Getting the channels back - success stories only please

[wigglytoes]

Just like most of you, I've been using SageTV with a PCI clearQAM tuner to watch and record TV shows for the past few years.
The hardware is now mostly paperweights, and the software mostly worthless, since Comcast (and others) have encrypted their digital signal.
What's going on has been written up extensively on this forum.

So I'd like to invite people to respond to this thread with ONLY success stories of how you have adapted and overcame this loss of functionality.
I'm not looking for stories of how you now use Netflix, or stick to Over The Air broadcasts. I want to know how to get ESPN, Comedy Central, TVLand, etc back.
(Right now I assume there will be no replies until a manufacturer offers a new product. I'll wait.)

[Brent]

Ever heard of the HD-PVR? Or CableCard? Today, those are the primary solutions for this issue.

I still get many channels via QAM in the clear - channels like the big networks and such. For the others like ESPNHD, HGTVHD etc etc I use the Hauppauge HD-PVR with a TWCHD Cablebox. Works perfectly for me. CableCard is the other solution although it really only works with Microsoft MediaCenter (disclaimer: there is a "workaround" of sorts that alllows you to tune CableCard stuff into SageTV as long as you have Windows7 MC running on your main HTPC).

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by wigglytoes

I'm not looking for stories of how you now use Netflix, or stick to Over The Air broadcasts. I want to know how to get ESPN, Comedy Central, TVLand, etc back.

Like it or not, if you watch popular network shows like Lost or Idol, and live in an area where OTA reception is feasible, then OTA is going to be an important part of your solution, since it can offload much of the recording chores from your cable STB and help minimize conflicts without requiring a stack of three or four STBs and HD-PVRs.

[Oats]

They will eventually learn that DRM is bad, just like the music industry did. Media providers think they can stop people from putting their shows on the internet, but they can't. They have no chance of ever being able to stop it, all they do is make it harder for paying customers.

Until they realize this and change it the best and easiest solution is illegal.

[paulbeers]

I've been using an HDPVR with limited issues for almost 2 years now. That is how I get all my HD channels off of an HD STB. All of my SD channels I have running thru my SD STB's. I use QAM for my local HD channels so that it frees up my STB's to only record things I can't get via ClearQAM. Right now I have 3 STB's but am dropping to 2 once my contract is up and going with 2 HD boxes as that will be more than enough for me.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by wigglytoes

So I'd like to invite people to respond to this thread with ONLY success stories of how you have adapted and overcame this loss of functionality.
I'm not looking for stories of how you now use Netflix, or stick to Over The Air broadcasts. I want to know how to get ESPN, Comedy Central, TVLand, etc back.

I'm a Comcast subscriber with all-digital cable, I don't really have any issues. I do need to use a four-pronged approach though. First, I rely on my HDHR for most local broadcast stations, with the exception of NBC. There seems to be a weird bug in Sage that doesn't let me record the NBC channel using the HDHR (the native recording patch allegedly fixes it, but I'm waiting until v7 to try it). So, I use the digital tuner on my HVR-1600 to record NBC.

Third, I use the firewire port on one of my DCT6200 STBs to record the rest of the expanded basic HD lineup (e.g., ESPN, TNT, Comedy Central, USA, etc). It works pretty well, but the software controlling it is a little buggy. However, this seems to only record HD channels, not digital SD channels. And it also won't record premium channels like HBO.

So, to record everything else I have a second DCT6200 hooked up to an HD-PVR, and I use firewire for channel changing. It's been pretty stable for the last few months. But, it's been a little unreliable. What seems to work for me is to use analog audio, instead of digital audio, and I have a scheduled reboot of my Sage server every 3 days.