Arr, starts to make a bit more sense (and helps me feel better that im not a complete biff!). I did try compiling a v4l lib myself (found at Linuxtv) but the card still doesnt work, although i am not 100% sure i completed that correctly. I did download a piece of firmware named usb-dvb-af9015.fw from here
http://www.otit.fi/~crope/v4l-dvb/af9015/af9015_firmware_cutter/firmware_files/ and placed it in lib/firmware (so from my limited knowledge it should be loading at startup). Im guessing that the problem is firmly with the v4l driver package i have on my system?
I dont suppose you know where i might find a lib that would work for 810 do you?