[mythtv-users] Sky One

[Nick]

On 15/02/06, Mike Richardson <doctor at mcc.ac.uk> wrote:
> Ok,
>
> I have mythtv setup with DVB cards (and a PVR 250) and I am really happy
> with the way it works. Maybe in about 5 years time there will be commodity
> kit with this level of functionality but I wouldn't bet on it.
>
> Anyway the next phase of my plan to rid myself of VCRs is to be able to
> record non-free channels, in particular Sky One (but Sci-Fi, Bravo,
> Discovery and Sky Two would be nice). We have NTL cable and a couple of Pace
> boxes but we use those to watch TV on and I like my Myth to be completely
> unobtrusive (no plans to watch live TV through it) so no messing with IR
> blasters.
>
> I've looked at the DBOX2 but my impression is that is just isn't
> reliable/stable enough yet.
>
> I have a satellite dish on the wall but no satellite receiver or
> subscription - it was there when we bought the house.
>
> So, here is the question - what other options, if any, do I have to record
> Sky One on Myth?

If you're unprepared to use your existing ntl boxes to record (how do
ever record to VCR from ntl if you don't want the boxes used for
recordings?) you can either get another ntl box specifcally for your
Myth machine, so that it is not used for TV watching, or you could
take out a SKy subscription, which would cost a lot more than the
additional ntl box.

The problem with using MythTV with an externally controlled source,
like ntl or Sky, is that there is the risk of the channel being
changed outside of MythTV, and also in the case of ntl currently, each
box has only one tuner, which is tied up when either a recording is in
progress or TV is being watched outside of MythTV.

I solved this by building a cheap and small slave machine for the
bedroom so that wherever we are in the house, we can watch TV via ntl
and record from ntl at the same time. The only potential issue this
has is if we want to record 2 programs simultaneously on ntl and also
watch another ntl channel.

However, this is not possible at all without getting an additional box
anyway as we can only ever record/watch 2 shows at a time on ntl, so
we just accept it. We rarely record 2 shows simultaneously on ntl, but
if we do and LiveTV is used through MythTV, we intantly see that an
ntl source is not available and it reverts to DVB. We do a lot more
DVB recording (3 cards) and this further reduces the chance of an ntl
box being unavailable. The risk is scheduling recordings via MythTV
but watching TV normally, which runs the risk of losing recordings
when you channel surf/swap channels.

IR blasters are quite straightforward to setup if you end up going
that route (you're going to need to control the boxes somehow and the
serial ports on them are not supported AFAIK) and the Sky extender
mentioned by Chris is for Sky boxes only.

Nick