[ILUG] Satellite reception

[James Cooley]

Michael Watterson wrote:
>>>     
> BBC, ITV and C4 HD will all be FTA and shortly only on DVB-s2

That's DVB-T2 (terrestrial) not DVB-S2 (satellite) I'd imagine. There's
DVB-C (cable) too to add to the confusion.

DVB-T(2) will probably have a limited mumber of channels as in the UK.
DVB-S had hundreds (including foreign language satellites). I'd still
stick with a DVB-S setup for now.

> 
> A 64bit distro wouldn't work at all.
> 

Works for me. Try a Mytbhuntu LiveCD. YMMV.

> Christmas I will get the new Humax HD + PVR Freesat box. The PC based
> solutions seem too much hassle any have shortcommings:
> For decent 576i viewing you need a real TV. (CRT still better than LCD).
> Viewing frame rate converted and de-interlaced on a non-50fps PC screen
> is rubbish. You need SCART RGB (few SD TVs have component in Europe),
> S-Video is inferior, composite much worse. Most PC graphics cards seem
> to be really designed for NTSC/480 and are horrific at PAL/576 line
> compared with a 60 Euro set box.
>

There are lots of European satellite cards. VDR seems to have a bigger
following than MythTV in Europena DVB-S but MythTV works for me.

> For decent 1080i HD viewing you need HDMI. I've yet to see a PC card
> that does this properly. DVI converters are not  a proper solution. You
> also need a 50% bigger at least TV, or else not much point to HD. 1366 x
> 768 cheap HDready TVs are pretty useless for HD. It's a PC resolution.
> 

I have HDMI-out on my Dell XPS (x64 Hardy). The remote control work with
Linux too. The backend doesn't need to be connected to a video output at
all. I don't have a HDTV but I'd guess it's could work.

> scheduling and decent EPG like Freesat or Sky has is a huge issue to get
> going on Linux or XP.
> 

The radio times provide 14-days high quality EPG. It's free for personal
use. RTE*/TG4 are listed.

> Unless you have a very specialist PC or it somehow in next room, its
> very noisy for TV.
> 

Not an issue with my entry-level Dell 530s. MythTV is client-server so
you can put your noisy PC wherever you like.

> 
> If you really, really want to do this fit TWO DVB-s2 cards so you can
> watch one channel and schedule recordings on another. Install a full IR
> remote system etc.. Unless you are getting full PVR functionality, you
> are better with a cheap setbox. (Each tuner needs its own LNB
> connection, you can't split the signal)
> 
> 

Some good cautionary notes but I wouldn't be put off. Linux is about
having a go. The results I get are excellent.  I would be interested in
creating a Freesat LiveCD for Ireland. We talked about this at the
Galway LUG and it will probably happen in its own time. I think MythTV
is an excellent target for LUG meetups.

James