OTA HD tuner?

[traker1001]

Hello folks,
What kind of tuner card or external tuner (USB) would I use If I wanted to tune Over the air channels into my Sage and get HD? Colossus and HD-PVR unfortunately doesn't have a built in tuner. I am not sure what is compatible with sage these days.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by traker1001

Hello folks,
What kind of tuner card or external tuner (USB) would I use If I wanted to tune Over the air channels into my Sage and get HD? Colossus and HD-PVR unfortunately doesn't have a built in tuner. I am not sure what is compatible with sage these days.

I use the following Hauppauge tuners in SageTV: HVR-2250, HVR-1600, HVR-950Q. I also use AVerMedia Duet tuners. All work well as long as my signal to them is good. I get bad recordings frequently but it is do to the bad signals not the cards themselves. Multi path (ghosting in analog days), badly mounted antenna (ie not pointed at the towers correctly) and too many splits because of so many tuners (I have 4 servers and 20+ OTA tuners on those 4 servers) are the causes of the bad signals.

[sic0048]

I like the Silicon Dust HDHomerun. It is a network device with OTA tuners. I find it is less problematic being a network device than the PCI type cards.

[Skirge01]

I agree with sic0048. The HDHR line is great. The only bad recordings I've ever had on the two of mine were from blizzards blocking the OTA signal.

[dcardellini]

I have four HVR-950Q USB mounted directly on 4x1 antenna splitter into a powered USB 2.0 hub with one usb cord to PC. Terrific for past five years 24/7 heavy use. Often have all four recording at same time, never a hiccup.

[nyplayer]

Silicon Dust HDHomerun all the way ... more flexibility not tied to 1 machine.

[SWKerr]

I have gone through a bunch of these cards over the years trying to fix my multi-path problem. Some cards were better than other with signal strength and multi-path issues.

I am using a AVerMedia AVerTVHD Duet and on old HDHR right now.
They are both very good for OTA recording.

Newegg has the newer OTA HDHR tuner on sale with their today only shell shocker deal for just $60.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815345007

I like the HDHR and plan to buy a new one just as a backup for my current one and for testing possible SageTV replacements. At $60 for two turners it is a good deal.

Also: A good antenna is key to a good experience. Some lucky people can just put up a cheap one but depending on where you live you may need something more specialized.

[david1234]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Silicon Dust HDHomerun all the way ... more flexibility not tied to 1 machine.

Anybody know how many HDHR devices Sage can manage? I've got one, and was thinking about adding another which will be fine, but is there a limit?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by david1234

Anybody know how many HDHR devices Sage can manage? I've got one, and was thinking about adding another which will be fine, but is there a limit?

I have 2 primes and 3 OTA Dual tuners. So that is 6 cable tuners and 6 OTA tuners. I have 1 Prime for WMC and 2 OTA also allocated to WMC. There is no limit in SageTV I had them all at one time allocated to SageTv.... but due to DRM I had to go with WMC.

PS I have all my devices on a 16 port Gigabit switch

[phelme]

Originally Posted by sic0048

I like the Silicon Dust HDHomerun. It is a network device with OTA tuners. I find it is less problematic being a network device than the PCI type cards.

Ditto.

[traker1001]

the HDHR looks like my best option. I have a large motorized antenna with a preamp mounted on my roof. I can mount the HDHR in the attic with only about 5 ft of wire between the HDHR and antenna and then run RJ45 straight down to my switch. I appreciate the recommendations.

Only question I have is why are all theses tuners limited to 1080i? Don't broadcasters transmit 1080p?

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by traker1001

the HDHR looks like my best option. I have a large motorized antenna with a preamp mounted on my roof. I can mount the HDHR in the attic with only about 5 ft of wire between the HDHR and antenna and then run RJ45 straight down to my switch. I appreciate the recommendations.

Only question I have is why are all theses tuners limited to 1080i? Don't broadcasters transmit 1080p?

That's what I did. I mounted the HDHRs in a second-floor linen closet on a shelf I added just below the ceiling. My antenna is in the attic above, with only about 10' of coax. No amps needed.

And to answer your other question, all broadcast OTA networks in America (AFAIK) are either 1080i or 720p. I've never heard of any 1080p.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by david1234

Anybody know how many HDHR devices Sage can manage? I've got one, and was thinking about adding another which will be fine, but is there a limit?

I have 4 HDHR version 1 tuners as well as the others I listed (forgot about them). Works fine in Sage and the HDHR setup utility. Got them to provide 2 tuners for each of my servers but have used up to 5 of those tuners on a box before. My HDHR tuners have a harder time locking in on the OTA signals so I have them connected to QAM currently.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by traker1001

Only question I have is why are all theses tuners limited to 1080i? Don't broadcasters transmit 1080p?

1080p up to 30fps is part of the ATSC specification but as far as I know there are no broadcasters that actually transmit it.

BTW, broadcasting H.264 is also now part of the ATSC specification but since AFAIK TV support is probably minimal broadcasters are not going to use it.