The CETON Digital Cable Quad Tuner PC Card and why you should seriously consider it (1 Viewer)

[Todd H]

 Good luck with the cablecompany, though... mine stood around like they were idiots and kept saying "I don't know how this works".   I had to lie to mine and just say I had a TiVo.   Make sure you get SDV adapters if your cable company requires them; supposedly all SDV are supposed to support tuning 4 adapters by August first, but my stupid Ciscos only do 2, so I have 2 SDV boxes.   I agree, though - my wife is MUCH happier with this solution compared to the DirecTV DVRs. 
  

Sounds about like the guys at our cable company. My internet went down and I ended up helping them fix the problem. They didn't have a clue about networking at all.

 

[mattCR]

 Good luck with the cablecompany, though... mine stood around like they were idiots and kept saying "I don't know how this works".   I had to lie to mine and just say I had a TiVo.   Make sure you get SDV adapters if your cable company requires them; supposedly all SDV are supposed to support tuning 4 adapters by August first, but my stupid Ciscos only do 2, so I have 2 SDV boxes.   I agree, though - my wife is MUCH happier with this solution compared to the DirecTV DVRs. 
  

Sounds about like the guys at our cable company. My internet went down and I ended up helping them fix the problem. They didn't have a clue about networking at all.

Yeah, I think I haven't run into anyone who had a cable company know how to deal with ceton. I also just told mine I had a TiVo. They brought out the card, I did the setup.Just a note: Because mine screwed it up, I had to call into the service desk and have them send the activation signal to the card.. twice. They couldn't figure it out because the service guys filled out the form wrong. But I've seen this happen to a lot of people. Also, make sure they send an M-Card not an S-Card.

 

[Todd H]

It is done. And it is awesome. Bye bye DirecTV.

 

[mattCR]

It is done. And it is awesome. Bye bye DirecTV.

Welcome aboard. . Grab mychannellogos to polish up your guide and enjoy.

 

[Todd H]

It is done. And it is awesome. Bye bye DirecTV.

Welcome aboard. . Grab mychannellogos to polish up your guide and enjoy.

Beat you to it. I think I was only missing about three logos but a quick Google image search found them pretty easily.
The new HTPC has passed the WAF test with flying colors.

 

[jorge386]

If you were to use a Fios cable card do you lose the ondemand services?

 

[jorge386]

Soryy just seen the post that answers my question

 

[jorge386]

Will the tuner broadcast 3d? Does anyone know a good htpc to purchase?

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by jorge386
Will the tuner broadcast 3d? Does anyone know a good htpc to purchase?

It will accept 3D feeds, which right now are rare.. but it will do them. You will need an HDMI1.4 card to do it.

 

[jorge386]

Thanks!!! Any ideas for a good HTPC

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by jorge386
Thanks!!! Any ideas for a good HTPC

The best are always done to your own personal specs.. So it depends on what your goal is! There are a bunch coming onto the market based around cablecard, though, so you might just wait a short bit.

 

[skywalkerman]

Different from ceton digital cable tuner card,TBS 6984 is a a PCI Express card with four satellite tuners, which allows to record simultaneously four high definition TV programs on your personal computer from only one card. It supports 4xAdvanced DVB-S2/DVB-S 8PSK QPSK Demodulator and High-speed Data Download via Satellite. It enables Media Center PCs to play or record up to four live channels of HDTV at once, and stream live HD channels or recordings to multiple HDTVs throughout the dish network, all from a multi-tuner card. With the TBS 6984 Quad Tuner Card, your Windows 7 Media Center PC becomes a complete entertainment platform for all your media, including watching HD streaming game sports and over thousands of new movies, video and music. It also supports the mainstream DVB applications such as DVBDream, DVBViewer, DVBlogic, ProgDVB, Skynet, Tsreader etc

After its release, TBS 6984 is gaining a wide popularity among the young people, especially for satellite tv card fanciers. Watch live satellite tv or record any HDTV programs through this amazing satellite pc card. You can get and record over thousands of funny tv shows on your pc.
The MSRP is still $249.99, Although the price is high, but it worth for receiving four different satellites.

http://www.buydvb.net/tbs-6984-pcie-dvbs2-quad-tuner-tv-card_p33.html

 

[Ralphie_B]

Ooh, very interesting. My wife has started inquiring about getting a DVR... but I'm hesitant to throw even more money at the cable company each month. I have just started researching how I might be able to build a networked/multi-room DVR that can display/record content from the cable company (as opposed to just clear QAM and ATSC), and preferably also leverage existing equipment I already have (for example, Xbox 360s).
That has led me down the rabbit hole of HTPCs... while I am not a stranger to PC builds, it has been over 5 years since I last did one... and I am intrigued by the possibility of an off-the-shelf solution.

MattCR, do you have any links to info or press releases on any specific products at this time?

 

[mattCR]

Do you mean like Press Releases for:

http://www.silicondust.com/

Or Ceton:

http://www.cetoncorp.com/

Or whole PCs?

Actually, I just started working with someone (who is also associated with the forum) on some next-gen HTPCs that should hit most major box stores in the fall. So, there are things "a-comin' "

Originally Posted by Ralphie_B
Ooh, very interesting. My wife has started inquiring about getting a DVR... but I'm hesitant to throw even more money at the cable company each month. I have just started researching how I might be able to build a networked/multi-room DVR that can display/record content from the cable company (as opposed to just clear QAM and ATSC), and preferably also leverage existing equipment I already have (for example, Xbox 360s).
That has led me down the rabbit hole of HTPCs... while I am not a stranger to PC builds, it has been over 5 years since I last did one... and I am intrigued by the possibility of an off-the-shelf solution.

MattCR, do you have any links to info or press releases on any specific products at this time?

 

[Ralphie_B]

I was thinking along the lines of a pre-built HTPC. Thanks for the links, I will check them out as well.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Had one of these under the tree this morning. Installation was a nightmare -- Verizon messed up the CableCARD activation, and then my graphics card driver had issues with Windows Media Center -- but now that it's up and running I'm loving it.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt /t/305703/the-ceton-digital-cable-quad-tuner-pc-card-and-why-you-should-seriously-consider-it/30#post_3881953
Had one of these under the tree this morning. Installation was a nightmare -- Verizon messed up the CableCARD activation, and then my graphics card driver had issues with Windows Media Center -- but now that it's up and running I'm loving it.

Only a little bit jealous....thats a pretty cool gift. Glad you got everything squared away. What are you using as extenders?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Only a little bit jealous....thats a pretty cool gift.  Glad you got everything squared away.  What are you using as extenders?

Right now I'm planning to mainly use it as a DVR. I just drag and drop the DVR-MS files on my WDTV Hub and watch them through that. More cumbersome than if I had a genuine extender like an XBox 360, but it suits my needs. So far every channel I've tried has been flagged copy freely; if I hit upon a copy once program then I guess I'll be locked into the WTV format and have to watch on my PC monitor.
The main TV isn't mine, and my monitor is 24 inches. I'm planning to eventually get back to having my own place and at that point use the PC as an all-in-one media hub with no traditional TV. I had an HVR-1850 before that worked great with Time Warner, but it didn't get along well at all with FiOS. And by moving back to using the PC, I was able to dump the $6/mo set top box for the $3.99/mo M-Card.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt /t/305703/the-ceton-digital-cable-quad-tuner-pc-card-and-why-you-should-seriously-consider-it/30#post_3881983
Right now I'm planning to mainly use it as a DVR. I just drag and drop the DVR-MS files on my WDTV Hub and watch them through that. More cumbersome than if I had a genuine extender like an XBox 360, but it suits my needs. So far every channel I've tried has been flagged copy freely; if I hit upon a copy once program then I guess I'll be locked into the WTV format and have to watch on my PC monitor.
The main TV isn't mine, and my monitor is 24 inches. I'm planning to eventually get back to having my own place and at that point use the PC as an all-in-one media hub with no traditional TV. I had an HVR-1850 before that worked great with Time Warner, but it didn't get along well at all with FiOS. And by moving back to using the PC, I was able to dump the $6/mo set top box for the $3.99/mo M-Card.

If content is flagged non-copy, is it blocked from transfer even to extenders like an Xbox? Is there a way to know if content is flagged before building and testing an HTPC?

I'm considering a Ceton-based system. But if it can't do multi-room, and I can't learn that until after building an expensive multi-room system...it would not be good.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

If content is flagged non-copy, is it blocked from transfer even to extenders like an Xbox? Is there a way to know if content is flagged before building and testing an HTPC?

Usually the flags are set by the cable provider. Some will flag everything except the local channels; ie. what you can get over the air ATSC via antenna. Most will only flag the premium stations (Starz, HBO, Showtime, etc.) and leave everything else open copy. Some don't flag anything.
It's my understanding that flagged content can still be pushed into multiple rooms with a Microsoft-approved WMC extender like the Xbox 360. The WDTV Live Hub I use isn't an approved extender, but it can play all of the DVR-MS files when I drag and drop them.

I'm considering a Ceton-based system. But if it can't do multi-room, and I can't learn that until after building an expensive multi-room system...it would not be good.

One thing to consider in your setup, since I know you've done without cable for a while, is that the Ceton card handles neither ATSC signals nor ClearQAM signals. Theoretically it should still pick up ClearQAM signals if you plug in a coaxial cable without an M Card installed, but there's a problem on the Windows Media Center end that keeps it from recognizing the card right without a CableCARD installed. I believe Ceton is working with Microsoft to get this rectified, probably with a combination WMC software update and Ceton firmware update.
The main thing that pushed me to the Ceton card is that FiOS did not play well with WMC's ClearQAM capabilities well at all. When we were still with Time Warner, my HVR-1850 worked just fine for my needs.