USB2 vs. PC card?

K

kevin-f

Member
My Satellite Setup
Motorised dish, Echostar DSB 808 2Ci, no PC yet
My Location
U.K., south west
I've gotten a bit further since posting the "DISeqC card for PC, motorised dish? (Noob, bear with me) " message a month ago (still quite a noob though :) ) ...

I'm looking at getting either the TechniSat SkyStar HD 2 pc card plus TechniSat CI Adapter for SkyStar HD 2, or the TechniSat SkyStar USB 2 HD CI.

Although USB works out a little more expensive, it'd suit me better in many ways (no need to worry about spare slots, heat, power draw, or so I understand).

Should I expect any performance problems, though, with the sat card being squeezed through USB2 before getting to processor and video card in the PC? Especially for HD? Picture jitter or I-don't-know-what?

I'm guessing that in other respects, the capabilities would be much the same, but perhaps that's not so?

Thanks in advance for any opinions.
 
Well, USB devices are handy cos you can transfer them between different systems, you can use it on a laptop, you can access all the connections easily, but, it often requires a separate power supply, USB sockets can end up being damaged if knocked or have laptops dropped onto them... :)

PCI cards, they're all tucked away inside a PC case, all the wires are kept behind the system and easy to keep tidy (touch wood!!!), but they're only useable in desktop systems and cannot be easily moved between systems, and might not work with some systems due to hardware compatibility... :)
 
Perhaps not particularly relevant at the moment but I believe that USB are less amenable to soft cam add ons
 
Mmm - interesting feedback. Softcam might be a consideration, so perhaps I'll go for PC card option after all ...

Thanks for the replies

Kevin
 
Remember you'll need to allow for using two pci slots if you go for the Skystar HD 2 + CI Adapter.

Worth considering is the WinTV Nova HD card if you intend to use a CAM, as you can obtain a USB CI module, thus relieving you of the need for a second PCI slot.

Llew
 
Good point especially if the PC has to fit in the TV rack. PCI slots in very short supply on uATX boards
 
Yes, 2 slots ... that could well be an issue. But do you think that with the USB CI module for the WinTV Nova HD card, there'd be the same question mark over softcam use?

Thanks again.
 
I can't say about USB version, but PCI SkyStar HD2 is defenetly not a good piece of hardware. Channel locking speed, SR capability (even DVB-S, not speaking about DVB-S2, where situation is much worse), is way too low, much worse than on my ancient SkyStar 2.3i

So if you plan some entusiastic activities (feed hunting, low SR, motor rotation), than I'd not recomend SkyStar 2HD. But, if your aim is to watch some commercial DTH package, using original sub, than this card is good choice.
 
I agree that the Skystar HD2 is useless finding low SR rates (feeds, SCPC channels). The STB6100 tuner lets this card down, also it's very difficult to get it to work with Linux apps.

Much more flexible, the Hauppauge WinTV Nova HD works perfectly well with low SRs and Linux.

Llew
 
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