DVR on a Mac Mini - no cable box, just coax cable

[mattwolfmatt]

Currently I live on a college campus, and our TV signal is a coax cable that just runs in the house through the wall. There is no cable box. We have 10 or so HD channels but the rest are SD. I also have a 2009 Mac Mini 2 GHz Intel Duo with 4GB RAM. Also an Apple TV2, but I doubt that will help us.

I am looking for a DVR type functionality. From my research, it appears the EyeTV HD is a good bet. My only concern is our (unique??) situation of only having the coax come in, with no box or dish. There doesn't appear to be a coax in on any of the hardware I'm seeing here. Can I just use a coax to component converter to get the signal ready for the EyeTV HD?

Of course I'll use an external HD.

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[takeshi74]

From my research, it appears the EyeTV HD is a good bet.

You might want to research a bit more. From their site (emphasis mine):

EyeTV HD is the only solution that gives you full access to all your premium content by connecting your Mac directly to your cable or satellite receiver.

In other words, it doesn't have a tuner. That's why there's no coax connection.

 

[mattwolfmatt]

You might want to research a bit more.

My only concern is our (unique??) situation of only having the coax come in, with no box or dish.

Thanks (?) for confirming my suspicion. Any suggestions besides NOT EyeTV?

 

[h00ligan]

Hdhomerun prime not eyetv.

 

[mattwolfmatt]

How about EyeTV One?

Never mind. I just found the Homerun, that looks live a winner. Sweet.

 

[northy124]

HD Homerun is the one you want from Elgato, it is the only one where you plug the cable straight in to the box rather than go through a cable box first

 

[ReggaeFire]

HD Homerun is the one you want from Elgato, it is the only one where you plug the cable straight in to the box rather than go through a cable box first

No, it's not. The Hybrid would be the most direct choice, as it connects the coax to USB. The One does this as well, but only works with OTA (no clear-qam tuner, so if you're using a cable service you'll need the Hybrid). The HDHomerun plugs the coax into a box, which you then connect to your network. Works fine if you're all ethernet, not so great if you use wireless.

 

[Hberg]

No, it's not. The Hybrid would be the most direct choice, as it connects the coax to USB. The One does this as well, but only works with OTA (no clear-qam tuner, so if you're using a cable service you'll need the Hybrid). The HDHomerun plugs the coax into a box, which you then connect to your network. Works fine if you're all ethernet, not so great if you use wireless.

I use the Hybrid as well on two different Mac minis and it works just fine with coax cable without a Cable TV box.

 

[northy124]

Works fine if you're all ethernet, not so great if you use wireless.

HD Homerun is wireless now....