[mythtv-users] One Card for Analog/Digital Cable and HDTV?

[Tom E. Craddock Jr.]

Brian Long wrote:

>On Fri, 2005-09-09 at 09:48 -0400, Tom E. Craddock Jr. wrote:
>  
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>>Brian Long wrote:
>>
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>>>I'm just about to order gear for my first MythTV setup.  I was planning
>>>to use the typical Hauupage cards with digital cable set-top boxes and
>>>S-Video capture with infrared blasters.  Then I started reading about
>>>DVB, QAM256, etc. and it made me wonder if I can buy a Fusion or other
>>>card that will capture my existing analog and digital cable (non-HD) and
>>>also support HD-over-cable capture if I enable that programming with
>>>Time Warner.
>>>
>>>I would appreciate any clarification around DVB-C (cable HD?) and QAM256
>>>(digital cable?) capture cards are recommended.
>>>
>>>/Brian/
>>> 
>>>
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>>> 
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>>>
>>Doubt it, as TW isnt known for letting digital cable channels be decoded 
>>by cards, ie they are encrypted.  Some HD channels come in for me, but 
>>not enough to make it worth it, HBO, Showtime, ESPN, In HD, HD Net, are 
>>all encrypted and cant be decoded by any QAM capable card, the local OTA 
>>HD channels, NBC, CBS, ABC and the like arent encrypted.  Same for the 
>>digital channels, they all need the cable box hooked up to a happauge 
>>card thru either the S-Vid or Composite along with L and R audio.  You 
>>could also request a firewire enabled cable box, and see what, if any, 
>>channels come in over that.  Search the list for firewire info, this has 
>>been discussed exhaustively.
>>    
>>
>
>So the cards from TwinHan that have a smart-card reader don't work or
>aren't tested yet?  In looking at the LinuxTV DVB Twiki, it appears
>folks know about the TwinHan and the extra CI device, but it's not yet
>supported:
>
>http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/PCI_devices_DVB-C
>
>Theoretically you could take the Time Warner smart card out of the set-
>top box and stick it in this reader (assuming the form factor is right).
>
>/Brian/
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 No clue about the cable card device from TwinHan.  Good luck tho on 
getting TW to let you pop one in your PC, as it stands now, and this 
comes from a cable installer from BrightHouse/TW (me), when you want a 
cable card, the tech has to come to your house and set it up in the TV 
you plan on using it in;  if you dont have a TV to put one in, we are 
told not to leave it with the customer.  Plus, its not supported in 
Linux or MythTV now as you said, so its all theoretical now.

Tom