[linux-dvb] Dish Network-specific questions

["Kyler B. Laird" <laird@ecn.purdue.edu>]

I have a couple of KFir boards that I purchased
with the intent of using instead of VCRs (I hate
tape!) for recording satellite programs.  I have
been using them recently with my Dish Network
receiver and I've been happy with the results,
so I've considered buying another receiver (or
two).

But...I keep seeing this stuff about Linux
support for DVB on LinuxTV pages.  When I first
got into the KFir cards, I figured all of the
DVB stuff was just for lucky Europeans.  When I
was choosing which satellite provider to use,
the mention of DVB/MPEG-2 in Dish Network's
literature was a deciding factor.  I didn't
know what I'd do with it, but I liked the sound
of it.

Now that I'm comfortable with Dish Network, I
am starting to think about DVB receivers again.
I still don't have a good grasp of the subject,
but I'm starting to believe it might be
possible to use a DVB receiver card instead of
buying another JVC (standalone) receiver.  Am I
dreaming?  That just seems too cool.

Another factor is that I just purchased a set
top computer.
	http://www.allwell.tv/Products/iDVD_set_top_box/idvd_set_top_box.html
I had intended on putting the KFir cards in
this and driving them with JVC receivers. 
Then I need to dust off my IR remote control
skills so that the receivers can be controlled
by the computer.

This is all a huge waste of effort if I can
simply use a DVB receiver card.  The other
*huge* win would be that I wouldn't be re-
digitizing the signal in order to record it.
That should give me much better quality at
lower data rates.

So...I subscribe to a bunch of the premium
channels and I have no intention of stealing
anything.  I want to be able to buy a DVB
receiver PCI card, a Conditional Access
smartcard, pay for the extra service and then
timeshift Dish Network programming.  Is this
possible?  I've been searching the 'net for
months and scouring FAQs and I still can not
decide if this is completely ludicrous or
simply obvious to everyone else.

If someone will just point me in the right
direction, I'll write up what I discover.

I'm also interested in hardware recommendations
for this specific project.  I want to do 
timeshifting, including playing and recording
simultaneously.  Some docs I found mention that
the popular cards can not do this.  The set top
box that I ordered has an MPEG-2 decoder (with
Linux driver!), so I prefer to use it anyway.  
Does that mean I should get a cheap card 
without decompression?  I'll have no trouble
getting an MPEG-2 stream that Xine (or
something) can handle?

I suppose that I should also think of problems
involved with having multiple receivers on the
same subscription.  I doubt that there's Open
software that supports dialing in to Dish
Network (to confirm that multiple receivers
are on the same phone line).  I'm willing to
deal with that later.  I'll just switch to a
single DVB card if that's all I can do.

Thank you for the help!  This could be fun.

--kyler


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