Is it possible to get build a HTPC to do what a PVR does?

[The Big Cheese]

Hi everyone

I've been looking at the forum and the FAQ and I'm pretty happy with what I would need to do hardware wise with building a HTPC but one thing I'm really looking for is to be able to record (at least) two freeview channels at once.

It used to be easy, I'm sure some PVRs used to have dual tuners on them and a DVD-RW to back the recordings up but that is scarce now.

So what I really need is a PC that will switch on automatically at the right time, record whatever I want it to (on two channels at once if needed...or four channels if I have two tuner cards (can you do that?) ) and then go back into standby until it's needed again.

Could anyone recommend specialist software I would need to do this?

Also could anyone recommend specialist twin capture cards so I can record two channels at once.

If possible I would like to put two capture cards in there so I can record up to four channels at once, would specialist software recognise and support quad tuners?

I am comfortable with building my own PCs but this is completely new to me!


Many thanks

[lordsmurf]

My HTPC can PVR, but I don't. I use a DVD recorder with HDD for recording.

[edDV]

Hi everyone

I've been looking at the forum and the FAQ and I'm pretty happy with what I would need to do hardware wise with building a HTPC but one thing I'm really looking for is to be able to record (at least) two freeview channels at once.

It used to be easy, I'm sure some PVRs used to have dual tuners on them and a DVD-RW to back the recordings up but that is scarce now.

So what I really need is a PC that will switch on automatically at the right time, record whatever I want it to (on two channels at once if needed...or four channels if I have two tuner cards (can you do that?) ) and then go back into standby until it's needed again.

Could anyone recommend specialist software I would need to do this?

Also could anyone recommend specialist twin capture cards so I can record two channels at once.

If possible I would like to put two capture cards in there so I can record up to four channels at once, would specialist software recognise and support quad tuners?

I am comfortable with building my own PCs but this is completely new to me!


Many thanks

Most popular PVR software include
- MCE (Vista and Win7)
- SAGE-TV
- BeyondTV
- GBPVR (free)
- MythTV (Linux and free)

Expect a fairly steep learning/debug experience.

Most supported tuner cards are Hauppauge PVR/HVR and ATI 550/650. Each site lists cards and issues.

Quad support would be limited to specific model combos. Check each site for info.

HD ATSC/DVB adds another layer of fun.

[ronnylov]

I am using DVBViewer for the recording purpose. It hi bernates after a completed recording and wakes up automatically before next recording. This is dobe with help of DVBViewer Task Scheduler plugin.

I am now also building a Linux PVR, using VDR.
This solution seems to be able to do what you want, but it is tricky to setup... It is more like a project to learn Linux for me.

Both DVBViewer and VDR can handle muliple capture cards. I really can recommend DVBViewer as it is the most stable DVB recording software I have been used.

[fk]

I can only agree with ronnylov. DVBViewer is the very best software for DVB reception and recording.