Cable box to computer hookup

Grim/Don

Grim/Don

Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
1,221
The search isn't working for me, so I don't know if this has been posted or not...

I've got a new computer with a TV-in card. It's go a coax-in and 2 S-video-in's with audio. The video card has an S-video out on it. (it's a Dell, if that matters...)

Our cable box (Pioneer) has a serial port, USB, Digital Audo and S-video out ports...

So... How do I hook them together to use my computer as a DVR? the instructions that came with it are a bit... sketchy... The first this they show is to hook the coax line to the computer (which isn't a problem, I've got a splitter and extra coax around) but is it necessary? Should I hook everything up straight from the cable box?

The computer came with some adapters, but not a whole lot of cables. My computer is about 8 feet from the cable box, but I can rearrange if need be. I can also purchase whatever cables/extensions that I need.

Thanks!
 
hope you figure it out-
my cable box dvr is awsome-i love the way you can pause live tv
 
You should be able to just connect the S-Video output of the cable box to the S-Video input of your PC using a standard S-Video cable which you can obtain at Radio Shaft. Electrically, this should work fine. Cable boxes, in my limited experience with them, do not have any sort of "enable" function on their S-Video outputs; there's really no reason for them to add that complexity and cost to the product. S-Video is very well-defined so there shouldn't be any "protocol" issues. But, there is doubtlessly some setting on your PC to select video input source. That's what you have to find. It may require a call to Dell Tech Support. Fortunately, it is a Dell which means that their Tech Support people have the intelligence of a field mouse (which is as opposed to most PC companies whose tech support people have the intelligence of garden moss). This is also a very simple and well-bounded question which should be easy for the tech support people to handle.
 
Depends! You won't get any audio through SVideo, so keep that in mind.

You should just be able to use the coax. Plug it into the back of your computer exactly the way you would a TV. From there it's just software, really.
The S-Video on your video/graphics card itself meerly projects what would normally be on your monitor, to the S-Video port of, say, a TV. Usualy, there's no need to "Select" which video in or out, should just plug and play. From the computer side, anyway. Your Cable Box might need a setting.
 
Got some coax and a splitter and hooked the cable up. I've got the XP Media
Center edition, and it recognized the signal and pulled in the guide from the internet, after asking for my zip code.

Only thing was... I could only get the lower tier of channels... So, I unhooked the cble and hooked back up between teh cable box and the TV... then, I could only watch teh same channel that was on the TV... Which is kinda weak; out TV is about 4 feet away (in our family room)

I was hoping to be able to watch all the channels without having to get a second cable box... Is there a way to do it, legally, using the computer?
 
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