SageTV 2.6 and Windows Home Server 2

Got my shiny new Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-T 500 – Dual Digital Freeview TV tuner and hooked it up to the server.

Driver installation was painless. the server picked it up with no problem.

I installed the SageTV V2.2 Add In via the console. At this point, I have to say that it offers zero settings to configure either on the tab or under settings. On one had it does wonders to the confusion factor. On the other, being unable to do something as pedestrian as changing the storage location is frustrating . Since this is for WHS, you should know that the system partition is 20GB and it makes no sense to store video files there. Try a Share.

As long as you remember to download the SageTv client off the site, it works fine.

Channel set-up was a breeze. My only beef is the EPG via tvtv.co.uk. 90% of the channels don’t show up in the EPG yet for some reason. I’ll give it time to load all the channels up before emailing tech support.

To test it I had to do some acrobatics with the cable coming down from the antenna. I’ve not tested it with both tuners in action. I’m going to get the TV guys down here tomorrow to turn it into a permanent set-up with both tuners working.

The quality is amazing on the client. The user interface is well designed and unobtrusive.

Some points from a first impression.

Talking of the user interface:

1. I wish you could expressly dock the window to the taskbar like you can do with the  video window of the Windows Media Player Toolbar.
2. Being able to remap the channels could be a lot easier.
3. Choosing channels could be a lot easier. Instead of giving the user an exhaustive list of every free-to-air digital channel in Europe, simply show the ones found in  the channel scan. Make the huge list an option.
4. Configuring the screen size could be less confusing. Took me a while to realize what to do.

The whole EPG thing could be improved. Surely you could pick this information up from the Tv signals themselves? How come my set-top box does it quite easily? I’ll have a play around and see if there is that option.

I’m a wee bit confused about the license structure. In 15 days, what do I do? Do I buy a SageTV license for both Client and Server?  

And finally, when can we expect a release?

Looking ahead. I plan to get the Extenders for the Tv’s at some point. And I plan to grab another dual tuner to make sure everyone can watch what they want.

I love it when a gamble pays off big. 🙂