[mythtv-users] Thinking of adding DirecTV, have questions

[John P Poet]

On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 2:49 PM, Andrew Theurer
<andrew.theurer at gmail.com> wrote:
> I currently have 2 HD-HR's for local channels, but I would like to
> have a little more content.  I think DirecTV would be my first choice.
> I would want at least 2 HD tuners.  Is there anything I should watch
> out for?  I assume I need 2 HD-PVR's.  It looks like I might need a
> couple coax to toslink audio adapters, depending on the STB's I get
> from DirecTV.  I would like to use http to change channels on the
> STB's.  Is there something I am missing?  Any issue with using 2
> HD-PVRs to a single back-end?  Any issues to watch out for with USB?
> How is the quality of 1080i recordings?

Most Directv receivers have optical S/PDIF, so you will probably be okay there.

With my H20 and H21, the HTTP control has never worked.  Fortunately,
controlling the Directv receiver's via USB works very well:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Controlling_DirecTV_Set_Top_Box_%28STB%29_via_USB_or_Serial

The HD-PVRs don't play nice with other devices on the *same* USB hub.
I use two HD-PVRs, but I made sure that each was hooked up to a
separate USB "controller" on the motherboard.  One or the other HD-PVR
will occasionally get wedged, but this only happens (to me) about once
every 3 months.

Other people don't seem to be so lucky, and have constant problems
with their HD-PVRs wedging.  When I first got my HD-PVRs, I had major
grief with them, but after changing out the motherboard in my
computer, 99% of the problems went away.  The HD-PVRs seem to be
sensitive to the USB chip they are talking to.

The HD-PVR can be sensitive to heat, so make sure they are in a ventilated area.

One of the MythTV devs is working on a device that will allow you to
power-cycle the HD-PVR via software control.

As far as quality goes, it is very good.  Even at it's highest
quality, I and can tell that I am giving up something compared to OTA
ATSC (HDhomerun), but it is so close that it does not bother me.  Via
the HD-PVR is the *only* way I watch anything from Directv, so the
minor quality degradation may be from Directv instead of the HD-PVR.

Make sure your frontend system has a good VDPAU capable video card in
it, or you will need a beefy system to be able to playback HD-PVR
1080i recordings.


John
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