Howdy all,

I'm just about ready to test Circuit City's return policy. Over the weekend I had the bright idea of getting a TV tuner for my computer so I could record the Giro de Italia. The thought was I could record it onto the computer, have my computer compress it and upload it to my server were I could grab it at work and see the results instead of just reading about it. It'd also be nice to share the videos with some of my buddies who don't have OLN or Italian TV... That was the thought anyhow.

I've installed the card - Kudzu recognized it right off. I downloaded and installed kdeTV and with just a little tweaking of the frequencies can view every channel that doesn't require the digital cable box to descramble it. Exactly what I planned.

What I didn't plan on was the difficulty I'm having finding out / understanding how to record via Linux. I've spent somewhere between 5 and 6 hours fiddling with this darn (my language was a bit stronger, but censors got it) thing, and I'm still no closer to getting it to work the way I want. I have mplayer installed, but when I use the example viewing command for TV - my frequency is off about .75. The picture is there, but it's messed up.

I've tried installing any number of utilities Video4Linux Grab seemed the most promising of them, but with each successive download I end up getting redirected to another site to download something that is dependent, which sends me out looking for another package, which sends me out for another package, which sends me out for a burger or pizza before it will even let me run configure! I have never felt so at the mercy of my damned computer!

Ok, enough of the drama. Circuit City does have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, but before I take them up on it, I figured I would turn to the greater minds that mine here at LQ and see if anyone could point me in the right direction. I'd really love to be able to chunk the VCR and start recording straight onto my computer. Throw in a video editor to remove all of the commercials and I'd be in heaven, but Circuit City's return counter beckons. If no one can help me I'm afraid I'll have to give in to its call...