wanting to add sat with hd, need advice

[toony]

Hey guys / gals,
My head is swimming a bit over this, and I'm sure it's much more simple than I think it is, perhaps I'm over thinking this issue.

Right now I have a simple analog cable which runs into my 2250 dual tuner card in my Sage server. I have 2 extenders and at either tv we can watch tv separately. Simple yes?

Now I want to add HD satellite (dish/direct) here are my questions;

I need the HD PVR to capture the HD right?

Do I need 2 sat receivers (1 for each tuner / tv ) ?

Does the HD PVR replace the 2250 capture card, or do I need to upgrade to a digital capture card as well for each receiver?

I want to keep the sat receivers and the HD PVRs in the basement with the Sage server and just control the tv with the extenders.... can I continue to control all this with the Sage remote or do I need to control this with the HD PVR remote or the sat receiver remote using an IR blaster?

Have I forgotten something?

Sorry about this I'm finding this very confusing.

Cheers

[Fuzzy]

For each HD recording you want ot go on, you will need an HD set top box with component out, connected to an HD-PVR. The HD-PVR then connects to the Server via USB. You also need a method for sage to control the set top box. The options vary depending on the box you use. All can be controlled with a USB-UIRT. Some can be controlled with a serial cable. Others can be controlled with a Patterson USB cable.

Because cable/sat channels rebroadcast so often, you may very well be able to get by with just a single HD-PVR and STB. Then keep the 2250 and use that for OTA broadcasts. If you are only going to be using one HD-PVR, then you can probably use the IR blaster included with it, but it is limited to only one blaster per server.

[SWKerr]

You will need an HD-PVR to capature HD from the Sat box. How many you needs depends on how you you watch TV and if you get decent OTA signal in your area.

The Hauppauge 2250 is and HD tuner card. You should be able to use it today in the US to get clear QAM HD channels over cable. These are usually the Major networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. There may be a few more in there as well. Once you get rid of cable you will need an antenna to use this card and the number of stations will depend on the area you live in.

Depending on how you watch TV you may be able to have just one HD-PVR and 1 SAT box. The 2250 will allow for 2 at a time tuning of local stations and since much of what is on the extended stations tends to run several times in a day or week Sage will probably have less conflicts than you would think. Adding a second HD-PVR would certainly be a plus but adds to the cost. The HD-PVR seems to be picky about its USB jack so be prepared to add USB card to your server. They are cheap but may make you setup more reliable. I run two HD-PVRs and just use the motherboard USB connections so it is not a universal problem.

The experience up stairs will not change with using the remote. (May be a bigger delay changing channels than you are used to.)

The HD-PVR comes with a IR blaster that will change the channel on the SAT box. Don't know for sure but I believe if you add a second HD-PVR you can not use two Hauppauge IR blasters on the same machine. This would mean you need to get a USB-UIRT ($50) or depending on the SAT service\box use a direct connection to change the channel. I have DirecTV and use a special cord that plugs into the USB connection on the PC and the SAT box to change the channel.

Hope this was clear enough.

[toony]

Thanks guys that's more clear.

Couple questions, is the HDPVR actually doing the recording or is it justa pass through and the server is actually recording?

If it is recording do I then transfer those files into my sage server (I'm running Windows home server if that matters).

Would I no longer be using the sage tv menu for switching tv or adding favorites etc? Or is it basically skipping all of that and controlling the direct tv reciver via the HD PVR?

I really can't introduce a whole new way of watching tv to my wife, I think things kinda need to stay the same in terms of the tv guide, recording and watching recorded shows.

Oh and I'm not planning on doing any OTA capture and dropping the analog cable.

cheers

[Fuzzy]

The HD-PVR is encoding the analog component video from the STB into an H.264 video file that is sent to the SageTV Server over the USB connection. As far as sage is concerned, there will be no change in the interface.

Also, if you've already GOT the 2250, why not keep it and hook up an OTA antenna? That way any local recordings that need to be done will use that, instead of tying up the sat box, and will actually be a LOT higher quality than what you will be getting over satellite.

[fidget]

Originally Posted by toony

Couple questions, is the HDPVR actually doing the recording or is it justa pass through and the server is actually recording?

The HD-PVR is converting the analog signal (component) into h.264 and then sending the resulting digital signal to the server over the USB connection.

If it is recording do I then transfer those files into my sage server (I'm running Windows home server if that matters).

The files are captured and stored by the SageTV server.

Would I no longer be using the sage tv menu for switching tv or adding favorites etc? Or is it basically skipping all of that and controlling the direct tv reciver via the HD PVR?

You won't be using the UI on the dish box after you have gone through the initial setup of the receiver itself. You will need something like a USB-UIRT to control the receiver. When you want to change channels, the SageTV server will send the new channel code to the receiver (e.g, if you are in channel 101 and want to move up to the next channel, SageTV will send 102 rather than the UP command).

I really can't introduce a whole new way of watching tv to my wife, I think things kinda need to stay the same in terms of the tv guide, recording and watching recorded shows.

I have Dish Network and my wife and I use their DVR for most of the interactive viewing (it has two HD receivers and one OTA). We have the SageTV system for most of the OTA recording (I have two HDHRs), some Dish recording (one HD tuner integrated so far) and playing DVDs.

I still have some instances where the Dish receiver doesn't get properly tuned (it tunes channel 2 rather than the proper channel, sometimes) so I don't feel that I can make that our primary TV watching platform.

Oh and I'm not planning on doing any OTA capture and dropping the analog cable.

cheers

When you decide to record OTA broadcasts, the HD HomeRun works great.

[toony]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

The HD-PVR is encoding the analog component video from the STB into an H.264 video file that is sent to the SageTV Server over the USB connection. As far as sage is concerned, there will be no change in the interface.

Also, if you've already GOT the 2250, why not keep it and hook up an OTA antenna? That way any local recordings that need to be done will use that, instead of tying up the sat box, and will actually be a LOT higher quality than what you will be getting over satellite.

Well maybe I will look into an OTA antenna. So if I have OTA as well as Direct TV sage will then be able to pick which to record from or would the OTA just show up as different channels?

[toony]

Originally Posted by fidget

I have Dish Network and my wife and I use their DVR for most of the interactive viewing (it has two HD receivers and one OTA). We have the SageTV system for most of the OTA recording (I have two HDHRs), some Dish recording (one HD tuner integrated so far) and playing DVDs.

When you decide to record OTA broadcasts, the HD HomeRun works great.

Well I think I am just going to stick with sage to do all the recording and interactive viewing. I am not going to get the direct tv pvr just the hd box.

cheers your help cleared up allot.

[fidget]

The DirectTV and OTA channels will have different lineups so they will be displayed separately inside SageTV. You may need to map the logical channel numberings of the DirectTV versions of the OTA channels to avoid collisions. In my case, my Dish version channel 7 is mapped to 7, but the OTA versions are 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3 (for some reason, Dish Network does not rebroadcast the sub-channels).

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by toony

Well maybe I will look into an OTA antenna. So if I have OTA as well as Direct TV sage will then be able to pick which to record from or would the OTA just show up as different channels?

If they are actually the same channel (meaning you are getting you actual local feeds from dish network/DirecTV) than you certainly CAN combine them in the EPG (in fact, in most cases, they will already be combined). It all depends on the information from zap2it. If you want to know ahead of time, you can look at the directv lineup for your area on zap2it to see what the locals are shown as. If they show as having the same ChannelID as your local broadcasts, then sage will combine them.. even if zap2it doesn't show them as having the same channelID, but you know that they ARE the same, you can set up sage to use the same OTA id for those DirecTV channels, and they will then also be combined. You may find, though, that you don't even NEED the locals from DTV, and get them just with your 2250. I don't know much about DTV, but I know Dish charges an extra $5 a month or something like that to get the locals from them.

[toony]

and if I wanted to go with digital cable, I think we use the Sientific Atlanta 4250HD, would that work the same as direct tv, component to HD PVR to usb?

[Fuzzy]

Yes. It could potentially offer a different method of sending channel changes to the box, via firewire, but the actual audio/video path would be identical.

[toony]

last time I checked the firewire port wasn't active on the SA boxes with my local cable co.

[Peter_h]

If you live in the U.S. the firewire port is active. Most of the time, the stream is encrypted minus the local channels but you can send channel changes to the box without issue.