[mythtvnz] Just how cheap could you build a system? Possibly OT.

[Nick Rout]

On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 8:19 PM, David Moore <dmoo1790 at ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> On 06/06/12 19:57, criggie wrote:
>>
>> On 06/06/12 17:05, dmoo1790 at ihug.co.nz wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 16:43:24 +1200, "Criggie"<criggie at criggie.org.nz>
>>>>
>>>> How about you get VDSL with a 5-6 Mbit/sec upload, set up a tunnel from
>>>> his home router to yours, and simply stream recordings off your backend
>>>> to him?
>>>> Caps could be an issue though, so look for an ISP with zero-rated
>>>> internal
>>>> traffic like TCL.
>>>
>>>
>>> Caps would be the least of the issues with this solution. I guess you may
>>> be joking.
>>
>>
>> Only slightly - I've been meaning to try streaming over my spanky new
>> VDSL to work, just haven't had time.
>>
>> What other issues do you anticipate?
>> * Latency - I get 5.5 ms over VDSL to work, and 44-48ms over an ADSL
>> through my VDSL. Should be workable
>> * Bandwidth
>> speedtest returns 40.1 Mbit down and 7.3 Mbit up to Snap in Chch
>> iperf returns 58.4 Mbit down.
>>
>> What else? I know my old 802.11b wireless NIC was almost perfect, and
>> that only returned about 5 Mbit of actual throughput.
>> And I'm only thinking about SD not HD.
>>
>
> ? AFAIK TVNZ and Medaiworks are doing pretty high bit rates on their main
> channels (TV1/2/3). Around 10 Mbit/s I believe. Maybe you're talking about
> DVB-S?
>
> But the real problem is putting something together as simple and stable as a
> VCR for someone in their 70's with little patience with technology. For
> example Dad has never used the Wifi feature on his DSL box and I think he
> still uses a very old PC and dial-up modem to get his personal emails! I
> foresee his patience evaporating very quickly with anything which is much
> more than plug and play.
>
>
>>
>>
>> But back to the original question of low-cost mythbox... The cheapest
>> way is to use stuff you already have.
>> My first mythbox had 3x30 GB Maxtor IDE drives in a raid0 (this was
>> before the days of storage pools).
>> So find what you got and what you don't have, and let us know.
>>
>>
>
> Basically nothing which I would use as a basis for myth. Tivo is looking
> more and more like the best way to go...


Does he record at present? Does he want to? I find many people who
can't use a VCR. I find people who could use a VCR but have no clue
about using their DVD or hard drive recorders. Maybe a DVR will be too
complex for him.

In which case a simple DVB-S/DVB-T set top box may be sufficient.