Hong Kong Now Broadband TV, PVR

[HK Phoey]

Has anyone done any work on capturing the Now TV broadband signal from PCCW in Hong Kong?  They provide a decoder box that plugs in to an ethernet socket for input and composite TV for the output.  It has an onscreen program guide which highlights the channels you are subscribed to.

However, if I want to record a channel I need to set the Now decoder box to the right channel and get the PVR to record that.  That makes it hard to record programs on different channels over night.

Is there anyway to replace the PCCW box with my PVR to give it control to switch channels?  I'm not trying to get access to more channels I haven't paid for here, just trying to record ones I have paid for more easily.  And reduce the number of remote controls I have to juggle!

Richard

[rampy]

Has anyone done any work on capturing the Now TV broadband signal from PCCW in Hong Kong?  They provide a decoder box that plugs in to an ethernet socket for input and composite TV for the output.  It has an onscreen program guide which highlights the channels you are subscribed to.

However, if I want to record a channel I need to set the Now decoder box to the right channel and get the PVR to record that.  That makes it hard to record programs on different channels over night.

Is there anyway to replace the PCCW box with my PVR to give it control to switch channels?  I'm not trying to get access to more channels I haven't paid for here, just trying to record ones I have paid for more easily.  And reduce the number of remote controls I have to juggle!

Richard

Hey Richard,

You probably won't be able to replace the PCCW box with a PC PVR, sorry.  Although you *should* be able to slave the PCCW box to your PC PVR with an IR blaster which will allow the PC PVR to change the channels automagically and unattended.  Of course this all hinges on whether the PCCW STB has an IR input =)

IT sounds like PCCW is similiar to the IPTV like QWEST offerrings in the states... where the "cable" comes in over SDSL...

I hope that helps!

rampy

[HK Phoey]

Thanks, that IR blaster sounds like a workable idea.

I'm very impressed with the level of support you give on this web site!  It's a real encouragement to move forward with this project when I can see I will have somewhere to go if I get stuck.

Thanks!

[Myth]

There is also a serial connector on the Now decoder...can this be used to control the channel changing instead of a IR blaster?

I am in HK now and don't know where to get a IR blaster.

p.s Just pulling ideas together to get my MythTV box working in HK

[kenson]

Hi guys, I am using MCE and  I can either set up the normal TV channels or "Now" boardband TV bu tnot both at the same time, , since that there is no input or output for a normal TV signal to the "Now" decoder, how can I slove this issue? or I have to give up either one of them?

[rampy]

Hi guys, I am using MCE and  I can either set up the normal TV channels or "Now" boardband TV bu tnot both at the same time, , since that there is no input or output for a normal TV signal to the "Now" decoder, how can I slove this issue? or I have to give up either one of them?

I'm not sure I fully understand... BUT it sounds like you are running up against the fact that MCE 2005 doesn't allow you to have 2 different TV listings...

Other pvr software can, BUT not sure if it will natively have HK listings.. you may have to get creative/roll your own in that instances.

rampy

[kenson]

Hi guys, I am using MCE and  I can either set up the normal TV channels or "Now" boardband TV bu tnot both at the same time, , since that there is no input or output for a normal TV signal to the "Now" decoder, how can I slove this issue? or I have to give up either one of them?

I'm not sure I fully understand... BUT it sounds like you are running up against the fact that MCE 2005 doesn't allow you to have 2 different TV listings...

Other pvr software can, BUT not sure if it will natively have HK listings.. you may have to get creative/roll your own in that instances.

rampy

Thanks for your reply and sorry for my bad interpretation. 

The situation is that I had setup a few  broadcast channels and a few star TV channels without much problem (also with the TV guide using TVxb), then I try to set up the  Netvigator Now Broadband channels (which connected to the video input of the turner card)  , I selected cable setting and setup the remote and everything in MCE, iit worked well too......but then I discoved that the previously analog TV channels have disappeared instead of adding the new channels to the original  list. So from what you reply is that Windows XP MCE cannot support both 2 different kind of signals from the same time?

[rampy]

To be clear:

It can accept 2 different signals, but does NOT support 2 different TV guides/Tv listings/EPG's... 

It's a subtle difference, but in the end amounts to the same problem/restricition on your end.

I would poke around the green button forum to see if there's a work around, but sadly I believe there is not one for MCE 2005.

good luck

rampy

[HK Phoey]

I think what he is getting at is that he has two inputs - one is an analogue signal with several channels modulated on it that the tv decoder card needs to decode, and the other input is a digital input carrying a single channel, which can be selected by an external decoder  / cable tv box to be the required channel.

I am doing that successfully in Hong Kong using a Hauppaugge PVR-500 and GBPVR software, rather than MCE.  My NOW broadband TV connects to the S-video input of the tv decoder card, and an ir-blaster is used to switch the channels on the NOW TV box.

Follow my profile for more details how this is set up and where I bought the stuff in Wanchai

[kenson]

I think what he is getting at is that he has two inputs - one is an analogue signal with several channels modulated on it that the tv decoder card needs to decode, and the other input is a digital input carrying a single channel, which can be selected by an external decoder  / cable tv box to be the required channel.

I am doing that successfully in Hong Kong using a Hauppaugge PVR-500 and GBPVR software, rather than MCE.  My NOW broadband TV connects to the S-video input of the tv decoder card, and an ir-blaster is used to switch the channels on the NOW TV box.

Follow my profile for more details how this is set up and where I bought the stuff in Wanchai

Thanks for helping me to explain my situation precisely. I am using Hauppaugge PVE-150MCE (connected the Now Broadband box to its video input) with Windows MCE, I can succcessfully set up the ir to control the Now Broadband box too but just keeping messing up the channel list. Will try again tonight and see how it goes.

[billd]

Your choices are to:
1. Only watch broadcast TV through MCE
2. Only watch cable TV through MCE
3. Use PVR software other than MCE

For the moment I have gone with 2.

I don't know this for sure, however, I believe in the US (where MCE was designed) the cable distributors are required to retransmit broadcast TV through their networks. So US consumers can get all their TV through one distribution. (Broadcast HD TV might be an exception although MCE has built in special additional support for this)

In Hong Kong the cable companies are not permitted to carry broadcast TV. (iCable did ot for about one week until one of the networks - TVB or ATV - stopped them doing that.)

It's an astounding defect in MCE because it makes it unsellable in countries such as Hong Kong. And even in the US MCE users can't plug in alternative video feeds such as camcorders or security cameras.

[meksta]

HK Ph0oey,

Can you forward me your HIP setup files (if any) for the Now remote controller please? I am having trouble getting started with GBPVR

[HK Phoey]

Here you go.  remember to knock the .txt off the file name

Most importantly, I found that this would only work if the ir transmitter is taped to the NOW cable box front panel, right over the ir detector.

I also attach my gbpvr config file as well incase that helps.  This is for NOW coming in to a Hauppaugge MCE500 card on the s-video input and regular broadcast tv on the analogue connector.

Hope that helps!
 

[HK Phoey]

You are lucky I answered that last query because I haven't been here for a while.  I only came back because I'm adding an extra channel and forgot how to do something.  I know see what a bodged state I left the NOW channel changer in!

Besides the files I posted above you also need the MCEIR file and a batch file I threw together.  This is the bit that is particularly nasty, because instead of making it very general I make you add an extra line for each new channel you add.  I caught myself out because I forgot about that bit.

This batch file is called from GBPVR when a NOW channel is selected.  That is set in GBPVR setup for the recording source.

I keep it in C:\tv stuff\mceir  - I attach that whole directory, along with the files that define the recorded ir from the NOW broadband remote.  It's a zip file, with .doc added to get it to upload to this messageboard

Hope that helps!

[meksta]

thanks a bunch...I will be playing around with your files to hopefully get NOW working.

I did modify your batch file to be generic for channel numbers up to channel 999.