[mythtv-users] PVR-350 no signal?

[George Mari]

On 02/07/2010 02:35 PM, mythtv at splmail.nl wrote:
> Thx for the reply! The source is standard analog TV. I've gone through the
> "input setup" numerous times, but don seem to get it working. After
> connecting the card to the video-source I try to scan for channels, but get
> 0% signal indicated.
>

OK, when you say, "..standard analog TV", that could still mean a few 
different things, so how about if I list the ways the PVR-350 can work, 
and you can tell us which one corresponds to your situation.

1. The PVR-350 has a built-in, analog tuner.  This allows you connect a 
TV antenna directly to it's RF input jack, and you can then, in theory, 
tune OTA (over-the-air) broadcast signals.  I say in theory because 
unless you've been living in a cave, you should have heard by now that 
basically all OTA broadcast TV has switch to digital transmissions. The 
PVR-350 cannot tune these digital broadcasts directly.  You may be able 
to pick a handful of low-power TV stations broadcasting in your area 
(Chicago has 2 or 3) but the takeaway here is that your not going to get 
anything useful by connecting an antenna to a PVR-350 in this day and age.

2. If you have cable TV service, you can connect an analog cable to the 
RF input of your PVR-350, and again, use the internal tuner to directly 
tune at least the basic cable channels that are not encrypted by your 
local cable service.  Be aware that many cable systems around the 
country are moving away from analog cable to digital cable - the PVR-350 
cannot directly tune these with its internal tuner.

3. You are using a settop box from your TV service provider (cable or 
satellite) and you are recording output from the settop box via a 
composite (RCA) cable, RF cable, or an S-Video cable, plugging the cable 
into the corresponding jack on the PVR-350.  You need to use an external 
device to tune the settop box - usually an infrared IR-blaster of some 
sort, or possibly a serial port, if your settop box supports it.

So which one of these situations best describes what you are trying to do?