Mailing List Archive

On 1/20/06, Corrin Lakeland <lakeland@go.org.nz> wrote:
> So... if I want to replicate my current setup (2 channels at once) on
> sky, what do I need to get? Everything I've read talks about being
> unable to decrypt sky inside the PC, which seems to point towards
> using composite or s-video from the decoder + an IR blaster to change
> channels. Apart from being messy, I can't see how this can do two
> channels at once...

Right. You'd need two decoders. However, if you've got Sky going into
one capture card and a separate tuner card you can record two shows at
once provided one of them is free to air. In practice, given how often
Sky repeats the stuff on most of their channels, this is sufficient
for most people. In the 12-odd months I've been using MythTV that way
I've never missed something I wanted to watch because of scheduling
conflicts. Of course, if you watch a lot more on Sky than I do you
might not be so lucky.

DVB-S won't help you here because Sky's tranmissions are encrypted and
there is no way to decrypt them without a Sky decoder (i.e. no CAM or
software method I know of). DVB-S will give you fantastic quality TVNZ
channels and self-contained guide data, but that is all.

> So... apart from giving up on mythtv and buying a mysky box, how can
> I get two digital channels at once?

Again, two decoders is the only way. I don't know if mysky can output
two channels to external devices simultaneously - if it does you could
use that, but you'd probably just end up using mysky's PVR
functionality anyway.

Steve

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On Fri, 2006-01-20 at 14:01 +1300, Corrin Lakeland wrote:
> i have been thinking of getting sky digital so I can a) get good
> reception, and b) watch foodTV rather than download it off
> bittorrent :). Anyways, having never had sky, I'm a bit unsure about
> all this new satellite & digital terminology, DVB-S f'instance...

Because of the encryption, you can pretty much ignore all the digital
stuff and just treat it as a composite/svideo source with an external
channel changer. IR blaster etc, as you note below..

> So... if I want to replicate my current setup (2 channels at once) on
> sky, what do I need to get? Everything I've read talks about being
> unable to decrypt sky inside the PC, which seems to point towards
> using composite or s-video from the decoder + an IR blaster to change
> channels. Apart from being messy, I can't see how this can do two
> channels at once...

If you want two Sky-encrypted channels, you'll need two boxes. And two
IR blasters. And keep them seperate enough to not change both boxes at
once. And pay Sky for two boxes. It's messy indeed, but that's the only
option.

However, if you're happy with just TVNZ FTA channels for the "other"
channels, then wiring a DVB-S card to the same dish as the Sky box will
work. Limited to One, CH2, Maori TV, and a couple of other not
terrestrially-offered channels (DWTV and NASA TV).

--
David Zanetti <david.zanetti@catalyst.net.nz>
Team Leader, Systems Administration
Catalyst IT Limited
+64-4-8032233 +64-21-402260