eyetv 250 plus and satelite pvr

[glennyboiwpg]

I have tried to do some research to answer my questions but I just haven't found what i'm looking for so i'll ask you guys. I apologize if this has been dealt with before.

Question: Does the eyetv hardware/software play well with satellite receivers.

Here is what I want to do. I want to have a Bell Satelite (canada) PVR hooked up to my eyeTV 250 plus/Mac and then convert the files to something I can burn to dvd and play whereever.

Here is a link to the PVR.
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/en_CA_ON.HD-PVR-Plus-system/62129.details

The problem I see is that if I have the Bell receiver/pvr set to a station, lets say channel 20, and I want my eyetv to tape something on channel 30 do I have to physically switch the channel over?

Can I have the bell pvr fill up its own hard drive and then say to my MAC/eyetv ok 'record' everything from the pvr and export it to file(s)?

Is there anyway of doing this automatically? Can the eyeTV communicate with the Bell PVR?

Also, the webpage says I can hook up an external hard drive to the pvr. Could I just tape a bunch of stuff on the hard drive and then connect the hard drive to my mac? Would the files work or would they be recorded in some strange file format?

Is there a better way of doing what I want to do without using the eyetv?

Thanks!

Disclaimer:
I am not trying to do this to share content with other people. My partner works out of town and we are looking for a way to setup the PVR so we can tape alot of stuff so then he can take it with him on his laptop. I won't be file sharing these files and they will only be used within the household family.

 

[glennyboiwpg]

Thanks for all your help people.

Couldn't have done it without you.

 

[sal]

Thanks for all your help people.

Couldn't have done it without you.

lol, sorry dude. I am kinda curious to know these questions myself. But from my understanding is the eyetv, can't control cable/satallite box so you'll have to make sure it's on the right channel.

I think with cable it would work best since you'll get the basic channels feed to the eyetv. But for the other channels, you will have to switch the channel yourself.

Either that or get an antenna to get the OTA HD channels. You won't be able to record HBO-HD since it's most likely a locked channel.

 

[CTYankee]

Thanks for all your help people.

Couldn't have done it without you.

Now there is a post that inspires folks to help you....