OTA Tuner Recommendations

[BarkOLounger]

I am going to add OTA to my sage setup and I'm looking for recommendation for the tuner.

I have DirecTV, but can't always rely on it (between weather and blackouts).

I would prefer a multi tuner card that can go into the server, just because it's cleaner.

I'm running sage on a 32 version of Windows 7. I have currently have 4 USB HDPVR and an internal PVR-250 card.

Any suggestions on what OTA solution works the best?

TIA

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by BarkOLounger

I am going to add OTA to my sage setup and I'm looking for recommendation for the tuner.

I have DirecTV, but can't always rely on it (between weather and blackouts).

I would prefer a multi tuner card that can go into the server, just because it's cleaner.

I'm running sage on a 32 version of Windows 7. I have currently have 4 USB HDPVR and an internal PVR-250 card.

Any suggestions on what OTA solution works the best?

TIA

Why is going into your server cleaner. I have a couple of dual OTA tuners HDHomerun Connects and never had any problem with them. As long as your server has a 1000 G Nic card it would be no problem.

[jchiso]

I have to echo nyplayer's sentiments on the HDHomerun. I have some older PCI- and USB-based tuners but they never been as failsafe as the HDHomeruns ...

[JustFred]

I've had no problems with my HVR-2250's for OTA. My HDHR's have also been problem-free. For OTA, all other things being equal, I prefer a tuner card internal to the server; overall it makes for a tidier self-contained package. Assuming the use of a UPS, as long as the server has power, the tuners are powered. And when tuners don't work, there are less pieces to debug (no wall wart(s), network cables & switches, etc).

I support 3 Sage systems, with a mixture of tuner types. In one case, it turned out that the choice of using a networked tuner was determined by the location of the tuner. I wanted the tuner closest to an exiting coax from the antenna. The server is upstairs but the existing run of coax was downstairs. Didn't want to string more coax nor deal with additional signal loss that a longer cable would have meant (there was already one line-amp in the equation). So this system got a pair of HDHRs. I didn't bother with a 2nd UPS for the HDHRs here, since line power has been pretty reliable over the years.

[Telecore]

I agree with internal for both OTA and Cablecard. I have three Avermedia Duets (PCIe), one each in my SageTV server, Windows Media Center Server and my new SageTV V9/Win10 server. I have two HDHR's that are no longer being used. I also read a recent post by SHS indicating that Hauppauge may be coming out with a quad ATSC tuner later this month. Think "inside the box".

[mechling-burgh]

I have hdHomeruns and the Avermedia Duets (PCIe) and I have to admit at least for me the Avermedia Duets (PCIe) get a little better signal pickup. But I will also say if you are trying to track down a problem you will never beat Silicondust support and there software. I think you would do fine with either of these just be sure they do what you want.

[nyplayer]

I like the HDHomeruns units In case if my hardware fails .... I can quickly setup a server on any PC on my network even a laptop. I only have 1 Cable box so I rely on my 2 Primes to be available at all times. A PCIe card is only available if the machine hosting it is online. HDHomerun units are always available even if the server is offline.

[BarkOLounger]

Thanks for all the replies. I may try the Aver card and the homerun both. I have a couple of open PXI Express x 1 slots.

My main reason for not wanting another external device is that my server rack is already way more cluttered that I would like with HDPVRs, DirectTV boxes etc.. I always like datacenter spaces to be clean and my OCD techie side hates how "messy" my personal server room is.

That being said the point about easily redirecting the HDHomeRun to an alternate server is also compelling. I've played around with warm spare sage servers for a while, but moving the tuners was always such a pain. That's a good tip. I also hadn't thought about the possibility of putting the tuner up high in the house with it's own digital antenna (server room is in the basement). This would save me a trip onto the roof to install an antennae there.

I'm sure you all feel the same way, but it's such a good feeling to be back to working on my "next" Sage setup and excited to check back here and see what's new (instead of worrying about what I would finally switch to when I had not choice).

[BarkOLounger]

Does anyone happen to know where I can buy and AVermedia Duet? I looked on Amazon, Newegg and their own store and don't see them for sale.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by BarkOLounger

Does anyone happen to know where I can buy and AVermedia Duet? I looked on Amazon, Newegg and their own store and don't see them for sale.

I don't believe they are being manufactured any more. And I did not see them listed on ebay when I searched. Hauppauge 2250 works well also. This is the AverMedia Duet model I purchased: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815100041

[BarkOLounger]

I see some folks have tested the 2255 and seems to work with sage. So I guess I'll try one of those since it's newer than the 2250. Any opinions between these two?

On the HDHomerun, i'm curios about which model I should get and also about the overhead of the conversion to H264. Any experiences there that might save me some headache before I buy?

Is there an option that would output H264 without the need to convert?

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by BarkOLounger

I see some folks have tested the 2255 and seems to work with sage. So I guess I'll try one of those since it's newer than the 2250. Any opinions between these two?

On the HDHomerun, i'm curios about which model I should get and also about the overhead of the conversion to H264. Any experiences there that might save me some headache before I buy?

Is there an option that would output H264 without the need to convert?

Most digital TUNER cards (HD-Homeruns, HVR-2250's, etc.), grab the digital signal from cable or OTA and save it to your PC as-is, in the original format. Currently, most providers are broadcasting in MPEG-2 format, so this is what you will get. They may put it into a different container with a different filename extension (e.g.: PS, or TS), but they are generally not transcoding the files to a different format.

Other capture devices that accept an analog signal (component, composite, S-Video, etc.), are converting from analog to digital so must encode to some digital format. For example, HD-PVR and Colossus encode to H.264.

Some devices can do both. For example, the HVR-2250 from Hauppauge can capture a digital signal from OTA antenna or cable and save it in its original format, or they can accept an analog signal and encode it to MPEG-2.

Some of the HD-Homeruns (HD-Homerun Extend?) can now optionally transcode to H.264. This is done in hardware inside the HD-Homerun. The software that interfaces with the HD-Homerun needs to be able to tell it do do this. As far as I know, Sage has not been updated to support this feature. I think Sage can still work with this device, but it will not be able to transcode to another format.

[Savage1701]

Looks like you have your question pretty well answered; only thing I would add is that, in my experience, the cards' tuners tend to be more sensitive than the USB tuners. It has made a difference for me with marginal signals. I pull stuff as far away as 50-60 miles, and I always assign those channels to internal cards.

[trallyus]

I have the 2255 and had the 2250 and found my current 2255 is more sensitive then my old 2250.

Last time I checked though the signal strength plugin for sage tv did not work with the 2255 due to it being a newer model tuner and all but for some reason when going through the channel setup and viewing channels while in the channel setup the signal strength shows up fine.

Not sure if someone has updated that plugin since I stopped using it when it did not work with the 2255 but thought you may want to know that.

I actually wish my pc had 2 pci express slots for 2 of the 2255 cards but I am using an old 1600 and 2255

[dgeezer]

I've been solely Ota for about 6 months now. I've been experimenting with different setups for quite a while before the switch. What I have now is 2 Hdhomerun connects in the attic with my 2 antennas. The two antennas are pointed about 120 degrees apart. One is south and one is northwest. Both are connected by a 10' cable so I think that I have minimal signal loss. I have cat5 runs from the attic to the basement server. Each tuner is limited to the channels in it's direction.

My problem with any single antenna solution has been that one set of transmitters is about 5 miles away and the other group is about 40 miles away. The hardest station to tune is the 5 mile one. The signal seems to be too strong. I finally found that a tiny homemade bow tie was weak enough to avoid all the multi path breakups that I was getting with any better antenna.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by dgeezer

I've been solely Ota for about 6 months now. I've been experimenting with different setups for quite a while before the switch. What I have now is 2 Hdhomerun connects in the attic with my 2 antennas. The two antennas are pointed about 120 degrees apart. One is south and one is northwest. Both are connected by a 10' cable so I think that I have minimal signal loss. I have cat5 runs from the attic to the basement server. Each tuner is limited to the channels in it's direction.

My problem with any single antenna solution has been that one set of transmitters is about 5 miles away and the other group is about 40 miles away. The hardest station to tune is the 5 mile one. The signal seems to be too strong. I finally found that a tiny homemade bow tie was weak enough to avoid all the multi path breakups that I was getting with any better antenna.

You can sometimes handle these situations in the RF path as well, instead of using two different tuners. Back when the digital transition was going on, I was in Kitsap County, WA. Over there, we have two main directions to get stations, as there were two main mountaintop transmissions points for the area. I found that the two were split up in their frequencies (higher frequencies on one mountain, lower on another). I was able to purchase a custom combiner that had a high-pass filter on one, and a low-pass filter on the other, and combine them up on the roof at the antennas. Worked very well for a number of years that way. This would allow all tuners to receive all channels. I'm sure this wouldn't necessarily be the case for all areas.

[BarkOLounger]

Thank you all for your advice/help.

I guess everyone persuaded me to their point of view because I added both a 2255 and an HDHR for 4 OTA tuners (added to the 6 DirecTV ones I already had).

They were both very easy to setup and both seem to be working fine so far. Somewhere down the road I'll look to convert the content I want to keep to a smaller file but for now I appreciate the input.

[Rob23]

Originally Posted by BarkOLounger

Thank you all for your advice/help.

I guess everyone persuaded me to their point of view because I added both a 2255 and an HDHR for 4 OTA tuners (added to the 6 DirecTV ones I already had).

They were both very easy to setup and both seem to be working fine so far. Somewhere down the road I'll look to convert the content I want to keep to a smaller file but for now I appreciate the input.

Having used them for a week, would you recommend one over the other?

[Monedeath]

My experience, as someone who is operating both is that Your Mileage May Vary, and it depends on what you're wanting to do. Network encoders provide more flexibility, while adding a little more (networking) complexity into the mix. So you can do more with the network encoder and more easily share them with other systems/devices, but there are more things that can go wrong with them. (Like SageTV currently being in the category of "does not play well with others" when comes to use of network tuners)

Of course, things go wrong with internal tuner cards as well, and the network tuners have a definite plus on that. It is going to be a lot less involved to perform troubleshooting and various other maintenance/replacement steps on a external device than an internal one, as you don't necessarily need to shut down/restart the server as a whole every time you do work on a network encoder.

Generally speaking I find the internal cards to be slightly more reliable, but the difference is pretty marginal on the whole.