PC Cable Card

[jazzylover]

Hi all I have a media centre PC and I?m very interested in installing a cable card with the features of the Dreambox/Eurovox cable boxes. If they exist can someone point me in the right direction or even recommend one?

Thanks all in advance.

Jazzy.

[caveman_nige]

not familiar with them amte, I guess you would have already searched google etc...

Bit considering all that would be involved, are you wanting this for gadgets sake....? It would be so much cheaper and easier to buy yourself a dreambox clone. I would say you would be wasting your time an money and would get peed off with it quite quickly as there is obviously zero support out there.

No cards for sale, no images, no support, no fun, no brainer.......

However others could have differing opinions.

[Devilfish]

It would be good from an HTPC point of view, you can record channels straight to PC from within the PC, etc.

The Technotrend TT-C1500 series dvb-c cards seem to be the most popular choice.

TT-budget? C-1501 (http://www.technotrend.com/2917/TT-budget__C-1501.html)

You can use programs like My Theatre to control them. I've read that some programs allow emu so you can use the same files that the dbox2/dreambox use to decrypt premium channels.

[MetMan]

Hi all I have a media centre PC and I’m very interested in installing a cable card with the features of the Dreambox/Eurovox cable boxes. If they exist can someone point me in the right direction or even recommend one?

Thanks all in advance.

Jazzy.

i've been running a media centre using a dvb-c card for a couple of years, using vista mce, hardcam de-encryption, no support for softcam with Micro$oft mce, ....i use a floppydtv but because of the exchange rate it is now very expensive this has the common interface fitted which is required for hardcam...u get everything a dream /dbox2 gets plus HD plus 2 weeks epg if set up correctly. Also the advatages of time-lapse, one touch recording, any size hdd, all ur movies (divx etc) dvds, music, gaming, pc all in 1 unit at the touch of a button couple that with the largest lcd u can afford. surround sound and u have htpc.

h**p://www.dvbshop.net/index.php/cat/c441_Digital-Everywhere.html/XTCsid/19c458ed9f38ca37b827d94a42b1b929 or

h**p://www.digital-everywhere.com/shop/index.php?page=artikel&pkateg=19&PHPSESSID=dce71bf865df43fe045b75a5cc80727d

it was only 123 euro when i bought mine and 1.5 + euro to the pound....you can also daisy chain these cards to have twin tuners, now supported with vista + tvpack 2008.....rumours of windows 7 being released which may support native dvb-c at the moment u have to use a reg hack to fool vista into thinkin it's a dvb-t card to scan for transponders.

the cheapest option is the Technotrend 1501, a budget card that many people use but without the CI you will have to use softcam decryption similar to dbox emulator and kys...Vplug seems to be the most popular and if set up right au's.
As you cannot use windows mce with this u will have to use a 3rd part app like mediaportal, dvbviewer , ritzdvb, my theatre or similar.
you can buy the ci and then u will need a cam and smartcard but i haven't heard of many success stories using vista mce with this only the floppydtv or firedtv.

seems like everywhere is out of stock for these normally around ?50 without ci

h**p://www.intellectsystems.co.uk/epages/intellectsystems_co_uk.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/intellectsystems.co.uk/Products/pn_0170506

1 on ebay with ci

h**p://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TechnoTrend-DVB-TV-card-with-Common-Interface-module_W0QQitemZ150318837987QQcategoryZ3761QQrdZ1Q QssPageNameZWINQ3aPOST0Q3aRECOQ3aBIDQQcmdZViewItem

there is also the Hisat option, don't think many use these, for whatever reason?

h**p://hisat.com/products.php?cat=72&nav=57

hope this helps - cheers

[C64]

I used to own a Technotrend 2.1 Premium for cable and a Skystar 2 for satellite.

Both were brilliant and did everything (and more) that any set-top-box could ever do, I did everything with softcams as I there was no real need for a hardware cam in those days, they are also perfect for cardsharing.

The DVB scene is huge, it's just not all that popular in the UK.

UK'er are lazy gits, we like everything handed to us on a plate :)

PC DVB is more of a hobbyist deal, if you just want free TV then do as Nige says and buy yourself a Dreambox :)

PC DVB is the hardest to master, then it's the Dreambox's and all other Linux variations, but if you want some fun learning about Digital Television then the PC route is the way to go, you'll learn way more than the typical STB user.

[caveman_nige]

Seems i was wrong mate, there is more to this than i was aware of... the boys are piling in now... gotta love DK..

[C64]

Seems i was wrong mate, there is more to this than i was aware of... the boys are piling in now... gotta love DK..

I cut my teeth on DVB, without it I'd probably have only discovered the Dbox2 etc around the same time as the great unwashed masses :)

STB's are so much simpler, but the pc stuff is far more involved and interesting. :)

[Devilfish]

Damn...I might need to look into this in greater detail.

Will be good for logging streams too. ;)

[caveman_nige]

Damn...I might need to look into this in greater detail.

Will be good for logging streams too. ;)

I agree boss, its kinda sparked my interest a little. Gotta sort out my PC situation this coming year as I live on my laptops at the mo.. I am gonna follow it, might eventually need a section for this..

[Devilfish]

Yip I'm sure we can get a section created if there's enough interest.

[caveman_nige]

I just used to record on PC from cable by splitting the output feed on my old analogue STB, that was a few years back now.

For now I will continue to watch an learn and have a read up on these cards for future.

[jazzylover]

Wow thanks for all your input definitely struck a chord here. I already have a Eurovox but also have a media centre with a Hi Def output and wanted to utilise it. Thanks for the links I?ve got a lot of reading to do. I?ll give you lot an update as to my progress.

I agree it might be worth introducing a section covering this area.

Thanks again

Jazzy

[mac_clifton1]

i've been running a media centre using a dvb-c card for a couple of years, using vista mce, hardcam de-encryption, no support for softcam with Micro$oft mce, ....i use a floppydtv but because of the exchange rate it is now very expensive this has the common interface fitted which is required for hardcam...u get everything a dream /dbox2 gets plus HD plus 2 weeks epg if set up correctly. Also the advatages of time-lapse, one touch recording, any size hdd, all ur movies (divx etc) dvds, music, gaming, pc all in 1 unit at the touch of a button couple that with the largest lcd u can afford. surround sound and u have htpc.

h**p://www.dvbshop.net/index.php/cat/c441_Digital-Everywhere.html/XTCsid/19c458ed9f38ca37b827d94a42b1b929 or

h**p://www.digital-everywhere.com/shop/index.php?page=artikel&pkateg=19&PHPSESSID=dce71bf865df43fe045b75a5cc80727d

it was only 123 euro when i bought mine and 1.5 + euro to the pound....you can also daisy chain these cards to have twin tuners, now supported with vista + tvpack 2008.....rumours of windows 7 being released which may support native dvb-c at the moment u have to use a reg hack to fool vista into thinkin it's a dvb-t card to scan for transponders.

the cheapest option is the Technotrend 1501, a budget card that many people use but without the CI you will have to use softcam decryption similar to dbox emulator and kys...Vplug seems to be the most popular and if set up right au's.
As you cannot use windows mce with this u will have to use a 3rd part app like mediaportal, dvbviewer , ritzdvb, my theatre or similar.
you can buy the ci and then u will need a cam and smartcard but i haven't heard of many success stories using vista mce with this only the floppydtv or firedtv.

seems like everywhere is out of stock for these normally around ?50 without ci

h**p://www.intellectsystems.co.uk/epages/intellectsystems_co_uk.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/intellectsystems.co.uk/Products/pn_0170506

1 on ebay with ci

h**p://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TechnoTrend-DVB-TV-card-with-Common-Interface-module_W0QQitemZ150318837987QQcategoryZ3761QQrdZ1Q QssPageNameZWINQ3aPOST0Q3aRECOQ3aBIDQQcmdZViewItem

there is also the Hisat option, don't think many use these, for whatever reason?

h**p://hisat.com/products.php?cat=72&nav=57

hope this helps - cheers

Hi MetMan,
Wondering if you can help?
I had floppy dvd-c card for about 6 months, i've never had much luck with it.
I managed to get free to air channels but couldn't find much info on cams. not sure what you mean about hard cams(card?).
Any chance of pointing my in the right direction?

I gave up and went back to my dbox

Cheers

[mm009b]

there is also twin tuners too

[Mackem]

Hi all I have a media centre PC and I’m very interested in installing a cable card with the features of the Dreambox/Eurovox cable boxes. If they exist can someone point me in the right direction or even recommend one?

Thanks all in advance.

Jazzy.

Hi jazzylover, metmans advice is spot on, I have almost the same setup, afaik the technotrend 1501 has just went out of production, my advice would be to go for the floppy anyways, there is a uk supplier _http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_4353.html much better tuner than the technotrend although they are ?134 +del ATM, but if you start off with softcams (vplug/DVBDream/ProgDVB/etc) they are free then you can buy cams cards programmers etc, got to agree with witchy2k1 post*5, I find softcams much more interesting (more of a challenge), give me a shout if you want any more advice.

[shady77]

is there a version with a hardware mpeg encoder? i had a custom media pc with a dual core cpu and a tv card with software encoding. when recording the tv signal was a bit choppy.

[Mackem]

is there a version with a hardware mpeg encoder? i had a custom media pc with a dual core cpu and a tv card with software encoding. when recording the tv signal was a bit choppy.

What you need is "nvidia purevideo decoder" and point your software to use that!

[RiverTrent]

I'm also currently looking into this whole DVB-C thing, but want to run it on Ubuntu (MythTV).
Anymore info on good cards or how to use nagravision, cams would be great.
I have been googling but not found much.

[normo]

Anyone familiar with the Mystique Cabix-C2 (a.k.a KNC1 TV-Station, a.k.a Terratec Cinergy)?

The Mystique site, (and the DVBShop site) do not give much detail on the technical specifics, but the KNC site lists hardware support for MPEG. I presume mean that the decoding is done on the card and takes the pressure off the CPU.

[ps2chiper]

my friends from tbsdtv make a windows dvb-c usb adapter that you could use and unlock channels with. the only thing i dont like about it is that it doesnt support linux.