TV TUNER->Pinnacl pctv 50i no audio for recorded programs!

[praka123]

Hello,
I bought a Pinnacle PCTV 50i internal tuner for my uncle in kottayam.He installed hardware and necessary software.Now,He wants to record programs for personal use with sun dth.the Set Top Box(STB) got S-video out and his hardware personnel connected the S-video out of STB to the S-Video in of Tuner card.remember STB doesnot have A/V out.

After Installing necessary software,he can watch dth on his monitor with both audio and video perfect.but,when he records,video is recorded fine,but audio is not available. He is using Windows XP Proffessional SP2 genuine in his Desktop PC with intel-915GAV board+hda sound+frontech extra soundcard.

The hardware guy already unmuted aux i/p,line in etc in window volume control properties.

Is it a software problem?Or does we need to have to connect something to get audio ,someone can help? complete windows n00b here

below is the picture taken from pinnacle site reg the video/audio i/p pins:

Pinnacle PCTV 50i is equipped with a premium quality PAL/SECAM/NTSC tuner with full hyperband Cable TV support. The 50i also includes worldwide stereo audio and FM radio support.

Pinnacle PCTV 50i has the following approvals

• FCC and CE
• Microsoft WHQL certification for Windows XP

Inputs and Outputs

• Video Inputs: S-video, Composite video (RCA socket, via included adapter)
• Audio Outputs: 2.5 mm header (internal)
• Stereo audio support: Audio cable for connection to a soundboard or via PCI audio streaming
• TV signal: IEC connector (PAL/SECAM)
• FM radio signal: IEC connector

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSit...Specifications

Help please

[ravi_9793]

Have you got a small wire??
connect that wire to auto output port of TV tuner card..and other end of that wire to extreme left sound card port.After that select right recording device.

[indian_samosa]

Try if the following works...
Double click the audio volume icon in system tray ..> click options >click properties > click recording > select in the list below line-in >click OK >now the audio properties will display the recording options >now tick the line-in select box > drag the slider a bit high to say 30% .....and try recording the videos now...

[praka123]

OK thanks!I checked the STB and found that the Sun's STB got a S-Video o/p(which he is using),a tv output,apart from A/V out.I feel sorry for him!he bought a frontech soundcard yesterday thinking onboard sound doesnot have input it seems the technician is too "Wise" to make him buy a sound card! Sad!

Will let u know later/

@samosa:I already asked him to do the same.

[indian_samosa]

I actually wanted to say what ravi has replied ...but then I read that he already has sound coming fine...so I guess he connected that "small stereo cable" from audio out of the tuner card to line-in of the sound card (yeah onboard will do fine ...but you already know that ) So I suggested that audio properties option.

Now the only option I can think of is using some third party recording app and configure it to use the line-in for recording the audio ...( ie if the app which came with the card is not sufficient enough ) ... I prefer ... iuvcr from www.iuvcr.com or try virtualvcr ....

Do keep us updated ..as to what happened ... ( am curious ... may be someone sometime might come across same problem)

[bikdel]

yeah... sound is getting decoded from cable signal and is coming; that is not a problem...

but wait is the sound coming from PC or are speakers joined to STB? i havent seen your STB for myself so don't know


check in the recording program what the SOURCE VIDEO and SOURCE AUDIO are put as....
for Video it will be your TV Card itself....
For Audio It should be either your Line-In if that is where Audio goes into from your STB, or well...errr.. it should be Line-In, nothing else..

hope that helps..

[praka123]

Hey ALL,my uncle tried every way!He is using line-in audio of the onboard card he and the pc technician cannot figure out what is wrong!I am not able to help him very much via phone reg windows! what i asked him to do is,try any settings of the pinnacle media player(whatever the name) to seek onboard sound as the audio input.and that "small wire" is not connected between soundcard and onboard card due to the mismatching of end pins (I dont know!) .I am sure it is some minor problems that is troubling recording!

[indian_samosa]

OK..lets go in details here ..

The Sound output of the SetTopBox is RCA jacks.You need a cable which has RCA jacks at one end and a stereo jack (the kind you have on headphones or earphones) on the other.



Now what you need to do is insert the RCA jacks into the sound out of the STB and insert the stereo jack into the line-in (blue colored socket) on the motherboard.

Now the above is true when you are getting the video from the STB to the tuner card via a composite cable (having a single RCA jack at both the ends) OR a S-video cable (the one which you are using)

----- the other way ------
The other way is to use the RF output of the STB (same like cable wala or antenna) The way to go about this is to use a Coaxial cable wire (the thick one which cablewalla's use).One end you insert into the RF out of the STB and the other end you insert into the aerial-in of the card (third hole from top in the first post pic).Now in this situation both the video and audio is carried along a same wire and they are splitted when they enter the Tuner card.The tuner card outputs the audio externally ....and therefore you need the small wire (stereo jacks at both ends) to connect the audio-out of the tunercard to the audio-in of the motherboard.

In both cases in windows sound settings ... the LINE-IN is to be selected.

I think this should solve the hardware issues atleast ... when you said the wires dont match in your post I suppose the wire which they used is the normal "RCA to RCA" yeah the kinda we use with VCD and DVD players commonly.

[praka123]

@samosa:thanks for ur help.
OK.to make things clear,the small wire that is supplied is to be used between tv tuner output( ) and onboard/soundcard input.

and the STB provided by sun dth has the normal A/V output and it is the pinnacle pctv 50i which is not having audio input as the pin is different! afaik.

and line-in is already selected and now he is watching TV using as follows:
1.S-Video from STB given to S-Video input of Tuner card
2.audio o/p from audio out(same pin as the headphone one) of STB is plugged into line-in of onboard soundcard.
3.with this settings,he is getting sound playing always,I think(heard via phone!) and yes line-in is used.

and regarding the small cable to be connected between Tunercard and sound card,the small cable(i havent seen it yet!) has got pin types which are different at both ends and the technician is going to get a cable that fits both ends!

I have literally tried my best by explaining via phone for over an hour( ) ,he can hear sound and watch videos which are crystal clear(acc. to him).
but if he tries "Capture" feature,video got recorded,but audio is left !

and worst of all,a new Rs400/- frontech soundcard is lying there without any use

[indian_samosa]

Originally Posted by praka123

OK.to make things clear,the small wire that is supplied is to be used between tv tuner output( ) and onboard/soundcard input.

Normally it should but in your case its not required coz he is directly connecting the audio from STB to SOundcard/onboard audio ...and in his case its working properly.Atleast he can hear the audio ..

Originally Posted by praka123

and the STB provided by sun dth has the normal A/V output and it is the pinnacle pctv 50i which is not having audio input as the pin is different! afaik.

yes Tv tuner cards dont normally have audio-in as such.There will be one,two or three types of video-in depending on the cards.

Originally Posted by praka123

and line-in is already selected and now he is watching TV using as follows:
1.S-Video from STB given to S-Video input of Tuner card
2.audio o/p from audio out(same pin as the headphone one) of STB is plugged into line-in of onboard soundcard.
3.with this settings,he is getting sound playing always,I think(heard via phone!) and yes line-in is used.

and regarding the small cable to be connected between Tunercard and sound card,the small cable(i havent seen it yet!) has got pin types which are different at both ends and the technician is going to get a cable that fits both ends!

I have literally tried my best by explaining via phone for over an hour( ) ,he can hear sound and watch videos which are crystal clear(acc. to him).
but if he tries "Capture" feature,video got recorded,but audio is left !

and worst of all,a new Rs400/- frontech soundcard is lying there without any use

Which software is he using for recording ... if he is using Pinnacle PCTV Vision then perhaps he can set up both playback as well as recording to line-in.(via settings configure on that app)


But I have a hunch ... the problem is really a teeny tiny one ... if you had been personally at your uncle's place I suppose the problem would have solved till now ..

[praka123]

^OK thanks @indian samosa.yesterday,He did selected onboard sound from pctv media player option and i explained everything via phone.let me explain to him tomorrow,after seeing the setting pics above.

[Rollercoaster]

i would suggest u try vista's media center. it works beautifully especially for automatic recording and electronic guide. i am using the 50i for a year with vista's media center and m loving it.

here are a few tips from my experience-
1. 50i uses same drivers for 110i. it is actually the same hardware. so when u search for drivers get once for 110i as they are newer and updated often.
2. get the plane hardware drivers if u want to use any media center version with the tuner. you dont need to download the whole 100s of MBs for pinnacles own media center updates.
3. get a media center compatible remote like Logitech. sadly the pinnacle ones are not compatible with anything else other then their own pain in the ass software.

[praka123]

^No Vista here(or is it the player for vista )!and this is NOT for me!for my uncle and he got windows xp professional .

[sasikotesh]

Hi Friends,

I am also facing same problem as above, while capturing the video, I am not able to record the audio. Here I am using the Fronteck TV Tuner Card. I tried all the above options but no results.

I will tell my scenario briefly.

I connected my Camcorder to TV tuner card using with A/V out cable showing the above. I connected Video out as useval and Audio out I used another convertion cable and connected to Audio In of TV tuner card. My Speakers connected to TV tuner Card Audio out. Then I am able to watch the video with audio. Here If I record the video, Video capturing without Audio. If I use small cable to connect one end to TV tuner card Audio Out and another one to Mother Board Line-In. Here I am not able to listen the Audio while playback the video.

Because I have to convert some of old tapes to CD's or DVD's. So I need to capture the video with Audio is nessasary. So Could you please help me out regard this.

Thanks
Kotesh

[giannisaridaia4]

thanks!!!!!!!!

thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!