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HDHomeRun For OTA - Discussion

104K views 277 replies 41 participants last post by  Gibsons 
#1 ·
A few questions about the Silicon Dust HD Homerun. I'm seriously considering it, but I want to know...
  • Does it have an internal drive, or is recording accomplished by streaming to a capture program on your computer?
  • How sensitive is the tuner for fringe area reception?
  • I shouldn't have to ask this but I will... can you add channels manually, or are you stuck withe results of a scan?
 
#2 ·
I stumbled across the official SiliconDust support forum, and posted the same question there. The official answers are...
[*]Does it have an internal drive, or is recording accomplished by streaming to a capture program on your computer?
All recording is done on your PC. There is no internal storage in the HDHomerun.

[*]How sensitive is the tuner for fringe area reception?
It depends :)

[*]I shouldn't have to ask this but I will... can you add channels manually, or are you stuck withe results of a scan?
Yes and no. The provided software requires you to scan... but you can set an option to NOT wipe the previous data when scanning. In "set theory" teminology, the result is a union of the scans. For instance, I could scan for Toronto/Buffalo stations, repoint the antenna for Hamilton and scan again. The resulting PSIP table will be all of the stations found in either or both of the scans.
 
#3 ·
The HDHR is essentially a tuning device for a PC, just like devices that plug into internal slots or into a USB port - so it is a PC peripheral. The difference is that it works over your LAN so it doesn't have to be located right at your PC. It is not a PVR on its own - it requires a PC plus PVR based software.

Regarding the third question - that depends on what software you use. Most people would use software like Windows Media Center, SageTV, BeyondTV or MythTV. I think with any of these software programs you can manually add channels as well.

That being said, IMHO a PC makes the best PVR on the market. It is somewhat more work to setup and maintain but it has MUCH more functionality than a standalone PVR.
 
#4 ·
trying to use hdhomerun tuners for ota recording...

hello all --

like the title says, i've been trying to use hdhomerun devices for ota recording, but with little success.

i have two of these devices, each connected to a different antenna.

the only software that is/was able to set up ota channels for these lan-based tuners are silicondust's own software (problem: it does not record) and the 'windows media centre' that comes with windows 7 pro (problem: it records into a proprietary format).

i must add that once the silicondust setup programme has generated a channel list for xbmc, i can use that to watch (not record) ota signals.

any other software (argustv, npvr, easyhdtv) apparently cannot scan channels on either hdhomerun device or if it can add them to its configuration, i cannot subsequently *watch* the channels, as if it cannot understand what the hdhomerun is telling it.

?!?

comparatively, using hauppauge pvr-1250 or 950q tuners with, say, npvr, i can scan & configure whatever ota channels there are in the ottawa-gatineau region, as well as watch and record them.

i have the impression there is something obvious i am not doing right. i have tried this on three different computers (win7pro & xp pro) and have never gotten npvr (or argustv) to deal successfully with the silicondust tuners. has anyone experienced anything like this and is willing to share what they did to make it work?

cheers.
 
#6 ·
the only software that is/was able to set up ota channels for these lan-based tuners are silicondust's own software (problem: it does not record) and the 'windows media centre' that comes with windows 7 pro (problem: it records into a proprietary format).
I gather the HDHR is very well supported under MythTV.
 
#7 ·
classicsat: i did try wmc (for win7pro) and looked into the files it produces.

the streams don't seem to be re-encoded, they seem to be in their, huh, "native" formats (ac-3, mpeg2, etc.). they just seem to be muxed inside some ms-centric container.

handbrake *can* convert it to, say, an mkv file (using h264 instead of mpeg2 as a video codec), though no subtitles. not sure if it's because ms is playing games with its container format, or if it's because ottawa-gatineau broadcasters don't put subs in their signals.

the biggest problem i have with wmc, is that it wants to follow timing guides when recording and will stop recording when it hits what it thinks is the end of a timeslot (i.e., show 'x' is scheduled to run from 20:00 to 21:00, wmc will thusly stop at 21:00 and will not go on for 5 more minutes just in case). afaict, you cannot simply tell wmc to 'record until i tell you to stop'.

this is why i would prefer avoid using it, if possible.

don't understand why anything i tried (npvr, easyhdtv, argustv, etc.) cannot make use of an hdhomerun when microsoft can.
 
#9 ·
While MythTV works best under Linux, it has been unofficially compiled under windows (MythTV Windows).

I have the frontend running on my 64bit Windows 7 box, and it works quite well, though it is a bit slow to start (it is much faster under its native Linux, probably because it is doing some type of Linux emulation in Windows). Once it is running, it seems to work well.

The bit issue with the backend, is it doesn't support most tuners in Windows. I gather the exception is the HDHR (though I haven't tried it myself).

Of course if all you need to run is the backend under Linux, you could get an old P4 (or similar) that someone is throwing out and install it on that. It should work fine for recording, though it probably won't be good enough for playback (but that can be done on your existing machines).
 
#10 ·
Roger1818: well, it turns out i did have a vm configured for debian (linux). it's just been so long since i used it last, i almost forgot about it.

so anyway, after some mandatory updating of virtualbox and then of that linux instance, i installed mythtv on it. and, yes, hdhomerun support is there. it did pick up both of my units... but in the end i ended up getting the same result as (virtually) all other piece of software i have thrown at those devices.

except that mythtv did show some better diagnostic hints than other pieces of software. whilst scanning, it does see a strong signal here and there, and will lock on all those signals... but will fail to find any channel. when all is said and done, i will get "timed out, no channels", which is not the same as "timed out, no signal".

and it's not because it's scanning to quickly because silicondust's software will scan just as fast and pick up all available channels.

it's as if anything else than wmc or hdhr quicktv cannot read/interpret the data stream -- with the exception of xbmc, when it is using .strm files generated by the hdhr setup programme.

very puzzling.
 
#11 ·
HDHomeRun OTA Product Discussion

I wrote this shell script to allow me to quickly scan my HDHomeRun from my mac. It currently supports 2 HDHR units on the LAN. It can easily be modified to support more.

https://github.com/shmick/TV_Stuff/blob/master/channel_scan.sh

Click on the "Raw" button to easily save or cut'n'paste it.

You'll need to make sure you have the HDHomeRun software installed, available here http://www.silicondust.com/support/hdhomerun/downloads/

The script only parses the major channel, it doesn't give any data about subchannels.

The script output looks like this.

Beginning scan on 103B47B5, tuner 0 at : 11/13/13_16:26:33
(49) (ss=95 snq=92 seq=100) 49.1 WNYO-HD
(47) (ss=100 snq=93 seq=100) 47.1 CFMT
(44) (ss=100 snq=91 seq=100) 57.1 CITYTV
(43) (ss=100 snq=83 seq=100) 17.1 WNED-HD
(41) (ss=100 snq=87 seq=100) 41.1 CIII-HD
(40) (ss=100 snq=94 seq=100) 40.1 CJMT
(39) (ss=94 snq=83 seq=100) 4.1 WIVB-HD
(38) (ss=99 snq=92 seq=100) 7.1 WKBW-HD
(36) (ss=96 snq=69 seq=100) 36.1 CITS-HD
(33) (ss=83 snq=76 seq=100) 2.1 WGRZ-HD
(32) (ss=100 snq=89 seq=100) 23.1 WNLO-HD
(25) (ss=100 snq=94 seq=100) 25.1 CBLFTDT
(20) (ss=100 snq=80 seq=100) 5.1 CBLT-DT
(19) (ss=100 snq=81 seq=100) 19.1 TVO
(14) (ss=90 snq=88 seq=100) 29.1 WUTV-HD
(11) (ss=77 snq=43 seq=100) 11.1 CHCH-DT
(9) (ss=100 snq=89 seq=100) 9.1 CFTO
 
#12 ·
thx for that.. Works fine here on linux. I just modified where I have the hdhomerun_config program installed, and chmod +x to set it executable.
I didn't realize mac used bash...never used one before... at least not in the last two decades. Think they called em Apples back then??
 
#15 ·
In case u haven't already, u can remove the 700 MHz band from libhdhomerun easily. just edit line 97 to make the last channel 51 instead of 69, and recompile.

libhdhomerun/hdhomerun_channels.c

Code:
/* US antenna channels. */
 static const struct hdhomerun_channelmap_range_t hdhomerun_channelmap_range_us_bcast[] = {
 	{  2,   4,  57000000, 6000000},
 	{  5,   6,  79000000, 6000000},
 	{  7,  13, 177000000, 6000000},
-	{ 14,  69, 473000000, 6000000},
+	{ 14,  51, 473000000, 6000000},
 	{  0,   0,         0,       0}
 };
 
#18 ·
#20 ·
Just looked at the hdhr_signals.pl script and it's not as comprehensive as the one I created. Mine will work with 2 HDHR units, will auto detect a free tuner and will output the UHF, Virtual and call sign of the channel.
 
#21 ·
yeah there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
I think he was only interested in using his script for doing comparison of antennas. I believe he actually uses a real Signal Level Meter from Sencore.
He just added that lil tidbit for hdhr.
 
#22 ·
I've updated the channel_scan.sh script again.

I've added more comments, added some additional sanity checking and added a channel count to the final results that are displayed.

ie:

Beginning scan on 103B47B5, tuner 0 at 11/15/13 11:45:37
19 channels found
(49) (ss=96 snq=89 seq=100) 49.1 WNYO-HD
(47) (ss=100 snq=90 seq=100) 47.1 CFMT
(44) (ss=100 snq=92 seq=100) 57.1 CITYTV
(43) (ss=100 snq=93 seq=100) 17.1 WNED-HD
(41) (ss=100 snq=88 seq=100) 41.1 CIII-HD
(40) (ss=100 snq=89 seq=100) 40.1 CJMT
(39) (ss=86 snq=75 seq=100) 4.1 WIVB-HD
(38) (ss=97 snq=88 seq=100) 7.1 WKBW-HD
(36) (ss=94 snq=69 seq=100) 36.1 CITS-HD
(33) (ss=82 snq=81 seq=100) 2.1 WGRZ-HD
(32) (ss=100 snq=88 seq=100) 23.1 WNLO-HD
(25) (ss=100 snq=91 seq=100) 25.1 CBLFTDT
(23) (ss=67 snq=60 seq=100) 51.1 ION
(20) (ss=100 snq=83 seq=100) 5.1 CBLT-DT
(19) (ss=100 snq=82 seq=100) 19.1 TVO
(15) (ss=78 snq=59 seq=100) 11.2 CHCH-DT
(14) (ss=87 snq=88 seq=100) 29.1 WUTV-HD
(11) (ss=75 snq=44 seq=100) 11.1 CHCH-DT
(9) (ss=100 snq=89 seq=100) 9.1 CFTO
 
#24 ·
no changelog with betas?? I can wait...
 
#26 ·
spent a few minutes browsing around there. Have never been...
didn't see anyone discussing a changelog or bug fixes. But I did see some people mention being unable to boot their device, and unable to recover it. SD eventually fessed up and pulled the problematic beta, while posting a link to their 'trouble ticketing' system.

I can wait...
 
#27 ·
Here are the two latest changelogs:
Release 20131125beta1
Windows:
* Faster channel Digital Cable channel scan on HDHR3-CC and HDHR3-4DC models.
* Fixes and improvements for HDHR3-4DC 4-tuner DVB-C model.
* Fixes and improvements to InjectTVCT and InjectCVCT modes.
* Improvements to webpage rendering in HDHomeRun Config GUI.

libhdhomerun:
* Increase firmware upload chunk size.
* Improvements to socket handling on Mac/Linux.

HDHomeRun Prime firmware:
* Favorite channel support for DLNA clients.
* Improvements to lineup/channel display.
* Improve http streaming over non-Ethernet networks or to sluggish clients.
* Ethernet configuration improvements - fixes problems seen on some complex networks.
* Improvements to DHCP router compatibility.
* Improvements to diagnostic logging.

and:
Release 20131126beta1

HDHR-US (rev1):
* Fix upgrade problem seen with 20131125beta1 firmware.

HDHomeRun Prime:
* Minor improvement to lineup webpage to speed up rendering on some clients.
 
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