Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks

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Part II: Advanced Hacks, Tools, and Techniques

Project Overview

This project uses a standard PC with video input and output cards to record

and play back standard NTSC video signals. We will cover how to build

a unit with just the basic time-delay recording functions, but additional

features such as live pause and a full GUI program-guide interface can be

added later. The costs should be minimal, as you probably already have an

old PC that will work well for this hack.

You will put together a PC system, load a recent version of the Linux operat-

ing system, and then load several video capture and playback utilities.

I would like to thank Russell Pavlicek for inspiring this hack. You can check

out his web site at http://www.linuxprofessionalsolutions.com/pavlicek/

tv.html.

Hardware Assembly Instructions

This project requires putting together a standard PC. You do not need to go

out and purchase the fastest PC on the market; a machine that runs at 400

MHz or faster should be sufficient for the basic functions. You may want to

get one a bit faster to ensure smooth video under all conditions.

Put together an Intel- or AMD-based PC with these components:

• 400+ MHz Celeron/AMD/Pentium processor.

• Brooktree 878-based capture card. The Pixelview PlayTV Pro card

should do the trick.

• AGP or on-board VGA video card (16-bit color depth minimum).

• PCI or ...