Any Way To Give One PC Tuner Priority Over A Second PC With

[leebo]

We have two PC's, sharing one HDHR Prime tuner.
PC1 is accessed with an Xbox 360 as an extender. PC2 is connected directly to a display in my sisters bedroom.

My sister is developmentally disabled, and I have been unsuccessful in teaching her to not record everything under the sun (she usually deletes half of what she records without watching it).

So I would like to change settings if possible so that PC1 gets priority over PC2. Is there any way to do this?

Thanks.

[barnabas1969]

No. the HDHR Prime (and the HDHR "dual") are first-come-first-served.

The only possible solution is to setup your sister's PC to only have access to one or two of the HDHR Prime's tuners. That way, one or two of them would be always available to your other PC. You can do this by running TV Setup on your sister's PC, and de-selecting one (or two) of the tuners in the HDHR Prime.

[leebo]

OK, thanks.
I had thought of doing that but thought I'd ask just in case there was another way.
In the future I may hook up my HDHR non CC tuner to use for unencrypted channels, or just use Hulu Plus.

Thanks again.

[barnabas1969]

If you have an HDHR "dual" (the one that can receive unprotected QAM channels and ATSC), and you have some unprotected channels, then I strongly recommend using it. Then, you can edit the sources for each of the unprotected channels (on both PC's) so that the HDHR dual is the highest priority. That way, your CableCARD tuners will be reserved for the channels that actually need it (or times when both tuners in the HDHR dual are in use).

I do this now, with a couple of Hauppauge PCIe tuners. My local channels are not encrypted, and they are set to use the ATSC and "clear" QAM tuners first, before trying to use my CableCARD tuners. I've found that roughly 2/3 of my recorded TV comes from my local channels, so it makes sense to do it this way.

I actually have one dual tuner connected to an outdoor antenna (for ATSC), and another dual tuner connected to cable (for "clear" QAM).

[leebo]

Yes, the "Dual". I had forgotten the name.

Do you have any advice as far as splitting the cable? To keep this question simple, I didn't mention that we actually currently have TWO Primes installed. One is being used by yet another WMC PC.

Already our cable is split as follows:

Main feed under the house into a 4 way splitter. One line goes to a room with a 2 way splitter connected to the cable modem and the first Prime. So far no weak signal issues here, but if I replace the 2 way with a 3 way, who knows?

Another feed goes to a different room with a WMC PC and it's own Prime. Here I have weak signal issues. I've been troubleshooting this line for months, and I'm hopeful that getting rid of the cable DVR in the living room, (which will allow me to replace the 4 way under the house with a 3 way), will improve the signal to this location.

A 3 way splitter basically splits the signal into 25%, 25%, and one 50%. So going from a 4 way to a 3 way under the house should not change the signal strength to the feed going to the modem and Prime. I plan on using the 50% feed (3.5db) to the Prime that is currently having signal issues.

[barnabas1969]

First of all, if you already have two HDHR Prime's, then why not just setup both of them on all three PC's? That would give 6 tuners for all three PC's to share. That might help alleviate your problem. I have one PC that uses two HDHR Prime's, one Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (connected to the outdoor antenna) and one Asus WinTV NXP FM1236/F (which is really a Hauppauge tuner that has been re-branded, and is connected to cable).

You could also share your HDHR "dual" with all three PC's. Just make sure to "edit sources" on each PC so that the HDHR "dual" is the highest priority for your un-protected channels.

Now, on to your splitter issues...

You should avoid connecting two splitters in series if possible (connecting the output of one splitter to the input of another splitter).

Some 3-way splitters have identical outputs (each with approximately 5.5dB loss). The one you describe sounds like it has one output with a 3.5dB loss, and the other two outputs have a 7dB loss.

Now, you need to understand how "dB" works. Each 3dB loss is 1/2 of the input signal. So, if you attenuate (reduce) the signal by 3dB, then you have cut it in half. If you attenuate it another 3dB, you have cut it in half again. So, a 6dB attenuation results in a signal that is only 25% as strong as the original signal (((1 / 2) / 2) = 0.25). It's a logarithmic scale.

When you connect splitters in series like this, you add their "insertion loss" together (that's the amount that each one attenuates the signal). So, if your 4-way splitter (-7dB) is feeding a 2-way splitter (-3.5dB), then you are attenuating (reducing) the signal by 10.5dB (3.5 + 7 = 10). That's quite a bit.

If the 2nd room has a weak signal, and it is only going through the first 4-way splitter (which I'm guessing has a 7dB insertion loss on each output), then their must be something wrong with the cable and/or the connectors on that cable. Make sure all connections are tight. Make sure the cable is RG6 (not RG59U). Make sure the cable is not damaged. Make sure it doesn't have any water intrusion.

Each splitter also introduces more noise, in addition to reducing the signal strength. So what you really want, ideally, is to split the cable coming into the house only once. Then, feed everything in the house from that one splitter.

I actually have an 8-way amplifier at the point where the cable comes into my house. It has a unity gain on all outputs, which means that what comes out of each output is the same signal strength as what came into the input. Amplifiers also add noise (more than splitters do), so if you use an amplifier, it should be installed as close to the point where the cable comes into the house as possible, before the first splitter. My amplifier was installed free of charge by my cable company (Brighthouse Networks). Maybe you could ask your cable company if they can help you with this too. If you choose to buy your own amplifier, make sure that you get a "bi-directional" amplifier so that your cable box, cable modem, and tuning adapter (if you have them) can communicate up-stream to the cable company.

[leebo]

Now, on to your splitter issues...


If the 2nd room has a weak signal, and it is only going through the first 4-way splitter (which I'm guessing has a 7dB insertion loss on each output), then their must be something wrong with the cable and/or the connectors on that cable. Make sure all connections are tight. Make sure the cable is RG6 (not RG59U). Make sure the cable is not damaged. Make sure it doesn't have any water intrusion.

.

That's a lot of info! I thought about that cable already. I replaced it with a new one (RG6) from Monoprice. The old run was actually two cables (RG59) connected by a barrel connector. However, at the end of the new cable I currently have a 3 way splitter, which s connected to a Prime (3.5db), Tuning adaptor (7db), and a MOCA adaptor (7db, the only way I can get my network into that room). It was suggested I don't have the MOCA and the TA connected directly. After I disconnect the DVR, and replace the 4 way with a 3 way, I can try connecting the MOCA, then the TA, then the Prime, just to see what happens.

As far as using an amp, that will be my last resort. I can't see my cable co. installing one free of charge though. They told me any non-equipment issues past the main line will be billed. And I don't think I can run a separate line to the modem and the Prime, as that would require drilling another hole in the floor, and we're renting.

[barnabas1969]

You could try swapping the 3-way splitter in that room with a 2-way splitter and then feed the Prime with the output of the Tuning Adapter. In some cases, you'll get better signal by using the pass-thru outlet on the Tuning Adapter instead of using a splitter to feed the tuner and TA separately. You can try it, and if it doesn't make it better, just change back to the 3-way splitter.

You could also try moving the Prime(s) and the associated TA(s) to a different part of the house, and then connect them to a network switch. The Prime doesn't necessarily need to be near the PC. It's better to locate it where you can get the best signal strength/quality, as long as you can get enough network throughput (approx 20Mbps per tuner, plus 20%. So, if you have two 3-tuner Primes in a single location, you'll need about 144Mbps network throughput in that location).

My Primes are in my hall closet. They are fed from the pass-thru outputs on the TA's, which are in turn fed from a 2-way splitter. That splitter is connected to a cable that runs about 55' to the 8-channel amplifier outside the house. I get excellent signal strength and quality to the tuners and TA's. I have a 2nd cable going to the same closet for the cable modem. The modem doesn't share a connection with anything else. This setup works perfectly for me.

[leebo]

Your posts gave me something to think about, so I made a change that seems to be working (though it's only been two days). Disconnected the cable DVR in the LR and replaced the 4 way splitter under the house with a three way.

Gave the garage the 3.5db feed. Got rid of the three way splitter in the garage room. It's now: line to MOCA to TA to Prime. Although someone posted against connecting the TA and MOCA, I haven't seen any issues yet. Signal strength is now mid 90's to 100%, quality is averaging 100%.

Haven't noticed any problems with either the other Prime nor the modem, even though they're sharing a 7db feed from the main splitter. Crossing fingers!

[barnabas1969]

Ah, I didn't know that your MoCa device had a pass-through outlet. Yeah, that should work OK. MoCa and the TA are on two different frequencies at opposite ends of the spectrum (the TA uses a low frequency, and MoCa uses a high frequency). They shouldn't interfere with each other.