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HDHomerun questions

6K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  gdkitty 
#1 ·
Hey guys.. looked through some of the older threads, couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.. so figured I would make a new one, and just ask them all outright.

This is not for myself, for a client. (will be setting stuff up when they move).

They are looking to change to the OTA + streaming methods. we have talked other things for the streaming/playback... Its the OTA I haven't have first hand experience with (other than straight into the TV).

My understanding.. is that the antenna goes into the HDhomerun box.
From there, you set it up and connect to your network.

Beyond that.. I am not sure how the actual viewing, etc works.. the website itself (beyond using their 'app') isn't very clear.

A) How is watching 'live' TV done. From Smart TV, PC, Media PC (with some form of media server), and mobile devices.

B) Recording. I don't think the boxes do it themselves by default? But what then is needed to the recording.. assuming on a PC Side.. and then how to schedule, etc.

If I think of anything more I will post it..likely more questions after these are answered.
 
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#2 ·
The older model you need an HTPC.

The latest model you can stream on some set-top media devices or tablets.
I am not sure about smart TVs, but a Smart TV will have it;s own ATSC tuner it can directly use.

For recording, you need a PC running Windows Media Center (built into Windows 7 and Windows 8 Pro. 3rd party apps such a NextPVR and MediaPortal. WMC comes with Tribune guide, others may use the PSIP guide, Schedules Direct (small yearly fee), or a scraper.

Your client may consider a Tablo (basically HDHD+DVR in one device), or Simple.TV . Those do not require a PC to run, as far as I can tell. They may have a subscription for guide or recording features.
 
#3 ·
I recommend NextPVR with the HDHR Dual. NextPVR is easy to set up and works well for watching or recording on a PC. It supports MCE compatible remotes. The recorded files can be watched with just about any media player or PC on the network. Live TV can be watched or recordings managed on another PC with a client instance of NextPVR. There is also a NextPVR browser interface for managing recordings with devices that support browsers. Schedules Direct is easy to set up but costs $25/yr.

There is a paid app for watching live TV with Android. A similar app is available for iOS. The newer HDHR4 Dual has an improved tuner vs the HDHR3 series. HDHR Plus model acts as a media server. That's useful for live TV with smart TVs and media players. The HDHR Prime is similar to the Plus with CableCard support that is only useful in the USA.
 
#4 ·
The nextpvr sounds like it might work for their intended setup with what we were thinking so far.

What format does it save them in? And how does it name the files?
(Just curious about serving it out with another program, etc)
 
#6 ·
Took a look at the docs.. couldn't quite find all I was looking for, at least not fully..

From the sounds of it.. it records the stuff, based on the name, etc it pulls from its guide?
Just wondering if it records in anything like a format of

Game of thrones s02e07 or something similar?
 
#7 ·
With the HDHomerun Dual, the programs are saved in MPEG2 format as Transport Stream (TS) files. With the HDHomerun Plus, the programs are saved in MPEG4 format. With NextPVR, tile names are based on the program name and time of recording, in a directory consisting of the program name, for example, 'NCIS\NCIS_20140318_21002200.ts'. These files can be played by most media players and media player software. The recording directory can be shared to make it accessible from the network.
 
#8 ·
Hmm.. ok.

will have to look into it and test some say on mine. They really like my media server playback software.. so will have to do some testing say on my server.

Will just have to get ahold of a TS file to test with :p

Worse case could go with the plus.
 
#12 ·
Oooh, something like that might work, if it doesn't like the defaults from HDhomerun.

Still need to find out what the client wants really in the end..
The husband who was pushing for this to begin with.. is now kind of freaking out about some live sports stuff.. (and realizing where we live the OTA channel choices are limited)
 
#14 ·
I used to have Win 7 with 3 dual card tuners and 2 HDHomerun. Recording tons of shows OTA HD shows on a 4 TB drive using the Peter Near hack to get the channel guide.

I dropped it for a simpler life and now use Elgato for OTA on a mac Mini. The HDHomerun still allows live TV playback on devices like an iPad with a paid app. I watch most other shows using a Roku 3 and Hulu Plus. No recording issues to deal with.
 
#15 ·
I currently run PLEX. Doesn't support any LIVE tv of that nature, but supports TV, movies, music, etc just fine.. as well as a whole ton of online 'on demand' type channels.
(hgtv, discovery, food, etc)

Big thing for them, was they liked the interface.. was simple and easy to use/navigate.
That goes for the SERVER end of it too.. insanely easy to setup/manage. (while I wouldn't say some of the others are super DIFFICULT, not like you need to know how to program or anything.. they are just not quite AS simple).

Also, they have a Samsung smart TV, which has a specific App for it as well.
 
#16 ·
My current setup uses two HDHomeRun dual boxes (I'm in the process of upgrading to the Gen4 boxes), a Windows Home Server 2011 box that runs MyMovies among other things, and Windows Media Center 7/8 as client front ends. Although this software is not all the most current stuff out there, it provides me with the ability to watch live TV through Windows wired or wireless i I wanted, my movie collection is incredibly organized and I have full control of all metadata more easily than any other system I've seen, and recorded TV is available through a traditional TV Guide sort of interface and available throughout the home one everyone's Windows PCs. To me it's actually quite a great setup.

Plex looks great, and interests me, as does it's excellent options in terms of devices to access it from, but it's lack of live/recording TV options means it's not a full solution for me, just an excellent media storage/retrieval platform. Because of that, I haven't investigated it fully yet, but I'm sure it's a good option. Given that this thread was about the HDHomeRun, for that from what I can see Media Center is still the Windows software of choice to use with it.
 
#17 ·
Yeah.. that's the biggest downside of PLEX.. that no direct integration in that way.

At least from MY understanding... MOST of what they would be watching/recording from OTA, would be recorded for later.. so in the end, not the END of the world if recorded, drop the file, PLEX builds the listing for it, and then they watch it.

The few live things.. might run into a bit more of an issue.

Though.. they always do have the option.. of a direct cable connection INTO the TV then as well.

One of the, is boardline 'anti windows'.. so introducing WMC might not be the BEST choice.
At least with plex, can do a Linux (or NAS based) server solution, and direct to TV app front ends, Roku, etc.. without necessarily getting windows involved. Even just as a server, they might be OK with it.

It LOOKS like HDhomerun has Linux/mac software anyways.
 
#19 ·
Just installed Plex Home Theater and Plex Server to do some testing. If playing TS files in Plex is the concern, I can tell you that Plex Server does not recognize them. However, TS is just a container type and files can be easily converted. Using a different program to record TV may also work to create files of a different type that is recognized by Plex. Don't know if that answers your question.
 
#20 ·
Had read one or two threads on it... people saying the COULD.. but looks like its more of a manual method through plex.. going and telling it to open and play them back.. vs it auto archiving them, etc.. which is what I was really more looking at :(

Will have to take into consideration when the time comes.. converting (which adds another step).. using the higher end homerun which coverts right to MP4, etc..

Thanks again for everyones help.
 
#21 ·
Plex looks great, and interests me, as does it's excellent options in terms of devices to access it from, but it's lack of live/recording TV options means it's not a full solution for me, just an excellent media storage/retrieval platform. Because of that, I haven't investigated it fully yet, but I'm sure it's a good option. Given that this thread was about the HDHomeRun, for that from what I can see Media Center is still the Windows software of choice to use with it.
Slyboy if you can give up the live tv part and would be willing to go with a Roku 3 on the front end, NextPVR is able to record and use it's own app to playback or you could have the files go right into Plex. Plex and NextPVR appear to run fine on the same machine. For my case because I still needed live TV, I am still doing WMC + X360 as media extender but I dumped the my movies stuff in favor of Plex Server with Roku on the front end. If I can get OTA TV working properly for live tv with WMC and Xbox One, I will dump the 360 and the downstairs media center.
 
#22 ·
Personally I'm still a big fan of Media Center. I know it can be trouble for some to setup, but when you've got it working well and you have things that work properly with it (software & hardware designed for Media Center) it is just such a sweet setup. The HDHomeRun is one such device as it just works perfectly with WMC and makes WMC a great TV replacement, which is what I've done in almost all rooms in my house.

MyMovies for me is wonderful because I love the control I have over the metadata, sort order, file organization, and the ability to filter the collection easily so that the kids only see a subset of what is available to me. I realize you've dropped MyMovies in place of Plex. How is Plex in those two regards?
 
#23 ·
Plex does have some stuff now for 'collections' but not sure how that works.

Personally, I just devide the media when 'storing' it for the server.

On my media server, I have the following folders:
TV
Moives
Kids TV
Kids Movies
Anime
Music

The appropriate media, goes in the right folder.

Then you set up in plex, different 'categories'.. One TV category, pointing to the TV directory. Another TV category to the KIDs one. And so on.. so each has their on section.

Now, you can point to MULTIPLE locations. I actually do this, as my first drive is full, so just duplicated the folder structure on the 2nd.
Not sure, but I would GUESS you could point the regular TV folder to the kids TV folder as well, so the regular TV folder has ALL... it would just make a bunch of duplicate entries in the database.
 
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