[mythtv-users] pchdtv 5500, verizon fios, and ota, oh my!

[Rod Smith]

On Thursday 08 February 2007 23:21, Jerry Rubinow wrote:
> On 2/8/07, Andrew Kimpton <awk at awkward.org> wrote:
> > Kurt Yoder wrote:
> > > 1. The FIOS coaxial cable outputs MOCA instead of the QAM that cable
> > > companies provide. I don't think I can get anything by connecting a
> > > Verizon coax cable directly from the wall to the pchdtv card since it
> > > is QAM-only (I tried it, and a scan of the channels returned
> > > nothing). It would be really cool if I could find some way to
> > > overcome this so I could pull HD directly off the Verizon coax cable
> > > and avoid the 15$/month HD set top box fee. I don't mind only getting
> > > the unencrypted channels, since this is what I'd get OTA anyway. I'm
> > > assuming it would need some kind of MOCA to QAM converter. Does such
> > > a beast exist?

Sorry I missed the original post. The pcHDTV 3000 card has known problems with 
QAM tuning. Basically, the card is VERY finicky about what else is in the 
computer. Use the wrong video card, the wrong power supply, or possibly even 
the wrong motherboard and you'll get an incomplete data stream and possibly 
even an inability to tune the stations. Speculation I've seen is that the 
board relies on 5V voltage, IIRC, which is an uncommon requirement in modern 
PCI cards, and modern systems often don't deliver it in a stable enough 
manner.

That said, I have no idea if the same problem exists in the pcHDTV 5500. If it 
does, you may either be out of luck or be in for a lot of component swapping 
as you attempt to get something that works properly. Alternatively, you could 
trade in the pcHDTV card for something else. Before swapping hardware, 
though, I'd recommend you research the pcHDTV 5500's QAM reliability 
specifically.

-- 
Rod Smith
http://www.rodsbooks.com