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> It wouldn't surprise me if you couldn't activate the
> TV unless it was allowed to phone home at least once.

> And then every so often they'd decide that you 'need' a software > upgrade (for 'security', of course) and that the TV won't work
> until you allow it to upgrade or install new spyware or whatever.

Get an HDHomeRun https://www.silicondust.com/pr... Tuner, which feeds OTA TV to your LAN, and display output on your computer monitor. No need to connect to the internet. TV tuner cards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... also work fine.

https://www.silicondust.com/pr...

It can view live OTA TV with a few accessories.

You'll need some hardware: https://www.silicondust.com/
And some software: https://getchannels.com/ (VLC.app also works if you don't need a channel guide)

It converts the OTA TV into a MP4 stream that you can watch over your network with any DNLA viewer.

I'm not affiliated with either company.

My understanding from reading the post is that it's probably the devices phoning home every ten minutes. That information is uploaded to SiliconDust servers, which then provide the information in JSON format when visiting that URL. If you visit that page from your IP, then you get a list of information about all SiliconDust devices behind your NAT. This obviously is a concern given that it provides internal network information and a unique device ID that can fingerprint users.

I have an HDHomerun Prime device on my network. Obviously this is concerning to me. However, a visit to that page simply returns null, suggesting that no information has been uploaded from my device. I believe that's because my device is running an old version of the firmware (20150604) and that functionality was added later on. Per the firmware changelog, it suggests that this was added in the 20161107/20161107b firmware, stating "Legacy models: Add support for DeviceAuth and discover.json APIs required for live TV in the latest HDHomeRun VIEW apps."

The idea is, of course, that apps can load that URL from behind a NAT and obtain information from SiliconDust's servers about all devices on the local network. It seems like an attempt to simplify the discovery of HDHomerun devices on a local network, and I think it's probably well-intentioned and extremely poorly designed. I don't think this is malicious, but just incompetent. It also seems like that functionality is required for newer SiliconDust applications, suggesting that it's not possible to simply provide the IP address of the device and view live TV. That is, indeed, disappointing.

While the devices are, indeed, phoning home, I don't believe it's for the primary purpose of providing telemetry or tracking information to SiliconDust. I think it's just a very poorly implemented way of implementing device discovery. If I choose to upgrade my firmware, it appears I'll be forced to opt in to this unsecured device discovery system or implement filtering that I shouldn't need to do.

Just as annoying to me is that my cable company (Charter, formerly Time Warner Cable) sets the CCI flag for virtually all channels to copy once. That includes a couple of local channels, which I believe violates FCC rules. The cable company claimed they don't implement any copy protection when I called them up, yet they definitely set the CCI flag. The copy-protected channels are only viewable and recordable with Windows Media Center, requiring versions of Windows that Microsoft is trying to force users to switch away from. For a Linux/macOS user like myself, I don't really have any way to view those channels. The cable company isn't forthcoming about their policy, meaning it's easy for users to buy a device and be blindsided by not being able to view most of their channels.

The Channel Master DVR+ is a great device. They make quality products. But this thread was about mobile or stream viewing and the Channel Master does not have that capability. It only connects to one TV via an HDMI connection. If you wanted to hawk a similar device to the Tablo you should have chosen the SiliconDust HD HomeRun. Although that requires a separate DVR device or service.

OTA DVRs? Nah, can't find those anywhere.

Get a HDHomeRun and you can watch broadcast TV from pretty much any modern device. Each one has two tuners, and they can be split across devices. Want to record? Connect a cheap NAS. Want more than two channels at once? Just get another one -- they work in tandem.

Been using these for about a decade now and couldn't be happier. The quality is even better than basic cable because you don't need to deal with their re-encoding antics.

https://www.silicondust.com/

I use a HDHomeRun sitting about 15ft cable length from the antenna to minimize OTA signal loss. The stations are then transmitted from that box over LAN to the Android KODI box (or any other device on the network I happen to be using at the time). With this, I was able to position an external roof mounted antenna in the optimum location for reception without having to worry about signal degradation over a length of coax.

Over 8 GB per hour of free Over the Air HD programming, why would anyone want that? /sarcasm

If I can make a humble suggestion to anyone who may read this, look into getting one of these to go with your antenna (if you haven't already):

https://www.silicondust.com/pr...

What hardware systems are as capable as MythTV and as cost effective (ongoing subscription costs)? Even just for TV DVR capability, which is all I use Myth for, I haven't found one yet.

I built a MythTV system, with two analog tuners, in Jan 2007 and used it until April of 2016 when I switched to a Tivo BOLT. My local cable provider Cox was going "all digital" and I wasn't confident about being able to use a Silicon Dust HDHomeRun PRIME reliably. Cox apparently varies its enforcement of the CCI bit -- different settings in different markets -- and is fickle about even maintaining those settings in each market, and I didn't want to have to screw around with it and them.

As for a Tivo BOLT vs. MythTV WRT your requirements:

Requirements:

A) Cable card support

The Tivo BOLT supports one card, 4 streams. Another Tivo device supports 2 cards, 6 streams.

B) Ability to save and edit recordings (exportable, DRM free recordings)

The Tivo supports saving through a web interface.

C) Automatic commercial skip (this works incredibly well on MythTV)

The Tivo has commercial skip available for a lot of channels and shows (generated by their staff on their servers), but usually only during prime time, and it works pretty well.

D) Ability to schedule recordings over a web interface

Nope. But, Tivo has an Andriod and iOS app that works through over the LAN and/or cloud -- not sure of the breakdown.

Personally, I would *really* like to have this functionality back. I used the MythWeb plugin a LOT and even wrote a Perl script to generate a 6-hour static programming schedule grid (with clickable links) updated every hour via cron. Our local paper use to print a "green sheet" (called that 'cause it was green) with the week's programming laid out in a grid and it was pretty handy. My script generated something like this.

E) All of the standard DVR features

Yup.

The BOLT cost me $400 with a 1 TB HD and included the first year of service (as with all Tivos). There are system with more/less available and you can add an external, but there are caveats. Continuing service is $150/year. All in all, I think my MythTV system was more capable -- and could be used for other things! -- , but the Tivo system is less hassle. I would actually recommend it -- especially over what Cox and, presumably, other cable companies offer.

Front-end is Kodi on OpenElec running on a CuBox-i. Back-ends are several VMs. One VM is running a MythTV Back-end server recording from a roof antenna connected to a couple of HDHomeRun boxes saving to a mounted NFS QNAP 12 TB array. Other VMs run Sonarr, Sabnzbd and Sickbeard. Sorarr is also using a Transmission back-end, while Sabnzbd is using a Usenet subscription. Occasionally I also use Netflix and Vudu on a Roku stick which I turn on only when I need it. I white list every device and every port individually, and all things that could be considered borderline legal go through a permanent VPN link on my pfSense VM. Rock solid setup.

The latest versions of MythTV apparently support the HDHomeRun PRIME which uses a Cable Card and can record 3 HD channels (and supports a Switched-Digital Video device via USB). MythTV accesses/controls the device via the LAN. I thought about going this route, but it only works if the CCI bit is Copy-Freely and Cox is reportedly random in their use of Copy-Freely/Once. and I didn't want to deal with it.

If you want OTA TV, get a separate tuner box (e.g. HDHomerun http://www.silicondust.com/pro... ) It has drivers for Windows/Mac/Linux. 32 inch monitors are now around $500 Canadian (under $400 US ?). Hook it up to a small PC, and you're ready to go.

And another thing that is one of my pet peeves. TV monitors are being built like it's the 1950's. 60 years ago, CRT monitors had pictures that shrank as the TV aged. There was also a horizontal bar across the top of the picture, 45 pixels high, which is why the 525-scanline TV sets ended up being used as 640x480 monitors.

*MAJOR RANT* Idiot TV manufacturers are *STILL* building digital TV screens with major overscan. Try using a digital TV set as a computer monitor; I dare you. You'll soon notice that your "1920x1080" TV is showing only 1750x950, if that. Whereas a computer monitor actually shows the full picture.

I cut the cord a while back, but since I only have one decent spot in my house where I get decent reception, I use an HD HomeRun Connect and then use either VLC or the PS3/PS4, depending on what display device I'm closest to when I want to watch something.

For streaming media, I ostensibly have access to stuff via Amazon Prime Instant Video through my Amazon Prime subscription, but I hardly ever use it. I've never been a big movie watcher, and there's more than enough free TV around here that I can find something to watch if I'm in the mood. I used to keep a Windows 8.1 computer around just for Windows Media Center, but got rid of it when I realized I was just recording stuff I wasn't getting around to watching. My video game backlog is big enough, I don't need a DVR backlog, too.

Anyone interested should look into one or more of the following alternatives. They don't add any ads to the experience as far as I know. The exception being Tivo, but my understanding is that their ads don't interfere with watching the content. Each of these alternatives have varying levels of openness and freedom ranging from truly FOSS to not FOSS/OSS at all...

Ceton's products: http://cetoncorp.com/
Silicon Dust's products: https://www.silicondust.com/
Kodi's offerings: http://kodi.tv/
Tivo's products: http://www.tivo.com/

Well. You could get a Networked tuner card like those from SiliconDust.

Or you could do away with them. Rather than fiddling with tuning cards and editing of commercials it's much easier to just use SickBeard/SickRage

My FreeNAS server downloads them in the background and they just show up. As much fun as fiddling with TV Tuner cards sounds I'd just get the 720p rip from a group that does this all the time.

HTPC

The primary purpose of a Home Theater Personal Computer is to run a home theater.

I've had a PC running Windows Media Center recording TV on the broad cast schedule for about 10 years now. It currently has 6 tuners (records 6 things at once) for cable broadcasts, and an older tuner to pick up FM on occasion. I can watch live TV/radio, schedule recordings or watch recordings from anywhere in the house that has a TV via Windows Media Center extenders, one Ceton Echo extender and a few Xbox 360s. I can watch iTunes videos or play music, Amazon streaming, or transcode (on the fly) pretty much anything else without any effort by myself or anyone else in the family. With RemotePotato, I can also do anything that I can do in the house from anywhere with a fast enough Internet connection. I can watch TV on my phone, my iPad, or any laptop (we all use OS X, but Windows is easier) in the house.

To put it bluntly, my PC that is slaved to broadcast/scheduled TV kicks the living shit out of every DVR on the planet you've ever seen or known about, especially the shitty ones that the cable companies provide. Whats more important, it means I'm not slaved to the schedule or the commercials.

There are many PCs that come with built in tuners still to this day, as well as a few laptops, though you won't find a laptop that takes a CableCARD as best I can tell, where as full sized PCs or devices like the HDHomeRun Prime do.

I'm fairly certain the only miss here is your analysis.

http://windows.microsoft.com/e...

http://www.silicondust.com/pro...

http://cetoncorp.com/

The only miss here is your knowledge on the subject. Either that or your a cable company shill still trying to kill the CableCARD requirement.

Yeah, if there was any serious "miss" in the HTPC/set top box arena, it was that Microsoft didn't market Media Center correctly. It does seem to be the top of the food chain when it comes to HTPC. I am a huge Apple fan, but I *almost* want to set up a WMC machine myself.

I've had a PC running Windows Media Center recording TV on the broad cast schedule for about 10 years now. It currently has 6 tuners (records 6 things at once) for cable broadcasts, and an older tuner to pick up FM on occasion. I can watch live TV/radio, schedule recordings or watch recordings from anywhere in the house that has a TV via Windows Media Center extenders, one Ceton Echo extender and a few Xbox 360s. I can watch iTunes videos or play music, Amazon streaming, or transcode (on the fly) pretty much anything else without any effort by myself or anyone else in the family. With RemotePotato, I can also do anything that I can do in the house from anywhere with a fast enough Internet connection. I can watch TV on my phone, my iPad, or any laptop (we all use OS X, but Windows is easier) in the house.

To put it bluntly, my PC that is slaved to broadcast/scheduled TV kicks the living shit out of every DVR on the planet you've ever seen or known about, especially the shitty ones that the cable companies provide. Whats more important, it means I'm not slaved to the schedule or the commercials.

There are many PCs that come with built in tuners still to this day, as well as a few laptops, though you won't find a laptop that takes a CableCARD as best I can tell, where as full sized PCs or devices like the HDHomeRun Prime do.

I'm fairly certain the only miss here is your analysis.

http://windows.microsoft.com/e...

http://www.silicondust.com/pro...

http://cetoncorp.com/

The only miss here is your knowledge on the subject. Either that or your a cable company shill still trying to kill the CableCARD requirement.

Fortunately in my case HDHomeRun coupled with EyeTV (bought as a bundle when I picked them up) solves the OTA issue. The rest is via Netflix mail or, rarely, streaming. Streaming quality is bad enough that I'll wait for a disk to ship in most cases, YMMV.

So why aren't companies making cheap direct-to-consumer cable boxes that have coax and CableCARD in and HDMI out?

You mean like these people?

it's the only thing the cable & satellite companies will understand - basically cut the cord and buy your content à la cart on DVD, blu-ray, or a streaming service.

I set up a Mac mini DVR at the end of 2012 for off-the-air content - based on my last scan there's 115 channels available via antenna here in Houston. Once I got everything working (my HDTV predates HDMI so I had to get a solution to convert HDMI to Component Video) I then cancelled DirecTV in January of 2013. I buy cable series on blu-ray and iTunes, as well as watch some series on Amazon via my PS3. I've saved over $2000 since then (what I used to pay DirecTV less content purchases).

I'm using the prior generation of these networked HDTV tuners. Since they're networked I can watch live TV on my MacBook Pro as well as on my iPhone and iPad.

more info in my DVR Project blog entries.

I second the recommendation for the HD Home Run Dual tuners, I got a couple of them a year ago and have been documenting about my Mac mini DVR Project in my blog over at AtariAge. I've saved $1300 so far since canceling DirecTV in January 2013.

Looks like they're about to come out with the next generation HD Home Run Dual, they've added support for DLNA.

Unless you pay alot extra for a dvr.

Why would you need to buy an expensive TiVo DVR from an alot instead of just plugging an HDHomeRun receiver into your existing living room PC?

Hauppauge has a number of different products that do all kinds of things, including standalone PVR boxes. http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods.html

Another big one to look at if you want to capture tv is Silicondust's HDHomeRun, which simply connects to your network and works quite painlessly with Windows and Linux. I haven't used it with OSX, but supposedly that's fairly easy as well. http://www.silicondust.com/

Encryption can be a problem if you want more than just your local channels, but Hauppauge does offer a couple of CableCard boxes for use in the US. I'm not sure about the details as I've only used the more basic capture cards.

What are you using for tuners?

I am using 1 HDHomerun Prime and a HDHomeRunDUal I have the cablecard connected in cardsharing mode. I had to modify of VDR-SC to share the cablecard with both devices, but it works much better than in default mode because all my tuners(5) can decode the channels I subscribe to, and it get rids of the copy once flag and I am able to playback in any device I want.

What are you using for tuners?

I am using 1 HDHomerun Prime and a HDHomeRunDUal I have the cablecard connected in cardsharing mode. I had to modify of VDR-SC to share the cablecard with both devices, but it works much better than in default mode because all my tuners(5) can decode the channels I subscribe to, and it get rids of the copy once flag and I am able to playback in any device I want.

FIrst off, SiliconDust has a couple very nice stand alone Cable TV tuners (I have the three tuner model), and yes, it requires a CableCARD, but my cable company hands them out for free (just like they hand out three free basic cable decoders for free, no monthly payment required - it's the law).

Second, remind me why these are called OTA channels? Isn't it becasue they are broadcast Over The Air? Buy a freakin antenna!

Other than that, good luck to Aereo.

As a side note, why don't more gadget manufacturers include tiny antennae in their products specifically for tuning in OTA TV?

Is there some massive challenge that restricts this?

Based on the going rate for little USB-TV dongles (ATSC or DVB-T, depending on region) on ebay(obviously a OEM wouldn't shop there; but let's pretend that pacific-rim-bottom-feeder prices on ebay are vaguely correlated to actual-BOM-cost-for-something-not-totally-dreadful with savings from mass production) of $15-$25, depending on the phase of the moon, I'd assume that it's just the technically minor; but significant, issue of price sensitivity(and, in the UK market and any others with a similar setup, BBC licensing fees).

They don't seem to be cheap enough that you can throw-it-in-just-in-case(especially for customers in questionable signal areas, where external antennas, sometimes rather large, are a necessity, and just-throwing-it-in means adding an external antenna jack, and, for people who care, displays sold as TVs have them built in, basic cheap-n-nasty ATSC tuners for connecting to legacy displays are only $40-$50ish, and proper network-connected tuners like http://www.silicondust.com/ makes are certainly not free; but close to 'impulse purchase' for the target demographic.

Aero's offering draws its worth from selling location to users; but for equipment being run on-premises, standalone and optional tuners are cheap enough to be accessible; but too expensive to be in the category of 'just bundle it and save them the headache'

That would be my guess.

I've been using MythTV for a couple of years on Mac Mini (running OSX rather than Linux), talking to an HDHomeRun network tuner connected to a broadcast antenna in my attic. The team has really improved the OSX port in the last few years, with the only lack of Linux parity being in the realm of hardware-accelerated playback.

After dealing with the confusing setup screens and active channel scans, it has worked brilliantly, especially since the 0.24 release. The scheduling software is really good, especially using the web frontend. Watching TV on any computer in the house has been very convenient, and the automatic commercial skipping is pleasant.

Between broadcast and online sources, I get most of what I want to watch, the exceptions being Game of Thrones and some cable-only basketball and hockey broadcasts. The complete, uncompressed HD signals over broadcast TV are perceptibly clearer than HD cable (or, worse, HD satellite) signals, which suffer from the compression.

Does it work with the newer HomeRun Dual? At $129.00 it is very tempting.

According to this, I get the network channels many times over. I did not see USA, SciFi, TNT, Lifetime, etc on the list.

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:78229

I have wondered about the analog because the TV in my bedroom is analog.

I wish there was a tvcard that pretended to be a tv so I could just output the signal from my cable card to my tv card.

I used to run Myth ~2 years ago, but got fed up with issues and linux in general (ok, so kill me slashdot). Then I switched to SageTV which was nice for a while.

IR control: At the time I used WinLirc to transmit IR to control my Dish network box and it worked pretty well. Needed a custom script to take SageTV's channel changing format and translate it to WinLirc's format, but worked after some tweaks. Not sure about motorola but don't see why it would be a problem with enough work - LIRC has a great resource for IR codes. [I was using a homebrew IR blaster... basically an IR diode and a resistor hanging off the DTR line of the serial port]

Built a new HTPC 2 months ago with Win XP for simplicity and netflix access. I tried both GB-PVR and MediaPortal. Mediaportal looks flashier, but the UI is much slower and lacks a few key features... which is why I went back to GB-PVR. I've been very happy. Very few crashes, but should probably setup a weekly reboot for insurance. Yeah it's not open source, but it's still free. There's a plugin for GBPVR which will let you launch Zinc for all your streaming content, including netflix. There's a FANTASTIC web interface, including the ability to stream any of your recordings (think Slingbox). There's a plugin to control uTorrent. And GBPVR can work directly with a media extender like Popcorn Hour, if you don't want to have another PC for another room. [Though you can build a whole mini PC for the other room for the same cost as a popcorn hour]

A friend of mine tried Windows 7's media center features and is very happy. His small daughters can run it, including playing back all of their DVD's that he has ripped to a server.

In the unlikely event that anyone is actually interested:

TUNER: I built the HTPC with a Hauppauge 1600 tuner card. Initially intending to get free ATSC over the air, I discovered I could get the same channels from my cable provider in clear QAM without needing the antenna. (Cable is for cable modem only). The digital side of the tuner can record more than 1 stream as long as it's on the same physical RF channel. Plus I can use the analog tuner simultaneously for standard-def recording. So I can record 2+ shows at once, from one card.

MOTHERBOARD: I put that in a mini itx case on an intel atom 330 mobo with s-video output and built in spdif audio (though I did have to make my own cable for the spdif). Svideo was useful until I got a better TV. Mobo only has VGA output, so that limited my HDTV selection slightly, but not bad. The whole thing (tuner, mobo, case, ram, HD) was http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121359
review, explaining video capability at 1080p: http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/atoms/default.asp?page=8

GUIDE DATA: setup was a pain (and a real learning curve about digital TV), but now that I got it all figured out I'm getting it for free using MC2XML.

Good DTV / QAM Channel references:

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx
http://www.titantv.com/
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

My experience with configuring Myth was that it was very difficult to do on my Mac Pro (due to a bug in Myth that I think is now fixed). But setting up Mythbuntu (both frontend and backend) on my laptop literally took me only about 15 minutes! If you go with KnoppMyth or Mythbuntu, you can expect a pretty painless configuration process, just by accepting defaults for all but a few obvious screens.

Granted, this was using "easy" hardware in the form of an HDHomeRun, so I had no video capture card to configure. And my experience on the Mac Pro demonstrated to me that if you don't use a dedicated Linux distro, you will have to spend some serious time and effort.

Eventually, I put everything on a Mac Mini (running OSX Leopard) which has been working very nicely.

Too bad, I haven't dealt with BT878s under Windows much, but under Linux I've been using them for ~10years. I have two different very generic BT878 cards.

It's out of your price range, but the HDHomrunner is a great option if you don't need analog signals http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun . There is also the Sling Box, but it's even more expensive http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox-prohd-connections . I have a HDHomrunner.

I would LOVE to start my own cable company that simply pushed analog and QAM TV without the need for converter boxes and was utterly lacking in all but absolutely require encryption. I think the public would love to use their own TV tuners again and be able to build their MythTV boxes/use their Tivos without having to clear it with some mystical gate keeper.

I live in the Pacific Northwest (NW US) where Comcast is the one and only cable provider (there are some outer-suburbs with FiOS but not tons). I recently started researching my cable situation and found that Comcast pushes all their Basic Digital channels (2-71 plus some), which is all I subscribe to via clear/unencrypted QAM[1]. It turns out that most if not all of Comcast's West Coast network is the same. This means it dead simple to hookup a HDHomeRun from Silicon Dust to a MythTV box.

[1] http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:97201#lineup_558689

would LOVE to start my own cable company that simply pushed analog and QAM TV without the need for converter boxes and was utterly lacking in all but absolutely require encryption. I think the public would love to use their own TV tuners again and be able to build their MythTV boxes/use their Tivos without having to clear it with some mystical gate keeper. I live in the Pacific Northwest (NW US) where Comcast is the one and only cable provider (there are some outer-suburbs with FiOS but not tons). I recently started researching my cable situation and found that Comcast pushes all their Basic Digital channels (2-71 plus some), which is all I subscribe to via clear/unencrypted QAM[1]. It turns out that most if not all of Comcast's West Coast network is the same. This means it dead simple to hookup a HDHomeRun from Silicon Dust to a MythTV box.

[1] http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:97201#lineup_558689

How do you use MythTV without breaking the law and without having a tuner/etc in your computer? All of these sites do that quite well.

For over-the-area channels, you can get an hdhomerun and stream the raw transport stream via ethernet. Plays well with MythTV.

(BTW, I finally went crazy, bought an ATSC capture card and converted an old computer into a MythTV box. It's slicker and arguably better than a VCR, but with more headaches and frustrations.)

I'm thinking about doing this as well, but I think I'm going to use an HD Homerun http://www.silicondust.com/ which gets really good reviews and seems to be relatively headache- and frustration-free since it's an external networked device, so no drivers issues, etc.

Get yourself a HDHomerun unit. It works GREAT with mythtv. It has dual tuners, either are capable of ATSC and QAM tuning. I hook one to my cable (Cox) and it successfully finds all the unencrypted HD and SD channels...and often some pay ones they forget to encrypt, in addition to the On Demand channels people watch.

And heck...this is all off an internet only connection...HD and analog are on the internet line, and they can't put traps on the line or they'll degrade the high speed internet signal.

But, I digress...get yourself on of these units..works great.

Get yourself a HDHomerun by Silicon dust.

Dual tuner, both ATSC and QAM so you can use it with cable (scans it great for all unencrypted digital content), and OTA antenna.

I second that. I love my HDHomerunner tuner. Started using it with Comcast, then just OTA for about a month and a half, then (when I couldn't take the bellyaching from the rest of the family about not having enough choices), Verizon FIOS.

The ugly thing about FIOS is that Verizon scrambles the signal on absolutely every channel except the ones that FCC regulations forbid them to scramble (local OTA broadcasts).

Dual tuner, both ATSC and QAM so you can use it with cable (scans it great for all unencrypted digital content), and OTA antenna.

Somewhat offtopic, but silicondust.com is the first business I've seen selling something via a Trac website. I'd say someone there is at least passingly familiar with hacking things.

Also, speaking of hacking, their Lineup tool is handy once you get to hacking on that D/A device in a can.

What's next? Government via sourceforge?

Why bother hacking one when you can get an HDHomeRun that has dual-tuners and it is networked across ethernet! Now it won't directly hook up to any TVs or what not, just computers. MythTV and other favorite software suites works with it just fine. It does have a $180 USD price tag though last I checked of which makes it out of your reach if you're having to get a coupon for a DTV converter box...

Not quite what you asked for, and I don't know if you can use your coupon (I'm guessing not)... but the HDHomeRun allows you two capture MPEG streams. It integrates well with MythTV. It has an open source library. Pretty sweet little device in my opinion.

Not quite what you asked for, and I don't know if you can use your coupon (I'm guessing not)... but the HDHomeRun allows you two capture MPEG streams. It integrates well with MythTV. It has an open source library. Pretty sweet little device in my opinion.

Not quite what you asked for, and I don't know if you can use your coupon (I'm guessing not)... but the HDHomeRun allows you two capture MPEG streams. It integrates well with MythTV. It has an open source library. Pretty sweet little device in my opinion.

Another QAM solution is the HDHomeRun, a dual-tuner box that sits on your network and streams video to your MCE/MythTV/etc box over UDP. I've been using one on my Media Center PC for about 18 months now, and it works brilliantly.

I think the HDHomeRun does this, and over ethernet too. Also, you can hit the thing from whichever platform has network-based MPEG decoding, if I am not mistaken -- and two tuners too. MythTV friggin' rocks.

[...] There are no minor imperfections (bit of snow, slightly fuzzy or ghosting), you either get a perfect reproduction if the error rate is within the error correction's limits or nothing at all. (on/off).

In theory, that's absolutely right. In practice, it's not so clear cut. I'm in Chicago and have been feeding HD signals into Mythtv for a bit over a year with the HDHomerun. I've been feeding SD signals from either cable or satellite into it for over three years.

For about the first eight months of recording HD I was on Comcast, and got eight or nine local OTA channels in QAM off the HDHR. The FCC requires cable operators to carry local digital (icluding HD) chanels unencrypted where they are available locally.

The signal came through very cleanly and the picture was great, but it was clear there had been some compression. At times there were some glitches -- intermittent black screens, pixelization and blockiness, momentary freezes and jumps, etc. I saw all the same glitches at various times with the STB hooked straight up to the TV, so I'm quite sure that Myth didn't create the distortions.

So with cable, it is pretty much a binary proposition -- you get (more or less) exactly what's coming over the line or you get nothing at all.

But for the last five months or so, I've been feeding it OTA signals (ATSC) with rabbit ears. I live in a coach house about seven miles north and four miles west of the center -- where all the TV transmitters are atop the Sears Tower or the Hancock building.

My antenna faces west, and the house has walls built over 100 years ago by people afraid of big fires. As a result, I get at times considerable interference in the signal. When it's good, it's fantastic -- a mile better than the QAM signal from Comcast. But at times I get random characters, freezes, audio pops, etc.

The distortions are noticeably more frequent when it's raining. I've seen the same behavior on other sets around the city.

Most likely, it's because those channels are splitting their wattage between analog and digital transmissions until the switch. The digital transmissions are at hugely lower output levels than their analog equivalents.

There is definitely interference, but unlike poor analog signal, poor digital signal is impossible to watch.

Ooops, I didn't realize I wasn't logged in. I'm the coward who posted this.:

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