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Apple TV with Elgato EyeTV questions

A

apatel87

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 30, 2009
133
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Hi, I did a search on Macrumors but was not able to find a thread on this but I am pretty sure one does exist. If there is a preexisting thread then please direct me in the right direction. I live in a studio and normally just stream all my video/audio content to my Apple TV and just watch it from there. Cable is really expensive and being a student does not offer many luxuries.

I was wondering if there was any way to rig the Elgato EyeTV tuner to the Apple TV and use the harddrive in it as storage for the DVR function. I know a lot of people do the HTPC route and use this setup but I was wondering if there was any way to watch cable TV just using the Eyetv.

Also, more questions on the EyeTV for people that do own it. How do you actually get the TV signals? Do you have to have it set up with a preexisting cable line like Slingbox? What channels could I get?

Would it better to just set up a slingbox at my parent's home and use that to watch TV in my apartment? I don't even know if that is possible but I wanted to find out. Basically, what is the best way and the most affordable way of watching cable over the internet. Thanks a lot for your help. I appreciate it.
 
apatel87 said:
I was wondering if there was any way to rig the Elgato EyeTV tuner to the Apple TV and use the harddrive in it as storage for the DVR function. I know a lot of people do the HTPC route and use this setup but I was wondering if there was any way to watch cable TV just using the Eyetv.
Click to expand...

The Apple TV can actually be hacked to run EyeTV and perform as a DVR. You will need to use patchstick.ca or atvflash.com (or some googling and more time to do-it-yourself). Once patched, you can install Mac applications to run from the Apple TV.

Also, more questions on the EyeTV for people that do own it. How do you actually get the TV signals? Do you have to have it set up with a preexisting cable line like Slingbox? What channels could I get?
Click to expand...

You plug the TV aerial into the EyeTV tuner. If you want to record from cable onto your computer, then I think Elgato sell a cable-compatible tuner.
 
Apple TV make into DVR

MacStew said:
The Apple TV can actually be hacked to run EyeTV and perform as a DVR. You will need to use patchstick.ca or atvflash.com (or some googling and more time to do-it-yourself). Once patched, you can install Mac applications to run from the Apple TV.
Click to expand...

Hey Mac Stew, this is good news...but I am curious, what all is needed to do this or is there a nice succinct blog or web page that tells you how to make your Apple TV into a DVR?

I have:
An Apple TV (that I like)
HDTV
Cable TV
DVR (and its monthly subscription)

I would like to jettison my $16/month DVR subscription and use my Apple TV as my DVR. I have done some reading on atvflash.com...so all one needs is atvflash and a EyeTV?

I have googled my a$$ off and frankly I am not sure what to look for...
"turn apple tv into dvr", "apple tv dvr", etc.

Any insight you have would be great.
 
There was a small thread about it just a couple days ago, with someone who actually had it running. Basically this is what you need:

A hacked aTV (either via a paid method or a free DIY method)
EyeTV 3.0.3 or earlier.
and an EyeTV tuner, I would recommend the EyeTV 250 Plus if you live in North America (there is a similar one for the Euro markets) that does the encoding itself instead of relying on the CPU of the aTV, which would result in pretty poor results.

Most EyeTV tuners will accept Over the air, Clear QAM, and analog cable feeds.
 
ReggaeFire said:
There was a small thread about it just a couple days ago, with someone who actually had it running. Basically this is what you need:

A hacked aTV (either via a paid method or a free DIY method)
EyeTV 3.0.3 or earlier.
and an EyeTV tuner, I would recommend the EyeTV 250 Plus if you live in North America (there is a similar one for the Euro markets) that does the encoding itself instead of relying on the CPU of the aTV, which would result in pretty poor results.
Click to expand...

Thanks ReggaeFire! Do you have the link to the small thread? I thought I searched fairly diligently on here...

Couple of clarifying questions...
Hacked ATV means atvflash.com or similar--a paid method, correct. I just want to make sure I understand what you mean by hacked.

Why EyeTV 3.03 or earlier? Why the earlier I should say? BTW, that is $80 on the elgato website. And the eyetv 250 plus is $200. Plus atvflash.com is $40...<> $320. I won't make my money back vs. my DVR service from the cable company for 21+ months...

I still want to learn about this though, and thank you for your responses.
 
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