Carputer - Need Advice On Fm/tv Tuner

[Trav33]

I need some nerd help! Not sure if i'll get any here,...

I've nearly finished building my carputer, and need to buy a USB FM/TV Tuner.

Seen a Pinnacle one, which is a hybrid (Digital+Analog), but it doesnt have FM tuning ability. Thats the way pinnacle are going these days.

Can anyone recommend a suitable FM/TV USB device?

Does anyone have experience of how well FM or TV works in a moving vehicle? I'm not expecting much out of the tv tuner, but would hope FM would be as clear as a head-unit tuner.

[DRD-00F]

I've been told by a VERY knowledgeable person in the biz that you are FAR better off getting digital in your car then anything else...

noticed how hard it is to get a decent signal sometimes on a stationary tv? try moving that tv at 80kms an hour...

brands, i dunno, i can ask cause i plan on doing it sometime in the future... but theres a car brand, like kenwood or something that buys this other brand, badges it, and adds $400 to the price... its that OTHER brand im interested in...

[-R33GTS-]

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/review.aspx?CIaRCID=56

I researched quite alot before bought my Tuner Card, im looking around atm for a site that was based around tuner cards that was awsome

look into leadtek/winfast products, they're generally the quality based cards that will provide digital/HDTV/FM capabilities - they get alot of good reviews

Hmm im not quite sure about a USB device that has all these features, i didnt look into those..

I link you when i come across this site. are you in brissy btw?

[Trav33]

Thanks, nah im an Adelaide boy!

Did you ever come across a tuner which had AM capabilities too?

I have to stick to USB at the moment, because theres no room in my case to stand up a PCI card. A fair few USB models around, after i read that review I'll see if the same companies make a similar USB model.

Which one did you buy??

Edited March 30, 2007 by Trav33

[Fishpaste~]

Thanks, nah im an Adelaide boy!

Did you ever come across a tuner which had AM capabilities too?

I have to stick to USB at the moment, because theres no room in my case to stand up a PCI card. A fair few USB models around, after i read that review I'll see if the same companies make a similar USB model.

Which one did you buy??

send me an e-mail at work (see link in sig), i should be able to help you out no problems.... off the top of my head for USB digital tuner the compro U500 http://www.comprousa.com/New/en/dvb-t.html

problem with FM tuners is the are an anologue product, so they will only come with an anolouge tv tuner, unless the manufacture has included both analogue and digital tuners in/on the 1 product

there are 1/2 height tuners avalible (not the full size of a pci card) these may be an option for you

as far as signal is concerned, your gonna need a reasonable antenna stashed away in your car, with digital if the signal stregth is not stong enough you will not get any picture at all (where as analogue will just get fuzzier)

probably look into car specific antenas for TV for some of the head unit manufactures, sould be able to hook any FM tuner up to your standard car arial, so there should be no differance in quality

hope this helps

PS. other brands to look at: hauppauge, twinhan and nebula (my favorite)

Edited April 8, 2007 by Fishpaste~

[Trav33]

Thanks mate, finally someone who knows there stuff!

I'd like to get a hybrid being Digital + Analog = best of both worlds.

Lots of models on that Compro web page.

Any advantage of PCI over USB. I think even a half height PCI card would struggle to fit, maybe a PCI extension could allow a PCI card to be mounted at 90 degrees, but still really tight. Do PCI normally do more on-board processing = less work for the CPU?

[Fishpaste~]

Thanks mate, finally someone who knows there stuff!

I'd like to get a hybrid being Digital + Analog = best of both worlds.

Lots of models on that Compro web page.

Any advantage of PCI over USB. I think even a half height PCI card would struggle to fit, maybe a PCI extension could allow a PCI card to be mounted at 90 degrees, but still really tight. Do PCI normally do more on-board processing = less work for the CPU?

Okay, need to know a few things before i recomend some products for you.

what OS are you running? (linux, winxp, win MCE, Vista?)

what hardware are you running? (it sounds like you might be using an Epia or Via CPU based system)

you can get pci riser cards in 1, 2 or 3 slot heights and probably would be a slightly better way to go (you will find a PCI card to do what you want fairly easily, however i havent seen a USB product as yet)

pci vs usb? essentually no differance at all - 1 is internal, 1 is external. In the old days PCI cards were better than onbaord devices for CPU usage but for more than 4 years now hasent been a differance. But with Digital tuners its even less of an issue, as the digital signal is an mpeg4 video/audio stream being broadcast threw the air, all the tuner does is select what channel you want to view and pass you the information. The only down side is there is soo much information being passed to the computer it need a reasonable CPU (generally 1.6ghz or faster) to display this information in real time - note this is different for an anologue tv tuner.

hope this helps

[Trav33]

Thanks for the info,

Currently running windows XP, will probably stick to that.

Epia via motherboard, think its the SP13000.

I thought digital tuners used MORE CPU than analogue tuners, because they are decoding the MPEG signal? Or is the decoding done on the tuner device? mp3car.com seems like a great forum for carputers, but they dont have much discussion on tuners.

[Fishpaste~]

Thanks for the info,

Currently running windows XP, will probably stick to that.

Epia via motherboard, think its the SP13000.

I thought digital tuners used MORE CPU than analogue tuners, because they are decoding the MPEG signal? Or is the decoding done on the tuner device? mp3car.com seems like a great forum for carputers, but they dont have much discussion on tuners.

the SP13000 is probably one of the best epia motherboards you can get for the job (but i think you already knew this), but for those that dont the reason is that it has a Integrated VIA UniChrome™ Pro AGP graphics with MPEG-2 decoder /MPEG-4 Accelerator

windows XP is good, just make sure you hae service pack 2 on it (as some digital tuners play up or dont work at all without it)

yeah, digital tuners do use more CPU than anolouge, this is mainly to do with the massive differance in video resolution and sound quality (just note i didnt actually comment on anolouge tuners, just PCI vs USB and what digital tuners do =)). Digital TV is bordcast in an MPEG format, meaning that is is basically uncompress raw data so it doesnt need to decode anything (implies its using some compressed form of codec, mpeg is uncompresed), however it does have other things transmitted in the stream including the copy protection crap.

The high "recomended CPU" for digital tuners is due to the ability to time shift, to do this the system needs to do lots of things and the same time and to cover their asses, TV tuner companies exagerate the amount of CPU required

anyhow, enough of this rabbiting on, you have hardware mpeg accelerators...

the tuner you want...... http://www.avermedia.com/cgi-bin/products_...A828.asp?show=1

its the AVerTV Hybrid+FM Volar from Avermedia. Its the only one i could find that does Digital TV, Anolouge TV and FM in the form of a USB stick

we normaly do it for $155, but for a fellow SAU member, i recon i could get away with $140 for you. comes with a 1 year waranty (return to us, and well help you out)

Let me know if you want to get one (adrenalin computers 8410 0777), ask for fishpaste, everyone at work knows who that is =)

thanks

Edited April 12, 2007 by Fishpaste~

[Trav33]

the SP13000 is probably one of the best epia motherboards you can get for the job (but i think you already knew this)

I didn't know that! Cool!

windows XP is good, just make sure you hae service pack 2 on it

Yep got SP2, did it the hard way via windows updates instead of using a SP CD.

the tuner you want...... http://www.avermedia.com/cgi-bin/products_...A828.asp?show=1

its the AVerTV Hybrid+FM Volar from Avermedia. Its the only one i could find that does Digital TV, Anolouge TV and FM in the form of a USB stick

we normaly do it for $155, but for a fellow SAU member, i recon i could get away with $140 for you. comes with a 1 year waranty (return to us, and well help you out)

Let me know if you want to get one (adrenalin computers 8410 0777), ask for fishpaste, everyone at work knows who that is =)

thanks

Thanks mate, i didnt realise you were in Adelaide - I will drop in and see you sometime, I work in Kent Town, so just gotta find 10 mins to pop over. Weird asking for "fish guts" oops i mean "fishpaste" though! How'd u get that nick?! Thanks for your help! Do you keep the AVerMedia one in stock?

Edited April 12, 2007 by Trav33

[Fishpaste~]

Thanks mate, i didnt realise you were in Adelaide - I will drop in and see you sometime, I work in Kent Town, so just gotta find 10 mins to pop over. Weird asking for "fish guts" oops i mean "fishpaste" though! How'd u get that nick?! Thanks for your help! Do you keep the AVerMedia one in stock?

hey were a computer store, we probably refer to each other more by our nicks than our real names =P and its a daily occourance that we get asked for by our nick names... how i got it, well, its a tale better left left untold (or perhaps edited for kid friendly ness =D)

we dont have that product on the shelf, we'd have to order it in, comes from interstate, so probably 1-2 days to get it in (overnight if we have anything else to buy from that supplier)

oh, and im out of the shop tommorow morning.. as im picking um my new skyline!!!!! RARARARARR!!!!!!!! the wait is almost over!!!!!

but i'll be there in the afternoon, drop by, have a chat if ya like, show us your car and carputer =P