A Sad Day - I'm Done

[wayner]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Only if you have a cable card, and the CRTC sadly never mandated Canadian cable companies to offer them, as the FCC did in the U.S. But still, CBC, City, CTV & Global carry a decent amount of live sports. Just for Olympics alone a OTA, cheap TiVo would be good.

Yes, but less live sports all the time. On OTA you would get almost no Raps games unless they are on ABC. And only Saturday night Leafs games.

It is pretty painless to run SageTV on a PC with OTA tuning with an HDHR tuner - especially if you were to use that server for only recording OTA TV and leave movies, etc to another system running Plex, Kodi or whatever.

My main SageTV server is on unRAID and has two HD-PVRs, and then I have two dual tuner HDHRs - one of them a very old device. I have SageTV running on two other Windows PCs and they can also access the HDHRs since they are easier to share across PCs as they are on the LAN. The only issue is device contention. I back up most of my content from the unRAID server to one of the Windows PCs so that if my unRAID server goes down (which it almost never does) then I can easily point my HD2/300s to one of the other servers.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Believe me, I'd like to keep using Sage. It's way better than anything else out there and I am less enamored with all of the streaming services than most people. I find it frustrating that I need to launch different apps to stream different shows. And don't even get me started about remembering which shows are on which streaming platform. The cable companies are idiots for losing their grip on a market they once dominated.

That is one of the reason why I still have cable. I would need at least 4 steaming services and trying to remember what show is on what service is a pain.

Give it a few years, someone will build a front end to steaming services to provide a single interface. Who knows, it might even be a cable company.

Thanks for all of you contributions.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Give it a few years, someone will build a front end to steaming services to provide a single interface. Who knows, it might even be a cable company.

No doubt that will happen but then the streaming services will break their APIs so that this aggregator won't work anymore. We have seen that happen before.

[waynedunham]

As well as everyone else here Tom's contributions to the SageTV community will be sorely missed by me.

[mistergq]

This is very sad to see Tom go.

We renewed our Fios TV this past summer. I consider dropping the TV part but with how much they charge for just internet and then to add a streaming service, the savings was not that great.

My wife doesn't want to get rid of fios tv. But I am finding that our use of Sage is getting less and less. We are watching Netflix, Disney+ and a couple other streaming services. What we are using Sage mostly for are OTA channels, and some sports programs on cable channels. But with Fox, Fox Sports, Big10 etc being copy once, our sage is useless for those channels.

I would like to see if there is a way to get developed for Sage the ability to record from TV streaming service. I know that is easier said then done. I keep hoping that Playon will do something like that, but I have not seen it yet.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by mistergq

I keep hoping that Playon will do something like that, but I have not seen it yet.

You can record Netflix and Hulu with PlayOn.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by mistergq

This is very sad to see Tom go.

... But with Fox, Fox Sports, Big10 etc being copy once, our sage is useless for those channels.

You could set up a capture style tuner for the copy-once media if those channels were important to you.

You mentioned TV streaming - have you tried the Channels DVR Server software yet? You can test it with FIOS implementation of the TVEverywhere streaming. The interface takes some getting used to, but they do use comskip on all recordings. The developers are responsive to bugs and the community is positive, unless they think that a suggested feature isn't something worth pursuing.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by mistergq

But with Fox, Fox Sports, Big10 etc being copy once, our sage is useless for those channels.

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

You could set up a capture style tuner for the copy-once media if those channels were important to you.

You can use a Samsung GX-SM530CF (supports CableCard) attached to your favorite capture card/device to get these channels. They are sold used or refurbed on Amazon and eBay. You'll need to use one of the tuning plugins to tune it (look up 'samsungctl' or 'go-samsung-tv' on github, they can tune these devices over the network) or you could use IR tuning if you have that available. The device can only tune a single channel at once (it was meant to be a non-cable-company STB replacement), but if all you need it for is the Fox owned channels on FiOS you likely only need one.

--John

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by jpwegas

You can use a Samsung GX-SM530CF (supports CableCard) attached to your favorite capture card/device to get these channels. They are sold used or refurbed on Amazon and eBay. You'll need to use one of the tuning plugins to tune it (look up 'samsungctl' or 'go-samsung-tv' on github, they can tune these devices over the network) or you could use IR tuning if you have that available. The device can only tune a single channel at once (it was meant to be a non-cable-company STB replacement), but if all you need it for is the Fox owned channels on FiOS you likely only need one.

--John

Could you tune it with USB-UIRT? And HDMI only out? If you fed it to a Colossus card, would you need a HDCP stripper as well?

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Could you tune it with USB-UIRT? And HDMI only out? If you fed it to a Colossus card, would you need a HDCP stripper as well?

It does have an IR remote so you should be able to tune it with a USB-UIRT if you don't want to tune it over the network. It only has HDMI out. Not sure on the HDCP status, when I tested it I was using an HDMI to component converter into an HDPVR.

--John

[Jaroch76]

I just wanted to thank you very much for all of the effort that you've put into SageTV and the plugins. Your work has allowed me to continue to use the much-loved program well beyond the point when I was afraid that I'd have to give up on it.

[Monedeath]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

The cable companies brought it upon themselves. If they had listened to the consumers and offered "a la carte" channels they would be sitting pretty. Sometimes entrenched businesses can't see a future that includes big changes.

That wasn't a Cable Company failing, that issue existed with the content providers themselves. Who are now trying to cut the Cable Company out of the loop so they can reap those profits themselves(and pay virtually none of the distribution costs).

When the content provider won't agree to a contract with the cable company unless they agree to a bundle of networks from said provider, and further, the provider won't let you create a NBC/Universal bundle for example. Oh no, that's totally unreasonable, people might opt out of that. You need to make sure it's bundled with other offerings from other production studios as well...

I have no gripe with HBO, Showmax, etc having gone the route they did as they weren't playing that game(at least with respect to those channels specifically).

CBS, Disney and company on the other hand? They deserve to burn.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Monedeath

That wasn't a Cable Company failing, that issue existed with the content providers themselves. Who are now trying to cut the Cable Company out of the loop so they can reap those profits themselves(and pay virtually none of the distribution costs).

When the content provider won't agree to a contract with the cable company unless they agree to a bundle of networks from said provider, and further, the provider won't let you create a NBC/Universal bundle for example. Oh no, that's totally unreasonable, people might opt out of that. You need to make sure it's bundled with other offerings from other production studios as well...

I have no gripe with HBO, Showmax, etc having gone the route they did as they weren't playing that game(at least with respect to those channels specifically).

CBS, Disney and company on the other hand? They deserve to burn.

Sounds like you know more about it than I do Whatever the reasons, I'm not convinced the current situation is better for consumers. It's probably a generational thing. My 20 year old thinks nothing of having several streaming subscriptions. I asked her what she does if a show she wants to see is on a service she does not subscribe to. Her answer was "then I go to site xyz which has pirated versions of most anything." Hmmm.

[wayner]

That's the problem with the current situation in video - it is a pain in the butt to find stuff that you want to watch due to the fragmentation. And that is even worse for movies than TV shows. But everything is available on BitTorrent and it can be easier and faster to pirate what you want.

[Monedeath]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Sounds like you know more about it than I do Whatever the reasons, I'm not convinced the current situation is better for consumers. It's probably a generational thing. My 20 year old thinks nothing of having several streaming subscriptions. I asked her what she does if a show she wants to see is on a service she does not subscribe to. Her answer was "then I go to site xyz which has pirated versions of most anything." Hmmm.

Well, the other recourse some will do is they'll stop the subscription on the one, subscribe to the other, binge watch what they want to see on the other, wait for that sub to expire, and switch back to the other provider.

At least assuming it's a program they're not eagerly awaiting the weekly release on.

[pjpjpjpj]

Late to the party because I haven't been around here much lately, but Tom, thanks for everything you put into Sage, and sad to see you go. I know you've helped me (and the WAF) more than once over the years.



Side note in response to your comment above: I suspect most 20-somethings look at "site XYZ" first, and if the show they want isn't there or isn't a decent-quality stream, THEN they go to the providers for which they actually pay... saves them the hassle of remembering/searching unless they have to.

[cat6man]

i haven't been around in a while and just ran across this thread.

Tom: thank you so much for everything you've done for the community.
it is much appreciated and stuff you created and supported is still well used in this household. we'll miss you!

p.s.
currently using sageTV client daily on latest nvidia shield pro, two older shields on secondary tv sets in basement excercise area and bedroom. running hdhr prime with cable card and eventually will have to deal with 'record never' and other cablecard nonsense.........hoping silicon dust finally releases their DVR with DRM recording support for the shield's android platform........at that point, i'll have a tough choice to make (i thought i'd be past that point by now but neither the hdhr prime6 nor full DRM recording has appeared on the horizon.

p.p.s.
my first contact with sageTV was when i discovered you folks were looking at the original hdhomerun tuner. i was intrigued and, as a beyondTV user at the time, created the first beyondTV capability to use the hdhomerun, using command line instructions (the extent of my applicable programming skills!) to control the hdhr (later invoked by a beyondTV plugin).........boy, was that a while ago....................later i switched over to sageTV and been there (here?) ever since............my daughters grew up with sageTV and became experts at wielding the remote controls for dad's latest upgrade)

p.p.p.s.
probably time to upgrade my linux installation from ubuntu 18.04

Happy new year everyone!

[mistergq]

Originally Posted by jpwegas

You can use a Samsung GX-SM530CF (supports CableCard) attached to your favorite capture card/device to get these channels. They are sold used or refurbed on Amazon and eBay. You'll need to use one of the tuning plugins to tune it (look up 'samsungctl' or 'go-samsung-tv' on github, they can tune these devices over the network) or you could use IR tuning if you have that available. The device can only tune a single channel at once (it was meant to be a non-cable-company STB replacement), but if all you need it for is the Fox owned channels on FiOS you likely only need one.

--John

Thank you,I will have to take a look at this.

[gary201]

I cut the cord years ago and still rely on Sage. After dumping cable, I rely on a couple dual tuner HDHomeRun devices for OTA stuff, and I use PlayOn's Windows app to stream (and record) content from a bunch of sources (netflix, hulu, tubi, etc.) The PlayOn recorded content gets dumped in a Sage video import folder on a NAS. I then use BMT to populate the fields for each show and import that content as recordings. I have more content in Sage than I can really ever watch on my 3 hd300 devices.

Bottom line is that just because one doesn't have cable TV doesn't make Sage unusable.

[lezouave@earthu]

tmiranda, thank you! Your plugins made Sage useful and fun. I'm still using it for OTA after more than decade.