hi i need a pci freeview card for my pc, but my problem is that i do not have a tv aerial socket in my room at uni so need one that does not need to be connected to an aerial. i want to record tv onto my computer and i want a remote control. any idea's?
All TV cards need an aerial, and with an indoor aerial it's all very much YMMV. Ask around, see what sort of reception your neighbours are getting. If you're high up and on the right side of the building (facing the transmitter) you may be OK with a small aerial. If not, Then look a couple of threads down. Or up.
Without an aerial you will get nothing but a black screen unless you live very close to the transmitter. Also indoor aerials may or may not work as well again if your close to the transmitter and on 2nd floor of a house you might get away with it. But if your 30 miles away and the transmitter is a low powered one forget about it as it's not going to happen. With dvb-t signals you either get a picture or not, and not means either break up or a black screen, whilst analogue is broadcasted at a higher power than digital at the moment; anaolgue even with a weak signal you normally get a picture which might be fuzzy or discoloured etc.
A useful site: http://www.wolfbane.com/articles/tvr.htm Enter your postcode and estimated aerial height (above sea-level, use an OS map with contours), it will show the local transmitters, compass direction, and what band aerial you need for best results. (The correct band aerial gives much better results than a wide-band as sold by Maplin, B&Q, etc.) When the site's working properly it shows the ground section between you and the transmitter, seems to be borked ATM.
