[mythtv-users] Special needs dad with MythTV hardware questions

Daryl McDonald darylangela at gmail.com
Sat Nov 23 22:10:03 UTC 2013


On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 3:47 PM,  <mythtv-users.jim-j at mamber.net> wrote:
> Yeah, I’m playing the sympathy card right away.  I’m a special needs
> dad of a girl with Dravet syndrome (scientifically speaking this falls
> into the craptacular category of pediatric illnesses).  Dealing with
> her unique and challenging situation (along with my three other
> normally abnormal kids, work, etc.) leaves me with no free time.  This
> why I’m hoping someone will take pity on my and answer a few basic
> MythTV related questions for me instead of just telling me to go
> research it myself.  I don’t have time to properly research this
> myself (like I would like to do).  If I no one is willing to throw me
> a bone I may have to go through the shameful process of buying a Tivo
> Roamio instead. :’(
>
> Note that I’m not against doing any of my own research.  For example
> if you can direct me to one or two websites per question I’m happy to
> go read those websites.  However telling me to simply “search the
> archives or google it” is not what I’m looking for.  I hate to be
> lazy, but I simply don’t have the time to research this myself.
>
> I would really appreciate if someone could either tell me my reasons
> for wanting a MythTV box are invalid or answer my questions on
> building a MythTV box.  The two main reasons I would like to build a
> MythTV box instead of a Tivo are:
> 1)  Ability to copy shows to my other PCs for viewing or burning to
> DVD.  If Tivo Roamio can easily do this, maybe this isn’t a valid
> reason?
> 2)  Ability to install game emulators for classic systems (like C64).
> I’m almost certain that Tivo can’t do this.  However if the Tivo can
> easily copy shows to DVD, then I could give up on reason 2 and resign
> myself to building a “living room TV game emulator PC” later.
>
> I am technically adept.  I’m a Cisco network engineer, so the network
> aspects won’t be a problem for me.  I’m also comfortable working in a
> Redhat/CentOS/Fedora OS environment (I’m a RHCE on Redhat 8, but I
> haven’t used Linux a lot since Fedora 8).  I’m confident I can follow
> the http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Installing_MythTV_on_Fedora guide and
> get MythTV installed and working on Fedora 19 (I would actually prefer
> a CentOS based distro because of the longer support timeframe, but I
> imagine that good CentOS specific instructions are harder to find and
> that CentOS isn’t as well supported/popular with MythTV).  If using
> another distro (like Mythbuntu) is really the easiest and/or best way
> I’m open to that as well.
>
> Where I really need help is determining which TV tuner(s), video card
> and remote to buy.  Money is always a concern, but it’s not my primary
> concern.  I figure the money I save by not having cable for just one
> year easily pays for a $750ish DVR.  Having said that, I’d prefer not
> to throw money away either, so if there’s negligible difference
> between two items I’d take the cheap route.  But given the choice of a
> quality and/or easy to use product and an inexpensive product, I’d
> rather buy the quality item.
>
>
> [Which tuner(s) to buy]
> My only source of TV is an antenna in my attic for receiving digital
> OTA TV.  We receive about a dozen channels.  Are any tuners known to
> perform better at OTA reception?
>
> I only need two tuners, but would consider more if there’s no
> technical downside (splitting my coax connection is a big downside)
>
> Can you get a dual (or multi) tuner that only uses one coax input
> connection?  Every time I split my coax connection it degrades my
> signal.  I can probably afford to split my antenna to give my DVR box
> two coax connections, but a single coax connection to my DVR would be
> preferred.
>
> Can any of the tuner cards do a pass through of the coax to my TV?
> That would save me from having to split my antenna to give my TV its
> own direct coax connection.
>
> The last time I tried to research this (a year or more ago) these two
> tuners seemed popular:
> 1) SiliconDust HDHomeRun DUAL High Definition Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-US
> Since it’s network connected that could be a plus for me, being able
> to stream the stations directly to other devices.  I’ve got ethernet
> wired throughout my house, so bandwidth shouldn’t be a concern.
> It looks like this is a dual tuner solution (does it need two coax connections?)
>
> 2) Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (dual tuner, does this need two coax connections?)
>
>
>
> [Which video card to buy?]
> -I have a (cheap) 720P TV that I would like to connect to via a HDMI connection.
> -It sounds like I want a VDPAU card?
> -I really don’t need a lot of graphics power for any non-myth things.
> For example any retro gaming I’d do with this PC would be basic 2d
> graphics
>
>
> [Which remote to buy?]
> I’d prefer an infrared one so I could program a universal remote to control it
> Some sort of wireless keyboard mouse recommendation would also be nice
>
>
> [Which case to buy?]
> -I’m 99.9999% sure I’ll just go with a single computer install for
> simplicity’s sake.
> -I already have a “AMD Phenom II X4 905e Deneb 2.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2
> Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 65W Quad-Core Processor” and a “GIGABYTE
> GA-790FXTA-UD5” motherboard laying around that I could use.  To use
> these I’d like a home theater type of case that can accept a normal
> sized motherboard.  I already have a quiet power supply as well, but
> if a good case required a special power supply type I’d be open to
> buying a new power supply.
>
>
>
> --
> Jim Johnson
> http://littleluella.blogspot.com
> Help find a cure for kids with Dravet syndrome (like my daughter
> Luella) by donating to http://dravet.org or
> http://dravetfoundation.org
>
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I can speak to the concern of splitting the antenna signal, what I
have is an amplified splitter, one in and two out with 24 Db increase,
from there you could easily split each output,with a normal splitter,
giving four reliable signals.


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