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

Greg Tippitt gtippitt at gmail.com
Sun Nov 24 00:39:56 UTC 2013


I agree with other poster that said MythTV is a hobby rather than an
appliance.  At first it seemed really confusing because it is so
configurable, but after you learn you way around, it makes perfect
sense.  I won't say my configuration is the best equipment, far from
it.  I've shown my equipment list to show what you can put together on
a budget over time.  I'm disabled and living on Social Security.  My
config is the cheapest things I've put together used from eBay,
Amazon, yard sales, and neighbor's trash. My external hard drive is
the only thing I  bought new.  The Dell Optiplex 755 Ultra Small Form
Factor doesn't have much expansion capability, but has 7 USB ports,
3GHz dual core 64 bit CPU, 2GB RAM, and is really small and quiet.

For less than $750, I can hardly ask for it to do more. Besides
watching television, I have all of my music including old vinyl from
the 70's that I've ripped to the hard drive.  The only game I play is
Star Trek Armada 2 using WINE, which runs with 2 shows recording , but
the game drags if commercial detection is running.

$75 Dell Optiplex 755 USFF doesn't have any expansion capability, but
has 7 USB ports, 3GHz dual core, 2GB RAM, and is really quiet.

$100 GoFlex 3000 GB USB drive

$15 amplified 4 way coax splitter

$10 Zalman ZM-RSSC USB 5.1 Surround Sound

$25  Pair of AverMedia Volar A868 USB tuners

$15 Creative SB0540 USB IR receiver and remote

$100 UPS, surge suppressor, cables, pair small rear speakers

$125 Sony KP-65WS510 Wide Screen Projection TV

$110 Yamaha RX-V557 amplifier

$100 Repair kits to restore 4 old JBL speakers from a neighbor's trash

$Priceless Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with MythBuntu 0.27 repository

PS. I have rheumatoid arthritis, have had 2 heart attacks, and care
for my wife with Alzheimer's.  I find that being polite and patient
gets me help online faster than guilt tripping people or being pushy.

Greg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 11/23/13, mythtv-users.jim-j at mamber.net
<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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>


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