Anyone Hacked a Digital TV tuner into their TB?

Why not? They come in a box that you set on top of your TV. The electronics have to be something that the folks on the site can master.

No emen, I have not been into the potato juice.

 

Let's watch how we discuss this please... We don't need ne of the big cable companies coming in to our discussion...

On another note however... There were a few online sellers of CF-28s a while back that swore they offered TV on their laptops. I played around with it and found a few online apps for free that would allow me to watch a lot of stuff... Not HBO or anything... But then we can't hack that... Well... we can't discuss it anyway... Next would be how to hack your Internet provider.

 

Rick,
They do make PCMCIA TV tuners which can capture broadcast signals. Some of the new high end (oxymoron coming here) Dells have them built in, a guy at work had one last summer. I wonder if they will need a set top converter if the gummint ever gets their digital change over done. I suppose they work with cable as well.
CAP

 

If it's digital TV from "off air" sources like you get rabbit ears; I'm not seeing where we would be offending the cable companies.

 

I've been wondering about those. Cause that's a whole different turtle. Maybe I should buy one and see if they really work. If the stock market comes back tomorrow maybe I will.

 

Ahhhhh... Bach!

Okay.... I thought you were referring to a cable system... Like getting the signal via Internet.

Showly... You juss go head an put dem rabbit eyas on that tuffbook! Dat would look funny!

(Lemme now what antenna you need... I'll to to make one for you!)

 

Before another moderator sees this thread, by hack, we mean install hardware that does not come standard inside of a Toughbook, just like our custom GPS.

Now... I'll chime in a bit on this. It's not in my toughbook, but I do have a nice USB TV tuner on my Mac Pro, which allows me to hook up cable or rabbit ears and watch TV on my computer. I'm assuming that is what pappy is looking for, anyways...

It doesn't act as a digital tuner, though it can receive digital signals, if that makes any sense. (Basically to get premium comcast channels, I still need their digital box, but this thing will still work once the analog broadcasts get shut off).

Honestly, since you've gotta hook it up to a cable anyways, you are best off just getting a USB version, since it's not really portable. However.... They do have options for digital "over the air" signals that are pretty small as well, which could be hacked internally with some small effort.

What sort of signals were you hoping to pick up pappy? Cable, Satellite, or over-the-air?

 

I'm with Pappy, I think were are just looking for the free over-the-air digital stuff.

 

Hey Modman, I hope that all of your "ink" isn't getting rusty out there.

Yep, it's "off air" stuff I'm after. It they can do it in USB and PCMCIa; the erstwhile troops on this forum should be able to make it look easy in a Toughbook!

 

Well then... You got two shots at it as I see it..... Hack something totally new... NOT! ~OR~ Get a USB tuner and hack it inside like we do a USB bluetooth dongle... Then mount an exterior antenna.... Am I on the right path?

 

Been looking for a while, and unfortunately, the only flush-fit NTSC/ATSC hybrid card I've been able to find is an ExpressCard card and not a CardBus card. ( http://www.avermedia-usa.com//AVerTV/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=471)

And I can't even use the ExpressCard>Cardbus adapter I found online ( http://www.duel-systemsadapters.com/?productid=DP-0002), because it only converts the USB2.0 part of the ExpressCard spec and the tuner card uses the PCIe part of the ExpressCard spec instead.

Almost tempted to find a cheap ATSC/NTSC/FM card and see if it can be cut down, like the USB card I saw on http://hackaday.com/2007/03/14/shortened-usb-pcmcia-card/ (Which oddly sort of reminds me of the cheap AKE dual USB2.0 card I got on eBay, actually...). Except I'd probably just break it or something by mistake.

 

TB, you're always on the right path! I assume that we'll have a "how to" with photos by Thursday?

 

Pappy.... For me to work on it... It starts with me being interested in it... This is up there with wireless stereo bluetooth sunglasses with the foam earplugs at the end.

My problem is that I have all the music I'll ever listen to (18K songs) and more movies than I'll probably ever watch.

It all comes down to... You can watch channels 4, 7 & 9 for free... But who wants to watch soap operas.... All the good TV is on Cable! (With the exception of "Life" on Tuesdays!)

If you can find a USB cable tuner antenna that doesn't break the law.... Now THAT I may work on!

 

Ultimately, I think modly is right; You're not going to get an all-internal solution that's going to be satisfactory. Any cable-tv solution (clear QAM) will require, well, a cable. Any OTA solution (ATSC, PAL) will require too large of an antenna to make internal. You might as well go with a USB tuner.

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