« DVR to DVD | Main | High Definition DVR »

January 09, 2006

HD Tuner card with RS232?

My goal: Have a HDTV QAM tuner card in my HTPC control and automatically change channels on my HD set top box. I have asked many sources, the brightest guy told me that to do this I would need a HDTV tuner card with an RS232 control.

Is this correct? Any solutions? Any products?
-- Sergie

January 9, 2006 in Home Theater PC, TV & HDTV

Answers

What you're asking isn't clear. If you had a QAM tuner, why do you need a set top box?

A QAM tuner card implies tuning digital cable directly on the card. However, ONLY non-encrypted channels. You cannot record any channels that aren't sent in the clear because you need something like CableCARD to access them - and you can't get CC on a tuner card.

And if you record from an external set top box, you won't be able to record HD, just SD.

Posted by: MegaZone at Jan 10, 2006 12:47:50 AM

My goal is to record HD content, network and cable (HBO, TNT, Shotime and IN HD) onto a hard drive on my HTPC. The second part of the goal is to have the computer control the STB, so I won't have to control it manually.

I still a bit confused about QAM,NTSC, and ATSC. I think I meant ATSC.

Any solutions or products?

Posted by: Sergie at Jan 11, 2006 1:16:52 PM

It sounds like what you are looking for is a capture source, not a tuner. A tuner would take the QAM (over coax cable) or ATSC (via antenna) HD or SD/Analog (for ATSC) content and display it on your HTPC's video output or encode it to disk. You would not need a tuner to do this if you are using a STB as your input source. Likewise, you do not need a tuner of any sort to play back the recorded content. What it sounds like you need is to check into the 1394 capabilities of your current STB and see if you can record to your PC directly and not use it as an HTPC. You will save a lot of money, get a better quality image (in ATSC/NTSC) and not run a loud, hot machine next to your TV every time you wanted to watch a show (only when you wanted to record it). I'm not sure exactly what you'll need to do to accomplish this, but I am looking into creating a high-quality HTPC for QAM and ATSC HD/analog PVR. So far I'm coming up short, but what I have learned has told me that you are trying to over-complicate this. To answer your question as you asked it, I have never heard of a tuner card that has a serial port. They are disappearing as a whole and being replaced by firewire and USB (usb can be converted to rs-232 if needed). You do have a serial port on your PC, and that's where it would need to be to do what you are asking (though I really think you should reevaulate the entire plan). The card itself would not be controlling your STB, you would have to find or program an app that would communicate with your STB. You would have to understand the protocol of the STB, and at that point you would probably take it to market and make some real $$ off it :) Skip your whole plan and get a macro remote control that can control your PC and your STB and then add a capture card (could be DVI, component etc.-- whatever is the best output from your STB). Find a program (or make it yourself) to receive commands from the remote on your PC to enter record mode, and control the STB to do what you are attempting.

It sounds like you have a lot to learn on the subject and you should start out by checking on the following terms: QAM 56/256bit, In-the-clear QAM, ATSC, NTSC, HDTV, EDTV, SDTV. I'll give you a start: QAM=cable digital, ATSC=over-air digital, either one can be HD, ED or SD TV... good luck!

Posted by: Geoff at Jan 22, 2006 12:02:41 PM

Geoff, while your advice to Sergie is sound, I should point out that QAM states are 16, 64, 128 or 256... Bits have nothing to do with it.

Posted by: Scott at Apr 3, 2006 10:03:56 PM

Well, for those of you that do want to control a set top box from your htpc, try this: http://www.usbuirt.com

Posted by: Jason at Nov 25, 2006 9:43:22 PM

I just went through this entire task this weekend. Here is what I found. Yes you can record, playback and control your programming from your cable box. You can not record HD from your cable box on the premium channels because the are locked or encryted. If you find a cable card that your provider supports then you can record even the premium HD channels on your PC.

I used Vista Premium, Happauge 1600 recorder card, Microsoft Media remote (needed to setup the control for media center to the STB) and Gyration univeral remote. I purchased a HD indoor antenna to get all HD shows in my area that the cable company does not broadcast.

Posted by: Newtothegame at Mar 13, 2007 12:13:52 PM