[mythtv-users] USB DVB-S2?

[Stephen Worthington]

On Sat, 8 Jun 2013 22:10:29 +0200, you wrote:

>2013/6/8 Fred Watt <fredwattmythtv at gmail.com>:
>> Could any one recommend an external DVB-S2 card to use in a back-end?
>>
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>
>I am using Tevii S660, it works well.
>
>Regards.

I have two DVB-S2 tuners:

  TeVii S470 (PCIe)
  TBS5922 QBox S2 (USB 2)

The TeVii S470 has the drivers built into recent kernels, so to get it
to go all that is needed is to install the appropriate firmware file.
But I do not recommend it for two reasons:

1) It fails to tune to the lowest frequency on the satellite I receive
from, 12267000 Hz.  After subtracting the LNB frequency of 10750000
Hz, that works out to 1517000 Hz at the card, which is in the middle
of its specified frequency range.

2) I have never got a reply from TeVii for my requests for support - I
am guessing that they do not bother with Linux users.

  http://www.tevii.com

On the other hand, my TBS5922 tunes all the frequencies I use without
any problems.  TBS have active support forums for Linux users, and
answer support queries from Linux users just the same way as for
Windows users.

The downside of the TBS tuners is that you have to compile and install
their drivers from source.  The source is provided with the tuner
along with full instructions, so it is not difficult to do, but it has
to be done every time the kernel is updated.  I just wrote myself a
script to do that, which I run after rebooting for a new kernel then
reboot again.  In my case, compiling from source is not a downside at
all as I have to patch and recompile the tuner drivers anyway for
other reasons, but you might find it a nuisance.

The TBS5922 also has an external power pack to deal with - always a
nuisance, although theirs is the better variety that does not sit on
the plug and is quite small.  But that might be the case for all
external DVB-S2 tuners, as they might need more power than is
available from a USB 2 port.

  http://www.tbsdvb.com