I would like to get a Hauppauge WinTV Nova T 500 adapter which I understand works with Linux.
That's the easy part.
It would be very inconvenient to install it in my desktop because it would require a connection to a TV aerial socket and I don't have one near my desktop.
My idea would be to assemble another computer using some spare parts that I have together with some parts that I would have to re-aquire. I say 're-aquire' because I would have had all the necessary parts if I hadn't given away a lot of them (CPUs, hard drives, RAM) to a local computer recycling charity a few months ago. Why is it that one does not have a use for these parts until they've gone?
I'm assuming that if I assemble the said computer with the TV adapter in it (putting it near a TV aerial socket) and can connect wirelessly to my desktop then I could access the TV adapter from my desktop using something like MythTV. Would such a thing be possible?
I would be looking at a minimal install of Linux on the new box with all the processing done on my desktop.
This would assume that I could connect the two boxes using nothing more than a wireless adapter in each i.e. no router. My desktop has an on- board wireless adapter and I have two spare PCI adapters one of which I could use in the new box. Is it possible to get two wireless adapters to communicate in this way? Would that be fast enough to cope with the data from the TV adapter?
What sort of specification for the new machine would be required? I have a Gigabyte GA-7ZXE mainboard which takes a Socket A Athlon (which I would have to aquire) and it takes PC-133 SDRam (which I would also have to aquire). What's the minimum RAM I would need?
I would also need to aquire an IDE hard drive. What's the minimum size I could get away with?
I wouldn't normally want to use a screen or keyboard after the machine has been setup - would that cause problems when booting?
What else haven't I thought of?