many HD channels....what now?

[garyellis]

I have HDHR installed and working. I get all the local HD channels that I expected to get over the cable. So, everything is fine up until now.

Time Warner just announced that they are adding several HD channels which I assume I will not be able to get, since they are not local. My question is...what is the best method to get these channels. I do not want to give up being able to record multiple HD channels. Thus, I assume that getting a time warner set top box is not an option. It would be nice if it was as simple as paying for the HD suite with TWC and being able to decode the HD channels with QAM. But, I assume that I would need the set top box to get the non local channels (I assume they are decoded in the set top box)

Also, I don't care if it means leaving Time Warner cable...I'd go to any option to allow multiple HD streams of non local channels. Eventually, with more and more HD channels, we will need mulitple HD stream capability, given today I have 5 tuners (including 2 HDHR's) and I use 3 or more, many times.

Comments, please?

Gary Ellis

[ke6guj]

If you want HD non-locals, your only choices are Cable or satellite, no OTA.

So, with cable, there are 2 ways to record digital channels that scrambled via QAM.
The first is via firewire capturing off of a firewire-equipped STB from the cable company. YMMV on this, some don't get very many channels and others will get a lot of channels. It all depends on the amount of 5C encryption the cabble company puts on the firewire output.

The second way is to modify a STB by puttin in a R5000-HD mod. YOu can supply your own STB (if you can get the CC to activate it, by law they must) to have modded. Or you can send off a cable company's STB to have modded. When you are done with the STB, you send it back to the R5000 company and they will remove the mod before you turn it in.

Or with Satelitte, you can modify a STB with the R5000 mod. Dish and DirecTV are both switching from MPEG2 to MPEG4 in order to squeeze in more HD channels. I believe that you can mod a new Dish MPEG4 STB, but not a DirecTV MPEG4 STB. What that means is that with a older DirecTV MPEG2 STB, you will be losing HD channels as they switch to MPEG4.

There were/are some issues with playing the MPEG4 stream from dish, but I haven't been keeping up with it, so I don't know if it is still an issue.

http://www.nextcomwireless.com/r5000/home.htm

[garyellis]

currently I have cable without a set top box.... and I get the local HD channels....I'm really trying to figure out how to get the non local channels, which I understand I can do with a STB, but I can only get one of the channels at a time, even with firewire.

I've not checked out R5000 much, but, what I think I understand is that it ultimately goes through some form of STB (modded), which would still only yield one HD channel to the computer...

So, the question still is, how do I get more HD channels unscrambled? Looking for a legal way to do it...

Would be nice if "dish" or Directtv or Cable company descramble them, if we paid for the channels, and just let me split them with HDHR's like I do today for the local HD channels.

Thanks,

Gary Ellis

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by garyellis

currently I have cable without a set top box.... and I get the local HD channels....I'm really trying to figure out how to get the non local channels, which I understand I can do with a STB, but I can only get one of the channels at a time, even with firewire.

I've not checked out R5000 much, but, what I think I understand is that it ultimately goes through some form of STB (modded), which would still only yield one HD channel to the computer....

Yup, only one digital channel per STB. Basically, if you want more that open QAM, you have to use an STB, its just the way it is.

So, the question still is, how do I get more HD channels unscrambled? Looking for a legal way to do it...

you can't. The only other method of getting anything from the cable company would be with a cable card tuner, if they are even available...vaporware so far. They would be one tuner per channel, and are only usable with VIsta Media Center due to DRM issues.

Would be nice if "dish" or Directtv or Cable company descramble them, if we paid for the channels, and just let me split them with HDHR's like I do today for the local HD channels.

It would be nice if there was some sort of consumer-grade master STB that would output all the subscribed channels simultaniously so all TVs could access it in some sort of recordable connection. But that doesn't exist

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by garyellis

So, the question still is, how do I get more HD channels unscrambled? Looking for a legal way to do it...

Originally Posted by ke6guj

you can't.

Sure you can. You just need more than one STB to do it, the same way you'd need more than one analog tuner to record more than one analog channel at a time.

Apart from cost, nothing stops you from connecting multiple R5000 boxes to one Sage server, and a number of people here have done exactly that.

[ke6guj]

Of course you can do more than one STB, I meant "you can't" as in getting more than 1 channel per STB, or unscrambling without an STB. Poor clarification on my part.

[phelme]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

...I believe that you can mod a new Dish MPEG4 STB, but not a DirecTV MPEG4 STB. What that means is that with a older DirecTV MPEG2 STB, you will be losing HD channels as they switch to MPEG4.
...

So what is the deal with not being able to mod the MPEG4 DirecTV boxes anyway. Anyone know?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by phelme

So what is the deal with not being able to mod the MPEG4 DirecTV boxes anyway. Anyone know?

Something I'd like to know as well. I am looking at switching from cable, mostly for NFL Network, and would prefer to go with DirecTV because of Sunday Ticket... however, If I'm going to sat, I think I want to head towards the R5000 (well one of them, at least). If I'm gonna spend the money on the R5000 though, I want it to work with all the HD channels, which means I'm stuck with dish, so no sunday ticket. Frustrating, to say the least.

[ke6guj]

If MPEG4 DirecTV support is important to you, I'd suggest contacting Nextcom and asking them.

http://www.nextcomwireless.com/r5000...#Compatibility

[Olias]

I emailed Nextcom recently about the new mpeg-4 tuners and this was their reply:

"We've already looked into it and it will not be possible to mod these receivers. thanks. "

So it appears that we D* users are out of luck when it comes to storing HD content using SageTV.

[lava9611]

Hmmm... Well, unfortunately, it may be time for me to wave Sage goodbye. I love it, and I hate being locked into TIVO, but I want my Sunday Ticket, and if I can't record HD... well.. HELLo TIVO.

GRRRR!!