Recording digital tv from antenna-Help!

Pilot · Jul 17, 2011

No cable, no satellite.

When I try to research online how to record onto a PC I get incomplete info and what info I do get is usually assumes I have cable or satellite.

I want to record from an antenna.

They say I need a tuner for the PC. Ok, I get that. But on the packaging for the tuners, it says "watch TV shows on your computer". No, I want to watch TV shows on the TV. Why would I want to sit in the office and watch on an 18 inch monitor which only 1 person can really see at a time when I have a 47 inch TV? None of the tuners say I can record on the PC and watch on the TV, but the sales people say it will work. I don't really trust sales people, especially when it means to return it, I have to drive 35 miles each way.

So, question: If I get a tuner for a PC, can I record on the computer and play on the TV?

What other equipment and or software do I need?

We have an old laptop we plan to use & it has about a 160G hard drive. Is that sufficient? If not, how about using an external hard drive with it?

What else do I need to know?

I guess my frustration shows. Sorry about that. Please help.

Thanks.

OKnewguy · Jul 17, 2011

I think you might check out something like this.
Magnavox 320GB DVR and DVD Recorder, MDR513H/F7 - Walmart.com.
I had a similar Pioneer unit before the digital switch over and it worked well. This unit has the digital tuners and I believe will record in hd if you do not mind the space needed.
Dave

techman · Jul 17, 2011

You can play on the TV if you have a video card with an HDMI port. This can connect to any digital TV with an HDMI input. Can be somewhat inconvenient as the TV becomes the monitor in effect. I have two LG DVRs that have a digital tuner (for antenna) and I use them daily to record shows. They are not made anymore. Echostar made one called DTVPAL. Look on eBay and you might find one.

paul

bearhawk · Jul 17, 2011

OKnewguy said:
I think you might check out something like this.
Magnavox 320GB DVR and DVD Recorder, MDR513H/F7 - Walmart.com.
I had a similar Pioneer unit before the digital switch over and it worked well. This unit has the digital tuners and I believe will record in hd if you do not mind the space needed.
Dave

I second the thought on using a dedicated unit for this. You will need a decent computer with a TV Tuner Card, and a good video card with HDMI output. And old laptop just won't give you the results you want..

Airsafety · Jul 17, 2011

TV tuner for the PC, HDMI output on the mother board or video board and some sort of media center software are all that is required. I use MS Vista because the media center is much better than in XP. Windows 7 is probably better, but I've not tried it.

FWIW, I have a blueray DVD player, but I don't have enough processor or memory to run BR DVD's - I'm not sure what it takes, but it is more than I have and more than what the box says it should take.

I have the PC connected to the HDTV via an HDMI cable and audio cable, but my TV also has a VGA connection I could use. The audio output from the TV is connected to the audio tuner which uses the surround sound speakers.

Have you looked at the Google TV units? Logitech has one that looks really good and it is a lot simpler to connect. I think there will be more of these units out before Christmas.

Another FWIW, we found that we hardly ever watched anything on cable and took it out. With the PC we not only have access to the media center for music and recorded and OTA TV, but also using a browser we can connect to Hulu and others. We have a VPN connection to the BBC iplayer and really enjoy the Brit shows.

massey990 · Jul 17, 2011

I have the PC connected to the HDTV via an HDMI cable and audio cable

It's my understanding that HDMI includes audio better or equil to a fiber optic audio connection...if you have an HDMI cable connected it over-rides other audio connictions.

A TV tuner card (also known as a capture card) is manditory, the software that comes with the card will allow the user to record to the hard drive and playback. Most cards have several connection options and all the newer ones come with HDMI out.

Some of the newer TVs and even some DVD/Blu-ray players come with USB ports which let you transfer a move/video to a USB thumb drive and play it back directly or through the DVD/Blu-ray player connection.

Larry Caldwell · Jul 17, 2011

A DVI to HDMI adapter will let you play video from video cards that only have DVI output, but you have to run the audio cable separately.

High end TV sets also have a RGB input, which is the standard VGA monitor output. Once again, you have to run the audio cable separately. A 1080P flat panel makes a kickin' computer monitor.

Alan L. · Jul 17, 2011

.......................TIVO

Pilot · Jul 18, 2011

Tivo: Thanks, but it looks like Tivo has a monthly fee. I don't want another bill if I can what I want for a one time up front investment. And for the price of a Tivo unit and a year of service fees I can just about buy a computer that will work and never make a payment.

dmccarty · Jul 18, 2011

I was watching TV on my computer yesterday.

There was something on TV I wanted to watch but I needed to do some work on the computer. I do have a 24 inch monitor so that helps watching TV and working at the same time.

You need the tuner.

The desktop that I was watching TV had Vista and now has Window 7. Both worked fine for recording TV shows. Tivo and other DVRs are just computers in smaller box. I record a few shows but I only watch them on the computer. The shows are recorded on an external USB drive.

Almost any PC should be able to record TV shows. The tuner is important. Some are HD, some are not. Some tuners take up a slot but there are others that are external. Mine is internal. Recording shows can consume quite a bit of disk space but external USB drives are pretty cheap.

HTPC(Home Theater PC) is one term you can search on for more info. Some HTPCs are made to look like another audio unit.

Later,
Dan

keegs · Jul 18, 2011

Pilot said:
No cable, no satellite.

When I try to research online how to record onto a PC I get incomplete info and what info I do get is usually assumes I have cable or satellite.

I want to record from an antenna.

They say I need a tuner for the PC. Ok, I get that. But on the packaging for the tuners, it says "watch TV shows on your computer". No, I want to watch TV shows on the TV. Why would I want to sit in the office and watch on an 18 inch monitor which only 1 person can really see at a time when I have a 47 inch TV? None of the tuners say I can record on the PC and watch on the TV, but the sales people say it will work. I don't really trust sales people, especially when it means to return it, I have to drive 35 miles each way.

So, question: If I get a tuner for a PC, can I record on the computer and play on the TV?

What other equipment and or software do I need?

We have an old laptop we plan to use & it has about a 160G hard drive. Is that sufficient? If not, how about using an external hard drive with it?

What else do I need to know?

I guess my frustration shows. Sorry about that. Please help.

Thanks.

If you're using a pci or USB hdtv receiver the vendor should have provided some software for you to scan channels with, to navigate through the channels you scanned (channel mgr) etc.. With my setup there was a DVR feature. So long story short, the software that came with the receiver should have the recording feature.

vic4news · Jul 18, 2011

Pilot said:
No cable, no satellite.

When I try to research online how to record onto a PC I get incomplete info and what info I do get is usually assumes I have cable or satellite.

I want to record from an antenna.

They say I need a tuner for the PC. Ok, I get that. But on the packaging for the tuners, it says "watch TV shows on your computer". No, I want to watch TV shows on the TV. Why would I want to sit in the office and watch on an 18 inch monitor which only 1 person can really see at a time when I have a 47 inch TV? None of the tuners say I can record on the PC and watch on the TV, but the sales people say it will work. I don't really trust sales people, especially when it means to return it, I have to drive 35 miles each way.

So, question: If I get a tuner for a PC, can I record on the computer and play on the TV?

What other equipment and or software do I need?

We have an old laptop we plan to use & it has about a 160G hard drive. Is that sufficient? If not, how about using an external hard drive with it?

What else do I need to know?

I guess my frustration shows. Sorry about that. Please help.

Thanks.

If you record 1 hour of hdtv, it will use about 8G of disk space. A 160G disk will be too small in my opinion. I built my HTPC a few years ago, before they came out with HDMI. I have two tuner cards and the PC is connected to the TV via DVI. I can scroll through the list of recorded shows and watch them by only using my universal remote control. You wouldn't know that you were watching shows from a PC.

You should take a look at the AVS forum. They have a section dedicated to HTPCs. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Vic

hr3 · Jul 18, 2011

Pilot.. If all you want to do is record from you antenna and watch on your TV later why are you getting your computer involved in the mix ??? I record from my antenna through a digital converter directly to my DVR ...

Pilot · Jul 18, 2011

hr3,

Well you got me to looking again. The TV store, that sells only video related stuff, told me months ago that the only thing was Tivo and they didn't carry it.

Went to Fry's and they sell tuners and were the ones that told me, "oh, sure, it will work" but couldn't answer all my questions and are 35 miles away.

I had looked online before and what I found were usually DVR's for security cameras or stuff that sold for $1400 that I didn't even look at.

But now, Viola! Fry's has one that is does the stuff Tivo does, but isn't Tivo, it's Channel Master and there's no subscription fee. $350. Now we're talking!
FRYS.com*|*PCT

So, thanks hr3 for getting me to look again. We might just do that.

ray66v · Jul 18, 2011

A DVD recorder with a digital tuner, or a DVR like Dave suggested, is the easiest way.

We own both, as well as a Tivo.

I like the Tivo the best, but I bought lifetime service so I don't have a monthly bill.

hr3 · Jul 19, 2011

Mine is a Accurian bought it at Radio Shack,, about 200.00 Good luck,,

buckeyefarmer · Jul 19, 2011

I use a vcr/dvd recorder with an HD tuner.

OKnewguy · Jul 20, 2011

Just a quick glance at the fry's unit and it is more expensive then the unit I posted earlier. The unit from Wallyword has a larger HD but does not have dual tunners. The fry's unit says u can watch one channel while recording another, but if it will not let you record 2 channels at once then you could accomplish the same thing with the wally unit and a coaxial splitter.
Food for thought, Dave