Want to set up Mac-based DVR for non-basic digital channels. SOL?

April 23, 2007 2:32 PM

I'd like to use my computer (an 867MHz G4 Mac) to record European soccer (to me, football) matches from digital cable when they are shown live on US cable channels like Fox Soccer Network and ESPN.

These matches are typically shown during office hours here on the east coast of the U.S., so I can't watch them and often they are not repeated later.

Our cable provider is Comcast and I'm pretty sure it is a digital box. I was looking at websites about devices like the Elgato EyeTV range. All seems possible with my aging machine, except for one detail: these EyeTV devices apparently cannot record "encrypted" digital channels.

FSC (and possibly ESPN, I'm not sure) was an "upgrade" on our cable package which we had to phone in to enable.

Does this mean the channel is coming through the cable itself encrypted? Because if it does then I assume I just can't do this. If Comcast somehow decrypt the channel upstream then the EyeTV wouldn't care. But I could see the encryption working by for example using an identifier in the hardware of the cable box as part of a decryption key.

I don't really have any idea how this all works. I'd be grateful for advice. Has anyone succeeded getting these kinds of offboard tuners to record non-basic digital cable?

posted by galaksit to technology (6 comments total)

All digital channels from Comcast are encrypted. You have two choices on digital channels-- use a Comcast DVR or equip your PC or 3rd party DVR with a cablecard to do the decryption.

FWIW, in my neck of the woods, all Comcast channels < 100 are analog,> 100 are digital. Just because it's "non basic" doesn't mean it's digital. ESPN comes across on both bands for me, although I think FSC is digital-only.
posted by mcstayinskool at 2:53 PM on April 23, 2007

Okay ... it's a bit complicated. But basically, the Elgato products have digital tuners in them, and can display digital cable signals (called QAM-256), but only if they aren't encrypted. These unencrypted digital channels are called "Clear QAM" and are normally only about 10% or less of your total digital-cable lineup that you view through a digital cable box (which can decrypt the scrambled ones).

I won't get into politics or what I think of this situation, but basically you can't view -- even if you have a digital tuner in your computer -- most of the digital cable channels you pay for, unless you view them through Comcast's box. Full stop.

Now, it might be that the content you want is available on the clear-QAM channels. It's tough to say exactly which channels your local affiliate broadcasts unencrypted down the wire. If you go over to AVSForum there are some threads for some areas that might give you a clue. Normally it's only your local broadcast stations -- the same stations you could pick up with an antenna. Fox Soccer Network and ESPN are probably right out.

So ... where does this leave you? Well, some Comcast boxes have a FireWire port on them, and you can connect the computer to that, and view (as a digital MPEG-2 stream) the decrypted content. There are some people who have hacked together setups with IR 'blasters' to allow software running on the computer to change the box's channel, and then record the Firewire output. But if you're not willing to put a few weekends and probably a lot of trolling around on message boards into this project, I'd say don't bother.

The solution that Comcast wants you to choose is fairly obvious -- they want you to pay the $10 a month extra or whatever for a digital PVR box. And to be honest, unless you're ready to be on the very bleeding edge of computerized PVR systems, which is basically what the Firewire+IR blaster/serial cable+MythTV setups are, it may be the best solution.

Alternately, I think some of the higher-end TiVO units include IR blasters and can control digital-cable boxes, so they might be an option. I know nothing about them, though.
posted by Kadin2048 at 3:00 PM on April 23, 2007

TiVos (even the basic models, AFAIK - the TiVo boxes themselves don't tune satellite, so you have to control that box somehow) come with the capability to control your standard cable box. I'd say just do that. then, you can use TiVoDecode Manager or TiVo To Go (if you want to pay for it - on the Mac you have to buy Roxio Toast 8 to get it) to get the shows off your TiVo and onto your computer if you want. (but not if you get the HD TiVo - it's disabled on that model.) TDM is pretty easy to use but it will take For Freakin' Ever to get the video on your computer with a machine that slow. (I usually run about .5x - i.e. 1hr to move a 30min show - on my 1.8GHz iMac G5.)
posted by mrg at 3:55 PM on April 23, 2007

I'm not a Mac guy, so I don't know, but if we were talking Windows, you could get a PVR card that can control a set-top box with an IR-blaster. Of course this means getting an extra set-top box from the Comcast folks. It may not be what you are looking for, but I'd second the recommendation of going with the Comcast DVR. I actually prefer mine to TiVo in many ways.

Oh, and the above posters are right that ESPN is available non-encrypted, but FSC is not (and is in fact an add-on channel) on Comcast (in New England, at least).
posted by Rock Steady at 6:30 PM on April 23, 2007

Oh, another (expensive) option just occured to me, but if you must have the recordings available on your computer and not your TV (ie Comcast DVR), you could get a Slingbox to go with your Comcast DVR box (would need to be in addition to your regular cable box if someone else in the house would want to watch TV whilst you access your footie matches).
posted by Rock Steady at 6:39 PM on April 23, 2007

Thanks for your help! I'm not mad for it being on the computer -- I just assumed it would be cheaper and more flexible. But it sounds like the Comcast DVR would do this for me easily, and although MythTV and the like sound like fun to put together, I think I should just ask my flatmate if we can upgrade to a Comcast DVR. I'll also look at the TiVo for comparison.

Thanks again.
posted by galaksit at 7:16 PM on April 23, 2007