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Author Topic: Tuner cards for PC  (Read 2555 times)

Battledad

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Tuner cards for PC
« on: June 04, 2013, 10:55:34 pm »
I'm moving the last piece of a thread I started in PC's here.

Using a Haup 2250 in my PC which connects to a 7 year old plasma (720 dpi) via hdmi cable from an AMD 6570 (1gb). I get notable stutter issues. The last note made in the other post was that the 2250 is rather sensitive to signal strength. Since I'm using an external antenna going through a Winegard 100 (+15db) I generally get good signal strength but occassional drops to 5% for a few seconds. After trying everything I can think of I'm wondering if the 2250 is the issue.

Are there internal or external tuner cards (I drive 1 TV with the PC) that might be less sensitive and if what/which?

Appreciate all suggestions and comments.
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2013, 10:00:53 am »
I've been corresponding with the company I bought the external antenna from (Denny's antenna - Stacker). Given the tests I've run he thinks the signals are having issues getting to the antenna at its present location and as such atmospheric changes can cause the signal quality to vary leading to variation at the tuner. So, the question is whether it is the tuner or whether the signal variance is such that the tuner isn't capable to handling the variation.
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JimH

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2013, 10:09:46 am »
This site has a lot of good information.
http://www.antennaweb.org/

If you're in the U.S., try this:
http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx

I believe you said you were 18 miles away.  That may be marginal.  Any obstacles in between can also be a problem.   Aiming the antenna needs to be very accurate.  You may know all that.
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2013, 10:28:05 am »
I've worked through the distance (which at 18 miles is considered close); amplifier use; aiming (I used a compass to match up the 210 degrees suggested); etc.

One other item: if the stutter lasts too long JR crashes and needs to be relaunched. That has happened perhaps half a dozen times or so. Any reason JR would crash in such a situation?
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JimH

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2013, 10:33:10 am »
It shouldn't.  I don't know why.

I had a professional installed raise my antenna.  He used signal strength to help align it.
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CountryBumkin

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2013, 12:09:16 pm »
Quote from: JimH on June 05, 2013, 10:33:10 am
It shouldn't.  I don't know why.

I had a professional installed raise my antenna.  He used signal strength to help align it.

I have the 2250 too. I used to have crashes when playing back recorded OTA TV when the recoding had a bad signal (like it was raning heavy at the time of the recording) and the picture would get "blocky" then MC crashed, but that problem wentt away when MC got into the .185+ versions. What version are you on now?
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2013, 01:56:43 pm »
I am using the latest version of MC. As I noted yesterday we had another crash when the stutter was prolonged (estimating about 15-20 seconds). The crash window shows on the screen, I close and relaunch and we're back to running.

I'm wondering if there is a good alternative choice to the 2250 to try?

I don't record OTA content...we just watch as broadcast.
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JimH

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2013, 02:13:38 pm »
Quote from: Battledad on June 05, 2013, 01:56:43 pm
I am using the latest version of MC.

Please report the full version number.  18.0.194 is available at the top of the MC18 board.
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2013, 04:25:33 pm »
I was using 18.0.193 until this morning when I changed to 18.0.195. So, the last crash was on 18.0.193
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Yaobing

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2013, 11:05:39 am »
Red October Std or HQ?  There is a chance that the crash is related to madVR.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2013, 01:24:13 pm »
Just checked and using Red October Standard as the recommended.
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2013, 02:06:27 pm »
Sitting here with the TV on an OTA channel and the sound drops too low to hear. We head to the sound bar and increase it. This has happened on every build since we started (which was the release of v18). For some unexplained reason, at random times, the sound simply drops. Add to this the crashes if the signal strength drops too low for too long and it gets frustrating. At some point we'll retire the 7+ year old Panasonic 42" plasma and switch to a Samsung 64-65" Smart TV and run the coax for OTA directly to the TV and just use the PC as a repository for movies and music. That way we won't need to put up with the issues we continue to have.
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CountryBumkin

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2013, 05:44:44 pm »
Maybe you just got a buggy TV card. Did it ever work properly?
I also have a Hauppauge 950Q tuner (USB Stick) that works as good as any other I tried. The Hauppauge brand is pretty well respected in the HTPC forums.
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Battledad

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2013, 10:42:26 pm »
I plugged the OTA coax straight into the TV and had the same issue. I can't figure out if it's the 2250, the TV, the antenna or what. Nothing seems to make a difference.

follow up: I have a number of trees that are 60ft or taller that have leafed out over the past 6-8 weeks. Add some wind and that combination may be my issue. I can't get a clear line of sight given my circumstances.
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CountryBumkin

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2013, 01:36:52 pm »
I believe there is a signal meter in the MC program. Perhaps you could report back the actual strength as the problem occurs.
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kstuart

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Re: Tuner cards for PC
« Reply #15 on: June 28, 2013, 07:14:33 pm »
I'm using a Hauppauge 1250 which is half a 2250 (i.e. single tuner), and it works significantly better than:

* OTA tuner built in to Dish ViP622 DVR
* OTA tuner built in to Toshiba HD TV

Both of which are excellent products in every other aspect.

It's also a lot better than the cheapo USB stick I picked up a few years ago, but that's no surprise.

By the way, I get channels 55 miles away.
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