MCE w/ Sky Digital (Basic Q's)

h0stn0tf0und

Ok some of these questions may be daft but I have to ask.

I have a box with MCE 2005. I am now looking for a TV card but I am lost. I was looking at card 1 and card 2.

Card two can receive Digital TV but as Sky is encrypted this is pretty useless. The signal has to 'go through' the sky box to be decoded and then I am left with the analog signal. Am I right?

Card one on the other hand is analog only. (Ok hope I am clear with this) If I connect this card to the RF2 output on my Sky digital box and enable the sky box to receive IR on that interface (like the TV link setup) can the MCE control do the job of the Sky remote, is there a work around to do this, or am I daft?

Neither of the idea above allow me to get info from the EPG into MCE. With the encryption used by sky is a sky pvr the only way? Is it possible to get this functionality with a MCE setup? Ideally I dont want to have to set the auto view on the sky box and then program the pvr.

Thanks

pH

Card 2 is DVB-T (terrestrial digital) and no use to anyone in Ireland.

Card 1 has dual-tuners/MPEG2 encoders. This would allow you use 2 Sky boxes. You would not use the RF, but use the composite video and L+R audio feeds from the Sky box into the card. The card has aditional headers to take a 2nd video/audio pair.

To change channels you need an 'IR blaster' to control the Sky boxes. There is a complete kit for sale which uses this card and includes a remote and ir blaster.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvr500mcekit.html

spartacus93

Media Centre has its on EPG, you will need to configure this so that the Media Centre channel numbers match the sky channel numbers.

Everything the previous poster said is spot on!, well actually the pvr500 doesnt have dual inputs as such so you couldnt connect two sky boxes. Why not get a PVR150, I dont think the dual tuners would be very useful to you.

pH

Everything the previous poster said is spot on!, well actually the pvr500 doesnt have dual inputs as such so you couldnt connect two sky boxes.

Oh yes it does.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/support/..%5C..%5Cpdfs%5Cav_cable_set_rev3.pdf

spartacus93

pH wrote:

Oh yes it does.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/support/..%5C..%5Cpdfs%5Cav_cable_set_rev3.pdf

Never saw that before! Beside, you have to pay extra for that.

I understood that the pvr500 had dual tuners, not dual inputs. So if you had an anologue TV service it could receive / record two channels at the same time. However you could not connect two STB's at the same time as there was only one physical connection.

Of course if Im wrong im sorry (im off to search for the poster that explained that to me)

zAbbo

Lets get down to brass tacks, Can a MCE machine with say a pvr500 card record one and watch one station like Sky+ can. What inputs do you feed into the pvr500 card from a Sky+ box(composite out?)

Is there a definitive guide for hooking up a sky+ box to a HTPC

dalk

zabbo wrote:

Can a MCE machine with say a pvr500 card record one and watch one station like Sky+ can.

Yes. But you will need two sky boxes, and the break out attachment for the PVR500 which adds an extra analog imput. This extra input came with a PVR500 i ordered from komplett.ie but didn't come with a PVR500 i bought from another site, so check beforehand.

zabbo wrote:

What inputs do you feed into the pvr500 card from a Sky+ box(composite out?)

Usually composite out from the digital boxes (ntl etc).

Is there much point in having a Sky+ box connected into a MCE seeing as the Sky+ has PVR functionality?

pH

Hooking up a Sky+ box to a HTPC would be a fairly pointless exercise.

The PVR500 can be connected to 2 normal Sky boxes (each with it's own satellite feed) and gives you Sky+ functionality. You can record one/watch the other or record from both at the same time.

You can pick up sky boxes cheaply on ebay, and even add UK FreeSat cards to get C4/C5

zAbbo

If you have any premium channels(say Sky Sports), you'd need two premium cards.

I'll need to read more on this.

pH

Not just premium channels - any form of Sky subscription would need to be mirrored on each box. I suppose you could pay for multiroom, but then at the end of the day the Sky+ otpion would be cheaper and TBH it's better.

This just shows how much control sky have managed to keep of their hardware, unde the guise of copy-protection. Yes sky have the right to an unpiratable service, but preventing legitimate users having recording facilities is nasty.

I subscribe to Sky, but I hate them with a passion, as soon as a viable dual record alternative comes out I'd ditch them.

Whats the status with dual DVB-S cards in MCE at the moment anyone know if you can build a solid and robust Sky+ box around MCE (FTA channels only of course!)?

SouperComputer

Is there much point in having a Sky+ box connected into a MCE seeing as the Sky+ has PVR functionality?

I guess one advantage is the amount you can store. You can upgrade the HD in teh Sky+ box but, you could go into TB's with your HTPC. Then theres the ability to network it through the house (more probable with MythTv than MCE), availability of your music and photos etc etc.

There is a lot to be said for the simplicity of Sky+ though.