DVB-S2 Tuner Card for PBS

[WRBreland]

Looked in equipment reviews and did not see any DVB-S2 tuner card reviews so I need your opinions on a DVB-S2 tuner card. This will be used for doing recordings from PBS on AMC-21. For many years I have used a Twinhan 103G tuner card, TSReader Standard 2.7.45h and Windows Scheduler (calling .BAT files) for PBS recordings. Please recommend:

DVB-S2 tuner card
Method of recording
A playback device
A dealer and/or site to purchase hardware

I checked Rod Hewitt’s site (TSReader) and the supported hardware has not been updated in several years and contains no current DVB-S2 tuner cards.

I am considering a Popcorn Hour A-400 as a H.264 playback device, it could be my Panasonic DMP-BDT220 Blu-ray player will play the recorded files.

 

[brentb636]

I use the usb Profs 7500 with TSreader, quite handily. The DVB-S BDA Source driver works with the tuner.

 

[SatelliteAV]

I use the Prof 7301. Had many issues with MCE, but works great with TSReader.

 

[skysurfer]

I use TBS6925 with the TBS provided TSREADER TBS6925 source but that is probably overkill for you if you just want to watch/record PBS and not do serious data signal locks/investigations.

 

[WRBreland]

I use TBS6925 with the TBS provided TSREADER TBS6925 source but that is probably overkill for you if you just want to watch/record PBS and not do serious data signal locks/investigations.

On another forum a member said:

In addition to the dvbworld devices Chromer mentioned another PCI DVB-S2 card you might consider is the TBS-8920 card. I have one of these and it seems to work pretty well. Also, there is a driver for this card that can be used with Tsreader. The only down side is it doesn't allow TSReader to do the tuning. So, you must first launch DVBdream and use it to tune to the transponder your want. Then you launch Tsreader and it receives the stream. I had to contact tech support to get the TSReader driver.

Is it true that TSReader can not tune the TBS cards?

I assume TBS will provide their own software, if true, can it do scheduled recordings? Wake PC from standby, do recording and put PC back in standby state?

 

[WRBreland]

I use the Prof 7301. Had many issues with MCE, but works great with TSReader.

Please see reply to skysurfer. Does any of this apply to the Prof Tuners Group?

 

[SatelliteAV]

TSReader provides direct tuning of the 7301 card.

 

[skysurfer]

Is it true that TSReader can not tune the TBS cards?

I assume TBS will provide their own software, if true, can it do scheduled recordings? Wake PC from standby, do recording and put PC back in standby state?

TSREADER can tune my TBS6925 card - I use the generic DVB-S BDA source included with TSREADER or the TBS6925 TSREADER source that TBS developed and posted on their website.

There are some TBS posted utilities as well but I forget what they are as I use TSREADER for signal locking, TS analyzing and recording with my TBS 6925 card.

 

[wallyhts]

TSreader tunes my TBS-8922. However with that said I got it for a deal i would buy a prof card if i was buying one right now.

 

[Sadie]

I have been using a Prof 7301 card with DVB Viewer, I've used various Twinhan cards and much prefer the Prof cards.
I've been using Xepg and mc2xml to import TV guide information for PBS on AMC21 (have Bat file if anyone needs it).
It's kind of boring just keeps working although DVB Viewer takes a bit of getting used to.
The recording are saved to my network drive and played back over the network by any computer in the house using VLC Media player or Media Player Classic, I have an old PC on the TV in the living room I use to play these recordings and for online videos.
The is a blind scan program available for the Prof 7301, I've had mixed results with it, it's not something I use much sorry I forget the name.
I brought the card from some outfit in China could have been this one http://www.store.proftuners.com/ the is a dealer in the United States.

 

[WRBreland]

Purchased a TBS8922 and tried to install into my HTPC. It would freeze at the TBS8922.SYS driver install. Did some research and it seems others have had this same problem. One user believes it is the VIA chips, my motherboard is a ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe and it has a VIA IEEE 1394 controller. Disabled the 1394 controller in the BIOS and it still freezes at the TBS8922.SYS driver install. Tried the usual device removal, different PCI slots, etc. and nothing works.

Purchased a TechnoTrend TT Budget-S2 3200 off eBay and will try it in my HTPC.

 

[Anole]

I gave up USB & sat card tuners before S2 came along.
However, I do record HD OTA with a LAN-based tuner ( & Vista Media Center).

To play back OTA files from the one computer, a 4tb server, a laptop dedicated to downloads, and numerous Internet-based resources, I am very happy with a Western Digital TV Live Plus media player.
Mine is several years old, but will play high-rate TS, 4:2:2, h.264, mpeg, AVI, DivX/xvid, and many codecs in all popular wrappers.

I could have put the Vista Media Center box by the TV, but I didn't want a computer in the living room.
The WD is more flexible and less trouble. (silent 'n tiny, too)
(LAN is all Cat5, no wifi ! )

 

[updatelee]

check the tbs forums, there was some talk about an issue with some motherboards not supporting pcie 1.0 or something like that, and to check the manufacturers website for new bios updates.

my 6925 works fine in linux, minus the precompiled binaries im working on getting rid of, but you windows guys are used to that lol

edit: wanted to add Ive got a few WDTV Live's around the house and am very happy with them, they play darn near everything.

UDL

 

[wildbill47]

I purchased a USB satellite tuner and used Tsreader and decided too much problems so now use a openbox as i call it a elcheapo fta because of low price and works really good. The expert scan works perfect for finding hidden channels.

 

[WRBreland]

Update

Got the Prof 7301 and it works fine, see this post for my update. At this point I am again a happy camper, my recordings via the 7301 can be a single file and does not require any correction for proper playback. My microHD recordings were a pain to use.

Never got the TBS8922 to work in the HTPC with XP. TBS tech support gave me a link for another set of drivers so I tried them. Same problem, locked up the PC when installing the driver. Contacted TBS tech support again and they never responded. I would not recommend TBS products based upon their tech support.

To be fair I asked the folks at Prof to consider writing a 7301 native source module for TSReader. There was not a response to this request.

 

[schlever]

Got the Prof 7301 and it works fine, see this post for my update. At this point I am again a happy camper, my recordings via the 7301 can be a single file and does not require any correction for proper playback. My microHD recordings were a pain to use.

Never got the TBS8922 to work in the HTPC with XP. TBS tech support gave me a link for another set of drivers so I tried them. Same problem, locked up the PC when installing the driver. Contacted TBS tech support again and they never responded. I would not recommend TBS products based upon their tech support.

To be fair I asked the folks at Prof to consider writing a 7301 native source module for TSReader. There was not a response to this request.

I run a 8922 under XP with no issues including TSReader. I use DVB Viewer Pro as my main software.

 

[WRBreland]

I run a 8922 under XP with no issues including TSReader. I use DVB Viewer Pro as my main software.

It is strange about the 8922, it is the ONLY device that I ever had that locked up my computer when trying to install. I even assembled a new computer based upon a ASUS P8Z77-V LE motherboard. Unfortunately that MB only supports SATA drives (the only type on this MB) with XP/SP3 so I could not do XP clean install, had to use a basic install with SP3 from other computer. Same happened with this setup, locked up at the 8922 driver install. Mine is not an isolated case, others have reported having this same problem with the 8922.

Procured Window 8 Pro, installed on the new computer then the 8922 did install and work but my old MDP-130 ATSC/QAM tuner card would not work. Gave up, purchased the Pro 7301. It installed and was running on the old HTPC in just a few minutes.