[Malt Magics]

hey everyone,

I just got myself an EyeTv 500, and I'm having trouble using it. There seems to be no signal even though I have the antenna connected properly. anyone know what the problem is? Or do I have a ery expensive hunk of crap? For reference, I have a G5 iMac which is connected to the EyeTv box.

thanks.

[SSharon]

Hmm, elgato has been pretty solid for me both in stability of my older eye-tv usb and in service when I ask them questions. So, not having the same model as you I am going to take a guess as to what the problem is. At least for my unit I can choose between antenna input or rca inputs, if you choose the wrong one of course you will get the no signal display. Otherwise even with no antenna at all when I do a channel scan I can pick up something even if its crap its something.

As a guide to the people here trying to help and since I've never seen an eye-tv 500, what lights does it have and are the appropriate ones on? Also, my usb model is bus powered, is yours firewire bus powered? Are there other things on the same channel as it? For example if you have two firewire hard drives in a chain I think the closer one has to be powered and on (not necessarily mounted though) for the farther drive to mount. So are you in a similar configuration?

Again just throwing out ideas to get some responses, but I hope I've helped a little.

[audvidsvs]

I also have a USB model eyetv and it does what it is supposed to do.
I seem to remember that I had ti re-start the computer to get the tuner to be able to scan for channels.
I also imagine that you would have to let the thing auto-tune some channels so it can select the correct band to tune.
Unlike a TV or radio tuner I think these units have to anaylizea signal before they will latch on to it.

Anyway as SSharon said if you can give us a little more detail someone can probably help.

[GORDYmac]

How widespread is HDTV programming in your area? I don't think you will receive standard TV signals with the EyeTV 500.

Regardless, email elgato at [email protected] with your problem. I am confident that you will get a response today. In addition to having top notch hardware and software, their support staff is excellent.

[eza]

I also just got the EyeTV 500. I'm still working out the kinks, but HDTV reception, at least for me, is a real problem. (No direct line of sight to broadcasting antennas, close proximity, tall buildings around). Right now I'm using a SilverSensor antenna to get the UHF HD stations in my area (Chicago), and placement is very important.

So basically, HDTV reception is very important.

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it. Only wish I had a Cinema HD display to go along with it.

[Malt Magics]

thanks for all the help.

I received support from the tech support today. I was able to get my EyeTV 500 (firewire powered) by having it autoscan for signals. i hadn't the time to really play around with it to try and figure it out.

But I still do have a few question:

I'm unable to receive all the local channels in my area, NYC, which are only 4 out of 6. what is this due to, as there's no reason not to receive them all. Perhaps antenna positioning?

and second, am I able to view cable channels with EyeTV? I imagine I'd have to buy a splitter of some sort for the cable wire to the EyeTv box.

Again, thanks for the help.

[eza]

I don't think the EyeTV 500 does anything but OTA (Over the Air) broadcasts of HDTV.

I haven't asked, as I'm not sure I want to even try, but I wonder if it's possible to use both an EyeTV 200 (which does analog cable) and a 500 at the same time.

[Lizard7]

If you are using an indoor antenna, finding all your channels with the EyeTV 500 can be really tough. I have found that I need to put the antenna in a different position for almost EVERY single station in the Boston area from my location. Thus, a channel scan will only find a channel or two from any given position.

What I ended up doing was manually editing the frequency assignments in the eyetv.world preference file. For example, if I did a scan and found PBS, but wanted to search for NBC, I would change the frequency number but leave everything else the same in the xml file. Once you do this, you can use the signal strength indicator and move the antenna around.

One caveat... there are two major hdtv formats (1080i and 720p). If I tried to tune a 720p (fox and abc) station when the eyetv expected 1080i (most of the rest), it wouldn't show the video. You can still use the signal strength indicator, however, to find the best spot to pick up the station by channel scan.

Find the digital stations in your area at: http://www.antennaweb.org

Frequency table: http://www.soontai.com.tw/tvtab1.html

Once you get everything setup, the eyetv 500 is a great device!

[SSharon]

It would be a bit expensive but to reply to eza I am pretty sure that you can use more than one eye-tv at the same time. Even within the app there are options for configuring multiple units so I don't see why not. It may have a hard time writing both files to the same hard drive though.

[Malt Magics]

thanks for all the help fellas, I appreciate it.

But I'm left with one question then, who on earth would really want to use EyeTv 500 if it only picks up OTA? why not just stick to EyeTv 200 if you can use a cable wire? sure the quality is HDTV, but the channel options are quite poor.

I'm thinking of returning my EyeTv 500 and just exhcanging ot for EyeTv 200. What do you all think?

again, thanks for all the input.

[mattyd]

I agree. I have an eyeTV 200. I considered the 500, but it's way too limiting.

[Malt Magics]

Originally posted by mattyd:
I agree. I have an eyeTV 200. I considered the 500, but it's way too limiting.

I'm just about to email them about a return/exchange, but I was wondering, if anyone knew of any other tuners that would be of better use with cable?

thanks

[Lizard7]

Because if you want/need to get tv OTA the quality is superb (once tuned...). I agree that it would be nice to have a device that could handle both cable and OTA. In the pc world, this tuner is an option:
www.usbhdtv.com

But I'm left with one question then, who on earth would really want to use EyeTv 500 if it only picks up OTA? why not just stick to EyeTv 200 if you can use a cable wire? sure the quality is HDTV, but the channel options are quite poor.

[newtech]

FWIW

elGato just putout new software/firmware to allow eyeTV500 to receive QAM ( unencrrypted digital cable ) in addition to OTA HDTV

[audvidsvs]

FWIW these two units are really two different products.
Although they both obviously tune Tv in a way they are not very similar otherwise.

The 200 tunes standard NTSC broadcast whether cable or over the air then it scan converts so we can use it with a computer. Standard televisions scan at 1/2 the frequency of HDTV and so this has to do both.
Also the USB connection is not quite fast enough to look great.Both of these factors contribute to the somewhat choppy nature of the 200 output.

The 500 on the other hand tunes only HD broadcasts but does not have to do any scan conversion as the native scanning frequency of HD and computers is the same. Because of this and the firewire connection and the enhanced resolution of HDTV there is really no comparison in the results between the two.

It really comes down to what you are looking for. For computer based HDTV the 500 is OK and for NTSC on the MAc the 200 is OK.

They can not really be compared as though they are the same thing.

[Malt Magics]

Originally posted by newtech:
FWIW

elGato just putout new software/firmware to allow eyeTV500 to receive QAM ( unencrrypted digital cable ) in addition to OTA HDTV

where is this located on their site?

thanks.

[Lizard7]

Yeah, I couldn't find anything on it either... Anyone know for sure?

Originally posted by Malt Magics:
where is this located on their site?

thanks.

[Hydra]

I have an EyeTV 500 and at first tried to use a modern "rabbit ears" set top antenna with mixed results. I found it only worked so so. Next I tried a Terk TV55 powered antenna, 60-100 bucks online, and had much better results. The power amplification seems to make all the difference for me. I live about 15 miles North of NYC and most of the HDTV signals come from the South and aligning the antenna properly I now get all the major networks from NYC. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and a couple of other stations as well, UPN seems messed up as it piggybacks off of Fox's antenna from what I understand. I moved about a month after getting the antenna placement just right to my dismay , approx. 1/2 mile away, and I was able to get even better reception than the old house. I think this goes to show the antenna is crucial. If you are trying to use a simple passive antenna it may not be enough. If you are in an area of too strong reception I understand the signal may have to be reduced in some way as well due to strong reflections off certain structures. One excellent and indispensable resource I came across is a site which lets you input your address and it shows you the direction and distance to all the antennas in your area. http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

I should probably sit down and write a review of the EyeTV 500 and set-up as I spent allot of time getting it just right. I agree with the above statement that it is a bit limiting but I find watching TV on a 23" Cinema Display limiting as it is The reason I went for it was that most of the shows I like to record are network shows, cable endlessly repeats programing so I never feel I need to record those. The EyeTV 500 acts like a Tivo for HD and it looks amazing when viewing 1080i on a 23" at full rez. I recorded part of Monsters INC. which was shown in HD on ABC a few weekends ago and it makes the DVD version look pathetic. I could post some stills here in this thread but the 1920x1080 images might peeve some people Stills from 1080i can even make nice big desktop images. For a little over 300 bucks this is a reasonable way to enjoy HD on the Mac. Good product and good software IMHO.

The one feature I wish they would implement is manual scanning for the channels. As it stands now the software "auto-tunes" the channels. It scans through something like 75 frequencies looking for a signal above a certain threshold of strength before it adds it to your list of tune-able channels. If you see a channel missing from the list that you think you can get you have to start the whole "auto-tune" thing over again and you may end up getting the one you want and losing one you already had. This process takes about 5 min to scan through the channels so it is no something that you want to do every-time you want a certain channel The problem with this is that a slight shift in a directional antenna can make a signal go from 80% to 20% - much like setting up a satellite dish. I would much rather it let me add channels to the list and then try to move the antenna to improve signal. As it stands now through some trial and error I have it positioned pretty well but it would be much easier to be able to manually tune. I haven't been able to figure out where the EyeTV 500 stores the prefs for the channels as I would be able to save a set and experiment with even more placements of the antenna. Hope this helps and I would be happy to answer any questions you have on the EyeTV 500.

[Lizard7]

Any news on the eyetv 500 firmware update beta?

[newtech]

They killed the link ( I received it via email from elGato) update is eyeTV 1.6.5b1 seeding. I dont have digital cable so I can not comment on it other than to say the firmware update went smoothly and have noticed no downside in the update for OTA.

[Malt Magics]

So, I just returned my EyeTv 500, and before I bought another tuner too hastily, I was wondering which would be the better option, since I'd likE to skip the song an ddance of getting one and finding out maybe the other one was better:

Eye TV 200

or

Formac Studio TVR

now I know there was a previous thread on these two, but perhaps soemone could give a simpler pro vs. con of each device, since I really didn't come away with any better idea of which was better, or rather which was more useful-sort of like being an undecided voter having to choose between a Democrat or Republican, they both seem similar, domn't they?


anyhow thanks.

[joe]

Originally posted by Malt Magics:
Eye TV 200
or
Formac Studio TVR

now I know there was a previous thread on these two, but perhaps soemone could give a simpler pro vs. con of each device,

I currently own an EyeTV200 and previously owned the Studio dv/tv. The TVR is a new and improved version (vs the dv/tv) in some ways like the audio lock but it lost the FM tuner. Both EyeTV200 and Studio TVR have advantages IMHO. Here are some pro/con comparisons may want to consider:

EyeTV200 pro
- MPEG2 hardware compression (stores more than DV)
- EyeTV software
- built-in video editor
- bus powered from firewire port (one less power supply needed)

EyeTV200 con
- files must be exported to work with iLife (DV)
- must buy Toast or similar to burn DVDs

Studio TVR pro
- DV hardware compression produces files that work directly with iLife
- Studio can be controlled from within iMovie (change channel/inputs)
- 3rd party software (Vidi)
- more a/v inputs and outputs than any other tuner
- bus powered from firewire port

Studio TVR con
- DV files take up much more space than MPEG2
- longer compression times needed to make a DVD

I had a blast with my Formac Studio - it's a great tuner and video input device. But for my purposes the EyeTV200 is better suited. I mostly use it like a TiVO so the MPEG2 compression is a real bonus. You can store more video in the same space with MPEG2 vs DV. I don't burn a lot of DVDs or do fancy video effects. So the basic editor included with the EyeTV200 software is good enough. To be fair some people may want the extra i/o ports of the Studio TVR or prefer working with iMovie or iDVD for the fancy effects. For those the Studio TVR may be the better choice.

[newtech]

eyeTV 1.6.5 is out, but it is not the same as 1.6.5b1 seed as it does not include QAM Firmware update.

[Rychiar]

still rockin eyetv 100 here, only reasonably priced one. them things get crazy. u want hd then download the shows off bitorrent

[mrchin]

I still have my USB eyeTV, but want the 200 for better quality. Installing the new 1.65 software FUBAR'd by core audio on my G5. No sound output, no matter what I troubleshooted. Finally, removing the eyeTV helper from the main Library fixed it. So have to 1.5 something. Can't remember.

The 500 definitely needs a good antenna and only for HDTV. Tried setting someone's up and couldn't get anything. So she uses her direcTV for HD and just eyeTV200's it all into the computer.

Just need a price drop before I splurge on the 200. Anyone wanna buy a 100?