As I have come to understand it MCE (2005) does not natively support both analog and digital cards in the same unit, so YES you would need to do the hack.

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Don`t try to engage my enthusiasm, I don`t have one.

I am already using both an analog tuner card and two digital tuner cards at the same time so that is supported. The question is if I can mix sources of analog cable without a settop and digital antenna.

Really? 3 Cards? `Cos I had just 2 cards (1 hybrid analog+digital & 1 Digital only) and never got anywhere trying to get the Analog input to work.

As to your question, I think you would have to do the hack, starting with just the analog tuner in first, record the registry,  then the two digital without the analog, record the registry and combine with the analogs registry, then all 3.

Hope this helps, also try posting to a different or new thread, I think this ones a bit dead.

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Don`t try to engage my enthusiasm, I don`t have one.

This is what I've been looking for!

Before I attempt it, are my following 4 assumptions correct?

1. You have to split the coax before it enters the stb and attach it to one tuner and attach the coax out of the stb to the other tuner. I only have one coax from the wall and from the stb, unlike some of you.

2. If there are better connections available on the stb and/or computer and/or tuner card, like svideo or dvi, you can use them instead of the coax to connect to computer.

3. This will work for an external usb tuner card like ATI all in wonder usb. There isn't a pci slot available in my computer for a second tuner, and it might be too wide anyway. These brand name computers don't lend themselves to upgrading.

4. This will work in mce 2005, but not in mce 2003 upgraded to 2004. I have both.

When I bought my mce 2005 computer, configuring it over the phone with Dell, I expected to receive a dual tuner because I had read in Microsoft programmer forums that MCE 2005 had that capability. Even the set up guide that comes with it talks about 2 tuners. However, I only see 1 tuner card with 1 coax. I was never even given a choice of that option, and there were plenty of other options I had to configure.

Even the mce software only refers to one tuner. How did you get the mce program to give you a menu of choices of recording 2 shows on 2 tuners?

Did you all get a dual tuner in your original set up or did you have to buy one (or a second one) afterwards?

Whoever got a dual tuner in the original setup, did you :

1 build it yourself,
2 buy it retail, or
3 configure it with a manufacturer, and if so, which one?

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Always learning

I may have mis-understood your Q.s but:

1) Most devices (stb or tuner card) have an in and an out for the coax from the aerial, so you can daisy-chain them (IE coax goes into stb, then coax out of stb to tuner, then coax out of tuner to...etc).

2) Sort of, the s-video or dvi cables from the stb will only have the video that the stb is displaying. If you have inputs for s-video etc on your card then you can record what is being played on the stb. If you want all the channels on the card then you still have to get the aerial cable connected to it.

3) Yes, just make sure it is MCE compatible.

4) Probably, not too sure.

If you only have one tuner card in your PC then MCE will only show one card in the setup. Some 'hybrid' cards have both digital and analog tuners, my experience of this however is that MCE only recognises the Digital part, and you still only get one card listed.

I bought an Elonex Artisan, it had a choice for 2 tuners, but I bought it with 1 tuner and added my own second one.

RR.

 

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Don`t try to engage my enthusiasm, I don`t have one.

<removed double posting>

I'm using a Hauppauge 350 card which has a tuner and s-video input. I would like to use them both. Anyone tried if this is possible with the suggested hack?

Regards,

Johan

If the card is a hybrid digital tuner + analog then my experience would suggest not, IE MCE will only recognise the digital part so you can never configure the analog tuner & analog inputs in the first place and thus never get the required registry data.

RR

 

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Don`t try to engage my enthusiasm, I don`t have one.

Jon,

You appear to have some insight to this problem, so perhaps you can help...

Back in August I built my media centre pc, installing a Hauppauge PVR 500 duel tuner card.  Until recently I have been running Telewest digital cable through it via stb (Atlantic Explorer 4200 DV, with a "Red Eye" IR Blaster to overcome the IR problem generic to UK stb from cable companies).  For once, UK TV has got several programmes on that are worth watching/recording, so I have been chugging along merrily for the past month or so quite fine.

However, there has now come a point where there are two programmes on that I want to watch/record at the same time.  Until now I have assumed that since UK cable tv (digital or analogue) is encrypted I couldn't use the one box to capture two different channels (watch one/record other or record both).  No problem I thought... As one is on free-to-air digital terrestrial television, I can get a free-to-air box, re-run media centre set-up and record one while watching the other (or when I have a social life, record both).

Sadly I am having trouble getting this to work.  I purchased a Thomson DTI 550 stb for the free-to-air channels, connected it to the PVR card via componant leads(as the instructions for the box said it would only run using the scart socket), connected the digital cable via the coaxial cable until the daughter board for the pvr card arrives allowing me to link two stb's via component for stereo sound and ran set up.

Set up detected the free-to-air box via the component lead, I got the IR configured...  It then asked me to set up the cable digi box that's connected via coax lead, it detected it, I set up the IR and all was well... I thought!

When the set up was complete via My TV in mce, I could watch and record the cable that was linked via coax, but I can't seem to be able to switch to the free-to-air box.  I haven't even got as far as trying to record anything yet...

Is there a way of setting this rig up so that I can watch whichever box I chose? Watch one box while recording from the other? and record from both boxes at the same time?  I have about five days to sort this before 24 starts it's fifth season, and I was hoping to have sorted by then.

In short, one duel tuner pvr, two different stb's, will see both in set up, but I can only see one in MY TV, and I can't switch between them.

Please help if you can

Many thanks

Kevin

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M>"It's not the years, it's the mileage"True

Jon,

You appear to have some insight to this problem, so perhaps you can help...

Back in August I built my media centre pc, installing a Hauppauge PVR 500 duel tuner card.  Until recently I have been running Telewest digital cable through it via stb (Atlantic Explorer 4200 DV, with a "Red Eye" IR Blaster to overcome the IR problem generic to UK stb from cable companies).  For once, UK TV has got several programmes on that are worth watching/recording, so I have been chugging along merrily for the past month or so quite fine.

However, there has now come a point where there are two programmes on that I want to watch/record at the same time.  Until now I have assumed that since UK cable tv (digital or analogue) is encrypted I couldn't use the one box to capture two different channels (watch one/record other or record both).  No problem I thought... As one is on free-to-air digital terrestrial television, I can get a free-to-air box, re-run media centre set-up and record one while watching the other (or when I have a social life, record both).

Sadly I am having trouble getting this to work.  I purchased a Thomson DTI 550 stb for the free-to-air channels, connected it to the PVR card via componant leads(as the instructions for the box said it would only run using the scart socket), connected the digital cable via the coaxial cable until the daughter board for the pvr card arrives allowing me to link two stb's via component for stereo sound and ran set up.

Set up detected the free-to-air box via the component lead, I got the IR configured...  It then asked me to set up the cable digi box that's connected via coax lead, it detected it, I set up the IR and all was well... I thought!

When the set up was complete via My TV in mce, I could watch and record the cable that was linked via coax, but I can't seem to be able to switch to the free-to-air box.  I haven't even got as far as trying to record anything yet...

Is there a way of setting this rig up so that I can watch whichever box I chose? Watch one box while recording from the other? and record from both boxes at the same time?  I have about five days to sort this before 24 starts it's fifth season, and I was hoping to have sorted by then.

In short, one duel tuner pvr, two different stb's, will see both in set up, but I can only see one in MY TV, and I can't switch between them.

Please help if you can

Many thanks

Kevin

---

M>"It's not the years, it's the mileage"True

Jon,

You appear to have some insight to this problem, so perhaps you can help...

Back in August I built my media centre pc, installing a Hauppauge PVR 500 duel tuner card.  Until recently I have been running Telewest digital cable through it via stb (Atlantic Explorer 4200 DV, with a "Red Eye" IR Blaster to overcome the IR problem generic to UK stb from cable companies).  For once, UK TV has got several programmes on that are worth watching/recording, so I have been chugging along merrily for the past month or so quite fine.

However, there has now come a point where there are two programmes on that I want to watch/record at the same time.  Until now I have assumed that since UK cable tv (digital or analogue) is encrypted I couldn't use the one box to capture two different channels (watch one/record other or record both).  No problem I thought... As one is on free-to-air digital terrestrial television, I can get a free-to-air box, re-run media centre set-up and record one while watching the other (or when I have a social life, record both).

Sadly I am having trouble getting this to work.  I purchased a Thomson DTI 550 stb for the free-to-air channels, connected it to the PVR card via componant leads(as the instructions for the box said it would only run using the scart socket), connected the digital cable via the coaxial cable until the daughter board for the pvr card arrives allowing me to link two stb's via component for stereo sound and ran set up.

Set up detected the free-to-air box via the component lead, I got the IR configured...  It then asked me to set up the cable digi box that's connected via coax lead, it detected it, I set up the IR and all was well... I thought!

When the set up was complete via My TV in mce, I could watch and record the cable that was linked via coax, but I can't seem to be able to switch to the free-to-air box.  I haven't even got as far as trying to record anything yet...

Is there a way of setting this rig up so that I can watch whichever box I chose? Watch one box while recording from the other? and record from both boxes at the same time?  I have about five days to sort this before 24 starts it's fifth season, and I was hoping to have sorted by then.

In short, one duel tuner pvr, two different stb's, will see both in set up, but I can only see one in MY TV, and I can't switch between them.

Please help if you can

Many thanks

Kevin

---

M>"It's not the years, it's the mileage"True

Hello All,

I have a new Dell XPS with a dual tuner card.  My issue is that I only have one coax input on the back of the computer.  When I set up MCE it did recognize two tuners but it seems that it only uses one.  I only have one set top box and I have placed both of the "bugs" on the front of it.  My coax from the cable company comes out of the wall into the set top box and then to the single coax input on the back of the computer.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should set this up differently.  Dell in India is not any help.  Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brad

Brad,

This type of tuner card allows for only a straight coax connection and will not adopt to a STB. Essentially, the "cable ready" tuner card handles the channel switching. The tuner takes a single signal in through the coax and "splits" it for use on two on-board tuners. If you want to use your STB, my suggestion is to add another tuner card (the hauppauge 150mce is a great card for the money) and then walk through my instructions to setup one coax and one STB.

Good luck,
Jon

Just wanted to say thanks for the hack! For the time being, I didn't want to pay the rental fee for 2 cable boxes and it would be a shame to waste the analog tuners sitting in the computer. Now I don't have to...

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MCE 2005 | AMD Athlon 64 3200 | 2GB RAM | 300GB HDD | Sapphire x1950 Pro 512MB | Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE | HDHomerun

Just wanted to say thanks for the hack! For the time being, I didn't want to pay the rental fee for 2 cable boxes and it would be a shame to waste the analog tuners sitting in the computer. Now I don't have to...

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MCE 2005 | AMD Athlon 64 3200 | 2GB RAM | 300GB HDD | Sapphire x1950 Pro 512MB | Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE | HDHomerun