<div id="_htmlarea_default_style_" style="font:10pt arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br><br><br>On Mon, 10 May 2010 10:42:05
-0600<br> Brian Wood <beww@beww.org> wrote:<br>> On Monday 10 May 2010 10:31:18 am Patrick Doyle
wrote:<br>>> On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 12:20 PM, Brian Wood <br>>><beww@beww.org> wrote:<br>>>
> On Monday 10 May 2010 10:13:04 am Patrick Doyle wrote:<br>>> >> I believe that my WOOT special USB
stick tuner did <br>>>not survive a<br>>> >> recent power outage for some reason, so I need to
<br>>>purchase a new tuner<br>>> >> card. Would anybody care to to recommend an ATSC <br>>>(and
preferably QAM<br>>> >> too) tuner card that works well with Myth? It <br>>>doesn't need to be
USB.<br>>> >> If it were known to have better sensitivity (i.e. <br>>>can pick up signals<br>>>
>> better) than some other card, that would be a <br>>>definite plus.<br>>> ><br>>> > The
obvious answer would be an HDHR.<br>>> <br>>> Thanks... I'll go look at that.<br>>> <br>>> >
As for sensitivity, the problem is that most postings <br>>>here related to<br>>> > that subject are very
subjective, and may not relate <br>>>to your particular<br>>> > situation.<br>>> <br>>> There
is a specific objective sensitivity measurement <br>>>that can be made<br>>> for radio receivers. It's not
typically published for <br>>>consumer grade<br>>> electronics. For mass market electronics that are all
<br>>>based on the<br>>> same design, or a very small number of designs, there <br>>>may be
no<br>>> difference in sensitivity.<br>>> <br>>> But if there is one receiver that performs better
than <br>>>others, I<br>>> figured folks on this list would know that. So I <br>>>figured I'd
ask.<br>> <br>> Part of the problem is that tuners have become commodity <br>>items. Manufacturers <br>> use
whatever they can get at the best price, and often <br>>change tuners like we <br>> change socks.<br>> <br>>
Even the venerable Hauppauge PVR series used many <br>>different tuner modules <br>> throughout its
lifetime.<br>> <br>> You can't assume that just because one particular unit <br>>works well, another one
<br>> with the same model number will also do so.<br>> <br>> So if someone reports "great sensitivity" with a
<br>>particular product, you can't <br>> assume that the one next to it on the shelf will perform <br>>as
well.<br>> <br>> Some people have reported that the HDHR is not as <br>>sensitive as some other <br>>
products (though specific data is lacking), and others <br>>have said that recent <br>> production units are
somehow "better". I take such <br>>reports with a large grain <br>> of NaCl. I use my HDHR with a cable system,
where levels <br>>are generally high <br>> enough to not be a problem, I've been very happy, but <br>>someone
using an antenna <br>> might have a different opinion.<br><br><br>We use OTA, and the HDHR has a little better
reception than my two-year-old Samsung 40"; mainly noted on cloudy days and compared by seeing the same channel on the
TV and computer (using HDHR QuickTV).<br><br>I bought our HDHR last fall, am just setting up a new PVR for my mother,
and bought another HDHR... it is my strong suggestion for you.<br><br></div>