[ale] cord cutting for TV, SiliconDust, MythTV, recording to PC, etc.,

[Byron Jeff]

On Sun, Apr 09, 2017 at 11:00:43AM -0400, Derek Atkins wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'll try to answer inline as best I can.

So will I.

> 
> On Sun, April 9, 2017 10:42 am, Narahari 'n' Savitha wrote:
> > Friends:
> > I am trying to discontinue DISH NETWORK service.
> > It requires I setup antenna.
> > I read JD's blog on this and it looks quite a bit of work and I am not a
> > very handy person.
> > I have an internal antenna (paid 5 bucks on a sale) and it picks up a few
> > channels.  I feel external antenna is a good idea (need input on this)
> > How to pick a good/great external antenna ?

Snipping good antenna discussion as I've never used it.

> >
> > What is the role of a tool like  Silicon Dust in this setup ? (My
> > understanding is SiliconDust converts video packets to  network packets)
> 
> Yes.  The HDHomeRun will tune the ATSC and give you an MPEG (or other)
> data stream, converting the ATSC to Ethernet for you.

I have a pair of HDHR Prime which does exactly the same for CableCard
cable setups. 3 tuners per box.

> 
> > Where can Silicon Dust record to ?  Does it require a PC ?  Can we connect
> > a HD recorder from network ? (if there is such a device) ?
> 
> The HDHomeRun requires a recorder if you want to record.  You can record
> to anything you wish.  I use MythTV myself, which I run on a Linux box. 
> The nice thing about the HDHR is that you don't need a lot of processing
> power for recording (although you do need a lot of I/O in order to
> transfer to/from disk and for the MySQL DB it uses).

Exactly. The biggest problem I've had with this setup is video disk
failure. I'm on my 3rd disk in less than 2 years (3G,5G which both failed
and current 5G which seems to be going OK so far.)

I'm wondering if a NAS with a stack of 1G/2G disks may be a more reliable
setup.

> 
> > If I record to PC from SiiconDust can it be done with Linux or it requires
> > Windows ?
> 
> See above.  You don't need Windows.

You don't need Windows. I would say that MythTV is the most stable element
in my system outside of hardware failures. I put it on an SSD from the
beginning and it just works like a champ.

> 
> > How to stream from SiliconDust directly(or indirectly) to Apple
> > TV/Roku/Chrome ?
> 
> I don't know, I've never tried.  I have a MythTV Front End system attached
> to each TV and use that.  I do think you can also connect to MythTV via
> uPNP, but I've never tried so cannot comment on how easy/hard it is to set
> up.  You can google to see if anyone has?

I have with varying levels of success. I've standardized with Kodi as a
front end as it has ubiqutous deployment (Linux, Android, Windows, etc), 
has a consistent interface across platforms, and finally is heavily and
actively developed. I started with a RasPi 2 with their hardware MPEG2 
decoder unlocked. It's a little sluggish but workable. Ran it with
OpenElec. Currently I have a full fledged Ubuntu machine running a just
upgraded Kodi 17.1. I wish it were a bit more stable as it seems to
randomly peg the CPU and lock up the screen. An annoyance for sure. The
other TV has a MiBox Android TV bought from WalMart with both Kodi and SMPC
(a Kodi fork) running on it. The MiBox is wireless, has a bluetooth voice
remote, can do 4K, runs Android TV, and is priced in the $70 range. It's my
experimental box to see if it can be a standard interface to ordinary
users. It's up and down. Beautiful screen and interface, but a bumpy ride
streaming video over wireless. My hope is to get the hardware and software
aligned for a seamless experience. My reality is that I haven't gotten
there yet.

BTW I've had no luck with MythTV and UPNP, either with its internal server,
or with it's link mirror addon and an external UPNP server.

> 
> Hope this helps, and welcome to the disconnected world.

> 
> > Thank  You
> > -N
> 
> -derek

BAJ

-- 
Byron A. Jeff
Associate Professor: Department of Computer Science and Information Technology
College of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Clayton State University
http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff