[mythtv-users] DVB-T Cards - Comparisons or experiences

[Mike Richardson]

On Fri, Feb 03, 2006 at 03:53:18PM +0000, Stephen Kitchener wrote:
> Hi List,
> 
> I need some expert advice please.
> 
> I am trying to decide as to which DVB-T card to buy, I have a list (though 
> there are probably more) to select from, but I need someone who has had the 
> experience, to answer a simple question....(the answer might not be simple 
> however)

I've got a Nova-T and a Compro VideoMate DVB T-200. The Nova-T has always
worked fine and had a good signal. The T200 really is pretty poor in
comparison. 

The Nova-T has never failed to get a lock but with exactly the same aerial
the T200 fails about one in three times:

This is typical for the Nova-T:

2006-02-03 15:10:36.151 DVB#0 DVB signal 32 | snr ffff | ber    0 | unc    0

This is typical for the T200 when it gets a lock:

2006-02-03 15:10:39.284 DVB#1 DVB signal abab | snr fefe | ber  28e | unc 13

This is typical when it doesn't:

2006-02-03 22:41:52.866 DVB#1 DVB signal a9a9 | snr ffff | ber 1fffe | unc 0

I've only had the card a few days and already it has screwed up a recording
for me. It cost about 2/3 that of the Nova-T but if I can't trust it then it
is worthless.

One of the follow applies:
1) The card is awful,
2) The card is flawed,
3) The card and machine aren't working well together,
4) There is something wrong with the software,
5) I'm being an idiot and missing something fundamental. 

I'm going to try it the card in other hardware and setup a slave backend but
I'd be grateful if anyone had any other advice.

(I've tried the cards in several different PCI slot combinations with the
different aerial setups. One thing I did notice is that all three of the
cards I have - Nova-T, T200 and PVR 250 get rather hot - is this normal?)

Thanks,

Mike

-- 
Mike Richardson
Networks
IT Services, University of Manchester
Email: doctor at mcc.ac.uk
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