Video Newbie; What card is this?

[KenG]

I purchased a generic PC a couple of years ago with the intention of hooking up my DirecTV tuner to the video card included in the deal.
Well... I've forgotten what I have and lost any information on what I bought.
Here's 3 pictures of what I've got:

http://home.surewest.net/grahamk/WhatIsThisCard.htm

Can anyone give me any information on what I have?
Thanks in advance,
Ken

 

[felixc]

This is a basic TV tuner card.
Yes the "F" connector is for a direct connection to a cable or antenna.
The BT858 is the part number that you need if you are looking for drivers.
This card may work with your video card, as a TV tuner window. But not for recording programs. It has no Mpeg encoding capabilities.

 

[pmonett]

Your card looks suspiciously like this one.

Pascal.

 

[KenG]

Thanks for the quick replies.
Now I'm really confused. Do I run coax from the tuner box to this card and then run S-Video back to the TV?
Or am I better off with a splitter - one to the TV, one to the PC?
Thanks,
Ken

 

[felixc]

Use a splitter. The Svideo is an input for the tuner card, not an output.

 

[KenG]

Well after thinking about this for a while....I'm beginning to think that I might want to buy a TV card that will record. I've looked around a bit, and I'm becoming swamped in information about PVRs and the like.
Are there any good web sites or FAQs out there?
Thanks for all your help,
I'm sure you'll hear from me again...

 

[felixc]

Hauppage makes nice ones for PVR purposes.

 

[dakota81]

Without a doubt I would recommend the Hauppauge PVR250 (non-MCE version) for recording.

 

[KenG]

Thanks a lot, I've been searching and seem to come to the same conclusion about Hauppauge.
Thanks again,
Ken