DVB-S card choppy, then fixed?

[allstarnz]

Right i'll explain this.

I have a DVB-S card (Hauppauge HVR3000).

I have picture quality perfect, turn my PC off, turn it back on, picture is choppy, dropping frames. I reconnect the cable at either the splitter end or at the PC, it works fine. Turn the PC off, repeat as above.

Very frustrating, can't work it out for the life of me. I redid the cables properly last night using a proper RG6 cable stripper, put the screw ons back on again.

It is NOT satellite signal, once the problem is fixed, it works perfectly until i turn my PC off. I then do nothing to the cables (tonight I just turned the PC on, started DVB Viewer, and it's playing up already), so i doubt anything has moved in the 5 hours since this morning.

Any ideas?

The only thing I can think of possibly is that the metal from the end of the RGB6 plug is touching the metal of the gab between PCI cards (only because the slot is slightly too small).

This has been ongoing for a while now, so would really love to get this fixed.

TIA

[fromaron]

Can you see the signal strength and quality anywhere in your DVB viewer?
See if they drop when it starts playing up.

[allstarnz]

i don't think it's that. I can't get the signal reading right now, but I'm 99% sure it's high enough. Like I said, it goes from dropping around 3% of all frames to near perfect recordings (dropping 25 or less, often 0) frames for a 60 min recording.

[fromaron]

If you are confident the signal doesn't drop then why did you rebuilt your cables?
In the case you might have problems with your DVB viewer software, the way it uses your PC resources.
If it is Windows based system, thenget yourself a tool called GraphEdit. Run your application and the GraphEdit tool. Connect to remote graph and test it. You will see how your system handles it. Test and compare when it's chocking and when everything is fine. Once you get the data try to ask the question in your software forum place.

[allstarnz]

I am not convinced it is software any more. I have dealt with problem for a number of months.

I use DVBViewer, GB-PVR and Media Portal, all of these exhibit the same characteristics.

The main factor that seems to think that it is something hardware based, is the fact that unplugging and replugging seems to fix it. I am at a loss as to why though. Also me turning the computer on and off seems to break it too. I am also at a loss as to why this is.

Software works fine, I change nothing physically, turn the PC off [some time elapses], I turn it back on, and hey presto, frame errors. I unplug RG6 to PC card (or at splitter end), replug, and the cycle repeats as per the start of this paragraph.

I can just keep unplugging, and replugging, but it's a pain in the ass, also deteriorating the thread on my tuner card at the same time.

[fromaron]

Ever thought about trying different card, even the same model? Is it under warranty?

[allstarnz]

it seems my card wasn't totally flush to the slot, have re-seated it, and will see if that makes a difference.

thanks for your help fromaron