[mythtv-users] PVR-350 - PAL-I Variant, for use in Ireland?

Lorcan Hamill lh-mythtv at lorcanhamill.com
Sat Jan 31 20:11:06 EST 2004


Steve Dwyer wrote:
> 
>>Hi All,
>>
>>First post from a MythTV newbie, so go easy on me. :)
>>
>>I've just bought a Hauppauge PVR-350, with the intention of
>>bulding a Myth-based PVR.  But it looks like I may have made
>>a really dumb mistake, and bought the wrong version...
>>
>>I live in Dublin, Ireland, and I want to use the card with
>>the local NTL cable service.  I bought the card over the web
>>from a company in Germany.  At the time, I thoght that was a
>>reasonable thing to do, since Germany and Ireland both use PAL,
>>right?
>>
>>Well, now I can't get the card to work.  As I installed it,
>>I noticed that the card has a label on it that says:
>>
>>   "PAL-B/G  48134  Rev J347"
>>
>>I think that "PAL-B/G" is the problem - it's PAL-I that we use
>>in Ireland, it seems - at least according to this list of
>>broadcast standards by country:
>>
>>  http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/WorldVideo.html
>>
>>(Wish I'd seen that *before* I bought the card.)
>>
>>I tried installing the card anyway, and installed the Windows
>>software under Windows98 (It's a dual-boot setup, with Win98SE
>>and RedHat 9 at the moment.)  The Windows channel-scanning
>>application found 15 channels on my NTL Cable connection, which
>>is correct - but when I try to view  them, all I get is
>>a black screen.
>>
>>So far, I haven't started installing the ivtv driver or any
>>other Linux software.  But when I run "lspci", the output now
>>includes this, all on one line:
>>
>>00:0e.0 Multimedia video controller: Internext Compression Inc
>>   iTVC15 MPEG-2 Encoder (rev01)
>>
>>So, I've got lots of questions:
>>
>>   Am I right in thinking that this card is a version
>>   that works in Germany, but not in Ireland?
> 
> 
> Yeah, The Tuner is Country Specific. If only everywhere would use the same
> tuner,
> then we would be able to get the PVR-350 much cheaper shipped from the USA!!
> 

Ah, but that would be too simple, wouldn't it? :)

>>   Is it possible that there's something I can do in software
>>   (or firmware) that will make this card work with PAL-I?
> 
> 
> I'm Not actually sure how the PAL Tuners differ from each other. But I doubt
> it.

So do I, but we live in hope.


>>   Does a PAL-I version of the PVR-350 exist, and where
>>   would I buy one?  (I've seen the PVR-250 in stores here,
>>   but never the 350.)
>>
> 
>
> Yes they do, I bought one recently. I got it from www.savastore.com for £107
> exc. VAT
> I believe amazon also sell them, the postage from them might be a bit
> cheaper.

This, along with Marc's reply, is making me feel better.
But I'm still confused - I just checked www.savastore.com, and their
specs for the 350 say "Analogue Video Format: PAL-B/G", just like on
simply.co.uk.  Are you sure it's the PAL-I version you got?  I'm
beginning to think that the UK websites are using incorrect specs.

Can you (or anyone else) clear something up for me?  What exactly
is the most commonly-used broadcast standard in the UK?  If I'm
in England, picking up BBC1 with a rooftop antenna, is that going
to be a PAL-I, PAL-G or PAL-B signal - and will it be on the
VHF or UHF bands?  I'm assuming that 350's sold in the UK will
be able to receive that signal, whatever it is...

On a happier note, savastore.com now have them slightly cheaper
(104.85 ex vat).
> 
> 
> 
>>   Has anyone got a PVR-350 (or 250) working with NTL's
>>   cable service (the basic analogue package) in Dublin?
>>
>>   Does anyone want to buy a PAL-B/G PVR-350, as new?  :)
> 
> 
> Just out of interest, How much did you buy it for?

209 euro, plus 20 euro shipping, from technikdirekt.de
(209 euro is about £142.12 by my calculation, but that
includes VAT.)  Not sure what I'd sell it for, but I'll
see if I can get a refund or exchange first.

Cheers,
Lorcan

> 
>>Any answers would be *very* gratefully received.
>>
>>Thanks in advance!
>>
>>Lorcan Hamill
>>
>>
> 
> 
> 
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