[mythtv-users] Advice needed on setting up DVB-S in SW London, UK

[Nick F]

On 2/4/08, Shaggy B <shagbag.mythtv at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> I near Battersea, sout-west London and my closest TV transmitter is
> Crystal Palace.  However, my DVB-T signal is 'average' in the sense that it
> drops frames occasionally and quite often (about 3 times a week) by Freeview
> box jams up requiring a cold restart.
>
> I've heard about receiving Freeview channels over DVB-S and I'd like to
> try and set this up.  However, I've never done it before so I'm seeking some
> advice.  There is an existing but unused SkyTV satellite dish on the roof of
> my building.  It has no 'LNB' - if that means anything.  To get DVB-S
> working do I only need the following:
>
> 1 x LNB
> Coaxial cable + 2 plug headers
> Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-S-Plus PCI card
>

If you are going to be climbing on your roof anyway, I'd recommend a dual
LNB (cheap on ebay) and run dual coax down to your computer.  You can start
with a single PCI DVB-S card, then when you want to add a second tuner
you've got the LNB and coax ready.  With the new multi-rec functionality you
can record two programmes off the same multiplex (last night I recorded the
Superbowl on BBC2 and a movie on BBC1 at the same time using only one card
which is pretty cool) so you may find you don't need two tuners
immediately.  The biggest things you'll miss are the Channel 4 lot which are
encrypted on satellite (hopefully this will change soon) - but you're good
for BBC, ITV, Film4 and some of the news channels.

There are lots of choices in DVB-S cards.  I use the Technotrend S-1500 card
which works well and has the benefit of being able to add a CI card if you
ever want to use a CAM with it.
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