Help With HD Tuner Selection

[RedR]

Well, I think its time I take the dive into HD recording. I currently plan only OTA recording, for I have no clear QAM options atm. My server has one PCI and one PCI 16x slot open. Hardware encoding is a must. Support for Windows needed, Linux is a +.
Running Windows 7 x64, SageTV v7 server/PC clients, and Raspbmc as a media extender on Raspberry Pi all on a wired network.

I like the HDhomerun, since it is a network connected device.

Any issues with the HDHomerun I should know? From what I gather it seems to work fairly well with SageTV.

Any other tuners I should be looking at?

Thanks,
RedR

[Thomas Wischgol]

I have two HDHomerun tuners for OTA. They work without any problems for several years now. BTW, there is no hardware no software encoding for HD TV channels. Since it is already in digital format the streams are pretty much just dumped to the hard drive. So there is no encoding really.

[wayner]

I would recommend the HDHR as well.

[valnar]

Yep, the HDHR is the one.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by RedR

I like the HDhomerun, since it is a network connected device.

HDHR is by far the easiest to deal with. However, it is also far and away the worst tuner in terms of glitching when there is multipath. Multipath is what used to be called "ghosting" back in the analog days, and it is caused by signals bouncing off of trees, tall buildings, airplanes, and by poor antenna placement (especially indoors, or attic). It is actually worse if you are close to the transmit towers. When I lived in NC , my HDHR was unusable for my local market stations (~15 mi away), but worked almost perfectly for the stations from my neighboring market (~60 mi away).

If, like me, you've got any sort of reception issues, you should look at getting a PCI, PCIe, or USB tuner with a decent chipset. I personally use a Pinnacle 800i (PCI) and a Pinnacle 801e USB tuner for OTA, and use my HDHR for QAM.

If you care about the tuner working with linux, have a look at http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_Devices. These mostly list the chipset used in the card. I've found that the LG 330x and the Samsung S5H14xx are good demodulators for dealing with multipath.

Drew

[mgpaulus]

I may be old school here, but my preferred method is to use the HD-PVR from Hauppauge and a STB connected via Component cables. I currently have 3 of them setup on my sage box, and don't have many problems at all. The added bonus is that I can record things off of HBO or other HD channels that are marked as unrecordable. Costs me a bit more in monthly tuner charges, tho.
And my STBs are channel changed via FireWire, which means I can only run 32-bit Win7. (I would like to use a USB-UIRT via direct-connect for the STBs but haven't had the time to mess with it.)

[sic0048]

HDHR for sure!

I have both a HDHR and a HD-PVR. The HDHR has been connected for years and I don't think I've ever missed a recording or had an issue with it.

The HD-PVR on the other hand will still lock up and fail at random times.

[RedR]

Thank you all for the input, and drewg that linux link is great!
I ended up getting a HDHomeRun dual. It was by miles the easiest tuner setup I've done so far. Basically ran the lastest install from the web, went through the steps and scanned for channels using their setup, hit finish and it saved it off. Jumped into Sage, went to add a source, bam, there it is. No not even a blink from SageTV setting it up and running since.

Far as signal issues, I am around 15 miles (friend got one too and is 27 miles) from the broadcast. After a bit of research into an antenna I ended up making my own since I had all the materials cept the balum (3 bucks at Home Depot). Here is the design I am currently using, without the reflector. Worst reception is 80% - 96%.
FYI - I did read on the dust forums about WiFi and other devices causing reception issues. I happen to have a copper clad blank PCB, so I just put it next to the HDHR so it would create a 'wall' between it and the WiFi router that sits close by.

I am very happy with the picture, speed of changing channels and end results in my SageTV recordings. On a side note, even my raspbmc Pi does not burp on the recordings

[Dargason]

Just wanted to post that my experience has been similar. I got an HDHomerun Dual tuner today and had it set up in about 30 mins. Just connected it to an existing antenna in the attic (probably installed 20 years ago), connected to the router, installed the software, configured SageTV with the guide information, and it seems to be working fine.

Maybe finally I'll have a stable tuner... (HD-PVR requires weekly reboots, Hauppauge DCR-2650 was great for a while but now fails about once a day).