tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34026360946292807102024-08-28T17:50:23.959-07:00Having fun playing with technology at home.Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-30599237449785390082012-07-25T10:37:00.001-07:002012-07-25T10:37:53.000-07:00

I purchased the HDHomerun Prime Cable Card Tuner last month and am loving it.  This is better than the Hauppauge 2650 in a couple of ways,1) it is on the network so all of my PCs can be configured to use it2) it has three tunersI've read that you need to call your cable company to configure each PC that uses the Prime, I've found this not to be true, once I got the first configured the next

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-41949388939086543692012-07-24T11:35:00.002-07:002012-07-24T11:35:18.165-07:00

The DVR was returned to TimeWarner about a month ago and all viewing is now on HTPC.  The problems with the Hauppauge 2650 cablecard tuner went away when I stopped using sleep mode between viewings/recordings.  With the computer online 24X7 operation has become very smooth and virtually hiccup free. The switch from the AMD X2 processor to the Intel Pentium G620 has lowered our

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-54070770794442731102012-06-12T15:58:00.005-07:002012-06-12T15:58:35.812-07:00

My HTPC that was connected to my cablecard tuner started acting up.  This was an AMD Athlon 2 Dual Core system.  I have the system on a UPS and am able to monitor it's power usage through the UPS.  The AMD system was pulling about 120 watts on average.  The system started acting up (it turned out to have a memory problem) so I pulled it and replaced it with another system

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-78364093023428813272012-06-12T15:47:00.001-07:002012-06-20T11:49:23.657-07:00

Embarrassed Update:  It turns out it was not the Hauppauge 2650 that died but rather the power wart I was powering it with.  The replacement 2650 arrived and had the same issues as mine.  I replaced the power wart and my old 2650 is running great.  There is a story behind the power wart I was using, my original Hauppauge power wart died and they shipped me a replacement

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-52965757471560118862012-05-23T11:01:00.001-07:002012-05-23T11:01:40.082-07:00

My replacement DVR is still not working fully to my satisfaction.  95% of the time it works flawlessly but then every once in a while I get errors like "tuner not found" or "no tuner available" or this morning Media Center came up and said "CableCard device found, would you like to install it?".  A reboot generally fixes these issues. I'm running a program on the PC called MCE Standby

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-46322541215050022062012-03-22T11:58:00.004-07:002012-03-22T11:58:44.015-07:00

I think I'm almost ready to ask my wife to switch from her cable company dvr to my Win 7 Media Center PC with a Hauppauge Cablecard 2650 tuner.    If you look at my earlier posts you will see that I bought a low power HTPC system for this use but found it just wasn't powerful enough. I'm trying to build a system that doesn't delay, pause or skip as I want my wife to be happy with it.

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-41635493021502962082012-03-21T09:27:00.002-07:002012-03-21T09:27:55.591-07:00

The Netgear XAVB5004 powerline adapter set that I installed last night is working quite well.  I copied a file to see how well it would work and saw speeds between 5.5 and 6MBs.  This is about 48Mbs, not anywhere near the 500Mbs the unit is rated at but plenty for streaming video. I streamed several different videos, one a 1080p BluRay and the videos streamed flawlessly. So far I am

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-45801399487085182712012-03-20T14:26:00.001-07:002012-03-20T14:26:29.156-07:00

I'm having a couple of issues with this darling little computer, with one of my televisions I get video blinking. The screen blinks on and off every few seconds. Hard to work with it when it's doing that. With another television the screen is rock solid. I haven't figured out what is causing this issue yet, just reloaded the box from scratch and am going to have another go at it tonight. The

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-40826045563152470492012-03-01T13:48:00.001-08:002012-03-01T14:15:37.161-08:00

Hurry and get one, I am loving it so far. Review to come soon. Discount code is EMCNGNJ29, not sure how long it will be good for.  This should make the cost about $93 + tax if you are in California.  It still has free shipping. SOLD OUT

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-38814411487645160262012-02-29T14:10:00.000-08:002012-02-29T14:10:21.538-08:00

I settled on a platform for my next HTPC.  I didn't go with the Intel family processor that I expected to buy, instead I went with an AMD E350 barebones system from Foxconn.  This barebones computer, add your own memory, hard drive and dvd rom, sounds like a bargain for $109 plus tax shipped from Newegg.com.  If you prefer to order from Amazonit is available for $134.99 with free

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-74369567000447805462012-02-21T11:03:00.000-08:002012-02-21T11:03:09.499-08:00

After about two months of frustration my Tuning Adapter is finally working. A Tuning Adapter is a device that is used to signal the cable company that you want to watch a SDV channel. SDV is Switched Digital Video, channels with lower viewership are broadcast on demand instead of all the time to free up bandwidth. These are channels like Speed, BBC America, G4, Fuse, Versus, and many more.

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-20726396038033159832012-02-15T10:18:00.000-08:002012-02-15T10:18:20.799-08:00

  I'm starting to watch prices on motherboards for my next PC. This time instead of the H61 Intel chipset I want to run either the Z68 or P67. These chipsets are more robust and offer USB 3 and SATA 6GBs connections.   These higher performance chipset will also allow for more RAM as the H61 is limited to two double sided DIMMs.   I have parts sitting idle including a case with a

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-35031150002429520262012-02-13T11:59:00.002-08:002012-02-13T13:28:37.804-08:00

I organize my shows in to three different volumes, recorded tv for the shows that I record, tv series for the tv shows that I download, and videos for movies.  This allows me to separate my shows so that they can be read and utilized by the My Movies Media Center add on.   I use a media center add on call My Movies to help organize and display my movies.  This program initially

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-74621818861394175812012-02-10T11:53:00.004-08:002012-02-13T14:17:04.473-08:00

Two weeks ago I assembled a new PC to use as my front room viewing computer.  I assembled this out of some new parts and some parts that I had laying around.  What excites me most in this new computer is how powerful and inexpensive the processor is.  I used an Intel Celeron G530 processor for this build, this is the first Intel chip I have purchased in many years, all of my other

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-71167380812806410672012-02-10T10:34:00.001-08:002012-02-13T14:11:32.761-08:00

  I have 2 tuner boxes and 3 tuner cards.  I have the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Dual High Definition Digital Television HDHR3-US (Black), and a Hauppauge WinTV DCR-2650 Dual Tuner Cable Card TV Tuner.  I use these tuners for watching live TV or for recording a show that I want to watch right away.   Last night I setup a recording for The Big Bang Theory and we watched it about 15

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-75119820420649631082012-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:002012-02-10T10:40:17.855-08:00

  I still watch them on the computer I just no longer record them there.  Instead of scheduling and recording all of my shows with my tuners I download the shows as bit torrents from the web.  The shows tend to be available the day after they aired, they are high quality and the commercials have been cut out of them.    Another advantage of downloading verses recording

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-5148761922866244342012-02-10T10:16:00.000-08:002012-02-10T10:16:18.003-08:00

  For video playback I now use a computer at each television.  These computers connect to my Windows Home Server to pull or stream video.  The neat thing about this setup is that I can start watching a movie on one computer, stop the playback, move to the other computer and resume watching at the spot I stopped.   I'm not doing anything special to make this room to room move

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-57802944693430762702011-12-28T13:36:00.000-08:002012-02-10T10:41:03.680-08:00

  I bought the Hauppauge WinTV DCR-2650 Dual Tuner Cable Card TV Tuner from Amazon.  The installation was fairly simple although I did have to call Time Warner and work with them for about half an hour to get it registered on their system.   The cable card feature on this allows it to work like the DVR that I rent from Time Warner.  I can see the encrypted channels that my

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-58738683768394163282011-03-11T02:36:00.000-08:002011-12-28T13:52:32.645-08:00

For Christmas I bought myself an HDHomerun. This is a network connected dual tuner that works with many software products including Windows Media Center. The HDHomerun is ethernet attached and as many computers as you like can use it to tune in and watch or record digital television. With two tuners two computers can each use one tuner or one computer could use both tuners at the same time.

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-20882513628066781462011-03-11T02:26:00.000-08:002011-12-28T13:52:32.618-08:00

We moved the DVR back to the family room and I've setup a Media Center PC in our bedroom. While I'm not loving the selection of channels, many of our favorites are not available, we are loving watching downloaded video and some Media Center recorded shows. I've installed the Silicon Dust HDHomerun and so far am pleased with it. It's been fun to work with and configure to get all the channels

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-39832810585359311222009-12-08T04:53:00.000-08:002011-12-28T13:52:32.602-08:00

The amount of reading that I do has dropped significantly lately.  At least the number of novels that I read has dropped.  I still read a ton of websites, blogs, rss feeds, and car magazines but I don't get around to my novels.  I've been working on reading The Atlantis Code for over a month now.I think there are several reasons why my recreational reading has dropped off.  First, I read a ton of

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-44062196696537957142009-04-13T03:55:00.000-07:002011-12-28T13:52:32.586-08:00

I hate losing pictures, I've been taking digital pictures for almost as long as you have and I hate losing them. I can't readily locate the pictures from my honeymoon ten years ago. It would be a terrible loss if I never find those pictures again.  To help ensure that I never lose another picture I employ a variety of backup systems.Systems and services that I am going to discuss in this

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-84999199427233612052008-08-27T03:05:00.000-07:002011-12-28T13:52:32.570-08:00

In store Costco has the Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD television model number VK-42F240S for $699.  I picked one up last night for my bedroom and am extremely pleased.This television looked small in the store when compared with the 50 and 52" sets but once I got it home and mounted on the wall it looked humongous.  The tv features 4 HDMI ports (the box says 2 but there really are 4), a VGA port,  a

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-27912121551053591502008-08-19T04:48:00.000-07:002011-12-28T13:52:32.554-08:00

I was looking to setup a high speed network in my new home but I don't want to run cables.  My office is in an upstairs room above the garage, this is where the cable modem is located.  My XP MCE computer is in the family room, ground floor and at the far end of the house.While living in my apartment (we moved a week and a half ago) I tried using 802.11g wireless to pull files from one MCE

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402636094629280710.post-46890563423635167892008-08-19T01:22:00.000-07:002011-12-28T13:52:32.537-08:00

We just moved, we moved from the Los Angeles area to an outlying Los Angeles area.  This move has helped my MCE box in a huge way.  We are no longer with the Los Angeles chapter of Time Warner but now with Time Warner Central or something like that.At the old location a cable box was required to see even SD cable signals.  At our new home channels 99 and down are unencrypted and available to my

Commander Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480772787430256016noreply@blogger.com0