WinTV v7 with multiple tuners - ATSC problem

[garymwong]

Hi,

Before going into the gory detail of my system setup, I wanted to find out what I should be expecting from WinTV v7.

If I have the HVR-1600, HVR-1250, and HVR-950Q, should I be able to watch analog and digital channels (NOT simultaneously)? I would think so. I know the individual cards work. However, they don't seem to work all together with WinTV. I tried SageTV and I was able to watch both analog-cable and ATSC-ota channels (not simultaneously but without any reconfiguration) using multiple tuner cards.

Some basic details are as follows:

I purchased and installed HVR-1600 along with WinTV on WHS (home build). I initially had a problem with the CD (couldn't autorun) so I ran Driver install program and the WinTV install program. Things seem to work pretty well (got both analog-cable and ATSC-ota channels) but the tuner card doesn't have a great ATSC receiver.

Next, I decided to purchase the HVR-1250 which has a better ATSC receiver. I installed the tuner and the drivers. I couldn't get any ATSC channels. I uninstalled everything (both tuner cards and WinTV) and then installed the HVR-1250, drivers, and WinTV only. I received ATSC channels. When I installed the HVR-1600 and drivers, I could only watch analog-cable channels. The ATSC channels were black screens (actually go no-signal icon displayed). The HVR-1600 tuner had "Live-TV" status and the HVR-1250 tuner had "Available" status.

Next, I decided to purchase the HVR-950Q. I had a similar experience as the HVR-1250. The only difference was that, in the end, both HVR-1600 and the HVR-950Q had "Live-TV" status. However, I could only watch analog-cable channels (the ATSC channels were black screens).

I realise that I didn't attach any log files. I just wanted to get my expectations of WinTV v7 correct before providing more details.

Gary

[TheNewGuy]

I have the HVR-1600, HVR-1250, and HVR-950Q, should I be able to watch analog and digital channels (NOT simultaneously)? I would think so. I know the individual cards work. However, they don't seem to work all together with WinTV. I tried SageTV and I was able to watch both analog-cable and ATSC-ota channels (not simultaneously but without any reconfiguration) using multiple tuner cards.
Yes, you should be able to use all of them.

There is one limitation to be aware of though, which is on the list to fix on the next release (i.e. post 1.3). At the moment it assumes that all channels are available on any source which supports that type. So, if you setup (for example) ATSC channels on the HVR-1600, it may end up choosing to use the 1600 or 1250 or 950Q to try viewing those channels, even if you didnt explicitly scan for that type of channel on some of those devices. This means you pretty much need an ATSC antenna feed hooked up to each of the three devices.

[garymwong]

Thanks! I now understand my problem. I was planning on using the 1600 only for analog-cable because it has hardware encoding and the 1250 (or 950q) only for ATSC-ota because it has a good digital receiver. I am having problems because WinTV is probably trying to get ATSC-ota from the 1600 even though it was configured for it.

When is v1.3 to be released?

[TheNewGuy]

1.3 will be available in a couple of days. As I mentioned though, this change will be made post-1.3 (ie, 1.4 or whatever the next version is).