On Mon, January 14, 2008 5:02 pm, Phill Coxon wrote: > > I've been thinking about getting a hard drive recorder to record stuff > on TV. > > But I wanted to get some feedback from the resident mythtv experts on > whether it would be better to build a MythTV media box instead. > > I'd like to: > > * Record TV from my Sky decoder. > * Have some way to schedule and automatically change the SKY channel for > recording. > * Have a working remote control > * Have optional composite / HD output > > Any thoughts and recommendations for hardware etc would be appreciated. > > Thanks... >
I am a mythtv fan and don't have a HDD recorder to compare with, but: 1. you can record skytv. You will need an IR blaster (ie an infra-red transmitter) stuck on the front of the sky box to change channels. (see below) The normal remote still works. 2. EPG is built into myth and there are a couple of ways of getting data for NZ. 3, The best remote IMHO is the microsoft mce one. It is supported in linux and as a bonus has two transmitter modules too. You plug the "base" station into USB and point the remote control vaguely in that direction. The transmitters plug into the side and stick on the front of the sky box.. 4. For better quality on free to air channels you can get a DVB-S card and pick up all freeview channels from your Sky dish (via a splitter). You can then record two things at once, as long as one is on freeview. 5. Myth can do a whole lot more than a HDD recorder in terms of being a total media centre. Look at your RSS feeds, downloaded video, music, IP telephony, web pages, streaming video from the web, look at your photo collection, play games, get the weather forecast, make a cup of tea, stream your media all round the house, program that episode of coro from a web browser anywhere in the world, etc. There is a mythtvnz mailing list you may like to join, or just look at the archives http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/ > > > > > > > -- Nick Rout
