Digital signal

Ok, so this is somewhat of a followup to a post I put up a week or so in
regards to dual digital tuner cards.

Assuming anyone who is buying a new tuner card basically from this point on
is considering the migration to digital-only next February, is anyone
considering anything special in regards to tuner cards? Here's a bit about
my setup, and maybe those of you who have put some thought into this can
toss me some ideas.

I've got a Visio 37" LCD in my home office, which is hooked up to my VMC
through VGA. I get cable direct from the wall, which is split off and goes
to my VMC PC (single Analog tuner card) and also to my TV RF input so I can
get around the single-program record/view limitation of a single tuner card.

When I bypass the VMC box and go direct to my TV, I can pick up HD
programming for all the network channels (NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, etc).
However, when I attempted to configure a borrowed digital tuner card (it was
dual tuner analog/digital), it wasn't picking up any digital programming.
This has me a bit concerned, in that I don't want to find myself SOL next
February.

I have a self-built VMC box, so it's not OEM to a manufacturer. I'm pretty
flexible on what I can add, though I am somewhat PCI limited. Of course,
I'd prefer to upgrade to a PCIe tuner rather than stick with PCI.

Anyone got any thoughts on how I should proceed? Ideally I'd love to get HD
and Digital, but I know that VMC has HD limitations. I do, however, want to
continue to use the VMC guide and interface, and not a third-party app to
watch tv.

Thanks all!

Myxx

CSM1
Sun May 04 06:13:21 PDT 2008

"Myxx" <Myxx@cox.net> wrote in message
news:gmbTj.9913$DG.9265@newsfe10.phx...
> Ok, so this is somewhat of a followup to a post I put up a week or so in
> regards to dual digital tuner cards.
>
> Assuming anyone who is buying a new tuner card basically from this point
> on is considering the migration to digital-only next February, is anyone
> considering anything special in regards to tuner cards? Here's a bit
> about my setup, and maybe those of you who have put some thought into this
> can toss me some ideas.
>
> I've got a Visio 37" LCD in my home office, which is hooked up to my VMC
> through VGA. I get cable direct from the wall, which is split off and
> goes to my VMC PC (single Analog tuner card) and also to my TV RF input so
> I can get around the single-program record/view limitation of a single
> tuner card.
>
> When I bypass the VMC box and go direct to my TV, I can pick up HD
> programming for all the network channels (NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, etc).
> However, when I attempted to configure a borrowed digital tuner card (it
> was dual tuner analog/digital), it wasn't picking up any digital
> programming. This has me a bit concerned, in that I don't want to find
> myself SOL next February.
>
> I have a self-built VMC box, so it's not OEM to a manufacturer. I'm
> pretty flexible on what I can add, though I am somewhat PCI limited. Of
> course, I'd prefer to upgrade to a PCIe tuner rather than stick with PCI.
>
> Anyone got any thoughts on how I should proceed? Ideally I'd love to get
> HD and Digital, but I know that VMC has HD limitations. I do, however,
> want to continue to use the VMC guide and interface, and not a third-party
> app to watch tv.
>
> Thanks all!
>
> Myxx
>

You said that you hook up to a Cable RF outlet. The problem maybe a QAM
signal rather than the Digital off the air ATSC signal.

You would have to look at the specs of your 37" TV to see if the spec
included Clear QAM reception.

If it does, then your cable connection is probably QAM.

As far as I know, there are few QAM cards for Media Center and then only for
Vista.

You might look at what Hauppauge has:
http://www.hauppauge.com/index.htm


This card is the only one I have found after a quick search.
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1800mc.html

If you have an outside antenna, then there are many ATSC Digital tuner cards
for Media Center.

--
CSM1
http://www.carlmcmillan.com
--

Doug
Sun May 04 07:55:16 PDT 2008

And, if you want HD over cable, such as HBO, Showtime and other premium
channels, you'll need to buy a complete new PC, with one or more Digital
Cable Tuners. These can only be purchased with a new PC, or if you have a
newer PC that is certified as Digital Cable Ready.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Myxx" <Myxx@cox.net> wrote in message
news:gmbTj.9913$DG.9265@newsfe10.phx...
> Ok, so this is somewhat of a followup to a post I put up a week or so in
> regards to dual digital tuner cards.
>
> Assuming anyone who is buying a new tuner card basically from this point
> on is considering the migration to digital-only next February, is anyone
> considering anything special in regards to tuner cards? Here's a bit
> about my setup, and maybe those of you who have put some thought into this
> can toss me some ideas.
>
> I've got a Visio 37" LCD in my home office, which is hooked up to my VMC
> through VGA. I get cable direct from the wall, which is split off and
> goes to my VMC PC (single Analog tuner card) and also to my TV RF input so
> I can get around the single-program record/view limitation of a single
> tuner card.
>
> When I bypass the VMC box and go direct to my TV, I can pick up HD
> programming for all the network channels (NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, etc).
> However, when I attempted to configure a borrowed digital tuner card (it
> was dual tuner analog/digital), it wasn't picking up any digital
> programming. This has me a bit concerned, in that I don't want to find
> myself SOL next February.
>
> I have a self-built VMC box, so it's not OEM to a manufacturer. I'm
> pretty flexible on what I can add, though I am somewhat PCI limited. Of
> course, I'd prefer to upgrade to a PCIe tuner rather than stick with PCI.
>
> Anyone got any thoughts on how I should proceed? Ideally I'd love to get
> HD and Digital, but I know that VMC has HD limitations. I do, however,
> want to continue to use the VMC guide and interface, and not a third-party
> app to watch tv.
>
> Thanks all!
>
> Myxx
>