SageTV and a Digital Converter box....

[HeeZy]

i get my tv fix from OTA with an antenna connected to my hauppauge pvr-usb2. now, a couple of channels have made the switch to all digital and cut off the analog signal. so some channels are useless.

so is there a way to use my pvr-usb2 with my zenith digital converter box and use the epg data with it?

thanks!

[stanger89]

You could, but it would be way more work than just getting an ATSC tuner card instead.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by stanger89

You could, but it would be way more work than just getting an ATSC tuner card instead.

I agree. First you would be adding another failure point to the system. Secondly, in order to change the channels you would have to use some kind of IR device (most likely the USB UIRT which adds an additional $50 to the cost). Third, because of the IR blaster you now have slower channel changes and a greater chance of a channel change failure (although my USB UIRT has been perfect).

So total cost (even if you have the $40 coupon), is at least $60. That is the same price or possibly more than many USB HD sticks.

[HeeZy]

ok, so whats the best usb tuner with atsc support that will work with sage 2.28.? i guess i have to upgrade.

thanks!

[SWKerr]

You know cost always seems to play a role in the definition of best. Another question I would have would be do you need a remote as well. I would guess you have a remote tied to the current tuner. Will you need something with a remote.

I don't know when Sage began to support HD but I am guessing you will need to upgrade Sage as well.

I would also venture to ask about your hardware. Will the video card be able to render the HD signal. You might want to post that to get some advice on if you need to upgrade your system as well. Also: HD files are a lot larger so hard drive space could also be an issue.

[HeeZy]

my pc specs aren't great. its an older system with a PIII 500mhz and 384 MB RAM. thats why i stick to sagetv 2.28 because my system is underpowered. i really don't use a remote at all. in fact, i rarely open the sagetv gui. i use the service and the webui to check the epg and setup my favorites. i then stream the content to my Xbox using XBMC.

so, i am not really concerned with HD. i am just looking for a new usb tuner that can get the digital signals. so i guess the cheapest solution would work for me.

so far, i have been able to connect the A/V composite out from the digital converter box into the composites in the pvr-usb2. i setup an new composite source in sagetv and set it up to the digital lineups in my area, but i only enable the one channel that had the analog cutoff. thus, i get the epg of the digital channel from the composite source so all i have to do is make sure the DC box is set to the correct channel whenever sagetv is set to record.

[SWKerr]

I just tried to play one of my OTA HD files on my Xbox and there was a lot of skipping an jumping. I think HD is just to much for it. I have not updated XBMC in sometime but I doutb it would make a difference. Even if you got a new tuner you would not be able to play it back on yur current hardware.

I do not think the IR blaster that came with the hauppauge will support your tuner. You can download the latest IR blaster driver from their site but your digital converter box is likely not going to be in there but you might get lucky and find something that uses the same codes. Your best bet it to get a USB-UIRT.($50) You should be able to train it with the remote from your digital converter box.
http://www.usbuirt.com/

Your other option is to build a new PC. Thanks to Intel's price war you can build an AMD based system cheap. (About $275 shipped without software.) If you can modify an Xbox I am sure you could build it yourself. Get an old copy of Xp and upgrade Sage and you would have something that would play back any of today content. You would still need a ATSC Tuner and that would add another $50. To output to my analog TVs I have a $20 VGA to composite converter box. Just wanted to make sure you knew what the cost of stepping up really was. The main reason for spending the extra cash would probably be to get all the free online content from places like Hulu. There are a lot of good shows and moves out there now that you can watch when ever you want. Also if you ever bought a HD set you would already be ready.