Comcast has encrypted even the basic channels

[troycheek]

Originally Posted by rdefino

Nope, just 2 obscure channels when scanning with the HDHOMErun.

Well, darn it. You can go with the IR blaster, Comcast's box, and an analog capture card. I somehow managed to do it, with help from this forum. It will get you at least one working tuner.

Option 2 is the HDHomerun Prime and a CableCARD from your local Comcast office. I've not done this yet. This involves some extra program as SageTV doesn't support it directly. I've not done a lot of research on this yet, myself. Eventually, I'll have to. In the mean time, I'm living comfortably in denial.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by rdefino

So comcast has encrypted the basic channels as of yesterday, so no I cannot use my hd home runs anymore.

this is getting insane. I do not want to go back to an OTA antenna, I always had issues with it.

They have a SD transport box they will rent me, but I'll need to change the channels on the box itself, can't use the hdhome run to change the channels.

Anyone has any thoughts or solutions for this.

thanks

Another vote for HDHomerun Prime here. Verizon encrypted the basic cable channels sometime in the last 5 years here too. I was using their cable boxes with HDPVR's/Colossus until the Prime came out. I have been using it since the day it came out a couple of years ago with next to zero issues with SageTV

[rdefino]

So are you saying that you can watch encrypted channels with the prime? No comcast box is needed?

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by rdefino

So are you saying that you can watch encrypted channels with the prime? No comcast box is needed?

Correct. I can watch all channels with my Cable card up to the Prime Movie channels, like HBO, Showtime ETC. The only authorized software which can record those channels is Windows Media Center.

[rdefino]

Ok, so Iwould bed a cable card to use with the prime then. When you say Microsoft media center is the only authorized to record. Do you mean Sagetv cannot record these channels from the prime? I'm confused on that.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by rdefino

Ok, so Iwould bed a cable card to use with the prime then. When you say Microsoft media center is the only authorized to record. Do you mean Sagetv cannot record these channels from the prime? I'm confused on that.

Correct. Verizon, Comcast, and probably others are doing the same thing, where they are setting the copy flag on all of the non-movie channels to "Copy Freely". It sounds weird because even though they are Copy Freely, you need a cable card authorized to decrypt them.
The Movie Channels, on these networks, are marked with the copy flag called "Copy Once" which is a more restrictive flag. Microsoft was the only currently available DVR Software for a PC that was able to get certification to use this flag, and all other flags, so to speak.

(Edit), I changed Copy Never, to Copy Once

[rdefino]

Ok, so even with the prime and cable card I can only record the basic channels like nbc,cbs,fox,abc?

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by rdefino

Ok, so even with the prime and cable card I can only record the basic channels like nbc,cbs,fox,abc?

No, you can record everything you are subscribed to, like DiscoveryHD, LifetimeHD, Fox, ESPN, BBC, Sprout, MTV, Comedy, etc......
You cannot record HBO, Showtime, Playboy, etc....

[rdefino]

ok, so even if I subscribe to hbo, and showtime I cannot still record them?

[mechling-burgh]

That is correct HBO, Showtime, etc.. will have the copy once flag set. While USA HD, FX HD, etc... will be more than likely copy freely. Comcast policy right now is to make all channels copy freely but the Premium channels ( The pay extra Movie Channels) If you have a cable box right now you can go on the internet and find the service code that will tell you the flag status of channels. You go to a channel you care about and key in the code then an information screen will show up and have information on it. I believe the code you are looking for would be something like cci = 0x00 (this is copy freely). It's been well over two years since I did so I don't remember that well. All I can say is I'm glad I did it. It works fast it's been 99.9 percent error free for me. I even had it working windows XP for a while but I do suggest going with Windows 7 it work's much better and is more stable.

[rdefino]

So are you running WMC and Sagetv?

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by rdefino

So are you running WMC and Sagetv?

I am not currently, but was when I had Showtime. I could record Showtime with WMC, and other channels with SageTV, at the same time, and on the same box. As long as you were not scheduling more than three simultaneous recordings per HDHR Prime, it all worked just fine.

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by rdefino

So are you running WMC and Sagetv?

I use SageTV exclusively. This is how I handle things and sounds like the type of setup that you might need.

1) Verizon FIOS, at least in my section of the country, flags everything but the premium movie channels as copy freely. Therefore, my primary recording source for the past several years has been an HDHR Prime. This gives me 3 active tuners that are able to access >95% of the channels that my family subscribes to without any loss in quality. The HDHR Prime just decrypts the channel and passes the decrypted digital signal to SageTV.

2) In order to watch the premium movie channels that my family subscribes to, I maintain 1 STB which is connect to an HDPVR and then to SageTV.

I setup 2 lineups in SageTV. Just look for two lineups from your cable company that are virtually identical (typically the lineup for your neighborhood and the lineup for the next nearest neighborhood. Use one of these lineups for the 3 HDHR Prime tuners. In this lineup, you want to exclude the premium movie channels that are flagged copy once by you cable provider since SageTV cannot access these channels via the HDHR Prime. Use the second lineup for the HDPVR tuner. This lineup can include all your channels. Finally set the tuner merit in SageTV so that it preferentially uses the 3 HDHR Prime tuners. This way when the HDPVR is needed to record a premium movie channel it won't be unnecessarily tied up recording a copy freely channel that the HDHR Prime could handle.

Although I still need 1 STB with this setup, it gives me access to everything that my cable company provides, regardless of copy status, and is cheap and simpler than the 3 STB setup I was using before getting the HDHR Prime.

[rdefino]

This is the setup I run now pretty much. Well, I was running till comcast encrypted everything.

I have 2 of the dual tuner hdhome runs were connected to basic cable and 1 hdpvr and a STB for recording hbo, showtime, etc...


So now I have to connect my hdhomeruns to my OTA antenna, which I don't want to do , sine the signal can be not so good at times. Then I record a pixeled show.

Maybe using the prime with a cable card would be the best for recording cbs,abc,nbc, etc..

What do you think?

[sflamm]

I also suggest setting up a SageTV remote tuner to control your set top box.
That lets you separate the tuner from your server.

[mechling-burgh]

I think the cable card is a good idea. You will be able to tune all your channels but HBO and you already have that covered from the sounds of it. The instructions on setting it up are very good and I had no problems doing it. I think I pay $7.00 a month for the cable card and that's cheaper than tree tuner boxes from Comcast.

[rdefino]

Originally Posted by sflamm

I also suggest setting up a SageTV remote tuner to control your set top box.
That lets you separate the tuner from your server.

What so you mean by "a SageTV remote tuner ". I;m using a usb-uirt to controls the stb.

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by rdefino

This is the setup I run now pretty much. Well, I was running till comcast encrypted everything.

I have 2 of the dual tuner hdhome runs were connected to basic cable and 1 hdpvr and a STB for recording hbo, showtime, etc...

So now I have to connect my hdhomeruns to my OTA antenna, which I don't want to do , since the signal can be not so good at times. Then I record a pixeled show.

Maybe using the prime with a cable card would be the best for recording cbs,abc,nbc, etc..

What do you think?

Given your current setup, I'd recommend replacing your 2 dual tuner HDHRs with a HDHR Prime with a Comcast Cablecard. This will allow you to decrypt the channels that Comcast is now encrypting without otherwise changing your setup. You'd still use the STB/HDPVR for the premium copy once channel that you can't get with the HDHR Prime.

With one option (the HDHR Prime setup) you're gambling that Comcast won't suddenly start flagging all the channels as copy once, negating the use of the HDHR Prime. With the other (OTA), you're gambling on signal quality and forcing your 1 STB/HDPVR to record Comcast stations that are not flagged as copy restricted but are not available to you OTA.

Of course, I biased by the fact that where I live OTA isn't a good option. When I last tested this option, the number of channels I could receive was very limited and their signal quality was poor and unreliable. Someone who has a good, reliable OTA setup may well prefer this over gambling that their cable company will continue to flag non-premium channels as copy freely.

Edit: I just saw your latest message and wanted to let you know that I'm also using a USB-UIRT to control my STB and haven't had any issues with this setup.

[jarredduq]

I'm using a combination of a Ceton 4x USB tuner, HD-PVR, and an HD Home-Run. Where I live, there are a couple of OTA channels that are not available, so I supplement the line up with OTA as well.

Diagram of install: http://jarredinthehouse.com/JITH_Home_Network_v6.pdf

The closet: http://www.jarredinthehouse.com/Sage_CPE.JPG

CarPC installation: http://www.mp3car.com/show-off-your-...5-door-gt.html

[sflamm]

I meant 'network tuner' - works like a champ.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=Network+tuner