hybrid FM TV tuner for streaming
 

Hello,

I would like to stream local radios and local free to air TV in Internet so that a radio or a Tv can be listened or watched via Internet. There is analog and digital TV with DVB-T signal. There are 12 channels to stream ()both TV and radio). Please can I get help? Is it possible to have hybrid multi tuners? Is it possible to use multiple single tuner with the same computer (or server) to record the signal of each channel? Any suggestion is welcome.

Thank you
Austina

Hello!

You kind of have a lot going on in this question.

First is streaming over the internet. Issue is speeds of upload and downloads maybe. HD TV in mpeg4 is like 15% of a 100base connection. So you may need to start looking for devices that have hardware chips that convert the format directly to some smaller size or even one that can be selected internally from some command. Taking multiple TV directly over the internet may be too much for any home isp connection.

Multiple sources. Some boards can support maybe 2 up to maybe 8. In some cases you can put multiple boards or external devices in the computer but some brands need to be checked to see if they will allow that and you board supports enough free slots.

If you only want to record then at some point download the file then that is pretty easy as long as you take into account the amount of data you are talking about. In HD a mpeg4 hour show is about 8G. You start getting to some backplane and hard drive limits real easy on multiple recordings.


To access your system remotely is maybe the most easy part. Many many ways that may also involve a reduction in screen such as a remote desktop. A remote desktop or NX type connection would not send over as much data usually. It has settings for quality.

Hi Jefro,

Thank you very much for your help. I have seen a tuner at this link http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/TV_Tu...maU3000Hybrid/ (ASUS My Cinema-U3000Hybrid). Butit is not for Linux. I am looking to see if it is possible to use more than one tuner on the same computer, its maximun recording time (if it has).

Regards
Austina

I can only guess unless you get some direct replies from some user or direct web agreement. I'd think you could get some usb to work in linux. (I have a similar usb that is next to impossible to get to work from Asus.)

Again you have a lot going on in the question. Do you want or need to have all 12 inputs working at once?

I forget to even mention that signal issues come into play here. I live in a remote area and I'd have to amplify the best outdoor antenna if I wanted to get two outputs working. Each time you split a signal or for that matter every inch of cable degrades the signal. You need to be in an area with fantastic reception for many of these junky usb devices. Sadly, no one makes any claim of signal strength for their products. The usb deal I had is about half as good as my silicondust which is about 3/4 as good as my tv so need to think about that.

Usually you can take programs like vlc and point them to the receiving unit.

As for internal devices they have some limit by oddity of other issues. Maybe a limit of 4 cards or such per backplane. USB might be limited pretty quick by it's speed with 12 devices.

I'd think about the external devices that decode in their own hardware to get 12 to even come close to working.


Now there is a company in New York that is starting to win lawsuits for their ability to sell internet OTA channels. They actually have created small chips with antenna and decoders that they funnel into the web to subscribers to avoid legal issues of re-transmission. Might be able to get some of those chips and see how they connect them to their servers.

Thanks very much for your replies. Please can I have more details about this company, the products you mentioned, their web site for example.
Regards
Austina

I think one of them is Aereo or something like that.

I visited the company web site. I find your replies very useful for me and thank you very much.
Regards
Austina

Hold up,...

Don't get caught up on any one product until you can determine what, exactly, that your wants and needs are,...

In Linux, you can have as many TV tuners working as your hardware can keep up with... Beats any other OS, hands down...

In Windows,... NOT. PERIOD. Plus, Windows will saddle you with DRM (Digital RESTRICTIONS Mangagement). Linux leaves this part up to you. PERIOD. End of discussion on that point.

In Linux, getting things set up can be a royal Pain in the Backside... This is undisputed. Windows multimedia setups are quicker to implement, hands down. But they have zero flexibility. Want to record in 1080p in Windows??? Sorry. Won't happen. Want to record with the "watch once" flag disabled in Windows? Sorry. Microsoft has "contracts" with the major content providers to the contrary.

If you want digital TV capture,... Take a look and the HDhomerun line by Silicon Dust (OK, looks like you did). They are network accessible TV Tuners that can do broadcast as well as cable TV. In my experience,... 2X what my TVs can bring in... And I, arguably, live in the most Cable TV rich environment in the world (Cable TV's birthplace). If an HDhomerun can't keep up with your TV (cable company owned decoder boxes excepted), there's something wrong with the way you split your Cable TV coaxial cable wires...

Also, Take a look at MythTV, FreeVo, VLC and LinuxMCE...

You're only scratching the surface, here...

Thanks very much JaseP for your reply.For HDhomerun, it seems that there is no FM tuner (for radio)and analog TV. But I think their tuners are well known and seem to be reliable. What I need is to record TV analog , digital and FM radio with few devices (tuners) and then stream the audio or video to Internet. As it seems difficult to have for both for TV and radio, I can start just by FM radio. I have found many FM tuners but I don't know if it is possible to record many FM radios simultaneously on a computer and then stream the recorded audio on Internet.
Regards
Austina

FM tuners have been phased out for TV. There are only a handful of places in the world that still broadcast analog TV. Cable Co.'s are one of the few exceptions, but most of them are also phasing out analog,... as they can try to force you into renting decoder boxes, and those decoders often have only hdmi output. And, Yes, HDhomerun is strictly digital.

With tuners, the number of recordings per device is determined by the capabilities of the card or device. Some devices which have both analog & digital tuners can only utilize one of them at a time. Others can allow you to treat analog and digital signals separately (some Hauppauge cards). You have to research the device to know. If a manufacturer doesn't support Linux, don't support THEM,... otherwise you are buying obsolescence. Once a manufacturer ceases ongoing support, you're left with community support. If they've supported Linux, you have a shot at ongoing support, and updated drivers from community projects like MythTV, etc. (usually recycling binary snippets from earlier drivers along with the open source components getting updates).

For analog, you're generally going to need one device per tuned channel. For digital, it's hit and miss (for instance with QAM signals from cable co.'s, you'll sometimes be able to tune more than one sub-channels of a major digital TV channel per tuner,... but it's not necessarily something that can be done with any regular reliability). Some digital tuners, like HDhomeruns, have multiple tuners in each device, each independently tunable.

As long as your computer is capable enough, it's not out of the realm of possibility to record from 8 different sources on one multimedia server. As a practicality, though, four is generally going to be your functional limit (dictated by the number of devices you can have independently attached and running). That said, recording on four devices, while streaming on others is not out of the picture, especially if you're streaming from network devices. That's one thing that makes the HDhomerun so attractive... as each client could be tuning each tuner independently, and decoding the resulting stream themselves. For analog, get a relatively middle-aged card or device with known current support. For digital, get a relatively new, but not bleeding edge, device with stable drivers/support.

Ultimately, I think you'll be best off with HDhomeruns for digital content and some analog-only Hauppauge cards for FM TV/radio.

Streaming is something else,... and is a largely software issue. VLC seams to be where all the attention is now. Frankly, I don't stream outside my LAN,... too much potential for security issues and accusations of copyright violation. Storage is so cheap that I don't need to worry about taking some files with me. A movie can be ripped to under a Gig, and songs?!,... forget about it!!! If you're spending a lot of time away, but want to have access to current stuff at home, then you're needs are different.

Why do you need all 12 inputs all the time by the way?

Hi Jefro. This is my whish to have all the 12 channels working at once. But if it is not possible to have all, I will try to have FM radios working (7 FM channels). Thanks to all of you for your help.

Easy,... First, one per each HTPC location, so that each HTPC has access to real-time broadcast media. Secondly, one in "reserve" for each user that may be recording something.

It's not unusual in my house for there to be three TVs going at any one time (one for me, one for the Mrs. and other for the kids). But, my kids are young, so I don't need all the inputs that I may in a few years. In a few years I may need another 4 tuners (currently have 4 tuners, 2 in each of my two HDhomeruns). That way, each person will have one tuner for live media and another for recording (or two for recording while watching on a common area screen)...

The Mrs. might want to record one thing at the same time that I want to record another. We have some programs that record on a schedule, so there might be overlap.

Someone with a bigger family (or a bigger entertainment addiction) may need more inputs. Additionally, extra inputs can be re-purposed for home surveillance (analog capture device attached to an analog camera). I currently have only one IP camera, but have plans for at least one (maybe two) more. But analog cameras are often more robust and can be more weather resistant (and easier to mod by putting in an enclosure),... So, you'd need an input device and recording capabilities for that.

You know, many traditional radio stations will simul-caste over the Internet... That saves you a couple of devices, right there...

Maybe I didn't fully ask that question well.

Do you need to have all 12 channels recording or streaming all at the same time? For what use would one do that?

For the most part you can get what ever devices you want. The issues of network speeds and motherboard backplane speeds along with hard drive and cpu all come into play on this many inputs.

Generally there used to be a rule about 4 identical cards in one computer. That didn't always hold true as some boards need drivers that simply would not allow you to use more than one at a time.