DVB - PC Cards Watch NTL on PC ..

khurrram

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Hi,

What I want to discuss in this post is, to see how many ways are there that we can use a DVB-C card .. and a software decrypter to watch NTL on a pc.

Although, I'm aware of a couple of solutions and have heard rumours about, What I want from all the dedicated folks at digital world is put your opinion and experience across to how this could be done.

As this post kicks off, I'll post the solution that I know and have it up and running. But then again, the possibility of doing it even better still creeps around me .. and there is no better way to get some company along the way, to discover new ways to achieving the same goal.

So folks, If I have a PC .. DVB-C Card [For Reference TechnoTrend 2300] .. and a DVB Application .. What would you suggest me ..

Cheers,

Khurram ..
 
Haven't Seen Any Participation So Far ..

Nobody is interested in this topic ? .. Raise some questions .. or something ..
 
There are loads of different solutions. Multidec, WatchTVPro, Ritz, WinTV etc....

For decryption of pay channels you'll probably find the Yankse & Fenrir plugins to be fairly unbeatable.

If you can then get a hold of the cam addon for your board and one of the multicams (JokerCam etc). With the appropriate Mosc card you will then be able to view encrypted channels using the software that comes with the card. All fully auto-updating !
 
i have to say i have much interest in this thread - i wonder if anybody using this system would be prepared to make a tut and files pack.

got some spare cash and fancy a DVB card for the PC.

so any help would be appreciated and i'm sure others would be interested.

@nozzer - it is clear to me having read your posts you are no novice, wonder if you could lead this old horse to water with a tut or something ???

twobeercans
 
now that's what I'm talking about ..

some one comes forward to share something .. well .. I know about Fenrir and Yankse .. and I have ritzDVB configured ..

nozzer .. how about these other applications .. how are they in terms of quality and user interface ..

also, if you could put a bit of light on hardware based C-I's .. also, is there someway we can speed up the key updation .. my current config lags for 2-3 secs before displaying anything .. any ideas .. ?
 
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hey two beer cans,

i won't mind puttin some effort towards helpin' you out ..

i wonder, if someone can assist me putting one of the PACE NTL BOX to some use .. it doesn't have a card .. I'm gonna do a wee search about it later on .. i know I need to buy a programmer .. and download a couple of softwares .. may be do it on christmas vacations .. got too much of uni work right now too ..
 
khurrram said:
how about these other applications .. how are they in terms of quality and user interface ..

Probably the best in terms of simplicity and quality is the WatchTVPro program. Unfortunately its a pay for program for the later versions but you can get some of the earlier versions for free or you could look around for a hacked version.

The most configurable in terms of plugins etc is more than likely the free MultiDec program. You can do all kinds of interesting stream logging with this program and i've found it has a really good scanner for finding channels.

Only problem with the third party programs is they tend to not have very good hardware cam support. If you are going to use a hardware cam then it may be best to stick with the application that came with your card.

khurrram said:
also, if you could put a bit of light on hardware based C-I's .. also, is there someway we can speed up the key updation .. my current config lags for 2-3 secs before displaying anything .. any ideas .. ?

Not sure what you mean by lagging 2-3 secs so I assume that you mean the time it takes to change channel. If you are relying on your program to read stream Id's for your selected channel then it can take a while. Pretty much the only way you will improve this is by using a hardware cam but even then it won't improve by much. My setup takes from 2 - 10 seconds to change channel using a softcam and 1 - 3 seconds using a hardware cam.

Take a look at http://www.dvbshop.net/index.php?cPath=2_14&osCsid=3e7a6cc67f0cf8c4dcad2abfddce501c they have CI interfaces for your card. As well as the the interface you will also need a cam to put in the interface. I've found the Jokercam to be pretty good but many other cams can also handle Nagra - IceCrypt, Matrix etc. All of these cams will allow you to set your own boxkey in one way or another. The combination of Cam interface & cam could set you back going on for £100 though so only you can decide if its worth it !

If you are into writing your own code for these cards then its well worth trying to get hold of the technotrend sdk. This is free on request (or used to be) but you do have to sign a non disclosure agreement and fax it back to them. The sdk makes writing your own specialised logging programs a doddle though. Its even reasonably easy to write your own simple TV application depending on how competent you are at coding !

@TwoBeerCans - take a look at the site link I posted above - it lists quite a few dvb-c cards and prices (in euros). What you need really depends on what you plan to use it for and how much you want to spend. Take a look and see what you reckon.

Unfortunately I have no experience of the newer cards having bought mine about 18 months ago. I got one of the last Siemens/Fujitsu cards which is roughly equivelent to one of the higher end cards but it has a lot more output options (scart direct to a TV is nice) and is a physically big card (full length pci) so may not fit into a smaller case.
 
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hey nozzer .. interesting .. i'm going to look into the WatchTVPro and Multidec thing tomorrow morning .. i'll post my comments about how got along as well ..

about the 2-3 sec lag .. yes it happens when I change the channel which is fine .. it was just a thought if I could make it better ..

About writing my own code .. probably I could do that .. I might do that .. may be when I've got more experience in my second year at uni [will try to get a couple of friends to start this as a project .. want mac compatability as well .. ]

.. umm .. I'll stick to soft CI at the moment. Umm .. another question nozzer .. is there some hardware limitation within a normal DVB-T card .. which makes it different from a DVB-C card ? .. probably the answer is yes .. but what makes me think this is, it's signals that are different .. isn't the decoding of channels the same ? ...
 
The main differences between DVB-T and DVB-C are the tuner itself (the cable interface is physically different to an aerial interface) and the demodulator section. The actual MPEG decoder section should be similar for both platforms
 
another thing :p

ritzDVB can use a set of icons channels .. make the program look nicer .. any site from where I can download the compatible icon set for NTL ..
 
hey .. guys .. could any one suggest me a method of getting this technotrend setup to work with Windows MCE ? ..

Everything is working fine on ritzDVB .. the only thing i miss a remote control .. and probably, a more stable UI ? .. any suggestions ..

cheers ..
 
khurrram said:
hey .. guys .. could any one suggest me a method of getting this technotrend setup to work with Windows MCE ? ..

Everything is working fine on ritzDVB .. the only thing i miss a remote control .. and probably, a more stable UI ? .. any suggestions ..

cheers ..
If there was a solution for this, Ide love to knwo too, Ide scrap my 2 pace boxes on my MCE and get 2 DVBc cards instead.
 
i know .. i've a feeling that something could be done about it .. anyone with any related info ? .. cheers.
 
If you got free cable at home, why do people want to watch ntl on their pcs. It's a hassle. if its for work , people go to work to work not to watch ntl otherwise ppl will get no work done. waste of money, thats my view anyway. :proud:
 
tlogic :

have you heard of windows media center edition ?

It is a computer operating system for media based PCs controller with a remote contraolwith a 10 foot interface. I have a custom built PC under my HD TV with 2 tv inputs connected to 2 pace di4000n boxes, this gives me the functionality of sky+ and much much more, I can play divx movies over my network, musc, instant messaging, skype via my bluetooth headset, control networked devices aroudn my home, watch TV over the network on extender devices such as my xbox 360 in anotehr room, the possabilitys are endless.

However, in order to work MCE has 2 infra red transmitters, so it can change channels o nteh 2 pace boxes, this creates a delay. If I could use 2 DVB-c cards instead, there would be no delay, it would be a much smoother experience.
 
seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, You can do bare s**t didn't knw you can do all of that! might have to investigate further!
 
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