sdilullo wrote:I just have one question before I pull the trigger...

For now, this will just be used to stream Live TV. We have Dish and I don't want to cut the cord just yet. I do plan to buy/build a HTPC in the near-future and will then transition this to Live+DVR usage.

So, my question is - for those of you doing a lot of HTPCing/DVRing, how many tuners do you find useful?

Yes, I realize many will just say "more is better" but I'm thinking two (i.e. one of these units) will be plenty as I can always torrent shows or stream off the web, but before I order one of these I'm curious what you all think.

I've got 4 tuners (2 of these HDHomeruns) and I think I really only need 3 though. I sometimes have 2 shows recording and I am watching a sports game live.
I did just buy a Hauppauge 950Q today though, because it can handle analog signals as well and I need to convert some VHS. I'll also be able to travel with the 950Q easily if I want. So I say 3 is enough, but I will have 5 in reality.

Maybe when the kid gets older and has his own computer I will be glad I have the extra tuners available.

russcannon wrote:So, it won't work with encrypted channels. That leaves what? The Home Shopping Network. WOOT!

It's my only form of television, the local HD channels. I ditched high cable bills 4 years ago, all I really miss is ESPN and TNT NBA playoffs this time of year. $14 a month basic cable gets me all the NFL I can handle and Fringe. I'm good with that.

5h1th34d wrote:It's my only form of television, the local HD channels. I ditched high cable bills 4 years ago, all I really miss is ESPN and TNT NBA playoffs this time of year. $14 a month basic cable gets me all the NFL I can handle and Fringe. I'm good with that.

I quit cable (except for cable modem) about 4 years ago too. Never missed anything except college football. The Xbox Live and ESPN came out and if anything I got more college games last year than I ever had with full-tier everything gold platinum jumbo special plan I always had before I ditched cable. It's awesome.

brainstormx wrote:Nope. No more cable boxes needed. You hook the HDHomeRun directly to your cable and your router. You then have access to two seperate digital tuners to record two shows, watch one show and record another, or watch two shows on different computers. I have one already and this now makes 4 tuners I can use similtaneously.

Don't forget that minor detail about needing a media center PC. You make it sound as if he can hook it to a TV and be good to go.

azdesertgal wrote:I just don't understand the appeal of such an item. Why would ANYONE want to watch a tv broadcast on a computer instead of a large screen TV? Doesn't make any sense. Is this for rebel scums? Or perhaps it is for people who do not own TVs?

Actually, all new flat panel TVs are basically oversized computer monitors. They have connectivity for several video inputs including VGA and HDMI which is standard for computer output. It is a simple matter to integrate a dedicated computer to your entertainment system. That's what I did and it works great.

I am cableless with Roku for Netflix (and others). I also have an antenna for local networks. I am not really interested in streaming to computers, just watching on TV - will this work as a recorder for my TV or do I need to do the actual recording on a computer?

cjpowers wrote:will this work as a recorder for my TV or do I need to do the actual recording on a computer?

Must use a computer.

how does this work?

This might be a very stupid question, and I'm usually very technologically inclined, but I seem to be confusing my brain by thinking to hard about this. I'm trying to decide whether this is worth a purchase. Here's my situation:

I currently don't have a cable subscription and watch TV exclusively over-the-air with my Mohu Leaf, on Netflix, or on Hulu Plus. Occasionally I'll borrow a friend's Comcast login to watch HBO Go.

I want to be able to record shows and watch them on my TV, on my Windows 7 laptop, or on my Mac mini. I have an Xbox 360 set up with the TV, so that could potentially act as a Media Center Extender. What would be the best way to set this up? Do I need to dedicate a separate media server (which I'd probably set up with Linux), or can we just, say, use the Mac mini for that purpose, even though it's in another room?

AND, the nature of a dual tuner means that I can connect the box to my one Mohu antenna and be able to record/watch two shows at once? With just the one antenna?

Also, I can't decide if it would be worth it because it wouldn't be much different than Hulu Plus, since I'm only recording OTA broadcasts. However, it would be nice to cut that subscription, and also be able to watch local news, etc.

THANKS for any insights!

Gigs1973 wrote:How does this compare to a Roku?

Um......It doesn't. This has a completely different use than the Roku does!

azdesertgal wrote:Why does my message say "rebel scums" when that is not what I typed. Why are my words being changed and by whom and how is this happening?

Woot uses word filters on certain words or phrases, sometimes just to be funny, or to change phrases that are used over and over. In your case you used a word that could be considered offensive by some, so the Woot word police changed it.
If you click reply on your original post, you will see what you typed.

aluckyguy wrote: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

I got busted by aluckyguy!

If you are technically curious, have a HDHomeRun or another tuner, grab a free copy of TSReader Lite at tsreader.com and use it with VLC. TSReader demuxes the whole MPEG2 stream and shows every program muxed onto a QAM / ATSC / (even satellite) frequency. Doubleclick on the thumbnail picture and it plays in VLC (with a one-minute limit on the free TSReader Lite).

That is enough to show me that it is possible to decode / record not just one show, but any / all of the shows multiplexed on the frequency one of the HDHomeRun tuners is tuned to if it is not encrypted.

"kjrehberg" says all of his Fios channels in his area are encrypted. In my area, many Fios channels are in the clear.

"aluckyguy" says NextPVR can record all of the programs multiplexed onto a channel. "gallatin" says MythTV can, too.

Oh, I do have a Roku box (bought from Woot! of course) and see there is an option on TSReader to send to Roku, so "tlykken," explore TSReader. You would still have to stream from the HDHR to a PC running TSReader then to Roku (if that actually works). That allows you to attach your TV to the Roku instead of a PC (especially if you have to upgrade the video and sound cards like I did to send HDMI from the PC to the TV).

A huge thanks to all the talented and knowledgable people who contributed. I'm off to play with my new toys -- NextPVR and MythTV to see how much I can actually record simultaneously from that HDHomeRun I bought on Woot! a while ago.

mahhkk wrote:This might be a very stupid question, and I'm usually very technologically inclined, but I seem to be confusing my brain by thinking to hard about this. I'm trying to decide whether this is worth a purchase. Here's my situation:

I currently don't have a cable subscription and watch TV exclusively over-the-air with my Mohu Leaf, on Netflix, or on Hulu Plus. Occasionally I'll borrow a friend's Comcast login to watch HBO Go.

I want to be able to record shows and watch them on my TV, on my Windows 7 laptop, or on my Mac mini. I have an Xbox 360 set up with the TV, so that could potentially act as a Media Center Extender. What would be the best way to set this up? Do I need to dedicate a separate media server (which I'd probably set up with Linux), or can we just, say, use the Mac mini for that purpose, even though it's in another room?

AND, the nature of a dual tuner means that I can connect the box to my one Mohu antenna and be able to record/watch two shows at once? With just the one antenna?

Also, I can't decide if it would be worth it because it wouldn't be much different than Hulu Plus, since I'm only recording OTA broadcasts. However, it would be nice to cut that subscription, and also be able to watch local news, etc.

THANKS for any insights!

Off the cuff, I suggest you look at http://xbmc.org/download/

Others might provide a better answer to follow.

kozynferg wrote:I would like to use this in my camper.

Does anyone know the volt/amp=watts for this thing.

If it uses 12 to 14 volts dc, I can hard wire it and avoid the 10 to 20% added load of an inverter.

If it requires too many watts it will run the battery down too fast.

So what volt/amp/watts?

Where do you camp that has a decent wireless N connection? Been RVing for 15 years and every campground crashes down to about a 300 baud modem at 7:00 PM.

My thoughts exactly. Hook your laptop up to your HDTV and use the web to pull zillions of TV shows.

azdesertgal wrote:I just don't understand the appeal of such an item. Why would ANYONE want to watch a tv broadcast on a computer instead of a large screen TV? Doesn't make any sense. Is this for rebel scums? Or perhaps it is for people who do not own TVs?

All my TVs are attached to computers. One of them is a 90" screen. It's 2012.

nathlar wrote:Where do you camp that has a decent wireless N connection? Been RVing for 15 years and every campground crashes down to about a 300 baud modem at 7:00 PM.

This device does not require an internet connection. Just a network connection. You can set up your own network in your RV without it even having an internet connection. Also, you don't even really have to have a network. You could just connect this device to a PC's NIC and it would work, but it would not be networked.

Great device, use it with Windows Media Center and all our computers in the house suddenly become TVs. Nothing like working late at night and popping up live or DVR'd TV in the corner of the screen. Also works great w/ a computer hooked up to our XBox. And lastly, I have to mention that it actually works pretty well using VLC and Ubuntu Linux. Sometimes work gets pretty geeky...

janry wrote:The most I've needed at one time is 3. Sunday evenings are my busiest OTA time.

nepbug wrote:I've got 4 tuners (2 of these HDHomeruns) and I think I really only need 3 though. I sometimes have 2 shows recording and I am watching a sports game live.
I did just buy a Hauppauge 950Q today though, because it can handle analog signals as well and I need to convert some VHS. I'll also be able to travel with the 950Q easily if I want. So I say 3 is enough, but I will have 5 in reality.

Maybe when the kid gets older and has his own computer I will be glad I have the extra tuners available.

Thanks for the responses. Considering that even now with our dual-tuner Dish DVR we never miss any recordings, I think one of these should be sufficient. We don't watch a ton of TV and I can always buy another one of these later if needed!

For most of the sports I watch our best solution will actually be ESPN360, anyway - and that'll be streaming live over the interwebs.

What exactly does this box allow me to do? Will it enable me to reduce or eliminate my Comcast bill, which with Standard service + HD digital service + HD DVR rental currently carves out an unsightly chunk of my monthly income? If so, what does it replace and how do I hook it up? We only watch a half dozen shows + HGTV and pretty much timeshift everything right now, but enjoy watching them in HD. Many thanks!

I know, I haven't a clue, but will allow me to watch HDTV on my HDTV compatable TV without having to rent a digital box from the cable company?

williamwyrebek wrote:I know, I haven't a clue, but will allow me to watch HDTV on my HDTV compatable TV without having to rent a digital box from the cable company?

It will only allow you to watch stations you can recieve with an over the air antenna. Why not just plug the antenna into the tv.

This does not connect directly to your tv, you connect this to a computer.


Don't think you need this

How do I set this up to record in mp4 format so I can play the shows I record on my tablet?

I've never used my computer as a DVR before.

kcchiefsguru wrote:How do I set this up to record in mp4 format so I can play the shows I record on my tablet?

I've never used my computer as a DVR before.

It doesn't seem like you can. Maybe one of the supported software will do it, but windows media center will not.

You can convert the files but that takes some time and effort

Would this work in conjunction with a wdtv? If a WMC/xbmc can receive it, why couldn't wdtv?

laygo wrote:Would this work in conjunction with a wdtv? If a WMC/xbmc can receive it, why couldn't wdtv?

No. Xbox is a windows media center extender, wdtv is not.

some people hacked their wdtv, and put on custom firmware. But that's more than I want to try.

pmwoot1 wrote:It doesn't seem like you can. Maybe one of the supported software will do it, but windows media center will not.

You can convert the files but that takes some time and effort

any idea which ones I should be looking at.

I used to always put a tuner in my machines, loved them, but since they went digital it's been pretty useless. Over the air is too hard to tune and at least on Comcast they don't have all the channels on QAM and the ones they do keep moving around.

No clear answers on the internet about if this works with Verizon FiOS. Some say only SD works, some say they get HD, some say nothing works apparently.

Really wanted to buy this but not enough information.

Only after purchasing this device (first time woot purchase) did I realize it does not accept cable cards and will not replace my Comcast Box. How do I cancel my order?

kcchiefsguru wrote:any idea which ones I should be looking at.

Compatible With:


Windows Media Center
Elgato EyeTV – DVR for Mac
MythTV – DVR for Linux
SnapStream BeyondTV – DVR for Windows
SageTV – DVR for Windows/Linux/Mac
MediaPortal – DVR for Windows
GB-PVR – DVR for Windows
VLC – Multi-Platform Media Viewer
TSReader – MPEG-2 Transport Stream Analysis


And as far as I can tell, none of the Windows options do.

thecougfan97 wrote:Only after purchasing this device (first time woot purchase) did I realize it does not accept cable cards and will not replace my Comcast Box. How do I cancel my order?

Click the write us link at the top of the page and fill out the form with the order number and stuff you got in your email.

Don't worry, Woot takes forever to ship anything.

Fellow wooters, please help me out, as I just got home and don't have time to read all the pages to ferret out the answers I need.

Me: lives in a very remote area (known as the boonies). No access to cable. Satellite not an option. Watch only OTA free TV with an antenna (good, steady reception for the most part----unless it's storming.)

My DVD player/recorder has no internal tuner, so I cannot record OTA shows.

I have no computer "network"----just a laptop and desktop, but not connected (no plans to.)

Can I hook this up to either of my computers for the purpose of recording/saving OTA programming? (And if so, how easy or difficult would it be?) Or do I have to create a network to hook it up to?

Please....help me, Obi Wan Kenobi....you're my only hope!

ReginaFilangee wrote:Fellow wooters, please help me out, as I just got home and don't have time to read all the pages to ferret out the answers I need.

Me: lives in a very remote area (known as the boonies). No access to cable. Satellite not an option. Watch only OTA free TV with an antenna (good, steady reception for the most part----unless it's storming.)

My DVD player/recorder has no internal tuner, so I cannot record OTA shows.

I have no computer "network"----just a laptop and desktop, but not connected (no plans to.)

Can I hook this up to either of my computers for the purpose of recording/saving OTA programming? (And if so, how easy or difficult would it be?) Or do I have to create a network to hook it up to?

Please....help me, Obi Wan Kenobi....you're my only hope!

EDIT: The below information is incorrect. Corrected in a later post

There are USB-based tuners for someone like you. You don't want this product.

However, if you insist:

For all reasonable purposes, you would need to plug your computer and this into a router. You don't need internet access, just a router will do. You don't even need to configure the router. Just buy one and plug them both in.
There's some magic after that of course, but nothing fancy.

mboverload wrote:There are USB-based tuners for someone like you. You don't want this product.

However, if you insist:

For all reasonable purposes, you would need to plug your computer and this into a router. You don't need internet access, just a router will do. You don't even need to configure the router. Just buy one and plug them both in.
There's some magic after that of course, but nothing fancy.

Thanks for the quick reply! I got all excited when I saw this and thought it would be what I need. So, what kind of usb-based tuner would I need? Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?

ReginaFilangee wrote:Thanks for the quick reply! I got all excited when I saw this and thought it would be what I need. So, what kind of usb-based tuner would I need? Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?

Actually, according to the manual you can connect this straight to your computer. USB tuners totally suck, so maybe you should pick this up.
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/hdhomerun_install.pdf


[quote="manual"]
Network connection:
Connect the HDHomeRun to your network or home router using the supplied network cable.
Alternatively the HDHomeRun can be connected directly to a PC or laptop using the supplied
network cable. A cross-over cable is not required.

If the HDHomeRun is connected directly to the PC (rather than a switch or router) it may
take up to 3 minutes for the PC to be able to detect the HDHomeRun. This delay can be
eliminated by configuring PC's network interface to a static IP address in the 169.254.x.y
range, subnet mask 255.255.0.0. No default gateway is needed.
[/quote]

mboverload wrote:

Thanks!

pmwoot1 wrote:No. Xbox is a windows media center extender, wdtv is not.

some people hacked their wdtv, and put on custom firmware. But that's more than I want to try.

I guess I'm not familiar with the signal it generates to be picked up by xbmc let me research more.

Hey, whatever happened to Woot! clue? Is TT not doing it anymore?

mboverload wrote:

Where did you get the impression that USB tuners suck? I have a hauppage 950Q that has been bulletproof. Never had an issue at all. I picked thisup to give me 3 tuners so I can effectively record anything I ever want simultaneously.

If I had to choose, I'd go with this model since USB tuners take up USB ports and are more expensive. But they do not suck.