Recording Shows From FTA Receiver

[taelon721]

Wanting to record shows using the computer as a PVR, but using a Pansat 3500 as the receiver. Is it possible to use a TV Capture device like a Hauppauge HVR-950, send your TV Out coax from Pansat (on the channel its currently on) into the HVR-950 to record with software such as MythTV?

 

[the_man_one]

yes
i used a pvr 150 for the longest time

 

[taelon721]

Ok. Thanks for the info.

 

[Anole]

I'm looking at the back side of a 3500.
The outputs you might use, in order of increasing quality, are:
- coax
- composite RCA plug
- S-VHS mini-DIN connector
- three RCA jacks with Component output ( Y, Pb, Pr )
Any of these would be an analog recording.

You might also want to get some advice on actual FTA tuner cards, or USB boxes.
These would give you a digital copy of the source broadcast.
And if its quality was really good, so would be your recording.

I used to make DVDs by taking the digital recordings off my FTA pvr, editing, and authoring.
Start with the best you can get, and the results will show it.

 

[Larry1]

Using either a computer satellite card or a FTA receiver with a PVR function will give you the best picture quality. (as Anole has commented on) These devices capture the digital stream and record it to a hard disk or USB stick. There is no re-encode. A satellite box with a PVR function is easy to use. (and very inexpensive) A lot of the satellite boxes have a USB port to add a USB stick or hard disk to record to. You can set timers or press the record button to record your show. A computer card is a little more challenging to setup, but can offer more functions and a computer can have multiple satellite cards and OTA cards for even further posibilities. Recording with your video capture card requires you to setup the recording parameters, i.e. bit rate, resolution and involves an analoge connection from the satellite receiver to the capture card. This degrades the picture quality. (might not be noticable) Anytime you convert or re-encode, you will have a loss of quality.

 

[guacharaca]

I picked up another SD box last week. It is a CW-800s with a usb port to plug in an external HD as a PVR for only $25 and I should have only paid $15. You can splurge and spend $90 and get an HD card and you will never consider recording through a "TV out" coax again. High Def. with AC3 in = High Def. with AC3 out. No loss of quality.

 

[the_man_one]

hd is fine for recording to hdd, archiving is another thing entirely, my pvr150 records directly to mpeg2 (dvd format), no encoding no mess... quick simple burn, unless u like having 50 hdds layin around labled with what u got recorded to them

 

[Larry1]

my pvr150 records directly to mpeg2 (dvd format), no encoding

The input to the PVR150 is analoge, there is no digital input. To record it directly to mpeg2 is encoding. You select the recording profile (bitrate, resolution, etc) and it encodes it realtime. There will be a loss of quality. The loss of quality may not be noticable.

 

[Anole]

yes it matters, even for SD !

You don't have to make a digital copy.
Some FTA channels have pretty bad video all on their own.
However, let me clear up something if I didn't make it clear above:

USE The S-video or Component video signals and NOT the composite nor RF connections, please!
That way, when you are tuned to and recording a decent station, your recordings won't suffer (so much).

 

[the_man_one]

let me clear the post up earlier (i been on vacation)... yes u get the initial encode to mpeg2 (no noticible loss of quality on a SD source) but no aditional encoding is needed to archive it... sat cards give u .mpg or .ts files to work with extra steps to go thru b4 u burn to dvd