Pinnacle 7010ix

scano.ie

Hey
I recently installed a pinnacle 7010ix card that I had for years lying around and have downloaded their solfware "TV Center V6.4.5.933" then connected up an old set of rabbit ears but cant seem to find any tv or radio stations any help would be great as I would like to get it working as I'm building a media box soon

Zilog

Have had a Pinnacle 7010ix myself for a few years, running as a tuner for a Mediaportal TV-Server backend and using XBMC Raspberry Pi clients for frontends.
Used it up until a month ago, when I upgraded to Windows 8.1 on same machine. Try as I might, couldn't get the Pinnacle to work with Windows 8.1, so watch out for this. Official drivers are available up to Windows 7. I also tried Blackgold drivers, these are supposed to be compatible, no joy.
With XP, the Pinnacle card worked flawlessly. It has dual hybrid tuners: DVB-S and DVB-T. This means you can receive all terrestrial (ie. RTE etc.) transmissions in HD and SD, but only SD satellite (HD satellite requires DVB-S2).
The Mediaportal / XBMC combination works well, even pulling the EPG over the air from the DVB transmissions. Requires a little bit of slog to set up the Mediaportal TV-Server though - lots of settings and hundreds of channels, but only 40 or 50 worth having.

HTH.

scano.ie

hey thanks for the reply Zilog I too am on win 8.1 and have the card recognised in the device manager ect my problem is i'm not sure if the aerial i'm using is ok or what the problem is as when I search for a signal i get the blue screen. I'm using an old "Allforone" rabit ears aerial with the standard push in coax connection

Zilog

Hi Scano, the dreaded blue screen of death! Exact same scenario as myself, the hardware is detected and installed by Windows 8.1, however doing a scan on either terrestrial or satellite yields a blue screen. I'm using different software (Mediaportal) but symptoms are same as you describe.

This is the only time (so far!) I've gotten a blue screen on Window 8, so I'm putting it down to a driver issue with the Pinnacle, seeing as the Pinnacle worked perfectly the previous day with Windows XP. Your antenna should have no bearing on this. I'm using an outdoor 'yagi' style antenna. As mentioned previously, I've tried several different drivers to no avail.

It is an old card now, guess time to bid it a fond farewell unfortunately!
I've purchased a more recent Blackgold card which offers same functionality, adding DVB-S2 for satellite HD, and it works perfectly.

scano.ie

thanks zilog for the confirmation that its not actually something incorrect. likewise its the first time i got bsod with win 8. might try a partition with xp on it. what stations should i expect to see if i use it on xp

Zilog

All Freesat and free to air stations in standard definition, if you connect the satellite feed, as well as all the Irish terrestrial channels.
If you're near the northern border, possibly get UK Freeview channels.

Conar

Zilog wrote: »

Hi Scano, the dreaded blue screen of death! Exact same scenario as myself, the hardware is detected and installed by Windows 8.1, however doing a scan on either terrestrial or satellite yields a blue screen. I'm using different software (Mediaportal) but symptoms are same as you describe.

This is the only time (so far!) I've gotten a blue screen on Window 8, so I'm putting it down to a driver issue with the Pinnacle, seeing as the Pinnacle worked perfectly the previous day with Windows XP. Your antenna should have no bearing on this. I'm using an outdoor 'yagi' style antenna. As mentioned previously, I've tried several different drivers to no avail.

It is an old card now, guess time to bid it a fond farewell unfortunately!
I've purchased a more recent Blackgold card which offers same functionality, adding DVB-S2 for satellite HD, and it works perfectly.

Don't bin it. The card is fine and works with Windows 8. The pinnacle drivers cause a bluescreen but an avermedia driver for a card with the same chipset works perfectly.
I'll post a link tomorrow, just need to check what the driver is, I can't remember offhand.

Conar

Sorry, Im always jumping in like that and getting it wrong.
Mines a 3010ix.

Seems very similar though, I'd hunt for a different card with the same chipset and see if the drivers work.

Zilog

Hi Conar,

Thanks for that, I'll check it out. Believe from memory that the 3010ix is a single tuner version of the 7010ix.
Shame all right to bin the Pinnacle! In the meantime I've picked up a second hand Blackgold BGR3595 twin tuner DVB-T/DVB-S2 which works flawlessly with Windows 8.1.

Conar

Zilog wrote: »

Hi Conar,

Thanks for that, I'll check it out. Believe from memory that the 3010ix is a single tuner version of the 7010ix.
Shame all right to bin the Pinnacle! In the meantime I've picked up a second hand Blackgold BGR3595 twin tuner DVB-T/DVB-S2 which works flawlessly with Windows 8.1.

3010ix is dual dvb/t.
I'll gladly take the 7010ix's off anyone thats about to bin them by the way :-)

Zilog

Conar wrote:

3010ix is dual dvb/t. I'll gladly take the 7010ix's off anyone thats about to bin them by the way :-)

Hi there, sure, gladly give to a good home! Pay for postage and its yours. Drop me a PM

Wheeker

Zilog wrote: »

It has dual hybrid tuners: DVB-S and DVB-T. This means you can receive all terrestrial (ie. RTE etc.) transmissions in HD and SD, but only SD satellite (HD satellite requires DVB-S2).

Zilog wrote: »

I've purchased a more recent Blackgold card which offers same functionality, adding DVB-S2 for satellite HD, and it works perfectly.

Sorry, don't mean to be pedantic, but just to highlight- you CAN receive HD satellite Freesat channels with a DVB-S card. ITV/UTV HD & Channel 4 HD are both still transmitted on DVB-S. However, if you want any of the BBC channels in HD (BBC1, 2, 3, 4, Cbeebies & CBBC) you do indeed need DVB-S2.