Stupid question, how do I record DVB-T?

[Huevos]

Up to now I had an analogue television set (no DVB-T tuner) and a hard drive recorder (also no DVB-T tuner). DVB-T came from my combo receiver (which died with the lighting strike) through the hard drive recorder and up to the TV.

With the new TV set the DVB-T tuner is in the set so is there a way to record from that or will I need to buy a DVB-T STB for the hard drive recorder?

 

[Topper]

What make & model of TV do you have now?

 

[Huevos]

I haven't bought one yet. I was just thinking ahead. Any recommendations are welcome.

 

[PaulR]

Most (all?) TVs have two-way signals on the first Scart socket so you connect that to your DVD recorder and then set that to record using the source as whatever port the DVD player is using.

It'll all be in SD of course and it does mean that you cant set the TV to watch anything else at the same time. This is such a hassle I would recommend you buy a dedicated hard drive PVR.

 

[Huevos]

This is such a hassle I would recommend you buy a dedicated hard drive PVR.

What sort of device are you talking about? Some sort of media player with a hard drive and DVB-T tuner all in one box? Can you post a link to something? If it is as above it sounds like something in the 200€ range (with a 1TB drive), quite a bit of money just to be able record terrestrial.

 

[HPsauce]

A popular example: _http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/485012/HUMAX-PVR9300T? HUMAX PVR9300T

Mod notice - please remember that any links off site should not be live.

 

[PaulR]

I can't really recommend anything as you're not in the UK! Much (some?) of what is on sale here will work in Europe but I don't know of anything for sure. Both my terrestrial PVRs have options in the installation menus for other countries but, obviously I haven't tried them.

A media player is higher spec than a simple PVR and will cost accordingly as it's basically a small form computer and will have a DVD drive as well as a hard drive.

All I can say is that I bought both my PVRs off Ebay. My first was over three or four years ago. It's a Digimate label but made by the huge Turkish Vestel corporation that makes stuff across a very wide range for many small and not so small names (Google Vestel and you'll see). It was an early model that cost me abot £35 or so I think as it was ex-display (but turned out to be brand new). It's served me well over the years but I've nearly filled the small (80Gb) hard disk up. I bought my second only a few weeks ago with dual DVB-T2 tuners so that I can get Freeview HD. I still haven't used it all that much as I can already get HD throught the Humax HDR PVR that I also have!

Anyway, I'm waffling. Can I suggest you try Ebay Es and put whatever translates as tv recorder or hard disk recorder in as a search item? 320Gb is a bit small if you're recordinh HD programmes, but fine for SD only. For HD go for 500Gb or 1Tb.

 

[Huevos]

Have a quick look at these and see if I am looking at the correct device. The first is DVB-T in SD and the second is HD. Neither has a DVB-T2 tuner and I can't see any device with one. The first comes with a 1TB drive for 170€. No sign of DVD though.

I don't know there is much difference between the Brit stuff and European... except we have a MUX on channel 69, and that certainly wouldn't be very British.

What make is the T2 device you bought?

_http://www.sveon.com/fichaSPM1000.html
_http://www.sveon.com/fichaSPM1200HD.html

 

[PaulR]

You don't need T2 tuners in Spain as you don't have DVB T2 as we do in the uk. This is my exact point about how there are subtle differences across Europe and what works in one country may not work (properly!) in another.

In fact DVB T2 is only necessary for HD reception in the UK - SD is transmitted in DVB-T - same as the rest of Europe so the extra expense of the T2 tuners would be wasted. Mine is a Philips (made by Pace) but Humax, Sagecom and others make T2 receivers for the UK now. All irrelevant for Spain though!

HPsauce has suggested the Humax PVR9300T and it is indeed a good choice for the UK. It's quite likely to work in Spain (albeit SD only) but unless you've got one to try it's quite an expense for a "maybe".

My Spanish is carp but I've done my best. The SPM1000 looks as though it is a single tuner and without its own hard drive although one can be added, presumable externally as a USB device. I would guess that there's only one tuner which would make it more like an old-fashioned VCR as you would have to watch what was being recorded if your own TV didn't have its own tuner. The SPM1200HD looks the same but in HD.

They both have characteristics more like a media player device as they can play a wide variety of audio and video formats and have a card reader slot and USB ports.

From poking around on Ebay.es I think that what you want is a TDTgrabador. One of the devices I found has the following characteristics:-
disco duro 500 gb dual tdt grabador wifi Conceptronic
which I think indicates a hard disc and two tuners. The wifi is for connecting to a network for whatever purpose (possibly as a media centre type device) and I've no idea what Conceptronic is!

I'll really have to leave it to others with some Spanish to take it further.

 

[HPsauce]

Mod notice - please remember that any links off site should not be live.

oops, sorry. I did read the rules but forgot that doing a quick reply.:-newb