Satellite TV on Laptop? (1 Viewer)

barryd

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Is it possible to plug my Camos and Maxview free to air box into my laptop and use the laptop as a TV monitor?

I have had a good rake around the Internet this morning and have come to the conclusion it isn't.

The laptop is a bang up to date Acer Timeline which does have an HDMI port but I think it might be output only, I don't know.

From the Free to Air box I have 3 output cables. Red, White and Yellow which go into the TV. I also have an adapter which merges the three cables into one which then plugs into a single 3.5mm port in a small flip top DVD player. I just wondered if there was anyway of plugging this into the laptop.

Its a bit technical for a Sunday morning I know but I thought somebody might have done it

Cheers
Barry
 

gozomike

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Hi

I am not aware of a way of feeding the video & sound from your existing freeview box into a laptop, others may. I use a USB type freeview receiver which will also take a feed from a satellite receiver, it works well for me.

[ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-WIN-TV-HVR-900TV-Analogue-Digital/dp/B000CENSCG/ref=sr_1_7?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1302429704&sr=1-7[/ame]

Mike
 

andi4x4

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Hi Barry and mike,

I think there is also a way to watch satellite feeds via the internet - a quick google search should pull something up. I havent investigated this myself and only vaguely remember seeing something about it on telly one night.

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barryd

barryd

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Thanks for the replies. The USB stick thing is a receiver in itself. Cant see how it would allow input from an exisiting Sat / free to air box as it appears to have just one coax type input.

Watching via the internet is not an option in the van really as we are seldom on an area with a great connection and often abroad.

You would think it would be straight forward but it clearly is not.
 

gozomike

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Hi Barry and mike,

I think there is also a way to watch satellite feeds via the internet - a quick google search should pull something up. I havent investigated this myself and only vaguely remember seeing something about it on telly one night.


True but obviously that needs a good internet feed and many programs may not be on live. Also most will not be available from outside the UK.
 

gozomike

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Thanks for the replies. The USB stick thing is a receiver in itself. Cant see how it would allow input from an exisiting Sat / free to air box as it appears to have just one coax type input.

Watching via the internet is not an option in the van really as we are seldom on an area with a great connection and often abroad.

You would think it would be straight forward but it clearly is not.


On the side of the stick is a small connector which with the supplied lead will take phono type feeds of Video + left and right sound. The manufactures web site gives more details than the Amazon one.

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callumwa

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I also have an Acer Timeline laptop which has an HDMI output.

However the HDMI is only designed as an output. It unfortunately cannot accept an incoming signal.

You don't say why you want to connect the sat to your laptop as opposed to a normal TV in the van.

It is possible to watch and control your home sat box via internet if you have one of these gizmos which connects your sat box to your home internet. You can then watch your sat tv when you are away from home, as long as you have good internet access.

However if seems rather mad, not to say expensive, to do this when your sat system is already in the van a few feet away from you.......:Eeek:
 
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barryd

barryd

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Thanks again

The only reason for doing it is as a backup really (and I thought it might be easy :Doh:)

The battery on the Timeline is fantastic and the screen really sharp so I thought as we often play DVD's on it why not use it occasionally as a TV especially if the leisure battery is running low.
 

beachcaster

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Its possible

I bought a little gizmo from amazon that is primarily used to record the highlights of your videogaming.

Its called EasyCAPture.....I got it to work after hours of mucking about...plugging it into a 17inch laptop and feeding it by a portable sat.

The only thing was the sound was not too good and its was a very long winded set up.........but it can be done and it was less than £10

I didnt persevere but other more techy folk may get better performance


barry
 

hilldweller

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Is it possible to plug my Camos and Maxview free to air box into my laptop and use the laptop as a TV monitor?
Cheers
Barry

Yes, I think.

There are USB adaptors that allow things like camcorders and DVD plays to transfer files to the hard drive. It's just a matter of whether they go direct to HD or if you can direct them to the screen.

Look here:

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barryd

barryd

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Yes, I think.

There are USB adaptors that allow things like camcorders and DVD plays to transfer files to the hard drive. It's just a matter of whether they go direct to HD or if you can direct them to the screen.

Look here:

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Thats looks like the right coloured leads. I have posted a question on the ebuyer site.

Cheers
BD
 
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did anyone have any joy with this?

Sorry for bringing back an old thread....
 

Sunty

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I always use my laptop as a TV both from the freeview ariel and the comag satelitte box - from Maplins. (used to have a sky box but discarded it as being too big) The dongle I have is Win TV HVR 900 from Hauppage. This costs about £20 and simply plugs into the laptop. There is also a model available which has a remote control. The operation is simple and very effective. The dongle is the size of a large cigarette lighter with USB and TV socket connectors, fitting close to the Laptop - and in view of the remote should you have one. My Sat dish is portable so needs setting up first by the signal meter - but the comag box makes things easier by emitting a sound to ensure signal is being received and the picture appears much quicker than did the sky box. Reception is usually excellent and we have used it with a small dish (the one with the LNB in the centre) as far as Turkey, Spain, Germany, France and Greece.
Besrt of luck. Arthur R.:thumb:

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TheBig1

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Its pretty simple to get your laptop to work as a TV screen. All you need is a USB tv card, and instead of plugging in the aerial, take the feed from the rf out(aerial plug) on your sat box or freeview box. Then when you run the tuning program that comes with the tv card. This will find the channel being broadcast by your sat box etc so you can see and hear them on screen

best part is you dont need a particularly flashy usb card, and a cheapie will do fine. Aldi were selling one under £10 a while back and this works perfectly
 

N&K

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Hi

A USB capture card definitely works a treat.

I use a USB-DVBS-2 receiver and a 3rd party software package which turns the Windows Media Center into a full EPG, series link, pause, rewind etc to receive full FreeSat including HD channels on your laptop or home computer and record them too (in PC format). This is very useful to record load of TV to take on the move too. You'd need to sync the TV Channel TV Guide on the Internet before going on hols.

1.) USB DVB-S2 (ensure its S2), something like this, although this isnt my exact model:
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2.) DVB-Logic Package
http://www.dvblogic.com/

If you use this on your home PC with an internet connection it lets you watch full Free Sat TV anywhere on your phone or laptop.

But if you just wanted to use this in your laptop, by connecting the Satellite cable from your motorhome dish or free standing SKY dish on a tripod, you can run DVB-Logic with Media centre for a full Free Sat through your laptop screen.

It works a treat, and I have this set up at home on a permanently on PC which series links loads of TV in PC or phone format.

:thumb:
 

beachcaster

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I set out to do this last year.and managed it .

I used a cheap thing called a EasyCAPture which I bought from amazon/

there may be videos on how to use it on youtube....it was only a few quid
so it was worth a play.

Kids use then to record their computer games onto video..........took me a while but I managed to get a portable satellite working with sound into my laptop.

But in the end I decided a small tv fed by an onboard sat...........was an easier thing to set up..,.and better quality


barry

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