Tuners on Sale

[offroad]

Any luck with any of these machines on a COMCAST cable connection?

[foxwood]

Just search the board for the word Comcast. There are plenty of Comcast customers using cable-card tuners.

[werds]

Any luck with any of these machines on a COMCAST cable connection?

Have Comcast, just received the tuner from Newegg last night around 7 (but because things were recording I will have to wait) Will get back to make a comment here when I finally install and give it a stress test...

[barnabas1969]

I paid $105 on eBay a couple of days ago. The listing said it was brand new...we'll see when I get it.

Richard... you spent money? Any particular reason you're trying the HDHR Prime?

[richard1980]

Hey, I'm cheap, but I still like toys. I've actually wanted to compare the HDHRP to the InfiniTV for quite a while. While the InfiniTV has been a very solid performer for me (aside from the time a beta HW update basically rendered 3 of the 4 tuners useless), there are a few minor annoyances that (from what I understand) don't exist with the HDHRP (the delay after boot/reboot/wake, the spinning donut every time I start WMC, and the single-line pixelation issue). I don't anticipate Ceton ever resolving those annoyances. Additionally, I have had a few instances of the InfiniTV not working after resume from S3, which has always required me to reboot. Most of the time, I discover the issue by way of an alert that something isn't being recorded, and in some cases I'm not even at the system to see the alert. When I am, I can reboot rather quickly, but I still have to wait a while for the InfiniTV to be ready before WMC can start recording. While this doesn't happen very often, I'm hoping that the HDHRP will be more reliable, and even if it does crash occasionally, I'm hoping that the resolution process will be a bit easier.

A couple of things that aren't the fault of the InfiniTV:

I've had issues in the past getting CableCARD updates, which I attributed to my PC being asleep when the update was pushed, so I ended up writing a script to monitor the subscription expiration data on the CableCARD and change the sleep settings to never sleep if the subscription gets close to expiration. Since then, I have not had any problem with subscription expiration updates, so I suspect that my theory is correct. While this isn't a problem with the InfiniTV itself, it is a problem with a PC-dependent CableCARD tuner. I'm hoping that by switching to the HDHRP I can do away with my script and allow my PC to sleep without worry.

I'm also considering switching out my case for a smaller case, which would certainly be easier if I didn't have to buy a case with an expansion slot.

[barnabas1969]

I didn't mean any disrespect, Richard. I actually have a lot of respect for you. You've posted on several occasions saying that you're cheap. Just a friendly jab.

The delay after boot/wake is definitely solved (no spinning donut) with the HDHRP. The single-line pixelation issue was not resolved when first I switched to the HDHRP. But... now that I have my signals cleaned up... the problem is gone. So, I can't say for sure if the HDHRP performs better in this regard.

I never had a problem with the InfiniTV4 not working after a resume from S3. I can say that my HDHRP's hang about twice a year. Since I have two of them, it's never a problem... I just unplug the one that's not working and plug it back in. I've read that there is a way to automate the reboot of the device, but I've never tried it. I'm still running the firmware from April 2012. I don't know if the newer firmware is better/worse/same.

[Scallica]

I've read that there is a way to automate the reboot of the device, but I've never tried it.

Create a batch file with the lines below and schedule it to run with Task Scheduler:

Code: Select all

cd C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\

hdhomerun_config your_device_id_number set /sys/restart self

[richard1980]

I didn't mean any disrespect, Richard. I actually have a lot of respect for you. You've posted on several occasions saying that you're cheap. Just a friendly jab.

No disrespect taken....I didn't mean for my response to sound that way, so if it did I apologize. I certainly am cheap when it comes to certain things, and I don't mind if anybody jabs me about it. At the end of the day, I have more money to spend on something else, so no problem.

I've read that there is a way to automate the reboot of the device, but I've never tried it.

Create a batch file with the lines below and schedule it to run with Task Scheduler:

Code: Select all

cd C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\

hdhomerun_config your_device_id_number set /sys/restart self

Is there a reason for the first line instead of just putting the full path in the command?

Code: Select all

C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config.exe your_device_id_number set /sys/restart self

Better yet, why not skip the batch file and run the command directly from Task Scheduler with the appropriate arguments?

[barnabas1969]

I didn't mean any disrespect, Richard. I actually have a lot of respect for you. You've posted on several occasions saying that you're cheap. Just a friendly jab.

No disrespect taken....I didn't mean for my response to sound that way, so if it did I apologize. I certainly am cheap when it comes to certain things, and I don't mind if anybody jabs me about it. At the end of the day, I have more money to spend on something else, so no problem.

Well, I didn't think your post sounded that way... but I'm not the best at reading "between the lines". I just wanted to be sure that you didn't feel that I was being disrespectful. My friendly jabs can be taken the wrong way, especially in print.

I'm looking forward to reading about your impression of the HDHRP. I like mine very much.

[richard1980]

The delay after boot/wake is definitely solved (no spinning donut) with the HDHRP. The single-line pixelation issue was not resolved when first I switched to the HDHRP. But... now that I have my signals cleaned up... the problem is gone. So, I can't say for sure if the HDHRP performs better in this regard.

Alright, I got the Prime on Friday and have done some testing over the last couple of days. Here are a few things I have observed:

• WMC no longer greets me with a spinning donut every time it starts.
• Tuners are not immediately accessible after boot/wake. I've replaced explorer with ehshell as the user shell, and attempting to boot directly to live TV results in "Please wait...searching for tuners" or "Viewing or listening conflict...no tuner available to satisfy the current request" for about 8 seconds. While not ideal, it's still much better than the InfiniTV.
• Channel tuning is slightly faster with the Prime.
• The single-line pixelation issue appears to be fully resolved. However, the short amount of testing I have done isn't enough to convince me yet.
• The HDHRP is reporting signal strengths that are much lower than the InfiniTV (I've seen as much as a 9.5 dB difference). For some frequencies, this results in a signal strength of around -14 dBmV. At such a low level, I would expect signs of a weak signal to be visible on screen, but I don't see any. I'm not really sure what is going on.

[UCBearcat]

Here are my experiences w/ my HDHR Prime for comparison to what you reported - I have a headless WMC7 w/ a pair of XBoxen. Hopefully this helps with your comparison.

*If I do launch WMC on the server when I have a monitor connected (which is rare), I've never been greeted w/ a spinning donut.
*Since I use extenders exclusively, I may never see the 8 seconds that you see... as it takes that long for my extender to connect. So, if this is an issue... I never see it.
*I've always been very pleased w/ channel change times. They're on par w/ the old cable boxes we had. I notice a slight delay with switched digital channels from the TA. I blame TWC and the TA for that.
*I've seen the screenshots of the InfiniTV pixilation that folks have posted on here. While I have seen a random blip from time to time, I can't say it has been an issue for me with the Prime. I think the picture w/ my CC tuner is better than any box TWC gave me to use.
*Those numbers seem a little peculiar. I had some really bad signal a few months back (crazy high signal and really low SNR) that was causing pixilation and no signal messages. The tech who came out to the house didn't believe the numbers that the prime was reporting until he hooked up his meter. He changed his tune real quick when he saw how bad the line was. In my experience, the numbers I see on the prime have been pretty accurate.

And as another posted earlier, there are a few things you can script from command line. Silicondust has a dev manual published online w/ all of the command and switches... I'm just too lazy to find a link right now.

[barnabas1969]

The delay after boot/wake is definitely solved (no spinning donut) with the HDHRP. The single-line pixelation issue was not resolved when first I switched to the HDHRP. But... now that I have my signals cleaned up... the problem is gone. So, I can't say for sure if the HDHRP performs better in this regard.

Alright, I got the Prime on Friday and have done some testing over the last couple of days. Here are a few things I have observed:

• WMC no longer greets me with a spinning donut every time it starts.
• Tuners are not immediately accessible after boot/wake. I've replaced explorer with ehshell as the user shell, and attempting to boot directly to live TV results in "Please wait...searching for tuners" or "Viewing or listening conflict...no tuner available to satisfy the current request" for about 8 seconds. While not ideal, it's still much better than the InfiniTV.
• Channel tuning is slightly faster with the Prime.
• The single-line pixelation issue appears to be fully resolved. However, the short amount of testing I have done isn't enough to convince me yet.
• The HDHRP is reporting signal strengths that are much lower than the InfiniTV (I've seen as much as a 9.5 dB difference). For some frequencies, this results in a signal strength of around -14 dBmV. At such a low level, I would expect signs of a weak signal to be visible on screen, but I don't see any. I'm not really sure what is going on.

I haven't seen an 8 second delay to watch live TV. However, I must admit that it takes about that long for my TV and AVR to turn on and sync up after the PC wakes.

Please let us know more as time goes by.

[werds]

Any luck with any of these machines on a COMCAST cable connection?

Have Comcast, just received the tuner from Newegg last night around 7 (but because things were recording I will have to wait) Will get back to make a comment here when I finally install and give it a stress test...

I have had my InfiniTV6 Pci-e working well so far. No issues other than the already known occasional macro blocking line, but I attribute that to the abysmal signal my current abode has as well as most of the runs in the house having used RG59 (which since it is a rental I have no plans in replacing).

[offroad]

Thinking of buying the homerun prime. Again. Bought in February 2012 and had such horrible results on COMCAST that I sent it back. At that time: 1) Cablecard was disabled randomly by COMCAST. Their system just kept turning it off. 2) suspected bad signal inside the rental apartment due to poor quality cable distribution. Was found to be true as my HBO signal would randomly fail to get through (its on upper channel numbers 300 and likely needing the full bandwidth if the cable to receive. ).

Will be trying again. This time I will still have my digital cable company cable tuner to compare the signal.

Still find it a difficult chore to get COMCAST to provide quality consultant signal in my small city.

[offroad]

Getting my sons COMCAST working in another part of the city. Have read that most if the cable systems from COMCAST have legacy frequency band traps (low pass or high pass filters) that will prevent the full signal from hitting your cable TV setup box. They also prevent your modem from seeing the full signal.

Am awaiting a technician visit for my sons apartment to get this fixed. Maybe.

[offroad]

Just FYI on COMCAST. Turns out the Motorola cable modem from
AMAZON was bad. Bought one at Walmart and that works fine.