[mythtv-users] Myth 0.22 for Comcast Digital in US - how would you build?

[Nelson Tang]

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 1:09 PM, Johnny Walker <johnnyjboss at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 2:55 PM, jon <jheizermythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 04/19/2010 02:39 PM, Kenneth Emerson wrote:
> >>
> >> Asking in ref:
> >> - Tuner devices/cards to work (as best as possible) with whatever
> Comcast
> >> box and link technology (firewire, composite)
> >
> > It depends on what you watch.  Using the stats supplied by mythweb, I see
> > that 85% of what is recorded by my system is OTA.  I am fortunate that
> with
> > a simple bow-tie antenna on my roof, I get excellent reception of NBC,
> CBS,
> > ABC, FOX, and CW as well as PBS.  For this majority, I use a dual tuner
> > HD-HomeRun which is almost unanimously recommended on this list.   For
> the
> > other 15%, I have subscribed to my cable company's (MediaCom) digital
> > service at a cost of $9.95/month which gets me one STB.  I did get this
> to
> > work with firewire, but because of the 5C "encryption", the recordings
> were
> > not 100% reliable, so I bought Hauppauge's HD-PVR to record the component
> > output of the supplied Motorola STB.  If you do not have access to OTA
> > (can't/won't install antenna or not close enough to transmitters), you
> are
> > kind of stuck with the cable company's STB offering.
> >>
> >> - Does HD change the recommendation
> >
> > HD makes a difference when it comes to the size of the recordings and how
> > you plan to play them back.  Most of the newer systems will play the HD
> > content in mpeg format (HD-HR) (someone more knowledgeable can probably
> give
> > CPU specs required here), but you will need a video card that supports
> vdpau
> > to play back the H.264 from an HD-PVR.  The mpeg file sizes are about 3x
> > what the SD recordings are (6 GB / hour).  The HD-PVR will produce at
> about
> > half that at 720p resolution.
> >
> >>
> >> - Does trying to make the Tuners and BE remote from FE change the
> >> recommendation?  (IR and blasting)
> >>
> > I use an IR/RF converter to get to my remote backend and use the IR
> receiver
> > from one of my PVR-350's that I still have installed.
> >
> >>
> >> I'm asking because I'm really unclear what would be most "turn-key" and
> >> reliable if budget and pre-existing equipment were not considerations.
> >> TIA!!!!!!!
> >>
> > Turn-key?  That's not going to be the mythTV way, but I think you mean
> what
> > is the best way with the least complexity?
> >
> >>
> >> p.s. "screw Comcast" is a very viable answer, but not quite what I'm
> >> looking for here...  ;-)
> >
> > From some of the responses on this list, you wouldn't be the first to
> thumb
> > their nose at their cable provider (Comcast seems to get the worst
> press).
> > Good luck!
> > -- Ken E.
> >
> > Just wanted to agree on thinking about where you are recording from.  I
> have
> > 2 PCI ATSC getting OTA that covers most of my recordings and a single
> HDPVR
> > on a Dish HD receiver.  Cuts down on receiver rental costs a lot.  Just
> > switched to this from analog comcast cable last week.  So far it is
> working
> > great.
> >
> > Jon
> >
>
> And if the OTA recpetion is an issue for you (It is Dallas proper) you
> can most likely supplement your HDPVR + STB setup with an HDHR that
> can get at least your local channels using QAM on the wire of your
> cable provider. I went this route since it's prime time and local
> channels that are trying to put programs head to head.
>

I just did this myself over the weekend - switched from SD on a combined
FE/BE to HD using an Acer Revo FE, separate BE connected to dual tuner HDHR
with local channels in clear QAM and PVR250 & PVR150 for SD cable.  I too
overwhelmingly record network shows so the HDHR is perfect for this (and has
eliminated what few schedule conflicts I'd had as well).  The Revo was
pretty simple to install - I went with Mythbuntu 9.10, and honestly the
hardest part was looking for an external CD drive for the install (I ended
up using Unetbootin to copy the ISO to an SD card and installing via that
instead).  Total time to both update the BE (from 8.04/Myth 0.21) and
install the Revo FE was about 6 hours.

Right now my only concern is that my wife likes watching shows on her
netbook running Windows, and MythTV Player doesn't seem to like 0.22, so I
need to figure that out soon before she starts complaining that she can't
watch her shows in bed anymore.

--nelson
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