DVB - PC Cards Which CAM/Card

[elyl]

I'm looking for recommendations for which CAM to get for my HTPC. I'm going for a dual-tuner system, so will need two CAMs.

I believe my options include:
- Blue Zeta
- IceCrypt
- Diablo

I'll need the Zeta or IceCrypt flashed with Joker 0.79, and this can be done with a CAS 3 programmer (but, I assume, not CAS 2)? I'll also need a funcard (4?) for each CAM, and I assume I program this using the same CAS 3 programmer?

I understand if I use a Diablo CAM then I can do away with the funcard, since it can emulate the card in hardware? I assume I would still need to program the Diablo though?

Can anyone point me to a step-by-step guide to programming the CAMs and cards?

TIA!

 

[cafe.racer]

Assume you mean for cable? I was going to do a "Setting up a Diablo" guide, so give me a bit and I'll do one.

I'm still a noob though, but hopefully that will help the guide be as step by step as possible, but might mena it's "wrong" in places.

I'll need to check with the admins as the guide will have to go in the downloads section...

 

[nozzer]

Do you really need two cams for this ?

A single card is more than capable of supplying decryption for more than one channel. Never tried it with a HTPC setup but on plain old XP i've certainly had the ability to watch one channel whilst recording another (from seperate tuner) using both a softcam and a single hardcam (ICE with Joker 0.79)

 

[cafe.racer]

I think you can only use softcams with certain HTPC software - my understanding was that they don't work with MCE for example.

I assumed a softcam completely replaced a Hardware CAM, so why have a CAM at all? Is this not the case then?

You're supposed to get faster channel changes etc. out of a hardware CAM, aren't you.

 

[nozzer]

I think you can only use softcams with certain HTPC software - my understanding was that they don't work with MCE for example.

Thats true I think and one of the reasons I dont use MCE.

I assumed a softcam completely replaced a Hardware CAM, so why have a CAM at all? Is this not the case then?

yes, a Softcam can completely replace a Hardcam. What I was saying above is that i've had a dual tuner setup working with a single hardcam and also working with a softcam. I didn't see the need for two hardcams.

You're supposed to get faster channel changes etc. out of a hardware CAM, aren't you.

Generally, thats true but you probably wont notice much of a difference on a fast PC with modern dvb software. The tuning time is likely to be far longer than the time it takes for a softcam to find the relevant ECM stream.

 

[elyl]

True, I suppose I could use a soft cam and a hard cam, but I plan on a MCE setup and I don't believe you can use a softcam with that.

 

[cafe.racer]

Sorry, I often ask questions to check my understanding, hope I didn't pee you off.

There was something about your post that made me think that the softcam somehow accessed the decryption bit of the hardcam. So you're saying that as long as your PC (processor) can cope and your HTPC software can use softcams you could get away with using two softcams?

It's quite a nice solution thinking about it, hardcam for viewing (fast changes etc) and softcam mainly for recording... saves a bit of dosh, and you can always get another hardcam later if you really need to.

 

[elyl]

Does the Hard/Soft CAM decode the signal before it is processed? i.e. if I went with a hard and soft cam solution, would the softcam decode the signal before it is streamed to disk, or would it be applied to the stream on playback?

 

[charlieram]

before it is processed i believe

 

[cafe.racer]

Yes, beforehand.

 

[cafe.racer]

I knocked up a guide and I've put in the downloads > cable > guides section. I've done it specifically for the Diablo, but I'm sure that it'll give clues to other CAMs if that's what you went for.

 

[señor ding dong]

Thanks. The files are password protected, though.

 

[cafe.racer]

I'll sell you the password for a fiver


Only kidding. I noticed that a couple of other files in download were password protected and thought it was "de rigeur". All the information is on the download page , but, best if I remove the passwords.

Edit: Done.

P.S. I tried Stealth 2.13 last night and Stealth 2.09 seems better, although it might be that one of my CAMs is "faulty"...