Ok so this is all new to me... I’ve operated a linux machine but never had to build/fix one. The main goal of this is build is to be able to watch one HD channel while I record a different HD channel (Dam networks). I will do SD recording as well. What I have to start with is the following:

Athon XP 3000+
Abit NF7-S V2
Nvidia 7600GT
1GIG DDR 2x 36GIG Raptor (Hoping for RAID0)
1x 250GIG Storage Drive (might up grade this)
Comcast Digital w/ HD on a Motorola DCT-6200
Sony KV-36HS510

I’ve checked antena.org and it seem I’m not able to get any HD or SD channel OTA (valley). So what I’m looking for is what I will need for Turner cards and how many? I was looking at the pcHDTV HD-5500 but I just found the AirStar HD-5000AV, not sure what the difference is other than price. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
Staudie

Your Athlon 3000+ might be a little bit weak for HD playback. You will probably need some assistance from you video card in the form of XVMC. Since you have a newer Nvidia card this shouldn't be a problem however there are some drawbacks with XVMC that you need to be aware of. For example the OSD is in black & white and many people experience audio popping / stuttering when the OSD is up. There are other potential problems with using XVMC so do you homework before you jump into the project and make sure you can live with the drawbacks.

RAID 0 is useless in a MythTV setup. You don't need the extra HDD speed. That's not to say you can't do it but you won't gain anything.

You should be able to use the firewire output from your Moto 6200 as a tuner if you set up an IR blaster however it may be easier to simply buy tuner cards.

While I don't yet own an HD tuner the preference lately for internal cards seems to be leaning toward the AirStar HD-5500. Honestly, your best bet might be getting an HDHomerun. I'm planning on picking one up as soon as funding is available. Search the forum for HDHomerun for more info.

Martian

_________________
ABIT NF-M2 nView | Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2GB DDR2 800 | HDHomerun | GeForce 6150 (onboard) | WD 640 GB SATA HD | DVD-RW (sata) | StreamZap IR receiver with Logitech Harmony remote

Vizio 37" LCD HDTV (1080p)

Martin posted before I finished so some of this is redundant.


You should also look at connecting to the firewire port of your Motorola DCT-6200. You will be able to get every hd channel that you recieve on it. With a tunner card you will only be able to recieve the channels that are not encrypted. HBO and outher premium channels are encrypted and you will not be able to recieve them using one of the HD tunner cards you mentioned.

So what you will need to do as connect the Motorola DCT-6200 to your fire port as one tunner. buy an hd-tunner card for you secound hd source, this one will only be able to recourd none encrypted channels. Then purchase a PVR-500 Type A or two pvr-150s for your standard def channels.

With this setup you will be able to record all channels and 4 at the same time, 2 HD, 2 SD.

I have you MB and it should work fine. HD playback will work but you are going to be tight on cpu power for play back but, you can make it work. I have a xp2400 playing back HD using XVMC with a Geforce 6200

You will need to implement thornsofts Babysetting scripts to keep commflag in check.

Depending on your linux skills you may want to just set things up with the one big drive at first to make it easier for you.

The install takes less than a half hour so you may want to build a test setup on just the big drive at first.

The performance of the rapters for this setup will not make much differeance however; if you want to use everything read up on LVM.

Hope this helps

Unfortunately you probably will NOT be able to get every HD channel you receive as most cable providers 5C flag (do not record) everything except the local channels. I wouldn't get your hopes up to be able to record any additional content with the Moto 6200 than you could with a standard HD tuner.

Martian

_________________
ABIT NF-M2 nView | Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2GB DDR2 800 | HDHomerun | GeForce 6150 (onboard) | WD 640 GB SATA HD | DVD-RW (sata) | StreamZap IR receiver with Logitech Harmony remote

Vizio 37" LCD HDTV (1080p)

So there isnt a single turner out there that will do both HD & SD? Ill looking to the HDHomerun.


Thanks for the help
Staudie

I believe the AirStar HD-5500 can do HD and Analog [EDIT: looks like it's the pcHDTV 5000 - thanks bbear] but I don't think that it has hardware Mpeg conversion for the analog, it's just a "frame-grabber". Reports are that the analog recordings aren't that great.

I don't actually owe one of these cards, this is just info. from what I've read.

Martian

_________________
ABIT NF-M2 nView | Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2GB DDR2 800 | HDHomerun | GeForce 6150 (onboard) | WD 640 GB SATA HD | DVD-RW (sata) | StreamZap IR receiver with Logitech Harmony remote

Vizio 37" LCD HDTV (1080p)

I have the Airstar card and it is great for HD QAM, which is what I am currently using it for.

I have not been able to use it for analogue though. It is for ATSC & unecrypted QAM, so only does digital.

I have had to buy a Hauppauge PVR-500 to capture the analogue NTSC from my cable. It has hardware MPEG encoders on-board.

I did consider the pcHDTV 5000 as that can do analogue NTSC but it does not have hardware encoding. I was concerned about the CPU load for doing the encoding in software so opted for the PVR-500,

Kevin

Ok so Ive go ahead and picked up some items to help the HD playback, new system will be

Athlon 64 XP 3800+ (Dual Core)
MSI Neo2 Platinum
Leadtek 7600GT
1 GIG RAM

I still need to pick a large HD (500 GIG) for recording and those darn HD turner card. I just cant see any differance in them, or a site that has review them. Im goin to start with the firewire and one HD/SD card and see what I can do from there.

Thanks Again,
Staudie