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Comments Inline<br>
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Ivan Kowalenko wrote:
<blockquote cite="midB3BFFDF9-1D44-41D1-97D4-69D66A3E9920@gmail.com"
type="cite"><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">But -- what about using a STB and blasting IR?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
Common configuration for people who want digital cable, however it
probably isn't the best option, for what you want. Some people find
it hit-and-miss, some people find it rock solid.
</pre>
</blockquote>
Understood -- I did this approach with DishNetwork and a Series 1 Tivo.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="midB3BFFDF9-1D44-41D1-97D4-69D66A3E9920@gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap=""></pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">What I'm trying to do is replace the dain-bramaged Comcast DVR with
a MythTV setup in my basement. I want to install a couple of tuner
cards in my file server, and use it as a MythTV "receiver".
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
You mean as a back-end. First, dump the ComCast DVR. You're just
wasting money on it, and it's slower than some other cable boxes I
hear. You can probably use the straight HD-box for FireWire, or just
use a cheaper digital cable box. Keep in mind, this'll require a
decent amount of RAM (I have 256 MB for a single analog tuner).
</pre>
</blockquote>
My goal is to dump it -- but I can't get rid of it and have less than I
have now.<br>
<br>
I'm assuming that the memory requirements are for compressing an analog
signal -- if I do manage to get a digital one, it should just go to
disk w/o issues, right?<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="midB3BFFDF9-1D44-41D1-97D4-69D66A3E9920@gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap=""></pre>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Is this possible? I'm guessing there is a way to blast IR to two
(or more) Set Top Boxes, and to capture the output of the HD
Comcast Set Top Boxes via component, HDMI, etc.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
There is no HDMI-capture solution, and HDCP aims to try and prevent
any from ever existing. IR Blasters are common place, but have a wire
range of reliability. For your situation, aiming for either direct-
cable or FireWire capturing would be best, since this would obtain
the highest quality signal, with the least amount of processing time
(FireWire capture just writes the raw MPEG-2 stream to disk).
</pre>
</blockquote>
Ok -- I've seen a few posts about firewire. It seems like the gist of
it is: Some STB's have firewire output. And, if I find a HD box with
firewire output, then I should be able to store all un-encrypted
streams. So -- that will *probably* give me all HD channels, except
for the premium ones? Or, does Comcast generally encrypt all their HD
channels? Does anyone know (Roswell, GA, North Fulton County)<br>
<br>
<br>
I remember when I first hooked up cable, before I got the STB, that
there were some digital signals. There was even one HBO signal -- but
it was not the "real" HBO. I think it might have been an on-demand
signal. It would sometimes pause, rewind, etc.<br>
<br>
So -- is there no good solution for premium HD recording? If I
switched to DirecTV or DishNetwork would it be easier to capture HD?<br>
<br>
Sounds like there's a market for HD to firewire or HD to USB
converters! Too bad I'm not a hardware guy!<br>
<br>
-Dave<br>
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