Re: Advice on DVB-S/S2 card and CAM support

[Kaya Saman <SamanKaya@netscape.net>]

On 08/28/2014 04:47 AM, P. van Gaans wrote:
> On 07/28/2014 01:44 AM, Kaya Saman wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm wondering what the best solution for getting satellite working on
>> Linux is?
>>
>>
>> Currently I have a satellite box with CAM module branded by the
>> Satellite TV provider we are with.
>>
>>
>> As I am now migrating everything including TV through my HTPC
>> environment I would also like to link the satellite box up to the HTPC
>> too to take advantage of the PVR and streaming capabilities.
>>
>>
>> I run XBMC as my frontend so I was looking into TV Headend to take care
>> of PVR side of things.
>>
>>
>> My greatest issue though is what is the best solution for getting the
>> satellite system into the HTPC?
>>
>>
>> After some research my first idea was to use a satellite tuner card;
>> models are available for Hauppauge and other vendors so really it was
>> about which was going to offer best compatibility with Linux? (distro is
>> Arch Linux with 3.15 kernel)
>>
>> The model of card I was looking was from DVB-Sky:
>>
>> http://www.dvbsky.net/Products_S950C.html
>>
>> something like that, which has CAM module slot and is DVB-S/S2
>> compatible and claims to have drivers supported by the Linuxtv project.
>>
>>
>> Or alternately going for something like this:
>>
>> http://www.dvbsky.net/Products_T9580.html
>>
>> as it has a combined DVB-T tuner, then using a USB card reader for the
>> CAM "smart card".
>>
>>
>> Has anyone used the cards above, what are the opinions relating to them?
>> Also would they work with motorized dishes?
>>
>>
>> Since I'm not sure if "all" CAM's are supported as apparently our
>> satellite tv provider wanted to lock out other receivers so they force
>> people to use their own product;
>>
>> my second idea was to perhaps use a capture card with RCA inputs.
>>
>> Something like this:
>>
>> http://www.c21video.com/viewcast/osprey-210.html
>>
>> perhaps or a Hauppauge HD-PVR mk I edition:
>>
>> which according to the wiki is supported.
>>
>>
>> Looking forward to hearing advice.
>>
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>>
>> Kaya
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>
> Hi Kaya,

Hi,

many thanks for the response!

>
> RCA inputs is probably the last thing you want. Less quality, more of 
> a pain to set up.

Unfortunately I need the composite inputs due to a set-top box which is 
used to watch (non-English) sports with; and they are paid channels. The 
box is non-HD so only RCA (Phono) or SCART output.

>
> You may or may not be able to use that CAM - but even if it's 
> supported, a CAM has downsides. It generally only supports one channel 
> at a time - and surely not multiple channels from different 
> frequencies (if you have more tuners). And it's more expensive, both 
> the tuner (that needs a CI slot) and the CAM you need. Also, I'm not 
> sure if tvheadend nowadays supports a CAM - it used not to, but 
> support may have been added.
>
> The main downside of a phoenix-mode cardreader is that it's harder to 
> set up, but if you can find a guide for your provider it's generally 
> doable. It's cheaper, more flexible and allows for faster channel 
> switching.

I doubt the provider will have a guide as they "claim" to want to lock 
everybody into their own set-top box - the non-HD one described above.

>
> As for a tuner, I personally suggest going for a USB-tuner. You never 
> know if you want to connect you tuner to a notebook or NAS or anything 
> in the future, with USB you're more flexible. If you do go for PCI-e, 
> Tevii appears to have some supported products that are also available.
>
> If you go for USB, support is somewhat problematic (problematic 
> because many supported tuners are no longer available in stores), 
> you'll have to see what's locally available. (perhaps also check 
> second-hand) Be careful, some devices have various revisions. Always 
> check http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hardware_Device_Information

I did go this route eventually (since writing my initial post) :-) 
currently - though this was supposed to be my "last resort" route.

I grabbed a Hauppauge WinTV PVR-1900 EU version.

According to these guides:

http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Pvrusb2

http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-HVR-1950

http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-HVR-1900

It is supported.

I will need to write a separate posting for it though as I'm a little 
stuck with it. The BER is quite high and also I can't switch to the 
'composite' input most of the time though on rare occasion it does work?

The PCI/ or PCI-E card is still an option for me as it will go into a 
rather large HTPC case which I can also use as a server for distributed 
TV around the network.

>
> Very recently, Antti reviewed a patch from nibble.max to support the 
> DVBsky S960. (and presumably it's direct clones from Mystique) This is 
> a pretty cheap tuner that can still be found in shops. It would appear 
> that as soon as this patch gets merged, this device will be supported 
> if you compile v4l-dvb yourself, and in time support will make it into 
> the kernel.
>
> In any case, you want something with in-kernel support - something 
> that's only supported by s2-liplianin or vendor drivers (like many 
> dvbsky and TBS products) will only break in the long term. Only 
> exception to this is Sundtek, but I personally have mixed feelings 
> about closed source userspace drivers. I wouldn't recommend them 
> personally.

In my research I got suggested the Digital Devices line of products:

http://www.digitaldevices.de/

They are German so hopefully the quality will be extremely good and they 
all seem natively supported.

>
> Good luck,

Many thanks.

>
> P. van Gaans

Kaya