Take a peek into the life of my WMC HTPC. I am sure most of you know how much I advocate using Windows Media Center for recording and managing your television programming. I run seven tuners and am considering even more. Is there really a need for this many tuners? Yes. If you have not tried Windows Media Center for recording TV then take a few minutes to read this short article on why Windows Media Center works so well for me.
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Seriously, why do I need seven TV tuners?
My Windows Media Center needs three tuners to record shows on Monday nights. You can see below in my area of Los Angeles that CBS, NBC and ABC all have shows that I record and three play at the same time. These three shows will record and use three tuners. If I want to watch another live channel then I will need another tuner. If my wife wants to watch another live channel she will need a tuner too! That makes five tuners I could possibly need. My SiliconDust HDHomeRuns are dual tuners and I have three units giving me my six tuners.
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I have my three SiliconDust HDHomeRun dual tuners in the garage. They are silent and connect to my network so any WMC on the network can use them.
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Four of my tuners connect to my Charter cable. These tuners can only get basic HD cable since Charter uses Switched Digital Video in my area.
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Since I can only access the channels that Charter provides, I then augment that with the two tuners with over the air (OTA) signal. Using OTA allows me to see the additional channels for each of the networks.
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I have my ATI Digital CableCARD Tuner under hidden under a desk. I use the CableCARD tuner for SDV channels like SyFy, AMC and HDNet.
I have extra length USB cables that connect it to my HTPC.
Ok, you sold me. My Birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I just put in a request for a HD homerun!
Newegg has it on sale for $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N…
Happy Birthday
Tim, great setup! I have a question… I recently migrated to an HTPC solution from two TiVo's (one was HD). I built a core duo 2 HTPC w/ 4GB RAM and a Ceton card. One problem I seem to have… If my cable SNR drops below 31-32, I get pixalation on the ceton that I didn't get with the TiVo… obviously creating WAF issues. Any ideas?
I do not know if I responded. Sorry if I did not.
Your SNR should always be above 30. Check for any splitters and make sure they are good quality and not the $4 Home Depot ones. If your splitters are low quality you will end up with that green pixelation.
Remember that you lose 3 to 4 dB at each split.
Tim
Newegg has the dual tuner HD Homerun (new) on sale until 11/14 for $89 plus free shipping. Best deal I have found.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N…
Bought a fourth one.
Four HDomerun's! So now your at the Media Center's tuner limit?
Nope.
http://mychannellogos.com/tunersalad.aspx
Tim