[Havoc2005]

Hi all,

I'm building an Intel NUC into a media center pc with Windows 8 and XBMC.

I have (most likely DBV-C) cable tv without coded signals for the channels I want to be able to record and watch with XBMC.

The set-up:
* Samsung TV 64" 2011 model
* Intel NUC with XBMC and Windows 8
* Synology NAS, currently DS209+ (but I like the DS413j as my next one)

I guess the best solution would be if the NAS could handle the recording since the NUC then does not have to be on 24/7 for recording. Is that possible and still having playback on the XBMC and also the viewing of live TV on the XBMC?

Where does the hardware go?
What is needed?

Looking here gets me more confused with all the options: DVBLink product suite for Synology NAS

[schumi2004]

My setup is almost the same and does all you want.

Hardware used:
- Sundtek MediaTV Pro (great Synology support)
- Smargo+ Cardreader (my provider scrambles, smartcard)

Software used (my provider scrambles)
- Oscam (available as package for Synology)
- TVHeadend (available as package for Synology)

I would suggest to buy 2 tuners since you can't view all other channels when your recording or when someone else want's to view different channel on for example a laptop (or you need to view the same channel)

You can also look for a HDHomerun (dual tuner) instead of Sundtek but they are a pain to get working properly on Synology NAS.

[Havoc2005]

Hi schumi2004,

Thanks for the list. I will give it a Google when I'm back from travel start next week. This looks promising if my new DS413j can handle this. Which DS are you using?

Can you actually see the live TV using XBMC eventhough the signal goes to the NAS?

Since I will split the signal and let one go for the NAS and one for the TV we can still watch TV and record something else (something that the Samsung TV doesnt support). Plan is also to cut down on the channels all togehter and use more of NetFlix, HBO etc. Finally out cable provider have a TV archive with many of the programmes from the last 3-4 weeks for us to see again.

Thanks again. Looking forward to this project!

[schumi2004]

My dedicated PVR went up in smoke so currently XBMC (running OpenELEC Gotham on a Zotac AD02) is my main PVR system together with my DS211.
My DS211 is a dedicated download and PVR station (Sickbeard, Couchpotato, NZBget, comskip (commercial skipping), TVHeadend (recordings and time shift), OSCam, Shared DB for XBMC) and some other stuff and the performance i get is acceptable for now since i'm a first time NAS user.
I even can watch full HD but since my NAS isn't powerfull enough i'm using scripts/addons to stop NZBget or Transmission download on video playback.
Only disadvantage is that my provider supports interactive TV and you will lose that when going for XBMC only. (havent found a way to support this, don't need it but still)
Like i said before i only have 1 tuner so i can only watch certain channels next to the channel my main system is watching at that time but that becomes to technical for now i think.
Quick explanation: 4 channels in a stream so if main system watches channel 4 i can only watch channel 1,2,3 or 4 on other system and not channel 5 because that is in next stream so therefor you need a extra tuner.

Splitting signal won't be a problem also, doing the same thing here.

[Havoc2005]

My dedicated PVR went up in smoke so currently XBMC (running OpenELEC Gotham on a Zotac AD02) is my main PVR system together with my DS211.
My DS211 is a dedicated download and PVR station (Sickbeard, Couchpotato, NZBget, comskip (commercial skipping), TVHeadend (recordings and time shift), OSCam, Shared DB for XBMC) and some other stuff and the performance i get is acceptable for now since i'm a first time NAS user.
I even can watch full HD but since my NAS isn't powerfull enough i'm using scripts/addons to stop NZBget or Transmission download on video playback.
Only disadvantage is that my provider supports interactive TV and you will lose that when going for XBMC only. (havent found a way to support this, don't need it but still)
Like i said before i only have 1 tuner so i can only watch certain channels next to the channel my main system is watching at that time but that becomes to technical for now i think.
Quick explanation: 4 channels in a stream so if main system watches channel 4 i can only watch channel 1,2,3 or 4 on other system and not channel 5 because that is in next stream so therefor you need a extra tuner.

Splitting signal won't be a problem also, doing the same thing here.

This sounds great. I will compare the DS211 with the DS413j to see if I can expect a resonable performance. I will use the NAS a little different though I have sickbeard and sabnzb as well I will mainly use the download manager with sftp and are not getting that much. As well I think I will stick to the TV interface for watching TV and also for TV guide as well (unless XBMC is excellent in that). Main objective is to get out of my 18 US$ rent of a box that can do the TV recording of live TV and replay that. Sure it does other stuff as well, but that I can do on the web-site of the cable provider more smooth and faster than that Samsung box. I have no interactive TV (and am not sure what it is :-)

It will be no problem only having access to the nearby channels when recording either since I have the signal in all the house and any TV can see live without going through any box or XBMC/NAS. I guess replay of recorded stuff can be as easy as playing any MKV file on the network?

All in all it sounds great for my next step of the plan. Only the cable company looses here since I will be able to cut down on the TV package and the rented box :-)