MythTV in Toronto

[RFinn]

I just finished building my first MythTV setup (using Mythbuntu) and I'm pretty happy with the results... with one exception. I have satellite through Bell ExpressVU here in Ottawa and thus have to use an IR blaster to change channels on the receiver (Windows MCE remote, with USB receiver and integrated blaster). I've found this to be a pretty ridiculous and unreliable workaround and want to do away with it.

I'm moving to Toronto for work in a few months, if anyone's using Myth in Toronto what's your setup like? I've heard OTA reception is good throughout the city, but I'd prefer to have a larger channel selection. I'm thinking about getting analogue cable through Rogers, or even just getting digital, chucking the receiver in a closet and seeing what I can pick up/decode off of the cable.

Does anyone have thoughts, ideas, or experience on the best way to go about this ?

[stampeder]

You can find all the Toronto OTA reception info you need in the OTA Forum threads. I use 2 pcHDTV cards in my MythTV OTA box for both digital and analogue OTA reception. Kernel drivers have been included since about 2.6.20 so you won't need to patch or build modules for them.

As for picking up digital Clear QAM signals off of Rogers in Toronto, you are out of luck. You will be able to pick up/record Rogers analogue signals with an analogue TV card if you don't want to go the pcHDTV route. There are threads here discussing such PCI cards, and there might be some USB TV tuner devices that are supported too.

Best of luck.

[rpr]

There has been success in using PCI CAM card readers and BEV to record straight into the MythTV setup, but I have not investigated the option.

OTA is pretty good, depending on where you are, and as mentioned, you are SOL on QAM, everything is encrypted.

[zounder1]

MythTV OTA television reception in Toronto is an excellent option. I have been running MythTV for over 2 years here with great results. I pretty well have stopped using Bell Expressvu as I can get everything I need OTA.

You are, however, very dependent on your physical location and whether you have a good line of sight to the Buffalo transmitters.

You can check out my setup if you are interested.

I have done a fews changes since making this entry.
- I am now using four ATSC tuners with the MythTV box and and dropped using the ATSC Tuner box.
- I pulled one internal tuner and switched to a network based two port HDhomerun tuner.

You also should get familiar with the Linux dtvsignal command line signal tuning application. This lets you fine tune the aim really well. There is a "modded" version available that actually cycles through multiple channels so you can track signal strength for all the channels available... it makes locking in on the aim that gets every channel much, much easier.

Cheers.

[stampeder]

Originally Posted by zounder1

...dtvsignal command line signal tuning application... There is a "modded" version available that actually cycles through multiple channels so you can track signal strength for all the channels available... it makes locking in on the aim that gets every channel much, much easier.

Great improvement! Is that available on the pcHDTV website? I use MythTV's internal scanner but I sure would like to be able to script scanning with a command line tool more robust that Jack Kelleher's original.

[zounder1]

Discussion of the modded dtvsignal version can be found at the pcHDTV website.

You can get the code here:
http://computertips.toups.info/dtvsignal/
You need to get the original dtvsignal package and just drop this file into the folder and compile.
It works great. Especially when aiming in Toronto where you need to balance reception form different directions.
Cheers.

[aynonimus]

I've been using Mythbuntu for about 6 months now, pretty easy setup, a little tricky configuring it just the way I like. I find that the WinTV-PVR150/250 are OK with my Rogers NTSC cable. I thought about the HDHomeRun option for some ATSC channels, but I don't want to chew up 7GB per hour. Mythbuntu is your best bet if you find a scratch-n-dent computer like I have. I also have dual monitor support, so I'm actually doing websurf/email/OpenOffice while the other monitor is watching a show (A definite plus!). Two tuners is great to have.

I have a coupon-eligible (cheap) ATSC-to-composite video set-top-box. Amazing picture even on my analog TV. Feeding this into the WinTV capture card is a piece of cake. My WinTV-PVR150 has an IR blaster to send the commands. Finding/writing the scripts for automated channel changing will be challenging.

My bungalow with 25 foot mast and CM4221 antenna picks up most of the available channels from Buffalo, with WGRZ and MyTV having problems. I may have to do some tricks (signal combining with two antennas) to get all the Toronto stations. Next step is to get a preamp to put the antenna issues to rest.


Brian
QEW/Cawthra, Mississauga, ON
MythTV/P4-2GHZ/320GB HDD
ATSC stb / CM4221 antenna above roof

[gnunn]

I live in Newmarket which is about 60 km North of Toronto. I haven't tried OTA yet since I don't think it is very likely I would get any of the Buffalo channels which is what I would be interested in. Instead I'm using MythTV with firewire to a Rogers 3250HD box and it works well for me, I can record most of the non-specialty channels in HD using this setup when I need to though some of the HD speciality channels such as TSN and Discovery can be recorded over firewire as well.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by aynonimus

I've been using Mythbuntu for about 6 months now, pretty easy setup, a little tricky configuring it just the way I like. I find that the WinTV-PVR150/250 are OK with my Rogers NTSC cable. I thought about the HDHomeRun option for some ATSC channels, but I don't want to chew up 7GB per hour. Mythbuntu is your best bet if you find a scratch-n-dent computer like I have. I also have dual monitor support, so I'm actually doing websurf/email/OpenOffice while the other monitor is watching a show (A definite plus!). Two tuners is great to have.

I have a coupon-eligible (cheap) ATSC-to-composite video set-top-box. Amazing picture even on my analog TV. Feeding this into the WinTV capture card is a piece of cake. My WinTV-PVR150 has an IR blaster to send the commands. Finding/writing the scripts for automated channel changing will be challenging.

What's wrong with 7GB/hr when you can buy hard drives for about $100/TeraByte?

Why would you downgrade an ATSC signal to composite and then feed that into your PC? You can get ATSC tuner cards for your PC relatively cheaply ($40) these days and get full uncompressed HD. And the card can do the tuning for you so you don't need an external tuning device like an IR blaster.

[EmmEff]

I am also in Newmarket and am running MythTV controlling a dedicated Star Choice receiver with a homebrew IR blaster. Using a modified version of LIRC and a script to change the channel, it's 100% reliable. I have not once missed a recording because the channel didn't change as requested. I am sure with some tweaking, you could make your setup reliable.

[mlord]

Originally Posted by EmmEff

Using a modified version of LIRC and a script to change the channel, it's 100% reliable.

I have a buddy here who needs that setup for his Myth box. Could you perhaps PM/email me with more details, or even post them here.

Thanks

[EmmEff]

IR-BLASTER-HOWTO

http://losdos.dyndns.org:8080/public...fied_LIRC.html

[aynonimus]

Originally Posted by Wayne

What's wrong with 7GB/hr when you can buy hard drives for about $100/TeraByte?

Why would you downgrade an ATSC signal to composite and then feed that into your PC? You can get ATSC tuner cards for your PC relatively cheaply ($40) these days and get full uncompressed HD. And the card can do the tuning for you so you don't need an external tuning device like an IR blaster.

Why use a STB instead of a tuner card? Well, I already own the STB, the WinTV-PVR tuner has convenient inputs, I only have an NTSC television and I don't have an extra PCI slot in the PC. I've thought about the HDHomeRun or USB tuner...