How to Set Up a TV Tuner Card with Satellite

A TV tuner card allows your computer to receive television signals so you can watch them on its included TV screen software. If you have satellite TV service, you can watch it on the computer with one of these cards. A tuner card can be installed internally or externally, but it will still come with video ports that you can connect your satellite receiver to. The picture quality can vary (depending on if the card can receive hi-def signals), but watching your satellite TV on the computer is simply a matter of installing the card and connecting your receiver box to it.

Instructions

1. Choose a TV tuner card that will work with your computer. There are two basic types: a PCI card that is internally installed and an external tuner card with a USB plug. Get a card that receives HD satellite signals (though a basic analog tuner card can still work).

2. Install the card to your computer. For a PCI card, open your computer case and insert the card into an available PCI slot, which is located near the motherboard's base. For an external card, just plug it into a USB port.

3. Connect your satellite receiver box to the computer through the tuner card. The card will have an RF coaxial and/or RCA composite ports. Disconnect the receiver box's output from your TV and connect it to the card with a coaxial or RCA cable.

4. Turn the computer on. You will likely get a pop-up for the new hardware you installed. Insert the CD-ROM that came with the card and run the enclosed software. This will install the drivers needed for your operating system to run the card.

5. Start up the TV Tuner program, which you installed in the CD software's last step. If your satellite TV antenna is working and the cable is properly connected, the satellite TV broadcast will appear on the program's screen.

Tips & Warnings

• An RF coaxial cable has the plug that twists into a threaded port. RCA composite cables have the yellow, white and red plugs.

• Don't expect the remote control included with the tuner card to work with the satellite TV, especially when changing channels. Stick with the remote for your receiver box.