DirecTV to PC?

Hi all, this is my first post and my first car-pc! I am building a car-pc for my 1988 31' class A motorhome. It has a 13" CRT and VCR now and that leaves me lots of room behind it for a full size MB and so on. I plan on a 17" touchscreen on the dash over the hole for the 13" is now (yes, it will fit). I want to use a ~22" TV on a fold down bracket for the main cabin area mounted on the roof behind the drivers area.

1. How do I incorporate satellite TV? This has me stumped.

2. Since I need a new radio head unit, should I just get a radio card for the PC?

My list so far is below and maybe someone has better suggestions on hardware and software. I am still in the early stages of design, so making changes is easy. I have 8 months to build this...

Items to purchase:

19-26" LCD TV with fold down for main cabin TV
17" LCD touch screen monitor for main screen
12v car-pc power supply (brand?)
New radio head unit?

Items on hand:

Motherboard w/1gb ram
Dual video card (ATI)
Hard drive
WiFi card (Linksys)
GPS dongle (MS/Pharos)
DVD combo drive
USB/Memory card bay
Video input device (Will Dazzle work?)
Backup camera w/IR

Software:

Windows XP
RideRunner
WinAmp or Win Media player?
DVD player drivers?
MS Streets and Trips
Geo-caching
APRS

Wish list (future add-ons):

Engine status and gauges
Battery condition/charging
Generator status
Fridge status and temp
Water and propane levels
Gray and blackwater tank levels

Here is a before picture:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/imag...cd5dcab68d.jpg

Anyone, Bueller?

http://www.kvh.com/products/product.asp?id=125

Quite a few if you look around:
http://cgi.ebay.com/KVH-TracVision-R...#ht_3286wt_923

I am not looking for mobile dishes, I know about them. What I am looking for is a way to have the PC control the Satellite receiver similar to how the PC can control XM radio.

My goal is to "zone" the outputs so I can listen to radio or MP3's on the front speakers while driving and the kids can watch TV, movies or play games on the Wii. Not sure how to make this work.

If your Direct TV box has usb or a low speed data port you can use this program to control the box. You may be able to incorporate that as a plugin into what ever front end you use.

in that case the device you are looking for doesn't exist....the best way is to use a standalone receiver and a video capture card.

Or could use the digital method:
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...setId=P4920044

I don't see why you can't use Girder to control the dish box. You can program it to work with just about any infrared device.

i think you are looking for a card like this
??

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/prod..._internal.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coreyspeed

i think you are looking for a card like this
??

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/prod..._internal.html

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How can this card control the DTV unit? I have used an older version but not sure how it will work with DTV. On the web page, it claims to be compatable, but nothing that I can find says how.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

no what you really need is this- http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

but its not a good solution, especially for mobile. its buggy, but it does work.

alternatively, if you can live with an s-video quality signal, just use any old NTSC tuner card like the pvr150mce, they will have input for s-video, and you take that from your satellite box. windows media center, or many other programs, can then control your satellite box with IR commands, via a media center IR remote kit.

however, if you have internet in your carpc, i would go the route i choose. instead of adding in a whole satellite system into your car, set it up at home and stream it to your car via ORB. it wont require you to install anything in your car, not even software. its all browser based, and works excellent. i have all my satellite channels in my car whenever i want, i even use orb to get tv to other rooms in the house. its not as elegant as using a set-top-box directly, but it works well and a lot cheaper then adding receivers to your monthly plan.