PVR link to computer

[dano]

I am a long time reader of this board (and newly registered user) and have always found useful information here.

I recently purchased a new computer with a writeable DVD drive. I've been having loads of fun transferring some home movies to DVD.

I was wondering if it is possible to connect my 501 to my computer to enable the transfer of recorded programs to DVD for long term storage. Currently if I have something on my PVR that I want to save, I have to record it to VHS. Obviously getting it on DVD would be preferable.

Has anyone had any experience with this and if so, is there some special hardware that I need to enable the connection??

Thanks in advance for the help!

[jgoggan]

See the "DishRip" Yahoo Group.

- John...

[dano]

Yikes! In my quick read of info on DishRip, it appears I have to pull my harddrive out of the PVR to make this work. I was hoping for some sort of link between the PVR outputs and my computer's firewire ports or something like that. I'm not real comfortable gutting my PVR right now.

[Jacob S]

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, its 'rigging it up' as you may call it. There are also programs to where you can use your computer's hard drive to record the programs, maybe this would be a better solution for you. This is what I have been thinking about doing myself. One could have an external hard drive and always upgrade it in the future.

[gcutler]

Originally posted by dano
Yikes! In my quick read of info on DishRip, it appears I have to pull my harddrive out of the PVR to make this work. I was hoping for some sort of link between the PVR outputs and my computer's firewire ports or something like that. I'm not real comfortable gutting my PVR right now.

Two external device vendors to look at, they also make internal capture cards.

www.dazzle.com
www.canopus.com

My setup is like this

Dish501 or VCR-----S-Vid/RCA Cable-----External Capture Device-----Firewire/USB2.0------PC with DVD Burner

try www.dvdrhelp.com for detailed questions.

[gcutler]

Here is the back of a sample external video capture device, this will do Analog to PC as well as PC to Analog, and uses USB 2.0 to communicate with the PC, S-Vid/RCA to connect to PVR/VHS/Whatever. Keep away from USB 1.1 devices, use USB 2.0 or Firewire

[makman]

I can't seem to find the DishRip group on yahoo groups. What's the trick?

Mitch

[1]

Am I missing something here? Why can't you just go from the 501 video (line) out to the video in on the computer like you would for a home movie. It's just analog but should still be good video.

[gcutler]

Originally posted by 1
Am I missing something here? Why can't you just go from the 501 video (line) out to the video in on the computer like you would for a home movie. It's just analog but should still be good video.

Not every PC has a Video-In. You need a video card or seperate capture card that does like that device I listed does, you need the card to convert Analog to DIGITAL VIDEO (and sound). I have 4 PCs that are less than 2 years old and none of them have a Video-In, because none of the video cards I selected had that feature. That feature is gettimg more common, but while there are alot of cards out there that will do Analog to DV conversion many don't do it very well (they drop frames, etc) So make sure your internal or external converter does the job right (you may need to replace the component if you don't like the outcome as some devices are just not very good)

[toad57]

Originally posted by makman
I can't seem to find the DishRip group on yahoo groups. What's the trick?

Mitch

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishrip/

[ibglowin]

Dont forget, (and many people do) that you can also go from the S-video out of the PVR and then into a Digital Camcorder. From there, the Firewire out on the camcorder to Firewire in on the back of your computer and then process your file as normal. Yes this does add a step that may degrade a wee bit (digital-analog-digital) but its easy and better than opening the cover of your PVR if your not a computer geek. PQ is still very, very good.

Don't forget the audio cables as well!

[gcutler]

Originally posted by ibglowin
Dont forget, (and many people do) that you can also go from the S-video out of the PVR and then into a Digital Camcorder. From there, the Firewire out on the camcorder to Firewire in on the back of your computer and then process your file as normal. Yes this does add a step that may degrade a wee bit (digital-analog-digital) but its easy and better than opening the cover of your PVR if your not a computer geek. PQ is still very, very good.

Don't forget the audio cables as well!

Not every Digital Camcorder has a Video/Audio IN thus allowing conversion. But most do and it is becoming more and more common. A friend of mine went for a Dig Cam and assumed it had a Vid/Audio IN, but only had an Aud/Vid Out, so had to either get a replacement camera or get a seperate capture device.

[tampa8]

The series of ATI ALL IN WONDER computer video cards will do this effortlessly. The ideal however would be to be able to transfer the FILE off the PVR to the computer.

[djlong]

The problem with my ALL-IN-WONDER is that when I try to set up a timed recording, and I tell it that it's to use the "Line In" (as opposed a channel on the internal tuner), it ignores my setting and tries to record whatever the last channel it was that I had it tuned to.