[johnnyhungus]

Digital.

I just wish these cards would give me quality on digital SD somewhere near the built in TV tuner, gets annoying.

I went through the channels when it was working last night and the HD channels looked good but the SD channels were definitely worse IMHO, will do more tests at the weekend.

[Trollslayer]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Digital.

I just wish these cards would give me quality on digital SD somewhere near the built in TV tuner, gets annoying.

I went through the channels when it was working last night and the HD channels looked good but the SD channels were definitely worse IMHO, will do more tests at the weekend.

The tuner has nothing to do with the picture quality, it simply provides the stream for the rest of the system to decode and display.The issues is further along either in the software used, graphics card or monitor.

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by Trollslayer

The tuner has nothing to do with the picture quality, it simply provides the stream for the rest of the system to decode and display.The issues is further along either in the software used, graphics card or monitor.

Interesting, so the BG drivers would have no bearing on the PQ, is that what you are saying?

[Sandy B Ridge]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Interesting, so the BG drivers would have no bearing on the PQ, is that what you are saying?

Yes! That is what allanp, Trollslayer and I are saying.

Let's just take this analogy. Say you bought a painting online (=the video and audio streams), the gallery you bought it from packages it up in brown paper (=ts=transport stream container), they send it in the post. As long as you receive the parcel, and open the packaging, the painting remains the same. The job of opening the parcel is not done by the card, but by the software codecs. It doesn't matter how the gallery sent the package (Parcelforce, TNT, DPD etc) (take the card to mean the courier) as long as you receive the package it is the same painting.

SBR

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by Sandy B Ridge

Yes! That is what allanp, Trollslayer and I are saying.

Let's just take this analogy. Say you bought a painting online (=the video and audio streams), the gallery you bought it from packages it up in brown paper (=ts=transport stream container), they send it in the post. As long as you receive the parcel, and open the packaging, the painting remains the same. The job of opening the parcel is not done by the card, but by the software codecs. It doesn't matter how the gallery sent the package (Parcelforce, TNT, DPD etc) (take the card to mean the courier) as long as you receive the package it is the same painting.

SBR

Thanks for the lesson lol

There is something not right here as my codecs have not changed, display drivers are up to date and my W7 install has been solid since day one. The only thing that has changed is the Tuner card.

Nothing else has changed, so I am at a loss. What is more worrying is the card not showing up in media centre this morning, after it was there, tuned and working last night, no shutdowns - this morning it was gone!

Having not had a BG card for a few years, maybe this is normal for a new BG card

Yes, it's new technology but hardly that advanced in the scheme of things - I would expect a few minor niggles with it but not for it to vanish completely

Like I said before, I have had a solid system for a couple of years now and with this card, odd things have happened.

Also, I wonder, as there are 4 tuners on this card, does that mean you can record more than 2 channels at a time?

Maybe sharing some of your thoughts on solutions would be helpful?

Thanks.

[Sandy B Ridge]

The card not showing up is more concerning. This is definitely likely driver related. The first thing I would do is remove the drivers and the card and reseat it. Maybe try another PCIe slot if you have one in case there are conflicts on the one you are using. If that doesn't change things, then I am at a loss. These cards are quite rare at the moment as they are only just shipping. If there is a widespread problem I'm sure it'll materialise soon. How long before you can't RMA it anymore? I'd hang on for the moment until more of them are around before returning it. I don't know what BGs customer support is like as this is the first I have ordered from them (previous=hauppauge). Anyone have dealings?

SBR

[Surfn]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Well I installed the 3600 in my rock solid W7 HTPC and the results are far from promising.

The SD picture quality compared to my existing card (NovaT) is rubbish, tried alternative drivers, etc. Not much to fiddle with here really, very poor.

Satellite setup was hit and miss, first crack it didn't even recognise the sat tuners, when I eventually got it to see the tuners (the Freeview tuners were there!) it scanned the channels fine. Some real delay in changing channels though.

So, did a bit of channel re-ordering before I crashed out last night.

Got up this morning and nothing was working

No channels at all, terrestrial or other, so I went for the complete setup again and the card was not even seen!

I am using Shark007's codec pack version 3, the latest drivers for my Nvidia 9400 and obviously the only drivers for the BG3600.

I will have another look this weekend but TBH, I would rather be without the hassle at this stage, my HTPC runs just fine and this is what I have come to expect. I know it is par for the course to tinker with these things but first impressions to me are not good. I have been building these things for years and have gone through the frustration barrier many times, I just don't have the patience for that anymore!

Any advice or pointers on the above would be great, almost ready to ship the card back!

would be great to see a few pics of the card in your setup m8

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by Surfn

would be great to see a few pics of the card in your setup m8

Sure, I will take some pictures tomorrow when I attack it again.

[Surfn]

cheers m8, look forward to seeing them, i intend to use this tuner or the 3630 in a wesena itx7 case all going well

[johnnyhungus]

just about to have another play with the card and see if I could get it to work in a satisfactory manner and it does not even show in Device Manager now!

I have removed/installed the card in the slot several times to no avail, the card is just not showing now.

Any ideas?

[Katoom]

I've installed this card. At first it only recognises the DVB-T tuners, you have to download the 36## drivers from the site, then install them using the update in the Device manager.

I had to do a manual (sat)scan for 1tv and c4 HD.

The SD picture looks the same as my old Compro card.

[spyder viewer]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

just about to have another play with the card and see if I could get it to work in a satisfactory manner and it does not even show in Device Manager now!

I have removed/installed the card in the slot several times to no avail, the card is just not showing now.

Any ideas?

Suggest you remove your NovaT and try a fresh install of the BG product.
Yes you should be able to record 4 simultaneous broadcasts.
I assume you are using W7MC and don't have any other tuner software active on your machine?

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by spyder viewer

Suggest you remove your NovaT and try a fresh install of the BG product.
Yes you should be able to record 4 simultaneous broadcasts.
I assume you are using W7MC and don't have any other tuner software active on your machine?

Correct.

I removed the Nova T and have rebooted several times now still no sign of the BG card in Device Manager.

The LED is on, on the card, very baffling

[Surfn]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

just about to have another play with the card and see if I could get it to work in a satisfactory manner and it does not even show in Device Manager now!

I have removed/installed the card in the slot several times to no avail, the card is just not showing now.

Any ideas?

try another slot on your motherboard johnny

[NickTicks]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

just about to have another play with the card and see if I could get it to work in a satisfactory manner and it does not even show in Device Manager now!

I have removed/installed the card in the slot several times to no avail, the card is just not showing now.

Any ideas?

Have you removed the old Hauppauge drivers? I think they provide an .exe to uninstall the drivers. Might be causing a conflict.

[Sandy B Ridge]

Do you know if the PCIe slot that you are using for the card shares an IRQ with something? Have a look in the MoBo manual. If you can disable anything that shares with it in the BIOS that may help. Otherwise if nothing works you may have to send it back. It may be a dud.

SBR

[johnnyhungus]

Tried all of the above to no avail, except another slot as my GFX card heatsink is blocking it

I am back to my original setup now (safe - yay!) and will be sending the card back for a refund.

[Sandy B Ridge]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Tried all of the above to no avail, except another slot as my GFX card heatsink is blocking it

I am back to my original setup now (safe - yay!) and will be sending the card back for a refund.

Bummer.... I hope mine works when it arrives!

Sorry to hear of the failure.

SBR

[Surfn]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Tried all of the above to no avail, except another slot as my GFX card heatsink is blocking it

I am back to my original setup now (safe - yay!) and will be sending the card back for a refund.

johnny do you have another slot for your graphics card so you could move that for the time being, and that might free the other PCI-express slot so you can put the 3600 just to test it out

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by Surfn

johnny do you have another slot for your graphics card so you could move that for the time being, and that might free the other PCI-express slot so you can put the 3600 just to test it out

Unfortunately not, so it seems I am a bit stuffed

Honestly, the card should not just vanish from Device Manager - this triggers warning bells to me, especially since I have such a reliable setup.

I am going to end the card back tomorrow for a refund. I did take some photo's which I will post up as soon as I get some free time.

I will probably revisit this after the card has been out for a while.

[jrbown]

Originally Posted by Katoom

I've installed this card. At first it only recognises the DVB-T tuners, you have to download the 36## drivers from the site, then install them using the update in the Device manager.

I had to do a manual (sat)scan for 1tv and c4 HD.

The SD picture looks the same as my old Compro card.

Hi Katoom,

I'm in the process of ordering one of these, but seeing the problems being reported is giving me cold feet, and bringing back horrible memories from years gone by. (I've had a rock-solid Compro setup for 18 months. Before that I was in tuner hell).

From your post it seems you have managed to have some success with the card though. Are you using Media Center? How is it performing after the initial install? Any problems with S3 sleep / wake do you know?

Thanks

John

[TimHolloway]

Originally Posted by johnnyhungus

Unfortunately not, so it seems I am a bit stuffed

Honestly, the card should not just vanish from Device Manager - this triggers warning bells to me, especially since I have such a reliable setup.

I am going to end the card back tomorrow for a refund. I did take some photo's which I will post up as soon as I get some free time.

I will probably revisit this after the card has been out for a while.

Hi, As per my earlier post on another BlackGold thread I have to wish you more luck than I've been having trying to get a refund or replacement (which looks as though it would have to be a BGT3600) i.e.

Hi, my BGT3595 also failed prematurely without warning or reason about 10 days ago and showed signs of at least one "frazzled" component. Nothing else failed or proved to have any problem whatsoever. As it's still in the guarantee period I suspected that the BGT3600 would be the only thing that could replace the "obsolete" BGT3595 i.e. twin DVB-S/S2 Freesat etc.

The problem is that 10 days after returning the faulty BGT3595 to Blackgold I'm finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get any sense out of them. They signed for the card being returned but have still failed to confirm they have it or indeed are going to replace it after 10 elapsed days, 2+ e-mails and multiple phone calls where nobody is ever availble beyond the switchboard and all promises of a callback come to nothing!

Are they always like this, about to go out of business or just delinquent when it comes to replacement under guarantee? Any insights or comment welcome as I can absolutely NO useful reply or callback from Blackgold!!

Indeed it's beginning to look like I'll have to invoke the Consumer Protection folk and/or a solicitor to get anything resolved. Big sigh......!!

[graham.myers]

Originally Posted by jrbown

Hi Katoom,

I'm in the process of ordering one of these, but seeing the problems being reported is giving me cold feet, and bringing back horrible memories from years gone by. (I've had a rock-solid Compro setup for 18 months. Before that I was in tuner hell).

From your post it seems you have managed to have some success with the card though. Are you using Media Center? How is it performing after the initial install? Any problems with S3 sleep / wake do you know?

Thanks

John

I'm sure its a faulty unit not an inherent fault of the cards. Its not new driver software its the same driver for all the 36xx series so it should be relatively stable. Still a pain to organise an RMA/refund though.

[Katoom]

Originally Posted by jrbown

Hi Katoom,

I'm in the process of ordering one of these, but seeing the problems being reported is giving me cold feet, and bringing back horrible memories from years gone by. (I've had a rock-solid Compro setup for 18 months. Before that I was in tuner hell).

From your post it seems you have managed to have some success with the card though. Are you using Media Center? How is it performing after the initial install? Any problems with S3 sleep / wake do you know?

Thanks

John

Yes, media center and it seems to be working fine. Watched the rugby and F1 today in HD, multiple recordings have worked, just have to delete some of the extra channels and merge some of the others.

As for the S3, haven't noticed it yet but will give it go tonight.

I did have a problem with the HD sat stations going blocky with looping sound, but that was an easy fix in the end. (un-tick exclusive mode in the window sound set-up)

[johnnyhungus]

Originally Posted by TimHolloway

Hi, As per my earlier post on another BlackGold thread I have to wish you more luck than I've been having trying to get a refund or replacement (which looks as though it would have to be a BGT3600) i.e.

Hi, my BGT3595 also failed prematurely without warning or reason about 10 days ago and showed signs of at least one "frazzled" component. Nothing else failed or proved to have any problem whatsoever. As it's still in the guarantee period I suspected that the BGT3600 would be the only thing that could replace the "obsolete" BGT3595 i.e. twin DVB-S/S2 Freesat etc.

The problem is that 10 days after returning the faulty BGT3595 to Blackgold I'm finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get any sense out of them. They signed for the card being returned but have still failed to confirm they have it or indeed are going to replace it after 10 elapsed days, 2+ e-mails and multiple phone calls where nobody is ever availble beyond the switchboard and all promises of a callback come to nothing!

Are they always like this, about to go out of business or just delinquent when it comes to replacement under guarantee? Any insights or comment welcome as I can absolutely NO useful reply or callback from Blackgold!!

Indeed it's beginning to look like I'll have to invoke the Consumer Protection folk and/or a solicitor to get anything resolved. Big sigh......!!

Sorry to hear that fella, but I can assure you if they start messing me around, I will be going to their offices in person. I paid a lot of money for the card, am within 7 days of receiving it and paid through PayPal, through my company, so would trust that a swift refund is made.

If not, I will pop over to see them and sort it out

[graham.myers]

Remember if you have ordered it through a company you will not be covered by the distance selling regulations. That is purely for consumer protection.

[Katoom]

S3 sleep/wake works fine.

[jrbown]

Originally Posted by Katoom

S3 sleep/wake works fine.

That's great news. I should have mine in a few days. I'll post full details of my experiences with the card - hopefully as positive as yours.

[Orthanix]

Just installed my BGT3600 and have not had any issues to report so far. It installed easily and I have been testing it on an analogue cable reception. It has picked up all the channels fine and once I disabled all the video enhancements from the Catalyst Control Centre the picture quality was far better than my previous Avermedia card. The reception of the channels was also much better.

On testing I note it also picked up a lot of the UPC digital channels on the DVB-C tuner however as these are encrypted I just get a "scrambled" notice when I try one of these channels.

I am moving house this week and hopefully will have both terrestrial digital and satellite signals to test so I will update the thread with any other useful info.

[talos2010]

Received mine yesterday, went into my Wesena Mini ITX7-2 build ok, and no problems at all yet - sleep seems to work fine. PQ no problems. (Using 7MC with DVBLink.)