jzmacdaddy wrote:Here's a stupid question...does "dual tuner" mean 2 shows at once? Or just digital/analog?

Actually, a minimum of 2 shows at once. If your recording software supports it, you can record from all the programs on two physical frequencies. For instance, many cable companies put several ClearQAM channels on one frequency, each with a different program IDs (PIDs). My cable co has many frequencies with 6 SD resolution channels on them, so all 6 can be recorded at the same time with a single tuner. Many local OTA broadcasters do this too.

Go here to see what stations are available in your area. http://www.hdhomerun.com/support/channels/

Good deal! I just hit the Woot button. This makes my 2nd HDHomeRun. Now, with my two TiVos and USB tuner, this makes 9 programs I can record at one time. Don't really need it. Just having a little fun.

Oh you can connect these directly to your computers NIC with ethernet if you want so you don't have network issues. Of course, then it's just a dual PC tuner and not a network tuner but still a good deal.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this for. Since I have stations in two different directions, I may aim an antenna connected to one HDHomerun to the north to get those stations and then, another antenna aimed to the southeast connected to this HDHomerun to get those stations.

I bought an earlier version several years ago and have been messing with it off-and-on since then.

Question: If you are happy with the HDHomeRun you have, what software are you using: XBMC, Windows Media Center (best results with Windows7, I think), SageTV, MythTV, or what? What program works for you?

If you buy one of these, you will have hours of entertainment, not from watching TV but in learning the technology to use it.

This works great if you want to watch TV on a PC. If you want to use it as an option to a cable tuner/VCR then you are going to spend money for a server (old dual core PC works fine), Windows7 license if you want to use Media Center, learning Linux scripts and config files if you want to use the free OS.

I just spent another $75 for a low-end video card and sound card so I could have sound over an HDMI output from my old PC without a jerky picture. MythTV just broke my system when they went from 0.24 to 0.25, but fixed some other problems as well.

So, how much effort are you willing to commit to making this work? And for those of you who are using this instead of a cable box / DVR, what computers / software / programs are you using to make it work for you?

Thanks much!

It means 2 shows at the same time! I have one... they are awesome!

For those buying this, ignore the install CD for drivers and download the latest from their website.

Like other ATSC tuners this lets you play &/or save clear QAM streams from your cable service, or digital over-the-air broadcasts -- both are usually the same channels, with everything else generally flagged as protected by your cable company.

Silicon Dust is a top company with a great rep, but their clear QAM tuners like this one are more expensive - you can pick up a simple USB tuner stick for as low as $10 on sale. And of course newer TVs have digital tuners built-in that'll receive the same channels.

Since you save the video stream rather than capture or digitize it, there's little load on your PC/laptop & quality is unchanged. In my experience external tuners like this work a LOT better with digital OTA than internal PC tuner cards. Channels you can recieve OTA vary by area, but there's plenty of info on-line.

Where I live the digital OTA & clear QAM streams are mpg2 video with AC3 audio, which means saved video can be edited without re-encoding -- if you don't have commercial skipping set up with your viewing app, you can edit that stuff out, or just save highlights for example from a game you saved [many communities broadcast local sports].

Cons:...
Most cable channels are protected. Local stations can use a variety of encoding settings -- if you want to convert &/or edit, what worked with one program or game may not work with the video you saved from another channel. Unlike analog, digital broadcast is pretty much line-of-sight, so you may experience drop-outs where the signal goes away -- I experience the same drop-outs watching the same programming on cable or OTA. You have to perform a channel scan, which takes a little while, to map the channels you can receive with their station IDs -- if you're recieving digital OTA, the channels you can receive may vary with time of day & weather... depending on when you perform the scan, channels you can get most of the time may not show up so you can select them.

aluckyguy wrote:"Actually, a minimum of 2 shows at once. If your recording software supports it, you can record from all the programs on two physical frequencies. For instance, many cable companies put several ClearQAM channels on one frequency, each with a different program IDs (PIDs). My cable co has many frequencies with 6 SD resolution channels on them, so all 6 can be recorded at the same time with a single tuner. ..."

Not so. While your broadcaster might put many channels on one frequency, the HDHomeRun will use only use two channels (two simultaneous TV programs) at a time. You can watch one and record another, or you can record two while watching another previous recording if you have the right software running on your computer.

Actually, for just watching TV on your computer, you can use the software SiliconDust provides. Things get more complex when you want to watch on a real TV or when you want to record something.

sigh wrote:So, how much effort are you willing to commit to making this work? And for those of you who are using this instead of a cable box / DVR, what computers / software / programs are you using to make it work for you?

Thanks much!

I bought a reburbed HP quad core PC from Woot awhile back, and upgraded it's video card, NIC and power supply. It has Windows 7 and WMC. I've tried other other software but once I figured WMC out, I liked it best. With this 2nd HDHomeRun and an old USB tuner, I'll have 5 tuners available for this PC.

Had the original, loved it. When it died horribly, I purchased this second generation HDHomerun and I love it, too.

It does not have an IR receiver, for those who care, and it has a single coax cable input rather than the separate inputs of the first gen (useful for, say, having one OTA and one QAM).

For those with antenna concerns, I made an antenna similar to this and was able to pick up every UHF/VHF station we had in town. I used copper ground wire scrap from electrical work I was doing in the house and scavenged wood, nuts/bolts so the whole thing cost me zero dollars + time.
Oh, and the added bonus of the look on my wife's face when I used an old vice to hold the thing vertical.

Honestly, though, that was a couple of years ago. Perhaps those sweet flat panel, 30 dollar UHF/VHF antennae have excellent reception now.

Regarding UHF/VHF: Most OTA digital channels are broadcasting in UHF but, once the analog channels were shut down, some switched back to their VHF frequencies. PBS is the notable one, here. Something to keep in mind.

Reviews say wireless performance is poor. Have to pass.

lwang wrote:Since it has a telephone jack out, maybe it could be plugged into one of those old videophones and I watch TV from there?

Or maybe I use one of these telephone to antenna adapter and plug the output from that to my VCR and record off channel 3.

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/rj45-to-coax-adapter-kit-1-piece.html

NOPE. What you linked to is an adapter to convert twisted-pair Cat5/6 Ethernet cable to 75 Ohm Coax. It has a Balun inside which matches the impedence of each cable so video signal will work on it.

This SiliconDust device sends out ETHERNET signals to computers which read them, then translate to data for your monitor and/or hard drive, period. Not Video Channel 3 or 4 or any other sort of A-V signal (S-Video, Composite, Component, HDMI, etc)

MNBeta03 wrote:Reviews say wireless performance is poor. Have to pass.

I've found wireless N acceptable for only one HiDef stream at a time. I now use powerline adapters and have no problems with with two HiDef video streams at a time. I'm sure MOCA would even be better and might be what I have to go to with two of these.

As with any network, your mileage will most likely vary.

Now if only someone would sell an affordable DVR designed for OTA programming that does not require a montly subscription!

ebnub wrote:Lots of comments about saving money, but you will need to still pay the cable company for the channels that come over your cable line right? I have Charter Cable in my area and just to hook up to their line and not use a digital cable box from them costs about $50/month.

Not sure how Charter works but for Comcast in Portland they stream QAM right through the cable, so my basic TV gets me NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC in HD for $13/month. I don't have a digital box, but with 4 tuners on my PC and a PS3 interface I don't need one. And it's simple enough that wifey can set and watch recordings

I'm interested in this for the DVR functionality. Does the software allow for auto-saving to a network device, and can you choose the format?

sigh wrote:Question: If you are happy with the HDHomeRun you have, what software are you using: XBMC, Windows Media Center (best results with Windows7, I think), SageTV, MythTV, or what? What program works for you?

So, how much effort are you willing to commit to making this work? And for those of you who are using this instead of a cable box / DVR, what computers / software / programs are you using to make it work for you?

Thanks much!

For theater software I've always liked GBPVR, though now it's called NextPVR. I haven't liked the later versions of Windows Media Cntr because it's more work converting from wtv to dvr-ms to the original mpg2.

RE: amount of effort, I've generally focussed more on recording myself, for the couple hours my wife & I spend watching TV late evening -- yes streaming from Netflix etc. would make more sense, but I'm hearing impaired & Netflix isn't friendly to us folk. With saved Digital OTA or clear QAM I generally just use something like one of the Womble apps to cut out the commercials without re-encoding -- just copies the file from one folder to another, without the adverts of course.

cengland0 wrote:In my opinion, all you need is a good switch. Some of the better switches are smart enough to isolate the network traffic so it goes down the proper cable to the devices that need it.

So, if you have device1 and device2 talking to each other, it will not affect the available bandwidth of device3 and device4 that are communicating. So, if I have a computer using bandwidth streaming video from the tuner, it WILL NOT affect the VOIP phone that is using bandwidth on a completely different cat5e cable to the switch.

My recommendation is to avoid using the ports on your router as your switch. You don't need a managed switch for home use but definitely get yourself a good gigabit switch. Then, run a separate cat5e or cat6 cable to each network device and you're all set.

I've been debating getting this for awhile now, well, months, since I knew i was getting rid of cable. One note if youre in Dallas. Just ask for the best rate on internet from Time Warner. When my pricelock gurantee was up, I asked for the best rate on Turbo (or whatever theyre calling the 20mbps) service and got that for $49.99 plus the basic cable channles. That 20mbps service is usually $64.99 a month, so I saved money and got more TV channels.

I know this is a question of home network, however, not internet speeds, because this is network connectivity. This post is the best ive read to help me understand the pros and cons of getting a switch for my network, but I just have a question if anyone can help.

I have a WNDR3700 Router that connects my computer and one xbox wirelessly, and a Google TV and Xbox wired to the router. I also have 4 smaller wifi devices at any given time. It seems like I have to reset the router often to get certain things to work, even wired connections like the Google TV or wired Xbox. Does this mean I need a switch to manage these connections? And would a switch help me use this HD Homerun effectively on my already taxed network? Help is greatly apprecaited, and it could lead to me wooting!

xerobull wrote:I'm interested in this for the DVR functionality. Does the software allow for auto-saving to a network device, and can you choose the format?

The software it comes with has no DVR functionality. If you have Windows Media Center, it has good DVR tools. Otherwise, you will need to buy 3rd party software or download some freeware, which is available but I have not tried it.

sigh wrote:Not so. While your broadcaster might put many channels on one frequency, the HDHomeRun will use only use two channels (two simultaneous TV programs) at a time.

No, you are incorrect. If your software supports it you can record every program being broadcast on a single frequency. The software can do the PID filtering instead of the tuner and split the programs into multiple file streams. NextPVR/GBPVR supports (www.nextpvr.com) this, and other software does too. I frequently use this feature to record more than 2 programs at a time with my HDHomeRun.

Here's a link that mentions NextPVR's multi-record feature: http://www.nextpvr.com/features/#n2

Ahh, screw it. I've been wanting an HDHomerun for a while. I'm in for one.

Finally time to get my MythTV on.

xerobull wrote:I'm interested in this for the DVR functionality. Does the software allow for auto-saving to a network device, and can you choose the format?

It's up to your software & how you've got it set up... PCs/laptops see the tuners as available in Windows, you set up whatever app to use them, schedule recording &/or record live, i.e. pressing the Record button, & the video stream(s) is saved to whatever folder wherever. Some people also set up *watch* folders with whatever app or applet/script, to further process those video files, converting them, copying/moving them etc.

stupido wrote:Actually, there still are some analog OTA stations left. Low power and translator stations did not have to switch.

and of course the cable companies have to support analog format for the local commercial channels; at least through this year and many will probably support analog for a while after that.

Actually I've been eying on this for a while and Amazon used to have it for $79.99 at the lowest price back in November and then went back up. So $74.99 shipped is just a $5 drop however it has been the lowest ever so time to buy! ;o)

$120 at the NewEgg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815345007
4/5 ratings on 67 reviews.

Good deal here at the woot!

Hope this is better than the tv sticks which crap out quite easily and often.

crb001 wrote:Now if only someone would sell an affordable DVR designed for OTA programming that does not require a montly subscription!

If you've got a PC/laptop to use, & enough hard drive space to store the video, this is it... or any PC/laptop ATSC tuner really. Otherwise there are a few stand-alone boxes that work as a DVR, but they're not as common or popular as VCR's & DVD recorders with analog tuners used to be. Suppose you could always hook up an analog DVD recorder to a digital tuner converter [like the gov was subsidizing], but not sure how or if you could handle scheduled recording.

gnnash wrote:Reception depends on how close you are to the transmitter, and how powerful your local stations are transmitting.

antennaweb.org is a great site for determining what sort of antenna you will need. Enter your address or zip code, and you will get information about your local stations, and the antenna you need to tune them in properly.

I like http://tvfool.com/ better.

wayneadam wrote:I've been debating getting this for awhile now, well, months, since I knew i was getting rid of cable. One note if youre in Dallas. Just ask for the best rate on internet from Time Warner. When my pricelock gurantee was up, I asked for the best rate on Turbo (or whatever theyre calling the 20mbps) service and got that for $49.99 plus the basic cable channles. That 20mbps service is usually $64.99 a month, so I saved money and got more TV channels.

I know this is a question of home network, however, not internet speeds, because this is network connectivity. This post is the best ive read to help me understand the pros and cons of getting a switch for my network, but I just have a question if anyone can help.

I have a WNDR3700 Router that connects my computer and one xbox wirelessly, and a Google TV and Xbox wired to the router. I also have 4 smaller wifi devices at any given time. It seems like I have to reset the router often to get certain things to work, even wired connections like the Google TV or wired Xbox. Does this mean I need a switch to manage these connections? And would a switch help me use this HD Homerun effectively on my already taxed network? Help is greatly apprecaited, and it could lead to me wooting!

Given the cheap sale prices for a decent, dumb switch, IMHO adding one couldn't hurt. OTOH a better brand/model router might cure your problem rather than trying to compensate for it. We generally go months without resetting our old Dlink. One thing to consider is digital OTA & their clear QAM equivilents seem to be higher bandwidth or bit rate, & receiving those streams via the network on however many PCs/laptops will cut into to overall network bandwidth capacity -- some people in the Silicon Dust forums have needed to add a switch, depending on how much other traffic they had.

wayneadam wrote:I've been debating getting this for awhile now, well, months, since I knew i was getting rid of cable. One note if youre in Dallas. Just ask for the best rate on internet from Time Warner. When my pricelock gurantee was up, I asked for the best rate on Turbo (or whatever theyre calling the 20mbps) service and got that for $49.99 plus the basic cable channles. That 20mbps service is usually $64.99 a month, so I saved money and got more TV channels.

I know this is a question of home network, however, not internet speeds, because this is network connectivity. This post is the best ive read to help me understand the pros and cons of getting a switch for my network, but I just have a question if anyone can help.

I have a WNDR3700 Router that connects my computer and one xbox wirelessly, and a Google TV and Xbox wired to the router. I also have 4 smaller wifi devices at any given time. It seems like I have to reset the router often to get certain things to work, even wired connections like the Google TV or wired Xbox. Does this mean I need a switch to manage these connections? And would a switch help me use this HD Homerun effectively on my already taxed network? Help is greatly apprecaited, and it could lead to me wooting!

It''s not normal to have this behavior. Did you update to the lates WNDR3700/WNDR37AV Firmware Version 1.0.16.98? http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/Disclaimer.aspx?redirecturl=http://netgeardownload.registria.com/single_page_registration?product[sku]=wndr3700v1&download_url=http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/WNDR3700V1/WNDR3700-V1.0.16.98NA.zip

Maybe it'll help.
Also, you already have Ethernet ports which are already switched so you don't need another one, use the one provided with your router.

How easy it is to stream content that is captured by this to a roku or ps3?

I would like to capture/DVR off air stuff and then watch it on a normal TV instead of a computer. Is this possible?

does it work with plex?!?!

tlykken wrote:How easy it is to stream content that is captured by this to a roku or ps3?

I would like to capture/DVR off air stuff and then watch it on a normal TV instead of a computer. Is this possible?

I can't speak for Roku or PS3. Shows that I record via WMC I often watch with a WDTV Live. Just have to convert from WMC's video format to mpeg2 or other acceptable format.

shackrock wrote:does it work with plex?!?!

Update: it does, there's a plugin for it! in for 1.

Doesn't this kind of look like a bomb? Maybe it's Da Bomb!!!

macraig wrote:Some words of advice from a veteran HDHomeRun user: plan your home network layout and usage patterns very carefully if you expect to use this device without hiccups. Even a gigabit home network can be completely saturated by disk activity from a single high performance NAS. Got a VOIP ATA plugged into your router? There's some other traffic that will be demanding priority. If you are trying to stream HDTV programs over that same network at the same time, something's gotta give and the process that does may not always be the one you'd prefer. QoS will save the day, you say? Good luck with that... QoS has never lived up to the hype.

Consider your network usage carefully before you click that i want one! button.

You may want to consider getting a better switch that can handle the packets you throw at it. I've got several Gigabit switches from Netgear that handle traffic like a Pro. I can have files being copied from my NAS at near 1 Gbit speeds, and have two computers transferring data between them at 1 Gbit speeds as well.

That is the whole point of having a switched network. A -> B won't interfere with C -> D.

Also note that this device has a 100 Mbps connection, that means if you have a Gigabit setup this CANNOT and I seriously mean that, CANNOT saturate a 1 Gbit switch.

Even if you were to have A -> B and C -> B where C is this Dual HD Digital Tuner, it would at max take up 10 Mbps at which point the other 990 Mbps would be taken up by A -> B. Not a problem.

Now on to your next point, QoS. QoS is employed on routers not on switches. What QoS does is give certain packets higher priority when going out onto a smaller pipe.

Computer -> Gbit -> Switch > Gbit -> Router -> Internet (20 Mbps/10 Mbps from Comcast for example)

Your router would be doing the QoS so that your Skype calls for instance get priority over your FTP downloads. QoS doesn't work internally, so it doesn't affect the traffic between devices on your home network.

Don't plan on streaming this device over the Internet, your ISP won't be happy with you, and it will be laggy and choppy.

From the sounds of it you need to upgrade your network gear to fall in line with your expectations. You can't expect a cheap switch to switch at Gbit speeds between any two ports let along between four ports as required, they simply don't have the processing power and the required buffers to handle that sort of traffic. Do note that those Gbit switches built-in to routers are actually done in software rather than hardware, and if the CPU is just not powerful enough you simply will not get good performance out of them.

WHAT'S A VCR?

sigh wrote:I bought an earlier version several years ago and have been messing with it off-and-on since then.

Question: If you are happy with the HDHomeRun you have, what software are you using: XBMC, Windows Media Center (best results with Windows7, I think), SageTV, MythTV, or what? What program works for you?

If you buy one of these, you will have hours of entertainment, not from watching TV but in learning the technology to use it.

This works great if you want to watch TV on a PC. If you want to use it as an option to a cable tuner/VCR then you are going to spend money for a server (old dual core PC works fine), Windows7 license if you want to use Media Center, learning Linux scripts and config files if you want to use the free OS.

I just spent another $75 for a low-end video card and sound card so I could have sound over an HDMI output from my old PC without a jerky picture. MythTV just broke my system when they went from 0.24 to 0.25, but fixed some other problems as well.

So, how much effort are you willing to commit to making this work? And for those of you who are using this instead of a cable box / DVR, what computers / software / programs are you using to make it work for you?

Thanks much!

The easiest fully functional method I have found is via Microsofts Media Center. The money you save pays for all the equipment that would ever be needed for this setup.

As far as time... a clean install of Win 7 makes things work nice, add the tuner drivers and setup media center. TV / PVR is ready in about 2hrs if everythig sets up on the first try. Only issue I have had was with tv guide resulting in manually assigning guide listings to channels.

My PC's Used: 2 Old Dual core AMD Athalon computer with 2gb of memory and 500mb/1gb hard disk drives with Windows 7 onboard video with hdmi output. Add a media center remote.

I don't really need this for TV, but could this be used to feed a security camera signal?

I can get the camera feed to an RF modulator that outputs CH 3 to coax. Then, just connect the coax to this unit and essentially have a Channel 3 camera feed?

I have multiple networked PCs in the house, and could just keep a window going 24/7 that I could maximize when I wanted to watch?

With dual tuners, I could have 2 cameras? (dependent on finding another RF modulator that had output other than CH 3?)

BK

Here is my opinion. For those of you who are wondering what this tuner does and you want to get rid of cable and all the expensive crap that comes with cable, or if your in a pinch and want to save several hundred to $1000 or more a year depending on your situation. This is what you need. 1. this hd homerun dual tuner. 2. A decent antenna. 3. Internet (not dial up) 4. obviously a PC with a dual processor and a HDMI plug if you want to watch the programming on your TV in good to excellent quality (quality is actually better then cable due to the cable companies compressions. I use a quad core laptop with mine and watch all my DVR recorded or live TV programming on my 50" LCD TV.

wayneadam:

You might want to look into DD WRT firmware for your 3700 router. I got one running on mine, runs great!

heads up - CLEAR QAM is going away in NA. Comcast for sure, other likely to follow. This box will only be useful for OTA (Antenna) so make sure you can receive the channels.