OpenDCT: An open source digital cable tuner.

[TGsell]

Yes -- its the 32bit version of OpenDCT and I have Java 8. I am beginning to think it's a flag other than 'copy freely' - although it's not full DRM per the HDPrime scan. I had a problem getting clear QAM channels (broadcast networks) through a HDHR tuner and Sage a few months ago and went to full OTA with the quad tuner. It works great but I am left wondering what happened? could be my cable company Optimum changed Sage compatibility in some way. As I understand it - it's possible to not be listed as DRM and still have a flag the won't allow Sage to run? I can scan channels fine and everything seems ok but no video in preview and 'no signal' tuned from the guide. ????

[mechling-burgh]

Did you think about trying next PVR and seeing if it can record and play back. If it can then its OpenDCT If not then it probably CC flags like you are thinking

[UgaData]

I think you can see what the flags are for each channel on the HDHR device web page.

If certain flags are set, OpenDCT should send it own message to SageTV (it's a grey screen with a message in it) rather than just the "no signal" message.

[TGsell]

Great suggestions folks - I tried one my OTA tuners that was on the DCT and it behaved the same way as the Prime - hence it CAN NOT be DRM flags. So it's something else with the way that Sage connects to DCT for playback. IS there a video renderer that I am missing? I am using the latest version of Sage of course but perhaps theres a plugin? getting close!

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Great suggestions folks - I tried one my OTA tuners that was on the DCT and it behaved the same way as the Prime - hence it CAN NOT be DRM flags. So it's something else with the way that Sage connects to DCT for playback. IS there a video renderer that I am missing? I am using the latest version of Sage of course but perhaps theres a plugin? getting close!

If your server is on Windows did you set the Firewall.. to allow wrapper.exe and Java. If server is on windows try with the firewall off.

[TGsell]

I just tried that and even ran the Console setup for DCT with the firewall completely disconnected and didnt work. Is there a way to troubleshoot the Console setup for DCT or basically if the service starts and loads the tuners that means it worked ok? The console doesnt seem to run to completion - is there a final line I should be seeing that confirms it installed and ran properly? thanks

[AlphaCrew]

Originally Posted by TGsell

I just tried that and even ran the Console setup for DCT with the firewall completely disconnected and didnt work. Is there a way to troubleshoot the Console setup for DCT or basically if the service starts and loads the tuners that means it worked ok? The console doesnt seem to run to completion - is there a final line I should be seeing that confirms it installed and ran properly? thanks

There is no final confirmation, at least none that I've ever seen. I've just let it run past the channel line up and a few min after.

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Great suggestions folks - I tried one my OTA tuners that was on the DCT and it behaved the same way as the Prime - hence it CAN NOT be DRM flags. So it's something else with the way that Sage connects to DCT for playback.

Have a look at the HDHR setup instructions here: https://sagetv.fandom.com/wiki/Appen...p_Instructions

[TGsell]

I uninstalled 32bit DCT and installed 64bit and it runs perfectly. I can finally say great work developers! and thanks to all who chimed in to help. I am running 64bit Win10 but 99% sure I am running 32bit Sage since the application is in the x86 folder. (correct??!!) If I am wrong I will be really embarrassed but someone else might also have made that mistake. If I am correct does that mean you need the 64bit DCT to match the OS?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by TGsell

I uninstalled 32bit DCT and installed 64bit and it runs perfectly. I can finally say great work developers! and thanks to all who chimed in to help. I am running 64bit Win10 but 99% sure I am running 32bit Sage since the application is in the x86 folder. (correct??!!) If I am wrong I will be really embarrassed but someone else might also have made that mistake. If I am correct does that mean you need the 64bit DCT to match the OS?

You just need to match the Java Version. 32 Bit DCT 32 Bit Java.

[TGsell]

Thanks for clarifying.

[Galaxysurfer]

Hi,

I am wondering if you have made plans to relocate Download server for OpenDCT after Bintray is removed as an option in May 2021?


https://jfrog.com/blog/into-the-suns...d-chartcenter/

[VCRUser]

Is there anywhere an introductory post that says what OpenDCT does - what functionality does it provide that one wouldn't have otherwise?

[scat]

See attached pdf file for full instructions I used.

Adding a HDHomeRun Prime 3 tuner, network Tuner
Found here: https://www.silicondust.com/product/hdhomerun-prime/
Compare Silicon Dust products: https://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/
Silicon Dust Trouble-shooting site: https://www.silicondust.com/support/troubleshooting/
My Equipment:
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit Build: 18363
SageTV Version: 9.21.1.826 (32-bit)
Java Version: 1.8.0_172 (32-bit)
Network Tuners: 2x HDHomeRun Prime (CableCard) = 6 Tuners
Cable service: Spectrum, TV package: Select
I Downloaded HDHomeRun software here: https://download.silicondust.com/hdh...un_windows.exe
This will install HDHomeRun software to include hdhomerun_setup.exe that is used to find and setup the cable card on the HDHomeRun Prime 3 tuner, network Tuner.
If this is run on Windows 10 it will open the Microsoft app store to install the HDHomeRun viewer software.
After installing the HDHomeRun software you can find the HDHomeRun setup in the start menu.

Credits:
For the success of having the ability to add the HDHomeRun Prime 3 tuner,
network Tuner to SageTV, because this isn’t shown on Silicon Dust website as being compatible.

SageTV user: EnterNoEscape,
https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62774
Thank you for your OpenDCT program and the time for creating this for others, I greatly appreciate this program.

SageTV user: Daweeze
https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...&postcount=175
For listing the steps, you took to get OpenDCT working on your system.

Thank you so much, for this program and these instructions, I was able to get my HDHomeRun Prime 3 tuners working in my SageTV.
Thanks again
Scat

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

Is there anywhere an introductory post that says what OpenDCT does - what functionality does it provide that one wouldn't have otherwise?

If you were looking for "very basic info," OpenDCT gives SageTV the ability to use a cablecard with the SageTV server software. It is software that runs independently from Sage, but presents the cablecard tuners (like HDHR Prime and Ceton Infinitv tuners) to SageTV Server in a usable way that wasn't readily available previously.

It's worth noting if your cable TV provider locks most stations down with copy protection (copy-once flags), then this method is not usable for those channels.

[VCRUser]

Yes, thanks. That does tell me what I needed to know. I'd seen OpenDCT mentioned in other contexts (FHDHR, for example, and since I don't have a cablecard, I wasn't familiar with it and didn't know whether it made sense to try to delve into it.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

Yes, thanks. That does tell me what I needed to know. I'd seen OpenDCT mentioned in other contexts (FHDHR, for example, and since I don't have a cablecard, I wasn't familiar with it and didn't know whether it made sense to try to delve into it.

It also works with the HDHomeRun connects ... I use it for all my HDHomeRun tuners except the very old ones.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

Yes, thanks. That does tell me what I needed to know. I'd seen OpenDCT mentioned in other contexts (FHDHR, for example, and since I don't have a cablecard, I wasn't familiar with it and didn't know whether it made sense to try to delve into it.

The DCT part stands for digital cable tuner, since it was originally written specifically to support cable card tuners. However, the program was written in a very flexible/configurable way so it can support other things too. People have used it successfully with other network-connected capture devices that don’t have cable cards. It has also been used to capture from certain IPTV sources.

OpenDCT implements the SageTV network tuner protocol. So it can be installed on the same pc as Sage, or anywhere else on the local network. It appears to Sage like another tuner. So when Sage wants to record something it talks to OpenDCT, and OpenDCT translates the request to a format that the unsupported tuner can accept and reports status back to Sage.

OpenDCT also has some extra logic to perform some nice functions that Sage doesn’t handle natively, such as tuner pooling and sharing with other programs.

[wayner]

To add to this - you can also use OpenDCT with streams from HDHR OTA tuners. But it has never been clear to me why you would want to do this rather than use them directly which I have done for over a decade.

There is also a variation on this (OpenDCT Generic HTTP Capture Device) that let's you capture other types of network video streams, such as an IP camera or even your PC screen, and capture these in SageTV. This would also work with HDMI encoders (BM1000,URay) which would be a way to be able to capture 4k cable/sat output.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by wayner

To add to this - you can also use OpenDCT with streams from HDHR OTA tuners. But it has never been clear to me why you would want to do this rather than use them directly which I have done for over a decade.

There is also a variation on this (OpenDCT Generic HTTP Capture Device) that let's you capture other types of network video streams, such as an IP camera or even your PC screen, and capture these in SageTV. This would also work with HDMI encoders (BM1000,URay) which would be a way to be able to capture 4k cable/sat output.

I can answer why you would want to use OPENDCT with HDHR Ota tuners is pooling. Where OPENDCT will check if a tuner is in use by another APP and if it is in use will move on to next available tuner. Without OPENDCT if sagetv tries to use a tuner in use it will just fail and not try another.