If you have a newer TV that does ATSC/clearQAM, plug the cable directly and do a channel scan will tell you which digital channels (if any) you can get. The same ones you can pick up by any internal ATSC tuner card that does clearQAM)

Don't forget though that just because they don't encrypt it today doesn't mean they won't start doing so tomorrow. As time goes by, cable providers in Canada are encrypting more and more of their digital channels.

Buy a firewire cable and give it a try then. If it doesn't work, return the cable.So I don't need a TV tuner card if I want to watch TV. All I have to do is connect a firewire between the Shaw STB & my HTPC. Windows Media Center will do the rest. Is that correct? I guess that means that if I wanted to record something, I need a TV tuner card. Am I catching on?

Don't forget though that just because they don't encrypt it today doesn't mean they won't start doing so tomorrow. As time goes by, cable providers in Canada are encrypting more and more of their digital channels.
I know there is zero left for Rogers in GTA. Back then, there were some VOD stuff neighbors were ordering LOL.

What I really didn't like was not be able to use my HTPC with tuner cards to record the channels I paid for. Even if they lift the encryption on basic channels, I don't see myself going back subscribing.

Back to firewire recording - the learning curve is steep, there are old threads on this site you can search. However, the assumption is correct, you don't need a tuner card to do it.

PS - kaal, would you mind not using the green reply ?? :~)

:):):D:D
I was locked into the idea that if you wanted to watch TV on your PC, you first had to have a TV tuner card. NOT
Here's a comment about connecting firewire between a Shaw Cable DCT6200 STB and a PC.
"Actually. I'm using firewire with sahw in vancouver and ALL sd channels and 90% of HD channels are 5C clear (including HD timeshifting channels). Only HD Net, HD national geographic, Sports Net HD, and Speed HD are 5C encrypted. It just so happens that those are the only channels you dont get unless you get the premuim HD package. I dont subscribe to the premium HD package so every channel I get is 5C clear. Including the standard 15 or so HD channels. And... I havent checked the premium HD channels in a very long time for 5C (as I no longer subscribe to them) so they may not all be 5c anymore. Since 2005 Shaw has been scaling back 5C one channel at a time (I have no idea why) but over 2 yrs ago twice as many channels were 5C like the time shifting ones.... but not anymore.

I have reliable, perfect firewire tuning of 217 channels with dual DCT6200's with no mods %100 of the time... no guessing no problems, it just works every single time! So if you live in metro van.... I'd forgo the HD PVR unless you really , really want one of the four 5C protected channels.

P.S. - I forgot to mention a little bonus.... the DCT6200 digitally encodes even the low anologe channels so you get every channel pumped out via the firewire... even those peasy remaining anologe ones. No tuner card needed at all!"
copied from: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-33553.html

So I don't need a TV tuner card if I want to watch TV. All I have to do is connect a firewire between the Shaw STB & my HTPC. Windows Media Center will do the rest. Is that correct? I guess that means that if I wanted to record something, I need a TV tuner card. Am I catching on?You can try firewire by installing some firewire drivers on your PC called firestb.msi. There is a very long thread in the Rogers section that I started a while ago. The problem is that many/most of the channels are encrypted using something called 5C. Many other channels are not encrypted but there are lots of problems playing them back - green blobs, and other problems. To play back via firewire you will need to download some software called VLC. But using firewire to record HD in Canada is extemely unreliable on Windows. If you have access to a Mac you might want to try that as Mac users seem to have somehat more success but they can't do anything about the channels that are 5C encrypted.

Just to summarize everything from above - it is relatively easy and cheap to record analog or digital SD cable. For analog you just plug your cable into the tuner card. For digital cable you connect the S-video from your cable box (and audio) to the tuner card. You will need an IR blaster to change channels on your cable box.

For HD the easiest way to get an HD signal into your PC is with Over The Air signals. But you might not get many, if any, channels in Victoria and you will NEVER get premium channels like TSN, Movie Channels, Sportsnet, etc. Windows Media Center (Vista and XP) does not support digital OTA for Canadians but there is a hack that gets around this. This hack does not work if you have TV Pack 2008 for Vista or with Win 7. But there is one device that will work with Win7 or Vista TV Pack and that is called the HD HomeRun.

Many PC tuner cards also can tune in digital cable without a box using what is called QAM. In the US there are rules regarding what channels are encrypted - generally OTA channels cannot be encrypted. In Canada there are no rules and the cable companies encrypt all or almost all channels. Therefore QAM tuners are essentially useless in Canada.

The best option is called an HD-PVR which is a tuning device that connects to your PC via USB. You connect the component outputs of your cable box to the HD-PVR and use an IR blaster to change channels on your cable box. This is the only solution to get all of your HD channels into your PC if you have cable. Note that Windows Media Center (for XP and Vista) cannot use this device and it is unlikely they ever will as they don't suppor the H.264 video codec that is used with this device. There is a slight possibility that Win7 will support this device as it will support H.264 but the current Win7 beta does not appear to support the HD-PVR and the betting is that Microsoft will not want to support this device as they do not want to allow consumers to exploit the "analog hole". Therefore you will have to use other software such as SageTV, BeyondTV, MythTV or GBPVR. I don't know why you are so deadset against an external tuner device since you need an external cable box in this instance anyhow - whats the downside to another external device

The final way to get HD into a PC is if you are on satellite and you are willing to pay a few hundred bucks to get a satellite box modified so that it outputs video via firewire.

edit - I can't verify the above post as I am in Toronto and we have very few channels without 5C. What the 5C encryption looks like in Vancouver I cannot comment on nor can I comment on the Moto boxes as perhaps the stability issues that I mention are only with Scientific Atlanta boxes which Rogers uses in Ontario.

To play back via firewire you will need to download some software called VLC.First, let me commend you on your piece.

Amongst the VLC players listed on CNET's download.com, I saw 1 that I already have - PowerDVD. It came with my LG BD drive. Could you recommend another one? I want to replace PowerDVD as the bundled version doesn't support more than 2 speaker output. If you want to take advantage of movies encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll need to buy the retail version of PowerDVD Ultra.
I don't know why you are so deadset against an external tuner device since you need an external cable box in this instance anyhow - whats the downside to another external deviceLimited space in my home theatre configuration.

I believe the VLC software that was referred to is the VideoLAN player - freeware. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

recneps77 is correct - I meant vlc media player - Google it.

Limited space in my home theatre configuration.
You do realize, don't you, that an external USB2 tuner (HVR-950Q) is barely the size of an antenna balun.

In other words, tiny, no larger than connectors at the ends of some cables. It effectively takes up no space inside or outside of the PC.

Cheers

You do realize, don't you, that an external USB2 tuner (HVR-950Q) is barely the size of an antenna balun.

In other words, tiny, no larger than connectors at the ends of some cables. It effectively takes up no space inside or outside of the PC.But the HD-PVR is not, although it is not huge. I would say that it is about 20cm x17cmx7cm. Smaller than most cable boxes but MUCH bigger than a USB OTA tuner.

A bargain that might interest dh.ca readers:

The Hauppauge HVR-1600 is a decent PCI dual-tuner (one NTSC with hardware encoding, one ATSC for {H}DTV) card for HTPC use. I have one here, and so does a buddy, both in use with MythTV. It's a fine card for strong/weak stations, but not quite as good for extreme fringe reception as the newer 6th gen tuners.

Factorydirect.ca has a few refurb HVR-1600's (w/FM, no remote)
right now for C$25 -- very few left.

I imagine they'll all be gone before the end of today.

Cheers

Factorydirect.ca has a few refurb HVR-1600's (w/FM, no remote) right now for C$25 -- very few left.
Apparently they've still got them, so I'm heading out now to pick up a second one. Great deal for dh.ca folks!

Thanks mlord, I got one of the few remaining in Ottawa yesterday. Works like a charm. I have a 950Q as well, but as you know there's no analog support for that under linux yet (and it doesn't have an onboard encoder anyway). The 1600 gives me NTSC for the mythtv box I'm putting together.

Test it thoroughly -- they've apparently had a lot of returns of cards that turned out to be defective. Probably where the whole batch came from originally.

Cheers

Hi everyone, I am new to the forums and hope I am in the right place for an answer to my question.

I have just purchased a new computer and want to put a TV tuner in it. I currently have an HDTV with the the box for the tv but my computer is in another room and when necessary I would like to watch TV on it. I talked to someone at my local computer store and they said that as long as I get a tuner that is ATSC I should be able to get the digital channels which I assume he meant the HD as well. I am using DCCNET in delta.

Is this true? or was he refering to the over the air HD channels?

If that is the case is there any card that will allow me to get the HD channels through the cable as apposed to over the air?

Thanks for the help

If your cable has unencrypted QAM (plug your cable directly into your tv - can you tune them?) than any NTSC/ATSC/QAM (just make sure it actually has QAM) tuner card should do it for you for anything you can throw at it.
If you use a set-top box (and direct cable above gives no channels) then you will need something like the HD-PVR in order to record/tune HD on your PC.

m1234, before you go further you need to also check in this thread if your part of Delta gets the free QAM channels since some areas do not:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=63665

If you're in a good area of Delta then any QAM-capable tuner card will serve you well.

Hi everyone, thanks for the info thus far. So since you mention any tuner that supports QAM does that mean that any HD channels I get will be of the sub channel variety that move around all the time? like 70.2 70.3 etc?

When we first bought our TV and didnt have a digital package yet we were getting those channels but they kept shifting and it just made things frustrating when looking for shows but I guess if that is the best I can do it is better than nothing. As well, other than those HD channels would I recieve any of the digital channels or just the analog?

Thank you all again for your help

They tend to shift around a bit. Nothing you can do about it except rescan for them when they do. As I say, if your TV Tuner card gets QAM and you are in a suitable part of Delta you will get those stations.

Hi,

I just grabbed a HVR-1250 from BB day before yesterday (but keeping it sealed to make a return easy in case I've bitten off more than my PC can chew)

According to what I've read from official sources the Athlon64 3200+ has an official clock speed of 2.0 Mhz (which is about .2 below the min specs for the HVR-1250)

However anecdotal sources say that you can't compare official Mhz ratings for Athlon processors to a straight comparison for P4 processors and I *think* that, from what I've gathered, my Athlon64 3200+ might be the equivulant of a P4 3.0 Ghz

Thanks for any advice :)