Budget HTPC from spare parts

[artistpavel]

Originally Posted by TopDogZero

TV Tuner card and maybe remote?

What kind of TV Tuner card would let me watch local channels via antenna, I searched one in your sig and this came up:
MTVBHPCIR - Price Comparison - Canada's Cheapest Prices

[TopDogZero]

Originally Posted by artistpavel

What kind of TV Tuner card would let me watch local channels via antenna, I searched one in your sig and this came up:
MTVBHPCIR - Price Comparison - Canada's Cheapest Prices

The one in my sig is a much older card, you will want one that does digital, that way you could get some of the over the air HD programing. I would get something like this NCIX.com - Buy Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250 PCI-E TV Tuner NTSC ATSC QAM with Remote & IR Receiver Windows XP Vista - 1201 In Canada.
It might be more than you want to spend but Hauppauge cards are some of the best, it will do analog and digital and you get a Media Center remote to boot.
If you go with this you'll need an antenna if you don't have one already, I think you live downtown Toronto? so it should be easy to get digital over the air with a small in door antenna.

[artistpavel]

I'm in North York and this is the antenna I'm using to get signal on my regular TV, CityTV, CTV, etc.

[TopDogZero]

Originally Posted by artistpavel

I'm in North York and this is the antenna I'm using to get signal on my regular TV, CityTV, CTV, etc.

Rabbit ears are not good for digital as they pick up VHF, digital is transmitted over the older UHF standard, you can look online for how to make your own, very easy,cheap and works good actually did it myself YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna! . Or you can get something like these Indoor Antennas | TheSource.ca
Don't know how good they are, but if you get good reception with the ones you have then most anything should work. Here's a site to look at if you want to know more about over the air HDTV in Toronto.

[JD]

No idea how good this is, but it's a great price (though today only):
NCIX.com - Buy Visiontek TV Wonder 600 Theater PCI TV Tuner Card ATSC NTSC HDTV - 900188 In Canada.

[TopDogZero]

Looks good, ATI chip I believe.

[artistpavel]

Mind blown, thanks for links and tips, will get it working soon.

Another detailed video with measurements:

Video: DIY antenna makes good use of wire hangers, spare time

[artistpavel]

Is it possible to connect coaxial audio cable to Xonar D1? Card comes with little Toslink adapter, I have a box that converts optical to Coax, but I was wondering if coax can be connected directly. Would something like this work?

[TopDogZero]

Don't think I understand exactly what your after :help:, do you want to connect the sound card to the TV? if so is the TV stereo, the connector you have will only do mono you'll need something like this 3 Ft 1/8 Stereo (M) to Left and Right RCA (M) - RCA to 1/8 Cables- Unbalanced Cables- Cables, Snakes, & Adapters- Accessories- PSSL.com

Be sure to check the inputs on the TV because you could have a 1/8 stereo input, if you do all you would need is this 3.5 TO 3.5 MM MALE TO MALE STEREO HEADPHONE PLUG CABLE - eBay (item 350233092757 end time Aug-27-09 18:49:42 PDT)

[artistpavel]

No I'm trying to connect digital SPDIF from Xonar to my 5.1 amplifier that has digital Coax In, and standard coaxial audio cable doesn't match Xonar's 3.5mm jack, so I was looking for adapter of some sort.

Basically I want to plug this into Xonar SPDIF out:


+