TV capture cards - Australian Linuxmce setup

[justdeb]

Hi All,

I am curious to know of any oz linuxmce users that run multiple tv capture cards in a core machine that work with little or no configuration in linuxmce.

Could you please advise which ones work well and which ones to avoid.
I am also curious to find out how to set them up in the core (ie tune channels, etc) or whether they are setup up via some other means. I had a look around the forums and i didn't have much luck.

I am new to this and am looking to move away from windows media centre and very much like the features this product has and can see why people are using it.

Many Thanks in advance
Justin

[colinjones]

Justin - assuming you are talking about DVB-T (Digital TV) here.... pretty much if it works for Linux/Ubuntu then it will work for LMCE. Make sure you get one that can do HD and preferably a dual tuner. You can always put more in later if you want further channels. I use the Haugpauge WinTV-Nova-T-500... its a good HD dual tuner card and is quite cheap (use staticice.com.au to find the best price for anything IT) but be aware that you need a really good signal. If you haven't you may need a better antenna and/or booster.

Also, SelecTV looks like a good option for Satellite DVB-S in AU... they allow you to decode yourself (don't limit you to their decoder, like those bastards Foxtel!)

[justdeb]

What sort of DVB-S card do you have. I use selectTV myself and just wonder what the limitations/benefits for going this way. After i set the whole house up, incoroprating selecttv was going to be my next addition - but if it is eay enough to do i will do it from the start.

Regards

Justin

[colinjones]

I don't have DVB-S only T, was just suggesting it as an option. Suggest you call SelecTV and ask them if they have a list of recommended cards that work with their service. But I think it is pretty standard DVB-S with irdeto (I think) encryption, so any Linux compatible DVB-S card with the encryption option should be OK. How do you find SelecTV? Any good?

[darrenmason]

Justin,

I have two Leadtek DTV1000T (not DTV1000S) in my core. They are cheap, great quality, have Aerial passthrough and work out of the box. I am actually considering adding a third now that they are getting more use.

I am running a MythTV setup with guide data pulled from the transmitted EPG (which works well enough for most channels)

Regards
Darren

[justdeb]

Collin - Select TV is basically the optus aurora and i find it quite good. But for the amount of time i actually spend watching it i am deciding whether my money can be spent elsewhere on some other goodies.

[justdeb]

Hi Darren,

I have the leadtek DV2300H and cannot get it running and read a few posts and basically gave up on the idea and thought about using the hauppages as many people seem to be using them without problems.

I dabbled with myth tv about 2 years ago and my tv capture cards sadly died with the computer.

[darrenmason]

Justin,

The chipsets in each of the leadtek cards seem to vary and some do not have linux support. When I tried I could not get the DTV 1000S working but there still seems to be DTV 1000T (which are older) available.
I can't vouch for the Hauppage cards in Australia, just know that I am happy with the 1000T's and there still seems to be cards available (at least in Sydney)

Regards
Darren