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Sammy2

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#1

Post by Sammy2 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:38 pm

Okay. I'm tired of paying so much money for CableTV and am going to make the call today to cut my Spectrum subscription from Silver all the way down to Basic while on the way to an antenna. We're already using YoutubeTV and Hulu / Philo and am deciding which of those to keep right now.

What do I need to do with epg123 beforehand or will I just have a guide with a bunch of channels telling me I need a subscription?

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lurch66

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#2

Post by lurch66 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:31 am

From within epg123 you can uncheck the channels you do not receive. If needed at the top you can uncheck all and recheck the ones you need one by one. Then click save and execute and it will delete them from the lineup/guide.

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garyan2

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#3

Post by garyan2 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:36 am

The best thing would be to make sure only the channels on your Basic service are selected for download in the EPG123 Configuration GUI. That will significantly reduce the amount of data you download, as well as disable those channels in the guide.

You could also keep everything the same and just disable the channels in the guide (using WMC or EPG123 Client). All up to you.

EDIT: ^^lurch beat me to the answer ... what he said.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#4

Post by Sammy2 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:10 pm

Now I'm just awaiting Spectrum to kill my service. They already bumped my internet to 300/20 (280/22 actual) but all my TV Services remain the same. If that doesn't happen soon I'll have to give them another call. They said wait 24 hours and it isn't quite 24 hours yet though.

Their Basic Cable costs $24 a month plus a bogus $9 "Broadcast Surcharge" plus about $7 in taxes so for basically OTA it is $40 a month. That's going away as soon as I get an antenna mounted and connected to HDHR Quatros but I really only need it for a few channels not included in YoutubeTV and Hulu or Philo. I love what you're doing here Gary but I'm not so sure I'll need it any longer. You did keep WMC alive for me for another couple of years but with streaming services cutting my costs I'm probably going to be going to them. Impending competition is on the way too with more streaming services coming. Philo is the latest one but there's more on the horizon in 2018. The problem is with the Fed's elimination of the net neutrality rules but at least in California the legislature is moving to counter that and require neutrality in this state.

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Scallica

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#5

Post by Scallica » Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:06 pm

Sammy2 wrote: Their Basic Cable costs $24 a month plus a bogus $9 "Broadcast Surcharge" plus about $7 in taxes so for basically OTA it is $40 a month.
Unbelievable. Invest in a good quality antenna and enjoy OTA free of charge.
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Sammy2

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#6

Post by Sammy2 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:10 pm

Scallica wrote:
Sammy2 wrote: Their Basic Cable costs $24 a month plus a bogus $9 "Broadcast Surcharge" plus about $7 in taxes so for basically OTA it is $40 a month.
Unbelievable. Invest in a good quality antenna and enjoy OTA free of charge.
Do you still use WMC and extenders or are you using something else? I think that for now it is still the best solution for DVR and OSD guide / channel tuning but Emby is getting there.. Not so sure about Plex as I don't use it.

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#7

Post by Sammy2 » Tue May 08, 2018 3:54 pm

Sammy2 wrote:
Scallica wrote:
Sammy2 wrote: Their Basic Cable costs $24 a month plus a bogus $9 "Broadcast Surcharge" plus about $7 in taxes so for basically OTA it is $40 a month.
Unbelievable. Invest in a good quality antenna and enjoy OTA free of charge.
Do you still use WMC and extenders or are you using something else? I think that for now it is still the best solution for DVR and OSD guide / channel tuning but Emby is getting there.. Not so sure about Plex as I don't use it.
I've completed the task and WMC is really having issues with playback with my new HDHomeRun Quatro and a free with TV Rosewill "paper" antenna when both Emby and Plex have no issues at all so I'm about to leave WMC behind.. Are there known issues with WMC tuning the HDHR Quatro? It was solid with my Primes.

I'm sorta tired of technically supporting my echos now and can stream OTA via Emby and Plex so it may be time to let go of a legend.

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#8

Post by 3rob3 » Wed May 09, 2018 3:58 pm

What kind of problems are you having? The only one I know of is WMC uses a downloaded list of channels it thinks you should get, but may be out of date and un-tunable (they have changed frequencies). In this case you have to manually add the channel (there are instructions on SD's website). Plex and Emby either pull the channel info directly from the SD tuner (which stores the results of scanning), or they run an actual scan themselves.

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#9

Post by Sammy2 » Wed May 09, 2018 4:24 pm

3rob3 wrote:What kind of problems are you having? The only one I know of is WMC uses a downloaded list of channels it thinks you should get, but may be out of date and un-tunable (they have changed frequencies). In this case you have to manually add the channel (there are instructions on SD's website). Plex and Emby either pull the channel info directly from the SD tuner (which stores the results of scanning), or they run an actual scan themselves.
Guess I need to go take a look-see at SiliconDust's forum of support page? Haven't been there in years since my Primes just ran and ran without issue.

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#10

Post by 3rob3 » Wed May 09, 2018 5:16 pm


Sammy2

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#11

Post by Sammy2 » Wed May 09, 2018 6:28 pm

Yup. I found that. I'd have to do that for each channel on each PC each time I run setup. I opened a ticket and enabled diagnostic logging. Hopefully Nick or Jason will give me a better solution.

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garyan2

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#12

Post by garyan2 » Sat May 12, 2018 12:43 am

3rob3 wrote:What kind of problems are you having? The only one I know of is WMC uses a downloaded list of channels it thinks you should get, but may be out of date and un-tunable (they have changed frequencies).
This issue is mitigated by not accepting the Program Guide from MS/Rovi... it does not download the "expected" channels and forces a tuner scan. On the flip side, WMC will not add channels in the VHF band so they will have to be added manually.

@Sammy2: You might want to make sure you are tuning to the right frequencies. Where I am at, I have multiple towers broadcasting the same stations on different frequencies but common logical channel numbers. Because of the VHF tuning in WMC, it will use the weakest of the towers and give me poor reception.
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#13

Post by Sammy2 » Mon May 14, 2018 7:42 pm

garyan2 wrote:
3rob3 wrote:What kind of problems are you having? The only one I know of is WMC uses a downloaded list of channels it thinks you should get, but may be out of date and un-tunable (they have changed frequencies).
This issue is mitigated by not accepting the Program Guide from MS/Rovi... it does not download the "expected" channels and forces a tuner scan. On the flip side, WMC will not add channels in the VHF band so they will have to be added manually.

@Sammy2: You might want to make sure you are tuning to the right frequencies. Where I am at, I have multiple towers broadcasting the same stations on different frequencies but common logical channel numbers. Because of the VHF tuning in WMC, it will use the weakest of the towers and give me poor reception.
Can you help with that?

Here's my TVFool report. I'm not sure how to determine what frequencies I'm supposed to have and which ones I do have..

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 86a0c12d3e 2

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garyan2

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#14

Post by garyan2 » Fri May 18, 2018 3:19 am

Sammy2 wrote:Can you help with that?
Wow, you have a lot a stations around you (180 according to antennaweb.org) and quite a few possible simulcasts on different frequencies. If you look at the Real Channel column, any channel 13 and below would need to be added manually to WMC.

You can take a look at the tuned channels in HDHomeRun Setup... you will see the tuning channel and subchannels it receives (also make sure BDA compatibility mode is set to WMC). Any tune channel that starts with 13 or lower can be manually added to WMC.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#15

Post by Sammy2 » Fri May 18, 2018 12:22 pm

garyan2 wrote:
Sammy2 wrote:Can you help with that?
Wow, you have a lot a stations around you (180 according to antennaweb.org) and quite a few possible simulcasts on different frequencies. If you look at the Real Channel column, any channel 13 and below would need to be added manually to WMC.

You can take a look at the tuned channels in HDHomeRun Setup... you will see the tuning channel and subchannels it receives (also make sure BDA compatibility mode is set to WMC). Any tune channel that starts with 13 or lower can be manually added to WMC.
So anything on this list on physical 2 to 13 needs to be added? No wonder some aren't showing.. can added channels have both a physical number and virtual number or even any custom number?

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garyan2

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#16

Post by garyan2 » Fri May 18, 2018 2:35 pm

Sammy2 wrote:So anything on this list on physical 2 to 13 needs to be added? No wonder some aren't showing.. can added channels have both a physical number and virtual number or even any custom number?
Yes and yes. When manually adding the channel, you will use the virtual number (Digital TV channel) and the physical (Assigned frequency). Once created, you can then edit the channel and give it a custom number.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#17

Post by Sammy2 » Fri May 18, 2018 3:33 pm

garyan2 wrote:
Sammy2 wrote:So anything on this list on physical 2 to 13 needs to be added? No wonder some aren't showing.. can added channels have both a physical number and virtual number or even any custom number?
Yes and yes. When manually adding the channel, you will use the virtual number (Digital TV channel) and the physical (Assigned frequency). Once created, you can then edit the channel and give it a custom number.
Thanks Gary! Added them in but will I possibly need to edit again after the next round of re-packs?

IDK yet if I'll bother with channel remapping..



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garyan2

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#18

Post by garyan2 » Fri May 18, 2018 6:52 pm

Sammy2 wrote:Thanks Gary! Added them in but will I possibly need to edit again after the next round of re-packs?
Yes. You cannot edit the "original" channel numbers. The perfect scenario would be if all the VHF channels move to UHF. All you would need to do is delete your user created channels and rescan your tuners to add additional channels. You probably won't get that lucky, but it is a possibility.

For any stations moving to a VHF channel, you will then need to create those new channels in WMC (next release of EPG123 will have this ability as well).
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#19

Post by Sammy2 » Tue May 22, 2018 9:44 pm

So my migration to OTA complete with the antenna installed in my attic last weekend I have noticed that my scheduled recordings have migrated with me. Did epg123 or WMC recognize Custom 1002 is Charter 702 is OTA 2.1 or is it just because I may have it scheduled as Any Station?

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garyan2

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#20

Post by garyan2 » Tue May 22, 2018 10:45 pm

Sammy2 wrote:So my migration to OTA complete with the antenna installed in my attic last weekend I have noticed that my scheduled recordings have migrated with me. Did epg123 or WMC recognize Custom 1002 is Charter 702 is OTA 2.1 or is it just because I may have it scheduled as Any Station?
Not sure about the Any Channel setting, but WMC will certainly see that previous 702 is the same as current 2.1 ... they use the exact same service (station). If you don't have the request set to Any Channel, then there must be logic in place such that in the absence of the requested channel, any channel with the same service will work.
- Gary
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