PC Sat PVR System

damhy

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I was thinking about PCs and using them in a PC STB type configuration, obviously this is similar to the dreambox using linux but i was thinking of a more windows based approach.

I need it small(like an ST:cool: and quiet(no fans) so I was looking at the VIA Eden M6000 motherboard(their fastest fanless motherboard: http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=37) and using it with my SkyStar2. The problem is that it only has a 600Mhz processor, however it does have an MPEG2 decoder chip, so I'm thinking if the processor is only working with the S2Emu part it may be powerful enough.

Its got S-video and composite outs, which makes life easier. So coupled with a large hard drive I would have thought it would make a nice HD video recorder for satellite.

The other problem is that of power though I believe Diseqc motors to use less than 0.5A at 17v which is gonna be say 9W, which should be ok.

So what do you guys think, any chance of it working, I'm feeling remotely confident, but wanted to avoid the disappointment of spending money I dont have on something that dont work.
 

Ghost_inside2003

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I have never tried anything like this myself, but you must consider fans, yes, fans, the skystar 2 generates heat and as far as I know it does not come with a hardware mpeg decoder ( I have one myself ).

Now, my setup is this:
Tower case with an AMD Athlon XP 2400+
516 megabytes of ram
40 gigabytes hard disk
Skystar 2 (using DVDDream)

The temperature inside the case is high, but under control
I am using a pci fan to cool the skystar 2 card and copper
heatsink for the processor, the cpu usage is over 40 % when watching TV

I think a 600mhz cpu will not be enough to decrypt encrypted channels, but who knows, I have been using pentiums 4 and Athlon XP processors for more than a year with no complains.

Give it a shot, if everything fails you will have learned something :)
 

damhy

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You are correct about the skystar2 not having an MPEG2 decoder, but the fanless motherboard I refer to does have one built in, so I am making the assumption that by playing around with the graphs in graph editor it should be possible to ustilise it.

My computer is using about 30% CPU at the moment to decode channels(AMD 2500+) And I have a suspicion that I am not sure about but I think my NVidia card, since I am using the NvDVD codecs is using my graphics card to decode the video rather than the CPU.

Anyways I think that there is an outside chance of it working, even if it is very close to the limit. As for temperature, the Skystar2 may get hot but on my system everything is packed in so close that I doubt much air circulates. As you should be able to tell I just want to give it ago, but am reluctant to take money. Though I doubt anyone on here has that same setup, so its gonna end up being down to me to find out!
 

Rod Hulls Aerial

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Could you not use a USB DVB card ? I know it's not an SS2 but at least you would not have the problem with overheating etc ?
 

BGonaSTICK

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Why not try the SS2 USB?

Also, why not try a Windows XP media-centre PC?

I thought about doing this a while back, but went for the Dreambox 7000!
 

damhy

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BGonaSTICK said:
Also, why not try a Windows XP media-centre PC?
I was thinking of installing this on the system provided it can power the card, you can get WinXP MC for about £80 which isnt too bad. Its just I am on the quest for the absolutely silent(excluding the hard drive), its just the constand whirring of fans that is doing my head in.

As for the dreambox I would contemplate it, but I am strongly anti-linux, linux is like communism, good in principle, but doesnt work properly in practise. But forgetting about that, I am highly tempted to get the fanless PC anyway and if it dont work, i'll use it as a server or something.
 

homerjay

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has anyone got windows mce workin with a skystar2, not just fta channels though.

i think there are plugins floatin around for using softcam but not seen too much.
 

Lancelot

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damhy said:
You are correct about the skystar2 not having an MPEG2 decoder, but the fanless motherboard I refer to does have one built in, so I am making the assumption that by playing around with the graphs in graph editor it should be possible to ustilise it.

My computer is using about 30% CPU at the moment to decode channels(AMD 2500+) And I have a suspicion that I am not sure about but I think my NVidia card, since I am using the NvDVD codecs is using my graphics card to decode the video rather than the CPU.

Anyways I think that there is an outside chance of it working, even if it is very close to the limit. As for temperature, the Skystar2 may get hot but on my system everything is packed in so close that I doubt much air circulates. As you should be able to tell I just want to give it ago, but am reluctant to take money. Though I doubt anyone on here has that same setup, so its gonna end up being down to me to find out!


I used to run my DVB-S card with an AMD K6 3-400 and get it to decode ok
but it would only rec to HD about 30% of frames. Bearing this in mind
you should be fast enough.
 

damhy

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Lancelot said:
Bearing this in mind you should be fast enough.
Finally the comment i was after, thanks.
 
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