Need a tuner for WHS box with no PCI

[michaeldjcox]

I think I found the WHS server box of my dreams - quad core 2.66Ghz, low power, small form factor but...

.. no available PCI (you can't have everything)

I see some people are using HDHomeRuns and some people use DVB-T USB sticks.

I'm in a low signal area but my dual DVB-T PCI tuner card has done OK.

I've been told that USB are not as good as PCI cards.

I've been told for example that USB sticks have no built-in hardware MPEG-2 decoder and therefore put load on the CPU.

I've been told that they are no good in low signal areas.

(All by one bloke in a local PC shop)

I might consider an HDHomeRun - but do they now work with SageTV and WHS?

I also see two antenna connections in the back - so I have to split the signal myself- will this cause problems in a weak signal area?

Does anyone have any experiences they can offer to help me make a decision.

Michael

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

I've been told for example that USB sticks have no built-in hardware MPEG-2 decoder and therefore put load on the CPU.

A tuner doesn't need a decoder. Your graphics card handles that.

A digital tuner doesn't even need an encoder, because the digital signal is already encoded by the broadcaster. (It's true there are some analog USB tuners that lack an onboard encoder and do the encoding in software. But that's irrelevant for digital broadcasts.)

[davephan]

The tuner card depends on what video content you want to receive. I am not familiar what is offered in the UK. In the US, the Silicon Dust HDHomerun is good for digital over the air signals and clear QAM cable signals, it doesn't need a slot, can receive HD, and works great. The Hauppauge 2250 is another choice for cable TV analog and clear QAM, and uses a PCI-e X1 slot. The Hauppauge HD-PVR may be your choice if you want to record HD.

It would be helpful to tell us what video content is available in the UK.

Dave

[brewston]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

I'm in a low signal area but my dual DVB-T PCI tuner card has done OK.

I've been told that USB are not as good as PCI cards.

I've been told for example that USB sticks have no built-in hardware MPEG-2 decoder and therefore put load on the CPU.

l

I'm in a low signal area too, had to get a roof mounted aerial. But I have DVB-S (PCI card) & DVB-T (USB stick) and most of the time you can't tell the difference. The USB stick definitely puts no extra load on the CPU, I monitor that closely because of the PC I have

Have you not got a PC world near ? I've bought things from them and tried them out and taken them back when they don't work as I'd expected.


Course the problem is that there are no DVB-S USB sticks at the moment (Not a problem if you don't have a dish )

Tim

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

A tuner doesn't need a decoder. Your graphics card handles that.

A digital tuner doesn't even need an encoder, because the digital signal is already encoded by the broadcaster. (It's true there are some analog USB tuners that lack an onboard encoder and do the encoding in software. But that's irrelevant for digital broadcasts.)

and a decoder is only needed on the graphics card for playback?

So for a server box and digital broadcast no encoder or decoder is needed by the sound of it.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by brewston

I'm in a low signal area too, had to get a roof mounted aerial. But I have DVB-S (PCI card) & DVB-T (USB stick) and most of the time you can't tell the difference. The USB stick definitely puts no extra load on the CPU, I monitor that closely because of the PC I have

Have you not got a PC world near ? I've bought things from them and tried them out and taken them back when they don't work as I'd expected.

Nice to know on the USB stick front and good suggestion to go to PC world - thanks.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

I have a Nova-TD dual USB stick now.

I've swapped from my cinergy PCI card to the USB stick and I do notice that signal strength suffers :-(

Thats two strikes for my PCI-less server:
> USB sticks in poor signal areas are not as good.
> No DVB-S USB sticks if I ever get a satellite dish.

Is there a third option with HDHomeRun?

Does anyone have any experience with these in low signal areas?

The two antenna connections in the back doesn't look very hopeful as I'm sure that splitting a signal on board is better than splitting it outside.

Michael

[doc]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

> No DVB-S USB sticks if I ever get a satellite dish.

There are no sticks but you can get the Hauppauge WinTV Nova-S USB2 DVB-S.

Its USB but needs its own power supply. I've not tried one though, all my DVB-S cards are PCI.