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ATSC DVR & PVR Recorders (other than CM)

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345K views 730 replies 190 participants last post by  Jorgek 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was wondering if anyone with a built in OTA tuner is able to record HD broadcasts using a regular dvd recorder? Or do I need to buy something with a Hard drive?

I imagine the TV will have to be turned on and tuned into the channel I want to record as well since the tuner is built in? I work swing shifts and might have to quit my job now that I am missing all these wonderful high-def broadcasts!

Somebody help me!:eek:
 
#293 ·
A snip from the TVIX site...

M6620N provides Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that helps users easily select what they watch or record. And for weekly programs, just set the “Time” and “Cycle” to record your favorite program periodically. TVIX will automatically turns on by itself and starts to record periodically.
 
#294 ·
While it has an EPG, my question is how it gets this info? Is it PSIP only, or TVGOS, or both?! And if it's TVGOS, can you set a Canadian postal code? Distox, these are the questions I'd like you to investigate when yours arrives! ;-)
 
#296 ·
TVGOS works in both analog and digital. Now post-transition, it's entirely digital in Canada and the US for over-the-air TV.
 
#299 ·
You can use one or several USB HDD, one internal HDD, and HDD's from networked PC's. I've never recorded TV to a PC harddrive, but have played back from there with no issue. You can record on USB drive and move that to your PC and read the files. You can also copy or move recordings from the internal drive to a PC drive over the network ports. It is a bit slow as the files are large. For the EPG it uses PSIP info only. The data varies greatly from one channel to another. CBC used to have full 7 day guide, but right now nothing. Usually you're looking at min. 8 hours to a day. Recordings go to a directory PVR and each channel gets a separate directory, ex CBLT-HD. Program recording is PSIP description.TP. All files are date and time stamped and easy to recover.
 
#301 ·
Just wondering if anyone has a Bright-View 980H? I'm split between that and the Channel Master 7000PAL. The thing about the 980 is that it has the USB hook-ups and I would like to be able to take the TV recordings and burn them onto DVDs with my computer.
Question: Would I be able to take recorded tv from the built-in hard drive and transfer it over to a media player or external hard drive? Can I directly record in HD onto the external harddrive?

Thanks in advance
 
#304 ·
emailed them about not being able to support netflix in case anyone is wondering and this was the reply

"One of the main goals Channel Master is trying to accomplish is to eliminate monthly subscriptions and allow customers to enjoy there favorite television shows and be able to enjoy movies with out having to worry about a monthly charge. So we went with VuDu, a service that does not require a monthly subscription, where as Netflix does."

so sounds to me like they probably had to exclude all others for their deal with vudu because this really doesn't make sense, why would I pay $5 per movie when i can pay $8/mo so dont expect it to be added on later, I would be shocked based on this reponse.
 
#306 ·
CM7400

So it seems an addition charge may apply for the 'Premium Guide'.Not sure how that would work thou . As the unit is VuDu only and it seems the only way to access would be via a VPN service ,it really effects any use of the addition features being offered.

http://www.channelmaster.com/kb_results.asp?ID=1234

DVR manufacturers and service providers are required to pay fees for the television guide data that is delivered to the box via the internet or a service provider network. This expense is passed on to the consumer as a monthly DVR fee. With Channel Master TV, basic television guide data is transmitted free-of-charge by the broadcaster and our device receives this info and appropriately inserts it into the on-screen guide. While this info is basic and all depends on what the broadcaster decides to send, it is free. This being said, there may be times that some channels will not broadcast program information or it may be limited, but again, there are no fees for this. If you desire additional program information, Channel Master TV will have a Premium Guide upgrade for a fee of $99.99 annually. The Premium Guide offers additional program information including a 7-day viewing and recording window.
 
#307 ·
DVR boxes

Hi, I am still holding my breath and waiting to hear about the TViX M6620n real life performance. How is that review coming?
Some time ago I bought the "all wonderful" Sonicview 8000HD - only to find that it really can not record anything from OTA. The damned thing really is not fit for sale. In the last 3 weeks it only managed to record CItyTv show ONCE ! 95% of time it will hang up within 1 hour.
My wife is very upset - I have to do something really fast or else she is going to get a cable subscription. I already ordered the Elgato USB ATSC tuner with EyeTV but it will get here in 3 weeks...
That said, I would much rather have something with a remote control, preferably THIS WEEKEND. I am now thinking that perhaps I need a dos box with either Linux or Windows on it, equipped with an ATSC card and some software. I normally run on Macs, so those of you who do the same probably have an understanding how difficult the situation is...

What would the specs be? Which software package works?
Any Ideas?

P.S. I have not bumped into one bad Sonicview 8000HD review only to find that it really is useless for OTA reception, and has some other issues that really disqualify it for normal use.
 
#309 ·
CM7400

abnutcracker,

The "premium guide" they're referring to has nothing to do with the VuDu service. They're speaking of the electronic programming guide for all channels that your DVR can receive and display.

Currently, there are two free sources of OTA guide data for DVRs: PSIP and TVGOS.

PSIP typically won't provide more than 24 hours of guide data. And that's if the station is sending it out (not all do, especially in Canada). TVGOS sends out about a week of data.

I like the fact the Channel Master is finally providing it's customers the option to access premium guide information. Here in Canada, where the current DVR from Channel Master won't work with Canadian TVGOS host stations, this premium service would be welcome (if it works in Canada).
 
#310 ·
EyeTv from Elgato

Hello All,
Well, the Elgato "eyetv hybrid" has arrived today and it was a breeze to set up.
The USB interface looks very sleek. It does get hot, which is not a good sign. I will see if timer recording still works tomorrow. It is hooked up to a MacBook Pro with Intel dual core for now. I will write a bit more in a week or so. (need to experience it more)

distox - I am still interested to hear what you find about the TViX M6620n.
 
#312 ·
Hello All,
Well, the Elgato "eyetv hybrid" has arrived today and it was a breeze to set up.
The USB interface looks very sleek. It does get hot, which is not a good sign. I will see if timer recording still works tomorrow. It is hooked up to a MacBook Pro with Intel dual core for now. I will write a bit more in a week or so. (need to experience it more)

distox - I am still interested to hear what you find about the TViX M6620n.
Still waiting for it. Seems like while on route to my house, the M6620n took an 8 day vacation at the Canadian Customs Warehouse deluxe resort hotel. When I do get it, if OTA still exists by then and I am still alive, I plan on starting its own thread.
 
#311 ·
The EyeTV3 setup works well and is one of the very few DVR programs available on OSX. It does not support multiple tuners very well and the TV guide data is $20 year. It does have iPad / iPhone support but the on the fly transcoding looks like rubbish.

I was using it but the lack of extenders, not crazy about the IR remote interface setup and multi tuner support made me look elsewhere. In short EyeTV3 is as good as it gets for OSX but feels like a work in progress. *Multi tuner support was the #1 request on the Elgato forums, never got addressed.

I was running SageTV but alas that's no longer available so I gave Windows Media Center 7 a shot. Seems Canada is not officially supported but with a simple patch or two it can be made to work. I have a quad tuner setup on a new AMD A6 APU build I'm testing and so far I'm really impressed. I've a pair of XBOX 360s acting as media center extenders and they work beautifully and are relatively inexpensive and support WMC compatible IR remotes. I'm using a HVR-2250 WMC kit (includes IR + Remote) and testing a AverMedia Duet A188 as the second dual ATSC only tuner. Both tuners have their own dedicated antenna pointed in different directions. Rotators don't work with DVRs very well.

I had to turn off PSIP data as it'll drive WMC7 nuts (it's often missing or wrong here in Canada). Without decent guide data a DVR is near useless.
 
#314 ·
A TViX M6620n OTA DVR in Canada

So, I finally installed a TViX M6620n DVR in my theater room. It is connected to my Onkyo receiver via the supplied HDMI cable and then from there the video heads out to my Sony HDTV via another HDMI cable. I live in Saint-Laurent on the Island of Montreal so my OTA channels are coming from MT. Mansfield (US networks) and Mt. Royal (Canadian networks). I am just starting to get familiar with my new toy, so no long winded review just yet. As I learn about its pros and cons I will review them here. For now, the first few noticeable things that are important to me are this... For one, the tuner sensitivity only OK and the multi-path rejection is only average and not the best that it can be. The unit is not perfect and has some bugs and annoyances, but as I play with it, I am sure I will get to like it. If anyone has anything they want me to try out, let me know here...
 
#315 ·
Distox, what about guide data? Are you getting it for all stations, and if so, how much data is there (days or hours)? Did the unit during setup accept a postal code, or only a zip code?

Thanks.
 
#317 ·
Huh, what happened? I thought I started a new thread. Anyway. Okay, the guide data. I can find no place to enter either a zip code or postal code. In fact, in the "Country" column, Canada was not even there. Only US. At around 10 AM this morning I selected each channel and watched it for a few minutes. Then I brought up the guide and these are the results...

CBFT - No guide data
WCAX - 9 hours of guide
WPTZ - 9 hours of guide
CBMT - No guide data
CFTM - 18 hours of 1/2 hour blocks of 'Aucone information'
CFCF - 9 hours of guide
CKMI - No guide data
CIVM - 16 hours of guide but it seems to have errors like 3 times the same show of varying lengths adding up to 1 hour.
WVNY - 5 hours of guide
CIVS - 28 hours of guide (checked twice)
VPT - 27 hours of guide (checked twice)
CFJP - 7 hours of guide
WCFE - 9 hours of guide
CJNJ - No guide data

As you can see, all of the US channels have guide, but only some of the Canadian ones do. From the short period that I have had this unit, I think the guide data length varies depending on time of day. Maybe after a while, I will see a pattern develop.
 
#318 ·
Teamcaptain, yes it allows you to copy files to a PC. There are many ways. The quick way I did it was to connect to the DVR via a USB cable. This gave me access to the internal drive of the DVR just like any other USB drive. The internal drive of the DVR (not included) is formated NTFS. From there, I just copied the rather large files to my PC. The files have an extension of .tp. I renamed them to .ts and was able to play with just about anything that supports that type of video and audio. It looks to be MPEG2 with AC3 5.1 on the ones I tried.
 
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