freesat on pc help

unknown-singh · 09-04-2009, 2:08 AM

hi i basically want to get Freesat on my pc (including bbc HD) and to be able to record programmes to the hard drive. being able to watch and control it from media centre would be nice but not a must.

just needed to know what card i would need as im a bit confused.

i have a sky cable in my room coming from the satellite dish

i have seen cards which take the satelite cable in them and ive seen cards which take a sky viewing card. (currently have a sky freesat card lying about)

not sure which one i need or which one is a good card. have you any reccomendations?

can be either pci or pci express

thanks alot for any help,

Stiggy · 09-04-2009, 5:35 AM

Quite a few people here use the Hauppauge Nova-HD-S2.

It comes with PowerCinema, which is fairly awful. You can get DVBViewer for a few Euros.

The best solution is to find the TV Pack for Vista Media Center. This will give you native satellite support. If you add the MSDTVVDEC.DLL hack, you will be able to use BBC HD too.

grahamlthompson · 09-04-2009, 8:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown-singh

i have seen cards which take the satelite cable in them and ive seen cards which take a sky viewing card. (currently have a sky freesat card lying about)

thanks alot for any help,

The sky card needs to occasionly go back in a working and connected sky box to keep it alive, otherwise it will stop working and you won't be able to watch FTV channels (eg CH4 HD)

son_t · 09-04-2009, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown-singh

i have seen cards which take the satelite cable in them and ive seen cards which take a sky viewing card. (currently have a sky freesat card lying about)

not sure which one i need or which one is a good card. have you any reccomendations?

can be either pci or pci express

thanks alot for any help,

You might want to read this article: Article : Sky / MCE Integration

unknown-singh · 10-04-2009, 2:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiggy

Quite a few people here use the Hauppauge Nova-HD-S2.

It comes with PowerCinema, which is fairly awful. You can get DVBViewer for a few Euros.

The best solution is to find the TV Pack for Vista Media Center. This will give you native satellite support. If you add the MSDTVVDEC.DLL hack, you will be able to use BBC HD too.

just had a look into the Hauppauge Nova-HD-S2, seems like it will do the job nicely. oh and vista tv pack is sweet, cant wait to get it set up.

cheers.

unknown-singh · 10-04-2009, 2:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

The sky card needs to occasionly go back in a working and connected sky box to keep it alive, otherwise it will stop working and you won't be able to watch FTV channels (eg CH4 HD)

hi thanks for the info, i think removing the card and putting it into a sky box to keep it alive would be more hassle than its worth. so wont go down this route.

cheers.

unknown-singh · 10-04-2009, 2:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by son_t

You might want to read this article: Article : Sky / MCE Integration

hi mate thanks for that link, was a good read, great to see that it works with vista media centre. i think im gonna try out direct cable into a Nova-HD-S2 with vista tv pack as reccomened above, and see how that goes.

Gae · 10-04-2009, 11:42 AM

I've been using a Twinhan Visionplus DVB-S capture card with DVBViewer these past 2-3 years and both have worked together like a dream. All the FTA HD channels can be picked up...BBC HD, ITV HD and Luxe TV HD.

Gae

unknown-singh · 10-04-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gae

I've been using a Twinhan Visionplus DVB-S capture card with DVBViewer these past 2-3 years and both have worked together like a dream. All the FTA HD channels can be picked up...BBC HD, ITV HD and Luxe TV HD.

Gae

cheers for the info mate just checked that card out and looks great, and even works within media centre. and best thing is its half the price of the Nova HD

Stiggy · 10-04-2009, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown-singh

cheers for the info mate just checked that card out and looks great, and even works within media centre. and best thing is its half the price of the Nova HD

Yes, the Hauppauge is expensive (at the moment) but it is more future-proof as it uses DVB-S2, and so will be able to cope with Channel 4HD if/when it's free-to-air.

Sacred09 · 10-04-2009, 9:25 PM

Another vote for the nova its brill

unknown-singh · 10-04-2009, 9:59 PM

just been reading up on the nova and it is a lot more popular and has many appraises.

and if it is more future proof then it makes sence dont want to have to change cards a few months down the line.

and as you guys that are in the know are reccomending it seems like the best choice.

cheers

jmbillings · 25-04-2009, 5:55 PM

I've got two Nova HD S2's in my htpc and they work a treat

unknown-singh · 25-04-2009, 9:35 PM

i just picked up a nova hd from the classifieds a couple days back, installed and working with vista tv pack.

not recieving hd channels though, they show up with sound only and no picture, can you point me in the righ direction.?

cheers.

unknown-singh · 25-04-2009, 11:54 PM

also no channel 4 or five?

is there anything else i need to install

or another software that is required to view these channels

i belive its currently set to eurobird 1

Stiggy · 26-04-2009, 6:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown-singh

not recieving hd channels though, they show up with sound only and no picture, can you point me in the right direction?

You will need to add the modified MSDTVVDEC.DLL file to get HD.

jmbillings · 26-04-2009, 7:35 AM

Eurobird is also the wrong sat- you need the Astra ones. As well as the modified DLL, you might need an h.264 codec to see the picture on some HD streams as well.