Question 1

Don't know if this a very stupid question or not,but can this card  capture video from a VCR? I have a VHS tape I made in the very early 90's. 3-6 hours of old MTV amp videos. This VHS tape means a lot me. THANKS.

Accepted Answer

Yes it can.  The way I do it is, instead of connecting your antenna or cable wire, connect your Cable from your VCR.  After that, depending on the software you use, BeyondTV, WinTV, Windows Media Player, etc., the playback from the VCR should show on one of your channels, like mine using BeyondTV.  Once you can get it to show on your media center software, rewind the tape on your VCR to the beginning and press play, then press record on your media center software.  Hope that helps.

Question 2

Will this save files as mpeg2 and if so how? I get the impression it just saves them as wtv with the windows media center.

Accepted Answer

If you use media center, then yes, it will only save it as a wtv file and all the copy protection that comes with it. If you use another media managing software, it will save your files under a different format (usually mpg2).

Question 3

There are two versions of this, one with a remote control and this one.  Is the software the same in both versions?

Accepted Answer

Summary: Don't worry; it's not an issue.

I believe everything to do with the functions that are the same for both cards would be the same. In fact, WinTV for viewing and recording is the same for various cards. There would be additional software, probably automatically installed or from a menu, relating to the function of the remote. I base this on experience with an earlier card. In fact, I think from what I have read elsewhere, I can install the appropriate software for a remote, and use the remote handset that came with the older card.

I think the same installation disk covers various current cards, too, so it will come with whatever you need for either card.

Question 4

Has anyone tried installing 2 of these cards for a 4 tuner setup?
Will they conflict or is this possible? 
If it is possible and you were using a newer OTA digital antenna would you need 2 of them or could you use a splitter to connect the one antenna to the two cards?

Accepted Answer

Thanks for the answer... I'm using Windows 10 so I don't have Media Center but I'm assuming that it will work fine with the KODI setup I use and the NextPVR plugin for it should work fine.

I was just worried that they may conflict and not have all four tuners be recognized and it seems you answered that concern for me.

I used to use media center with a cable card and I am still using the cable card in 10 but since there isn't media center my card will only show non-encrypted channels.

I dropped my service to basic cable just to save money since I never really watched anything but the major networks anyway but I just noticed that my cable company only delivers 720p unless you have the encrypted channels which usually were in the higher range .. like channel 2 and 1202 were both NBC but 1202 was 1080 and now I can only get 2 not 1202.

So I figure, the heck with this... I'll put two of these cards in and drop my tv subscription completely from my cable company and get better quality 1080 for free over the air.

Question 5

where do you plug in the antenna? I only have antenna. no cable or sat tv

Accepted Answer

Either the antenna or the cable feeds into the same place on the card. During set up you specify which signal type the board should recognize. It is the top threaded socket on the board in the photo. The other threaded socket is for radio antenna, if needed.

Question 6

Just received this item only to realize that I'm using a mini-itx motherboard and case.  The mounting bracket (probably standard for an ATX case?) is way to tall to mount in my case.  Do you have any suggestions of how I can adapt this to my system?

Accepted Answer

The unit came with smaller adapters, I think that they will fit your smaller case. Newegg has a good set of pictures of the adapters on the product page to see if they will fit.

Question 7

I want to record from a VCR source. Please reply if you had success doing this. What software did you use and how good was the quality of the recording? Will this work with Windows 7 and 10?

Accepted Answer

Hi Ken!

I use this TV tuner on a Windows 7 system as a DVR with Windows Media Center for recording TV shows in HD. It does a very good job quality wise. Recording from a VCR should be no different. Most VCR's have an outgoing COAX jack. Just hook that up to this tuner, turn to the correct channel (probably ch. 3) and start recording.

As far as whether it works with Windows 7 or 10, I know it works with Windows 7 because that's what I use it with. I'm pretty sure it would work with Windows 10 as well, but you would have to find different software to do the recording. Windows Media Center was removed from Windows 10.

-- Ryan

Question 8

Does it support 1080p ?

Accepted Answer

yes this supports up to 1080p with the clear QAM HD channels that come unencrypted over cable (mainly the same channels you can get over the air) without the need for a cable card, plus digital over the air channels, as well as both analog cable / over the air channels.  You can not receive premium (encrypted QAM cable channels) with this.  You'll need a cable card tuner for that.  This device works great with windows media center for any free channels.

Question 9

Does this work with linux?

Accepted Answer

I read in other user reviews that it does work with MythTV on Linux.  I have a Linux PC, but didn't try to install it there.  Works well on Win 8.1 Media Center.

Question 10

Can you connect this to a Digital Cable set top box and get all you Digital Cable Chanels?

Accepted Answer

No. ClearQam and OTA (over-the-air) digital channels are only what you can tune with this device.  Almost all cable channels are encrypted nowadays. But if you are somewhere that gets good antenna reception; you might really like this card.  I use 2 in a myth-tv setup and they work great.

Questions & Answers