Will an AM21 work with a HTPC???

[baldrick5]

I currently use an AM21 with my HR21

When Windows 7 comes out and when the HDPC-20 (hopefully) comes out, I plan on building my first HTPC.

Can I use the AM21 as an external USB OTA tuner???? This way I can save some money and not have to buy a seperate PCIe card....

Thanks

[litzdog911]

Not likely.

[houskamp]

I currently use an AM21 with my HR21

When Windows 7 comes out and when the HDPC-20 (hopefully) comes out, I plan on building my first HTPC.

Can I use the AM21 as an external USB OTA tuner???? This way I can save some money and not have to buy a seperate PCIe card....

Thanks
don't think anyone ever found a driver for it for a pc..

[harsh]

There are numerous solutions already available for the Windows platform and most of them will handle QAM in addition to NTSC and ATSC. The big benefit is that the recorded content will be in a format that you can readily archive/burn and play back on various devices.

[Davenlr]

You can get a HD USB tuner stick for a htpc for $20...Im using one in mine with Sagetv as the server. Windows Vista and higher has all sorts of DRM crap in it, so its doubtful you would ever get a driver or be able to do anything other than watch live if you did.

[Jeremy W]

when the HDPC-20 (hopefully) comes out
Just to crush the rest of your dreams, the HDPC-20 was too good to be true. We'll never see it.

[Tom Robertson]

In theory, the AM21 could be made to work with a PC. If someone finds/writes drivers for it.

As a solid USB box, rather than a pair of dongles that would be needed to get two tuners otherwise, it is a nice unit.

Alas, I don't expect drivers anytime soon. And the first set just might be for a linux box as a variant of existing open source drivers already existing.

Peace,
Tom

[Jeremy W]

As a solid USB box, rather than a pair of dongles that would be needed to get two tuners otherwise, it is a nice unit.
It also requires AC power.

[Tom Robertson]

I'm thinking AC won't be a problem for a HTPC... :)

(and more stable than trying to power two dongles off a single USB port with a powerless hub.)

[bobnielsen]

In theory, the AM21 could be made to work with a PC. If someone finds/writes drivers for it.

As a solid USB box, rather than a pair of dongles that would be needed to get two tuners otherwise, it is a nice unit.

Alas, I don't expect drivers anytime soon. And the first set just might be for a linux box as a variant of existing open source drivers already existing.

Peace,
Tom

Ethernet, not USB, but the HDHomeRun (http://www.silicondust.com) is a pretty nice dual-tuner device, although a bit pricey. Software is available for several platforms.

[ebockelman]

You can get a HD USB tuner stick for a htpc for $20...Im using one in mine with Sagetv as the server. Windows Vista and higher has all sorts of DRM crap in it, so its doubtful you would ever get a driver or be able to do anything other than watch live if you did.

No ATSC/Clear QAM tuner under Vista has special DRM applied. If a driver ever existed for the AM21, it should be no different.

That said, I don't think we'll ever see one. ATSC tuners are cheap enough anyway.