DVB PCI cards

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FordPrefect

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Oct 26, 2006
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What are the best DVB S/T/C cards available today…cost, features, software and operating system compatibility…
 
AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-S Pro Internal PCI Digital Satellite TV Tuner Card, 75 Ohm Coaxial

TV Antenna/Composite/S-Video/Audio In/FM, Remote included
$125.00 GST Inclusive

Features

AVerTV DVB-S Pro
Watch Digital Satellite TV and Listen to Radio on Desktop !
"AVerTV DVB-S Pro " is a Digital Satellite Receiver Card, which allows you to access most worldwide digital satellite TV channels beyond geographic boundary on your desktop with sharp picture quality. To fulfill a variety of customers’ needs, AVerMedia DVB-S Pro offers "Satellite Internet Access" service, an exciting feature to enjoy the fun of surfing on web at high download speed on your desktop. What is more, another value-added function is that AVerMedia DVB-S Pro can support Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) operating system to further catch up the wave of digital home entertainment.

With AVerMedia DVB-S Pro, you can not only record and save TV programs directly to your PC in MPEG-2 format but also even hook it up to your home video entertainment system with the additional AV and S-video input. Moreover, a fully featured infrared remote control is included to make you to access each feature with ease.

Comparison Table for AVerMedia DVB-S Series
Product Name AVerTV DVB-S Pro AVerTV DVB-S Hybrid+FM
DVB-S O O
Analog TV X PAL / SECAM / NTSC
Stereo Sound O O
Internet via Satellite O O
Product Image

Software Features – AVerTV 6
* Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
o TimeShift
o Schedule Recording into MPEG-1/2 formats

* Channel Management
o Fast Channel Switching and Scanning
o PIP (Picture-in-Picture) / POP (Picture-on-picture)
o 16-Channel Preview

* Complete Channel Scan Capability
o Blind-Scan
It can make up the limitation of default channel frequency and therefore allows you to search more updated channels.
o Easy to Import and Scan All Channel
You can import any satellite channel data file (.sdx) downloaded from the Internet into the application and then scan the stored frequencies for the latest digital satellite programs.
* “sdx” is the format of satellite channel data file

File Management
* Multi-User Settings
* Channel Remapping

Power Management
* Auto Power Off
* Wake-up from S3 (Stand By) /S4 (Hibernate) mode
* Sleep Timer

Quality Management
* Video Quality Enhancement
* Audio Effect Adjustment
* Internet via Satellite
* Worldwide analog TV Access (Optional)
* Free-to-air DVB-S
* FM radio (Optional)
* Worldwide Stereo sound
* Windows XP MCE 2005 Compliant (DVB-S only)
* Highest quality silicon TV tuner
* Complete Channel Scan Capability
* 32/64-Bit Support

* Input Signal
o 75 ? TV Antenna Input
o S-Video
o Composite (RCA)
o Audio In (L/R)
o Remote Sensor
o FM Radio Antenna Input
* Dimension
o 165mm x 64.41mm (Low Profile)

* 256 MB RAM or above
* PCI 2.1 compatible slot
* VGA card supports DirectX 9.0c
* Digital Satellite Dish
* Sound card
* Windows® 2000/XP
* Windows® XP MCE 2005 (DVB-S only)

SDTV
* Intel Pentium® 4 2.4G Hz (Hyper-Threading)
* Intel Pentium® 4 2.8GHz for TimeShift and Record in MPEG-2
* AMD AthlonXP® 2400+

HDTV
* Intel Pentium® 4 2.8GHz for Record in MPEG-2
* Intel Pentium® 4 3.0GHz for TimeShift
* VGA card supports HDTV, DxVA and with 128MB or above
* HDTV will only function when the TV signal is in HDTV format
** The DVB-S mentioned here means standard DVB-S TV system, not DVB-S2.

* AVerTV DVB-S Tuner Card
* Quick Installation Guide
* Installation CD
* Remote Control (Batteries Included)
* Infrared Sensor Cable
* FM Radio Antenna (Optional)
* All-in-One Cable


Model
AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-S Pro Internal PCI Digital Satellite TV Tuner Card, 75 Ohm Coaxial

Brand
AverMedia

Warranty
1 Year Manufacturer's return to base

Manufacturer's Link
AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-S Pro Internal PCI Digital Satellite TV Tuner Card, 75 Ohm Coaxial

http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/235_AVerMedia_Studio_303_Internal_Tuner.asp
 

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Hauppauge WINTV-NEXUS-S/SATELLITE TV/PCI ( 717 ) $159.77

Digital satellite TV receiver with satellite radio and digital videotext
Includes high performance hardware digital video decoder for watching live and recorded satellite TV on your TV set
Record and playback of digital TV and radio - using high quality MPEG-2
Suitable for DVB data services - (see www.hauppauge.co.uk for more information)
Includes remote control

WinTV-NEXUS-s has these great features:
Digital TV on your PC - or your television set
Digital radio on your PC - or through your home theater system
Record digital TV and radio to your PC’s hard disk - playback to your PC screen or TV set at any time!
Includes a high performance MPEG-2 decoder
Use it for digital data services
Optional Common Interface
Includes remote control

Watch digital TV and listen to digital radio on your PC: With WinTV-NEXUS in your PC, you can receive digital television and radio with perfect picture and audio quality. More than 300 digital satellite channels are currently available, and more are added monthly. In addition, you can receive videotext transmitted along with the digital TV signal.

Record your favourite digital TV shows to disk: With a single mouse click, you can record your favourite digital TV shows, or digital radio programmes, onto your PC’s hard disk drive. You can also use the integrated scheduler to programme your recordings!

WinTV-NEXUS includes a high performance MPEG-2 video decoder: Digital TV uses a high quality video and audio encoding technology called “MPEG-2”. And WinTV-NEXUS includes a high performance MPEG-2 decoder, so your PC runs at full speed while you watch digital TV. And with the NEXUS’s TV out, you can also watch digital TV on your home television set!

Data services for digital TV: The European digital TV standard uses DVB (Digital Video Broadcast). DVB provides high quality TV and radio, plus new data services. An example of a DVB data service is “Internet via Satellite”, where your web pages are delivered to your PC at high speeds via DVB, and your mouse clicks are sent to your internet service provider via a slow telephone line. File download services via DVB enable the fast transfer of large files to your PC. (More information on these services can be found on www.hauppauge.co.uk. In order to use these data services, it might be necessary to contract with the respective service provider).

TV-Out and S/PDIF Out: You can attach a television set to the composite video output of the WinTV-NEXUS to watch TV on your home television set. You can even play your recorded digital TV shows from disk to your TV set! And with WinTV-NEXUS’s S/PDIF output, you can connect the high quality digital audio to your home theater sound system.

System Requirements
PC with Pentium® II Processor (minimum 733MHz recommended)
Microsoft® Windows® 98SE/Me/2000/XP
1 Free PCI slot
Sound Card
CD-ROM Drive (for software installation)
For digital recording - 1GB of disk space (minimum recommended)
DirectDraw compatible PCI/AGP graphics card
One free interrupt (IRQ)
Digital satellite antenna

Included in this package
WinTV-NEXUS-s board (PCI)
Installation and utilities CD-ROM - with complete reference manual
Quick installation guide
Audio Connection
Remote Control
 

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TechniSat SkyStar 2 DVB PCI Receiver Card

The modern information technology offers already today the possibility to Multimedia inspiring of receiving data services and TV- and radio programs on the PC. The PC technology holds rapid introduction into all medium ranges. The TechniSat SkyStar 2 DVB PCI Receivers thereby ranks among the most usual Multimedia extensions for the home PC.

The future is thereby clearly with the digital receipt way, which exhibits a clearly larger transmission capacity. Depending upon transmission path of the signal supply one differentiates receipt between satellite (DVB s), terrestrial (DVB t) and cable (DVB C).

TechniSat SkyStar 2 DVB PCI Receiver Card
TechniSat offers the optimal Multimedia extension with the SkyStar 2 TV for your PC!

TechniSat SkyStar 2 TV PVR PC card is the best selling PC card in Europe and is specifically optimized for the reception of data via satellite, based on the DVB standard. This can be used for instance, to implement high-speed internet connections over satellite (e.g. ShowNet, PlanetSky, Europe Online).

This PC card is also ideal for receiving and recording free-to-air digital satellite TV and radio programs on your PC, and was quoted by hardware guide What Satellite TV magazine as "the best TV PC card money can buy." The SkyStar 2 offers excellent digital tuner sensitivity, allowing you to pick up channels and digital feeds other PC cards and set-top boxes can't.

In addition, What Satellite awarded the SkyStar 2 with in the 2004 Hardware Awards as 'Best Satellite TV PC Adapter'. What Satellite's conclusion "If user interest is anything to go by, the SkyStar 2 PVR is the most popular satellite receiver adapter, as well as our pick of the crop. TechniSat's own TV viewing and data-collection software is both easy to use and stable, with a full range of PVR features included in the latest release. It has also become a first choice for software developers to build their own TV viewing programmes, and we had no trouble tuning into high-definition TV with a fast PC. It's now bundled with a remote control (optional), and its an absolute bargain."

The recording PVR (Personal Video Recorder) function of this card means that, apart from receiving digital TV and radio programs via satellite, you can now also record these programs. Features such as starting or stopping recording at pre-set times (timer function) are also included, as is the option of programming the timer directly from Electronic Program Guide data.

Equipment characteristics
Reception of digital DVB-S television, radio channels and teletext
Reception of data services via satellite dish (Multicast/Unicast, MPE)
Plug & Play enabled
PCI card
Remote control set
Input frequency range: 950 MHz - 2,150 MHz
RF Tuner Input Signal Level (Channel power): -25 to -65Bm
LNB support: 13V/18V, 350mA max.
DiSEqC 1.0
SCPC and MCPC

Remote control set

The remote control set consists of an infra-red receiver, which is connected to a free RS-232 socket on the PC, as well as a corresponding remote control unit.

If the Win LIRC software within the DVB viewer is activated, practically all the relevant functions of the DVB viewer software can be controlled and adjusted via the remote control. For instance, switching programs, adjusting volume, selecting full-frame or window display mode, direct selection of channels, etc. can all be performed via the remote control.

The special benefit of the infrared receiver is that no long cable connections or separate infra-red eyes need to be installed or connected, all you need is the compact IR unit located on the rear panel of your PC.



Applications

1) Setup4PC / Server4PC

Whether satellite, antenna or broadband cable, with all TechniSat PC products you can receive digital data services. Setup4PC allows you to configure the settings for a specific service and to store it in a so called service profile.

Next time your PC is booted the Server4PC activates the last selected service profile automatically without any further user actions. More simply it does not go.

Note: Reception of data services requires a separate client software normally given to you by the specific service providers themselves. On the installation CD for the DVB-PC TV Stars you can already find some client software tools for different data services. Please browse your DVB-PC TV Star CD for more.

2) DVBViewer TE

The multimedia application for all DVB PC TV Stars!

System requirements
IBM compatible PC with Pentium III 700 MHz or higher
1 available PCI slot (do not use the one directly under AGP graphic card)
At least 256 MB RAM
At least 30 MB free hard disc space
Sound Blaster compatible audio card
3D graphic card recommended (with hardware overlay support, up to date driver)
Supported operating systems:
- Windows 98 SE
- Windows Me
- Windows 2000 Professional/Server (Service Pack 4 or higher recommended)
- Windows XP Home/Professional
- Windows Server 2003

Software

Software 4.3.2 with PVR & Timeshift
Updated for Win 2000 / Win XP / Win XP x64 / Win 2003 including manual, DVBViewer TechniSat Edition and preconfigured data settings for Sat@Once, aTHP, SatADSL, AliceSat and many others.

Software requirements of your PC are:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
Microsoft Media Player 9
Microsoft DirectX 9

Download - SkyStar 2 PCI - Software 4.3.2 with PVR & Timeshift
Updated for Win 2000 / Win XP / Win XP x64 / Win 2003 including manual, DVBViewer TechniSat Edition and preconfigured data settings for Sat@Once, aTHP, SatADSL, AliceSat and many others.

Download Size: 24.91 MB
Download Time @ 56 kb: < 61 minutes
Last Update: 30.09.2005

Download - DVBViewer TechniSat Edition (SW 4.3.0)

Download Size: 2,040 kb
Download Time @ 56 kb: < 5 minutes
Last Update: 22.10.2004

Download - SkyStar 2 PCI - SDK 02/2005
The SDK contains everything you need to develop your own DVB-PC TV Star application (It is available for Windows only).

Download Size: 427 kb
Download Time @ 56 kb: < 2 minutes
Last Update: 09.03.2005

T-DSL via Satellit

Access Software (Tellique-Client)
By following the link beside you can download the installation manual and the access software for the service »T-DSL via Satellit«.

Please do not forget to switch to the »T-DSL via Satellit« data profile using the Server4PC (system tray, right click). Otherwise you will not be able to get access to the service.

Sat@Once - Promoting Satellite in Daily Life

You can get information concerning this service by following once.csp.it. (Sat@Once is sponsored by SES ASTRA and ESA as well as the ASTRA TV Channels).

Please do not forget to switch to the »Sat@Once« data profile using the Server4PC (system tray, right click). Otherwise you will not be able to get access to the service.

Download - SkyStar 2 PCI - Users Guide (Operating Instruction)

http://www.crystalsat.com/skystar2.htm
 

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DigitalNow DNTV Live! QuattroS TV Card, PCI-E, DVB-T/ DVB-S/ Analog TV/ FM $253.00

FeaturesThe Ultimate TV Tuner device. Four tuners on one PCI-e card. This device is equipped with two DVB-S tuners and two Hybrid (Digital and Analogue) tuners supporting FTA Digital TV (satellite and Terrestrial) as well as Analogue TV and FM radio broadcasts. Supports all Australian DVB-T formats including 1080iHDTV (MP&HL) and AC3 Audio.

Features
Support DVB-S Protocol (EN 300 421)
Support DVB-T Protocol (EN 300 744)
Support DVB-Data Protocol (EN 301 192)
Support NTSC / PAL / SECAM Analog TV System*
PCI Express Standard
Dual DVB-S Tuners and Dual DVB-T/Analog Tuners
Dual Analog Video Capture (S-Video In / Composite Video In)*
DVB-S DiSEqC 1.2 / USALS Support


Bundled with DNTV Live! DVB Software developed in Australia, for Australia. Featuring DVB-T, DVB-S multicard support, Picture in Picture, Timeshifting, etc. Direct access to Channel Numbers! Plays DVD, MP3 and many other multimedia file formats.

• Please note DNTV Live! does not support Analogue TV or analogue video capture, you will need alternative applications (eg Dscaler) for this functionality.

http://www.digitalnow.com.au/dvbscards.html
 

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Looks like it scan frequency ranges and you need to input a SR, so not really a true "blind scan" card, but better then nothing.
 
anything but Twinhan ?

My Twinhan Starbox has become pretty much of an orphan, for one reason or another.
The PCI cards are far better supported.
After some bad luck with Twinhan 1025 PCI card, I was thinking about ignoring that brand.

I felt that since most of the available receiver software was developed in Europe, maybe the cards they use might be more reliable , and better supported.

I was looking into the Technisat brand, model: SkyStar 2.
Your link to CrystalSat as a possible vendor, looked promising.
I can drive to that area code in under an hour.
But after looking all over his site, there was no price listed.
The CyberEstore had it fo $79 with remote
...and since he ships via UPS, I'll assume he's American. :)
(I'm sure not going to get into the import business!)

Skystar 2 might be a choice, but they have various versions of those boards with different problems.
Doing more research, I found some bad news about different versions of the card.
So, now that's about as exciting as another Twinhan. :eek:

edit: got a buddy bustin' my chops for a Twinhan 102g.
For $55 shipped, should I roll over and try one more of their products? :confused:
.
 
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From: http://dvbn.happysat.org/viewtopic....start=15&sid=541a34c09eccbbaed2d38751ec3a8f5e

As far as I know the following HW revisions exist

2.3 & 2.3P
+ auto symbolrate detection due to VP310
+ 2.3P has FlexCop IIB on it -> 39 PID in HW filtering
- 2.3 has FlexCop II on it -> only 7 PID in HW filtering
- models are specified for 350mA only-> no DiSEqC 1.2


2.6B, 2.6C, 2.6D
- no longer auto symbolrate detection due to new STV0299B
+ new tuner for all 3 modells, TBMU24112IMB1 -> better RF behavior
= 2.6C just minor component changes
+ 2.6D new short circuit protection system
= in terms of FlexCop II and IIB same valid as for 2.3 & 2.3P
- models are specified for 350mA only-> no DiSEqC 1.2

!!!! 3rd party DiSEqC patched drivers available in internet ...thanks to developes....burnt my SkyStar card. Now I do no longer operate this card with rotor system.

More in general about TV cards can be found at
http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/bttv/bttv-gallery.html
 
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From: http://dvbn.happysat.org/viewtopic....start=15&sid=541a34c09eccbbaed2d38751ec3a8f5e

Skystar2's have the Best motor support of any DVB card by Mili's plugin SS2Diseqc1.9

Techinsat doesn't believe the card can handle the power requirement of a motor so they never supported a motor with their drivers until 4.4.0

The best thing to do is modify the motor with it's own power supply and everything works perfectly.

SG2100 external power supply;
http://board.mytheatre.ru/dload.php?action=file&file_id=128
 
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My Twinhan Starbox has become pretty much of an orphan, for one reason or another.
The PCI cards are far better supported.
After some bad luck with Twinhan 1025 PCI card, I was thinking about ignoring that brand.

I felt that since most of the available receiver software was developed in Europe, maybe the cards they use might be more reliable , and better supported.

I was looking into the Technisat brand, model: SkyStar 2.
Your link to CrystalSat as a possible vendor, looked promising.
I can drive to that area code in under an hour.
But after looking all over his site, there was no price listed.
The CyberEstore had it fo $79 with remote
...and since he ships via UPS, I'll assume he's American. :)
(I'm sure not going to get into the import business!)

Skystar 2 might be a choice, but they have various versions of those boards with different problems.
Doing more research, I found some bad news about different versions of the card.
So, now that's about as exciting as another Twinhan. :eek:

edit: got a buddy bustin' my chops for a Twinhan 102g.
For $55 shipped, should I roll over and try one more of their products? :confused:
.

Anole,

Thanks for the information, I am not sure any more which DVB S card to get, any more!
 
Here are the pictures of what I think are all the models of Nexus-S ever built by Hauppauge (see pictures 1, 2, 3):

Version 2.1
Version 2.2
Version 2.3

Which version of this card has the following tuner and audio DAC? I think it is version 2.3 of the card, but is this the same version of the card that is selling as Hauppauge WINTV 717 NEXUS-S?

Tuner: ALPS BSBE1-502a
Audio DAC: Crystal CS4341

Can someone post a clear picture of this card (Hauppauge WINTV 717 NEXUS-S) so that I can make my final purchase decision (need one good DVB S card to pair with my SkyStar 2 ver. 2.6D)…thanks in advance? Hauppauge web site and forum are totally useless…
 

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My 1020A Twinhan & Nexus-S work fine .

Wyr

WyrTwister,

I am very sure that my ThechniSat SkyStar 2 ver 2.6D will work fine with a Hauppauge WinTV 717 Nexus-S card as well, I am not afraid of that, if I have to I will write the software to make my two cards work together myself…not an issue for me I am a software engineer by trade…my issue is that before I knew anything about DVB cards and options that are most desired for FTA, I made a choice of ThechniSat SkyStar 2 ver. 2.6D which does not have hardware blind scan support, so my only choice is to pair it with another DVB S card that has hardware blind scan. Thus the question I posed I am trying to find out which version of the Hauppauge WinTV 717 Nexus-S has blind scan…which versions are being sold today, since it appears that all information is posted on the internet is not up to date…I am interested in WinTV Nexus-S versions 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 I believe those have hardware blind scan…is version 2.3 the latest Nexus-S is 717 one of them…do not know this, but before I drop $158.00 I want to make sure this time that I have what I want (features and options) or what I am paying for. I posted question to Hauppauge technical support, does 717 Nexus card support hardware blind scan, instead of an answer I got question back is, what do you mean by blind scan? So my conclusion is technical support is useless, and the presale UK Hauppauge forum useless so far…

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=70
 
If anyone is interested ThechniSat SkyStar 2 ver 2.6X cards drivers are available for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, since release 4.3.2. Also there is a SDK (Software Development Kit, Microsoft Windows only) available for these cards with sample code, C++.

http://www.technisat.com/
 
Did you happen to see the Skystar HD sat card they are advertising on the site now? Looks interesting. It is supposed to do 1080i. And supports MPEG4.
I might have to do some digging and find a way to get one!!!
grusome

EDIT:
Hmmmmm, just re-read the HD requirements..............
Requirements for HDTV [1080i / MPEG 4 (AVC/H.264)]
- 3,4 GHz P4 (Single Core with hyperthreading) or
- 2,2 GHz AMD 3500 + or
- Dual Core P4 D820 / D830 or
- Dual Core AMD X2 3800+
- with graphics card: ATI X1600 / X1800 er NVidia 6600 GT / 7600 GT

This sounds like it is a basic card like the Skystar2 that doesn't do hardware decoding and will require a hefty pc for doing HD..............sorry for not catching that before my inital post. Still, interesting to some degree though.
 
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WyrTwister,

I am very sure that my ThechniSat SkyStar 2 ver 2.6D will work fine with a Hauppauge WinTV 717 Nexus-S card as well, I am not afraid of that, if I have to I will write the software to make my two cards work together myself…not an issue for me I am a software engineer by trade…my issue is that before I knew anything about DVB cards and options that are most desired for FTA, I made a choice of ThechniSat SkyStar 2 ver. 2.6D which does not have hardware blind scan support, so my only choice is to pair it with another DVB S card that has hardware blind scan. Thus the question I posed I am trying to find out which version of the Hauppauge WinTV 717 Nexus-S has blind scan…which versions are being sold today, since it appears that all information is posted on the internet is not up to date…I am interested in WinTV Nexus-S versions 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 I believe those have hardware blind scan…is version 2.3 the latest Nexus-S is 717 one of them…do not know this, but before I drop $158.00 I want to make sure this time that I have what I want (features and options) or what I am paying for. I posted question to Hauppauge technical support, does 717 Nexus card support hardware blind scan, instead of an answer I got question back is, what do you mean by blind scan? So my conclusion is technical support is useless, and the presale UK Hauppauge forum useless so far…

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=70


I have no direct knowledge of PCI DVB-S cards that do blind scan . ( ot software that might support blind scan . )

Blind scan is much more common with set top boxes .

Wyr
 
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