TV Card to Record Preset Shows on my DVD R/RW? 1

[djsrc]

Hi:

I have two burnt out RCA VCR's.

(Gives away his age.)

Is there some kind of a TV capture card, along with appropriate software, I assume, which I don't have yet, to record onto my DVD R/RW internal burner, a TV news program during a specific time frame, let's say the evening news from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, if I preset my cable channel?

Am I hallucinating again, or is there something like that on the market?

Whatever it is, would abviously have to activate my DVD burner on a preset timer.

I doubt it, but I thought I would check it out first here, since I can't even really find any VCR's anymore, even on line, and the combo standalone VCR/DVD recorders cost a fortune, like around $250 or so.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice,

DJSRC

(Also posted on "Windows XP Pro", for obvious reasons.)

 

[acewarlock]

I doubt it, but I thought I would check it out first here, since I can't even really find any VCR's anymore, even on line, and the combo standalone VCR/DVD recorders cost a fortune, like around $250 or so."

If you want a VCR go to Ebay, I found hundreds starting at $0.99.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

You can buy a DVD recorder that acts very similar to a VCR, I have one I got at Fry's Electronics day after Thanksgiving last year for $50 but normal price is anywhere from $100 to $300. It would replace your regular DVD player but has the added bonus of recording. I just record all my shows to my DVR then the ones I want to keep (like shows on HBO or something really cool) I record those to DVD, it just makes it easier than trying to set up a timer although it has that functionality.

If you go with one of these, just a hint, in order to play it on any other DVD player you MUST finalize the disk. I learned that one the hard way. Another hint, get one that does dual format + and - disks that way when you find them on sale it wont matter which one you buy.

Check your local electronics store. Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I just checked on Ebay and there hundreds of different brands for sale for under $100 for a DVD recorder, I mean good brands Sony, Samsung, TDK etc. Link to Ebay's electronics section.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[djsrc]

What?

Buying a USED VCR?

Hey, that's like wanting to marry Rebecca Romjin, or Denise Richards, or Heather Locklear, or Jennifer Lopez for that matter, after they have already been married!

You just don't know what you are going to be dealing with, that was obviously someone else's problem eventually.

You know what I mean?

Right?

Am I right, or what?

Hello?

Is anybody out there?

;<)

 

[cdogg]

I use a Hauppauge PVR-250 capture card (got it for around $110 two years ago, so it's probably dirt cheap used on eBay). The card comes with capture software that can record to your hard drive in a wide range of formats depending on what you select. It gives you complete control over the quality and how much space it takes up.

Of course, it can't burn directly to the DVD in one fell swoop, but it gets you halfway there automatically using the schedule timer. Then you can use the built-in burning utility or your own (such as Nero) to burn the video file to DVD.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[djsrc]

Hey, I just saw this capture card that is so dirt cheap, I am a little suspicious as to whether it's worth the money.

How can it be so much less expensive than other cards, like the PVR-250, and do the job I need, which is really nothing too complicated, other than recording the news, or maybe bumping my old VHS tapes to HD, and then burning to DVD?

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SAA713XHL&cpc=SCH

If it's not a clunker, I think I may pick it up for just around $28, including ground shipping, instead of spending a lot more dough for something I don't really need.

DJSRC

 

[kjv1611]

That one is at least 2 years old, at least that model - not necessarily that specific product.

The Hauppage cards like what cdogg mentioned work well - I used one but am not currently using it. Mine was a cheaper model than cdogg's, and it still worked well. Granted, it doesn't record hi-def, but it does okay on quality. The features, and all, I thought, are very good.

There are also the ATI AllInWonder video cards that are video cards and t.v. tuners in one. Also, they have their separate t.v wonder cards as well. From what I have read, they are very good as well.

The one problem that I had, and I've yet to hear of a good solution to with my Hauppage WinTV card was that when I had my cable connected to that card, AND to my cable modem at the same time, it did something funky with some electric signals on the cable line. It took me quite a while to notice it. The first notice was getting shocked when I touched my computer case - I thought it was something unrelated. Then I got shocked if I specifically touched the computer case and the cable connection going into the modem. So, I read where some other people had run into the same problem.

That would be something to keep in mind. If you have a cable modem, and your t.v. comes from cable, then it may not be a good idea to go with a t.v. card, or at least not that specific brand. Of course, I only found a couple other instances online of that problem, so it may just be that some have that issue.

Oh, here are all the symptoms I saw:
1. Electrical shock when I touched the hardware in certain places.
2. Mild interferance, generally, and usually just on some channels.
3. Internect connection speeds suffering greatly at times.

Since I didn't find a solution (other than unplugging the cable modem when having the t.v. card connected to the cable - which isn't a really convenient option), I just unplugged mine. I really liked the convenience of recording on my computer, but for all that it didn't seem worth it.

Though, I've been considering trying to put that same t.v. card in one computer, while having the internet not connected to it to see if that helps. Based on what I saw before, though, I'm thinking that it won't help, b/c it's somehow sending that electric current over the cable line.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[djsrc]

I used to own an analog audio recording business, and GROUNDING was always an issue to keep in mind, but it's not my area of expertise, so I always had an electrician type person adressing those issues.

Were you taking a three pronged electric plug from a surge protector for instance, and adding an adapter to plug it into a two pronged wall outlet, without attaching a passive wire to the adapter, and then attaching the other end of the wire to let's say, a radiator, or heat riser?

Other than that, I believe that if you attach a passive wire to a metal part of your computer case, and then to a radiator or heat riser, that should solve the problem.

However, please, please don't just take my word for it alone, and if you do get electrocuted from listening to me, please don't tell me about it...

Whatever, that sounds like a grounding issue, if I ever heard of one.

Thanks for the capture card advice.

 

[cdogg]

I had a ATI Radeon VIVO (Video In Video Out) card before, about 4 years ago. It did the job OK, but was nowhere near the level of quality I currently get from the Hauppauge. Plus the ATI usually only has a Composite or S-video input - the PVR-250 has both plus coax.

Also keep in mind that all hardware encoders are not the same. Cheap cards/devices like the USB Dazzle that have been around for years have lousy encoders with more distortion and dropped frames. Hauppauge used to be the brand that you had to spend over $200 for to get a decent encoder. You got what you paid for. ATI's encoders were the next best out there. With the Hauppauge PVR's being as cheap as they are now (especially used), it's hard to pass them up for anything else.

On a side note, even though you can't record in HDTV format, you can record in High-Quality DVD mode (480p).

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[kjv1611]

djsrc,

I think you may have the answer to my issue. It makes perfect sense, now that I think about it. Yes, I live in an older house (it's at least 45 or so years old - no one apparently knows exactly when the houses in my neighborhood were built, which seems weird enough to me by itself). Anyway, I have 2 pronged outlets in some places, and 3 pronged in other places. But all of the 3 pronged outlets (other than in 2 newer rooms that were added on later) aren't grounded anyway - it's just for ease of use, I guess.

So I have one of those 2 to 3 prong adapters that my surge protector is plugged into. So, you're suggesting that if I connected a wire from the 3 prong part to something else, it might ground correctly, thus not causing the same problems? That sounds like a logical thought.

What I'll do is try to ask a couple of guys at my church who have done electrical work to get their opinions on it. They should be able to tell me for sure, I would think. If not, I have a brother-in-law who has an electrical engineering degree. So, he probably knows as well.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[djsrc]

kjv611:

I thought that was your problem. Frankly, I had the same problem when touching my TOWER sometimes, and I realized what was wrong. I also live in an old building, and I have mostly two prong wall outlets, and was using a multi-outlet surge protector, taking an adapter to plug it into the wall outlet. On the adapter is a little metal U-shaped clip, or pin, I guess you would call it, or there should be. If not, get one that has it. I then did exactly what I recommended for you to do.

I attached a SHIELDED (you know, covered in rubber coating) passive wire (no active electrical current running through it), with the ends exposed, of course, wrapping one around the little clip on the adapter, and the other end to a pipe that runs the hot water in my apartment from one radiator to another. Those kind of pipes, as well as vertical risers, and metal radiators ARE grounded.

Problem solved.

I just don't want to be responsible for you becoming a FRITO BANDITO if you do something wrong, or if I am somehow incorrect, in that I am not an electrician, or an electrical engineer.

It pleases me that I would be helpful to you!

All the best,

DJ

 

[kjv1611]

You know what, I DO have those little metal clips on the adapters.

But the thing is - I can't think of any way to connect that to something else grounded..

So, I guess I'd have a couple of options that I could do. Both would require me going under the house. I have some 3 pronged outlets that I bought at a yard sale once (the seller just replaced everything in a brand new house, b/c it didn't go with his paint scheme that he wanted at the time - they were plain white. Anyway, what I'm thinking is that I could install those, then try to find a hole from the wall in that area under the house, and run a new "ground wire" from that to a metal pipe of sorts under the house.

The other option, I would think, would be to just run the wire strait through the current wall unit from the adapter to a metal pipe under the house.

Though, I wish there were an easier way, really. I'm not crazy on going under our house, as I have to sort of crawl through a tiny door, down some steps into what is like a mini-basement just for the furnace and water heater, then jump over a wall of cinder blocks to get to the main area of the house. I need to just put a small step ladder or something down there, b/c just pulling up and jumping over - then back - isn't too much fun.

But it wouldn't hurt sometime for me to get one of those electrical guys out to my house (friends) to look at it, and give me some pointers. My long term goal is to eventually have the whole place rewired, if we stay there long enough. But, that aint cheap, neither.

Thanks for that bit of info, djsrc! That makes more sense than anything else I remember reading. The others just thought of it as a phantom problem, or else a problem with the wiring in the other locations - I think that maybe one of them actually had wiring problems. But it wouldn't make sense that connecting a t.v. card would cause something like that in and of itself. The grounding issue seems more likely, b/c the cable connection is basically being touched by 2 different kind of electrical devices at the same time, so there'd be more of a chance of such weird stuff occuring.

I've really got to get something done with that sort of thing. This could be another sort of push to get me moving towards just getting a friend help me do a little minor rewiring - carefully, though. I've got a little bit of experience from helping my dad run electrical wire, etc, to their basement when I was in high school. Anyway, I digress - and then digress some more.

I hope you end up finding a good solution. Let us know what you end up going with.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[djsrc]

Okay, here you go, and there you are...

1-There are two things in life a guy should never take for granted, or touch without being respectful:

ELECTRICITY & WOMEN!!!

(Trust me, I know a heck of a lot more about one, than the other.)

NEVER MIND!!!

2-"The other option, I would think, would be to just run the wire strait through the current wall unit from the adapter to a metal pipe under the house."

A STRAIT, my friend, is a body of water. You mean STRAIGHT, not STRAIT. DO NOT EVER COMBINE WATER AND ELECTRICITY!!!

Okay, now that I have gotten that out of my system, what exactly is GROUNDING?

Grounding essentially is connecting to something that runs literally into the GROUND.

Why?

Because the electricity is thereby dispersed throughout the ground, without any adverse effects to one's health, or property.

3-DO NOT HAVE YOURSELF, AND OR YOUR FRIEND, NEIGHBOR, RELATIVE, ETC. start messing with grounding issues that fundamentally effect your entire house, or home!!!

Get a pro to do that...

(BTW, you can attach that wire to even a plumbing pipe, as those are also GROUNDED, IYKWIM?)

I sincerely hope that all of this does not come as a SHOCK to you, and I hope that you enjoy, and are not offended by my rather eclectic, or electric?, sense of humor.

All the best, and be careful!

hehe

DJSRC

 

[kjv1611]

Yes, I meant "straight."

I was talking about attaching to a plumbing pipe, as you mentioned at the end of your [strikethrough]rant[/strikethrough] words of advice.

As far as the friends I mentioned: they would be safer than many people that are hired for that type of work: not to mention they did do that sort of work in the past.

But my end goal is to have a professional actually just rewire the whole house anyway. If I was told correctly, our house is still running on 60 amp service. I'd like to up it to 200, and make sure that all our outlets are grounded.

Also, a funny story about the wiring in my house:
The previous owner was quite the handyman. It seemed he could do anything good, and apparently he also worked in a machining shop or something. Any how, he and a couple friends built on a large master bathroom and a large florida room on the house.

Here's the funny part: they grounded ALL the outlets EXCEPT for the dryer plug (the washer/dryer "closet" was built into the large bathroom). So, when I bought a dryer, I found that I needed to go and get a new power cord for the dryer so that it would fit to the socket in my house.

Otherwise, the construction quality of those two rooms is VERY good IMO.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[djsrc]

I just noticed this headline on the Internet...

http://www.switched.com/2007/08/04/sweaty-man-electrocuted-by-pc-and-other-gadget-related-deaths/

Be safe.

All the best,

DJSRC

 

[kjv1611]

Hmmm.. So, I guess I need to take that PC out of the shower ASAP.

Most certainly - caution should be used when dealing with electronics. That is indeed a scary reminder!

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me