help.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by ktriebol

Matt Helm, apparently you got the 2250 card running with SageTV. Did the 7164 tuner cards show up in the setup wizard, or did the card show up as a 2250?

That was Sunday, I've slept since then!!!! Just kidding. I'm 99% sure they are labeled 7164, but I'm not at home now. Will check when I am, and will report then.

Remeber, to get HD, Analog and video in, you'll have to install the tuner 3 times each. I think I had to use Composite #2.

[MattHelm]

OK, home, and they are all 5 listed as 7164'a