[mythtv-users] Can I just pass the TV signal through?

[Dave M G]

MythTV,

I have Mythbuntu 10.10 and a Hauppauge PVR-150.

I live in Japan, where this year they are converting from an analog
broadcast system to a digital one. My Hauppauge and Mythbuntu system
will no longer be able to pick up local television.

There are digital TV tuner cards for putting in a computer available,
but support for Linux is, as you can probably imagine, quite lacking. I
found one blog post (in Japanese: http://ky-hive.jp/blog/?p=244 ) where
a guy had set it up, but it looked pretty tricky and required some funky
hardware.

It looks like the easiest thing for me to do is buy a digital tuner with
built in hard drive for storing shows. (Japanese TV can be really,
really stupid most of the time, so the ability to schedule and record
shows is critical.)

However, what I'm not clear on is how I would get an external tuner to
play with my Mythbuntu setup, which I still use for DVD, music, and
video file playback.

What I want to do is take the digital tuner output, run it into the
Mythbuntu box somehow (through the Hauppauge?), and simply be able to
switch to display that signal, without needing Mythbuntu be able to
change the channels.

Put another way, I'd like an entry in my Mythbuntu interface that says
"TV", and when I open it, it shows me the output from the digital tuner.
I'll change channels and handle all the recording schedule directly with
the tuner box. When I want to switch back to the MythTV interface, I'll
just hit "back" on my Hauppauge remote and then go back to business as
usual.

Is this doable?

Is there a better way?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

-- 
Dave M G