MythTV tuner card question

[acstech]

I'm looking for a card for off-the-air (terrestrial, not satellite) HDTV in North America. I'm setting up an HTPC with Mythbuntu. I've found numerous compatibility lists, but usually these are from about 2004 and matches nothing I can get at Newegg or other online retailers. I would also like an S-video in, but that's not essential. PCI or PCI-Ex1 cards will work.

The rest of the system will be configured as follows:
1. Biostar TF7050-M2
2. Athlon X2 4000+
3. 1GB DDR2-800
4. 200GB Samsung HD
5. Samsung DVD-RW
6. nMEDIAPC HTPC 288BA case
7. Cheap 1394 card for the front panel connector
8. FSP ATX-400PA power supply

Thanks!

[acstech]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

Never mind, I found one. I got the pcHDTV 5500. If anyone's interested, I'll let you all know how it works.

[Paul S]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

That is probably the most expensive card that you could get.

Any cards supported by Linux should work in MythTV:
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_Devices

The pcHDTV 5500 has the inputs you want (I think), but you would be better off with two separate cards. A Hauppauge PVR-150 is best for recording analog from an external source.

As for HDTV, I have and have tried the following PCI cards in MythTV:
pcHDTV HD-3000
Air2PC PCI (older version $30)
AverTV MCE A180

I currently have one MythTV box with the HD-3000 and a Air2PC in it (CentOS 5 w/MythTV compiled from source), and another with the AverTV MCE A180 in it (Mythbuntu).

The Air2PC and the AverTV cards can also be used in WinXP. The pcHDTV cards have WinXP drivers available, but it is not officially supported (they are Linux only people).

The tuner that most are raving about is the HDHomerun. It is actually two HD tuners that are attached via your network. There is no analog tuner in these.

[kc8adu]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

just found an air2pc atsc tuner card for $1 at a hamfest.
getting ready to play with it in mythdora.

[Paul S]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

You will need to load firmware for the tuner to work. There are two versions of firmware Depending on the version of card you have, the firmware used will be different.

dvb-fe-bcm3510-01.fw
That you can get here:
http://linuxtv.org/downloads/firmwar...-bcm3510-01.fw

dvb-fe-nxt2002.fw
This you can get by running a perl script. Go this folder: /usr/src/linux-<your kernel>/Documentation/dvb and run this script.

 perl get_dvb_firmware nxt2002

It will download the zipped file and extract the firmware for you. You then place it in the /lib/firmware folder.

[acstech]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

I thought the firmware thing was only for the 2000/3000 cards? If it is requred for the 5500, I need to know about it! (see below)

http://www.pchdtv.com/downloads.html

Anyway, I got it sort of working. I can tune analog NTSC ( ) stuff off the antenna all day long if I tell mythbuntu it's an analog V4L card. The minute I set it as a PCHDTV card, nothing. Finds no channels on the scanner. Yet the HDTV (Sony Wega) finds plenty of digital channels. And no, i dont get cable here. This is all coming off a roof mounted antenna.

Ideas? Do I need to load firmware? Drivers?

[acstech]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

Well I got ATSC working. Problem now is 1280x720 is the highest resolution I can get, even though the screen supports 1080.

[Paul S]

Re: MythTV tuner card question

The firmware is needed for the Air2PC card that the preceding poster has. You are correct that the HD-5500 doesn't need firmware loaded.

In MythTV, the pcHDTV selection is for the first version of their card, the HD-2000. For all other HDTV cards you use the DVB selection. Then go through the setup steps and scan for channels. Don't select the V4 L drivers either. You will be able to set up the analog side of the card in the DVB setup screen.

For guide data, select no grabber and EIT data. You can buy a subscription for guide data from Schedules Direct, if you want.