Is there a Dish Network in Brasil?

Can I connect the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q to my dish network to watch on my laptop?

• Hi I have dish network and a regular 19 inch Magnavox non hdtv. I have had dish network for 5 years now and I have been very happy with their service. The way I have my dish network connected to my tv is by using red, white, yellow wires. My tv doesn't have s video. Anyways for the past 5 years, the picture quality has been great on my tv till the last 5 weeks. In the past 5 weeks, I noticed that the picture is not as sharp and clear as it used to be and I know for a fact it isn't my tv that is causing this problem. I think dish network is playing with the signals to force people to upgrade to high definition. Anyways a few days ago, I decided to buy the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q and try to connect my dish network to my laptop hoping to get a much clearer and better picture. I bought the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q and the person who helped me told me that that the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q will not work with dish network and that it only works with cable, but I have a feeling that it should work with dish network too. The instruction on the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q were very confusing and I didn't know how to hook it up and I just gave up and retured the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q back to bestbuy. Anyways does the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q work with dish network and if so how should I have got to work meaning how should I have installed since it didn't work out for me. Also will the picture quality be excellent on the laptop with dish network. Will it be close to hd even though my dish network box is not hd? Will it be better than the picture on my regular tv? Let me know know all the details

• Answer:

  This isn't designed for satellite TV, it's for terrestrial and cable transmissions. What you need is either a WinTV Nova-S-USB adapter or better still a WinTV-NovaHD-S2 PCI card, which is what I use. USB: http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/products/data_novasusb2.html PCI: http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/products/data_novahds2.html You can use your adapter at the same time as one of these, both WInTV7 and Windows Media Centre can handle it, plus they'll then allow you to record from one while watching the other. The PCI adapter is better because it supports the S2 satellite transmission standard and HD. These adapters output power for the LNB and can control the signal polarization automatically. They're also very easy to set up and use - just connect the wire from your dish to it and install the software. They also scan automatically for channels so you don't need to do it manually. I'm glad that you got your money back, you did have the wrong adapter. These work very well for me, I don't bother having a TV or video recorder, I just use my PC with one of these and another WinTV adapter for UK terrestrial freeview reception. If you wish you can also buy the WinTV CI adapter (common interface) which gives you a slot to put cards in for paid subscription channels. The USB adapter does not support S2 transmissions or HD. This means that it'll have some channels missing from it's list. Unfortunately you won't be able to use the PCI card with a laptop. If you have a desktop machine that you can use then get the PCI card because it's picture quality is excellent, particularly in HD.