[mythtvnz] Newbie setting up a rig - Freeview and capture card config questions

[Matt Poff]

Hi all,

Have taken the plunge and ordered a custom built configuration for 
MythTV which is going to sit in a very tasty Silverstone case. Only 
decision left to make is the capture card configuration. I've chosen a 
motherboard with 3x PCI and 2xPCIe slots to provide flexible expansion 
options for the future but am unsure how to stack them at this stage.

I have a few questions.

(1) I get crap reception (especially UHF)  and am interested in FreeView 
but wonder whether it's worth holding out until March next year to see 
whether digital terrestrial improves my lot. Is there a rule-of-thumb 
that can be applied to determine what kind of locations will get 
improved reception from terrestrial digital? If it's unlikely things 
will change I'll shell for the FreeView set-up.

(2) If I install a FreeView card, what advantages will I get installing 
the Hauppauge PVR500 card? Would I be just as well off with the FreeView 
and something like a PVR150? I see the 500 has an audio out but if my 
mobo has integrated 7:1 support I guess this would be redundant right?

(3) Does anyone have any MythTV experience  with the  Hauppage WinTV HVR 
3000 and FreeView. How does it compare with the Technisat Skystar 2?

(4) When a sat card says it supports "plain old analog cable TV signals" 
(like the HVR3000 does), can you take it for granted it'll support 
VHF/UHF signals as well?

Thanks, appreciate your help and looking forward to getting this up and 
running!

Matt