[mythtv-users] FTA Satellite Receivers

[Michael T. Dean]

Clay wrote:

> Does mythTV work with FTA satellite receivers (specifically a Pansat 
> 2300)?

Yes.

>   I just started reading on this subject today and am a little 
> confused.  I was also looking at the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250, but it 
> says it only has a 125 channel tuner.  If this is the case how are you 
> getting it to work when you have more channels?

Your satellite receiver is your tuner.  From the satellite receiver, you 
will send the signal to the PVR-250 using coaxial cable with an 
F-connector, composite, S-Video, SCART, ...

If using coax/F-connector, the receiver will output the signal on some 
channel, i.e. channel 3 or channel 4 (usually selectable, but we'll just 
say 3 for now), so you will tune the PVR-250 to channel 3.  You will 
then change the channel on the satellite receiver, and it will output 
the new channel on channel 3.  Therefore, you will never need to go 
above 125.

If using composite, S-Video, or SCART, you will be completely bypassing 
the PVR-250's tuner.  Therefore, you won't need to go above channel 125 
(or even tune any channel on the PVR-250 for that matter).

Note, however, that you will need some way to control the satellite 
receiver from your PC.  If the receiver has an infra-red remote control, 
you can do so with LIRC ( http://www.lirc.org ) and an IR transmitter 
(commercial products are available, or you can build your own for less 
than a dollar--or spend about $12 to make a much nicer transmitter).  If 
the receiver has a serial port (which may be a standard DB-9 (serial) 
port or even an RJ-11 (phone) port), you could link the Myth box 
directly to the receiver, but depending on whether others have already 
done so, you might need to do some work to figure out how to control it 
(i.e. how to send the commands over the serial connection).

>   I do like the features of mythTV very much, but I want to make sure 
> it will do what I need before I spend the cash on the hardware.  
> Thanks in advance.

And, IMHO, it's well worth the investment of cash/time/effort.

Mike