Elgato EyeTV 500 User Manual

Elgato Systems

Hardware Reference
Guide EyeTV 500

2.5

© 2005

Elgato Systems LLC
900 Kearny Street • Suite 750
San Francisco, CA 94133
United States of America

Elgato Systems GmbH
Nymphenburgerstr. 86
80636 München

[e-mail]

Hardware Reference Guide EyeTV 500

2

EyeTV 500 HDTV digital TV recorder
for free over-to-air (ATSC)
and digital cable (Clear QAM)
television

This hardware reference guide describes the particulars of your EyeTV hard­ware.

EyeTV 500 System Requirements

EyeTV 500 requires the following minimum system configuration:

• Macintosh computer with minimum PowerPC® G4 500Mhz or
G5 processor. Dual G5 processor required for HDTV playback
at full frame rate at full 1080i resolution

• A built-in FireWire port or independently powered FireWire
hub

• Mac OS X 10.3 or later (Mac OS X v10.3.7 recommended), with
256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended)

• Minimum 20 MB free hard disk space

• Approximately 8 GB of free hard disk space for each hour of
video to be recorded

• QuickTime 6.5

• Off-the-air antenna (optimized for HDTV reception) for broad­cast over-the-air TV reception (not included) or

• Basic digital cable subscription from your local cable pro­vider for broadcast digital cable TV reception (Clear QAM)

• An Internet connection to use EyeTV’s Electronic Program
Guide (EPG) (Optional)

• A CD or DVD burner and Toast 6 Titanium CD recording soft­ware to create Video CDs, Super Video CDs or DVDs
(optional)

Hardware Reference Guide EyeTV 500

3

Open and Unpack Box

Your EyeTV 500 box should contain the following items:

• EyeTV 500 digital TV recorder

• EyeTV software and PDF documentation on CD-ROM

• FireWire cable

• Remote control

• 2 AAA batteries

• Quick Start Guide

Step One: Attach EyeTV 500 to Antenna or Cable

Antenna

The EyeTV 500 package does not include an antenna. Depending on your lo­cation to the nearest digital television transmitter, you may be able to use an
indoor antenna optimized for HDTV reception (such as the Zenith ZHDTV1Z or
the Radio Shack 15-1868, for instance) or you will need to install an outdoor
rooftop antenna. For more advice on which antenna to use with EyeTV 500, see
http://www.antennaweb.org, which contains up-to-date mapping information
for transmitters and their proximity to your location as well as general antenna
advice.

• Connect the antenna to the ANT. IN port on the EyeTV 500
using at least UHF-grade coaxial cable (not included, RG-59
or RG-6 recommended).