Is it possible to use a tivo-like device on OTA HD signals?

[Drizzy]

I really want to get a Tivo but I'm too cheap to pay for cable. Plus my OTA HD looks fantastic. So, what would I need to do a home made Tivo device - say on my PC?

 

[Crucial]

windows vista or media center edition and a hdtv tuner such as this

 

[Bootprint]

BeyondTv from snapstream will record OTA HD.

I've used it to record from my HVR-900.

 

[RossMAN]

All you need is:

Computer + TV tuner card + antenna + software

 

[Drizzy]

I dont have xp media center... the tuner card and software look great. This will all work with XP home?

 

[dug777]

It certainly will allow you to record shows

I love my DVICO HDTV DVB-T Pro (Digital/Analogue tuner).

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: Drizzy
I dont have xp media center... the tuner card and software look great. This will all work with XP home?

It should most tuners come with software, but Beyond TV's interfaces looks great; however, there are free versions out there (check out sourceforge)

 

[dvpatel]

If you can free up that PC from Winblows, you can go Linux and MythTV.

A good option is MythDora and I think it supports HDTV out of the box (disk I must say).

Originally posted by: Drizzy
I dont have xp media center... the tuner card and software look great. This will all work with XP home?

 

[RKS]

Are there any usb/pci tuners that allow you to get all of the channels that are available via your cable service? My current cable subscription has a lot of channels over # 125.

Is there a device that allows me to get the additional stations or are they all renamed to a number under 125?

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: RKS
Are there any usb/pci tuners that allow you to get all of the channels that are available via your cable service? My current cable subscription has a lot of channels over # 125.

Is there a device that allows me to get the additional stations or are they all renamed to a number under 125?

Shouldn't those higher numbers be digital?

 

[naldo]

Originally posted by: RKS
Are there any usb/pci tuners that allow you to get all of the channels that are available via your cable service? My current cable subscription has a lot of channels over # 125.

Is there a device that allows me to get the additional stations or are they all renamed to a number under 125?

Not at the moment. 125 is the cap for standard analog cable, if you have channels above that then you probably have digital cable, and no standard tuners can decode those channels.

Cablecard tuners will let you view all of the channels, but I dont think those are available yet.

 

[montypythizzle]

Where are the QAM capable tuners?

 

[arod]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Where are the QAM capable tuners?

hdhomerun

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Where are the QAM capable tuners?

These guys: http://www.pchdtv.com/ have one but it is only supported in Linux I believe. It is a bit sketchy of a site but it works for HD QAM for me.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: arod

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Where are the QAM capable tuners?

hdhomerun

FTW

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=38&threadid=2004763

 

[montypythizzle]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: arod

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Where are the QAM capable tuners?

hdhomerun

FTW

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=38&threadid=2004763

Wow that looks a little much (as it is networked and what not) but is there a PCI one or anything?

LOL I thought when you said "hdhomerun" that you were like HD orgasm but in another wording.

thanks for the link though but I am loooking for a PCI one.

 

[torpid]

Well, it's pretty expensive, though possibly cheaper than a new pc with hdtv tuner card... but the HD tivo can record OTA HD signals, though it does not have guide data for QAM. In fact, my local cable co does not carry fox or CW in HD so I have to use the antenna for them.