[mythtv-users] HDHomerun capture device

[Greg Woods]

On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 14:01 -0500, Nathan Harris wrote:
> If you are doing QAM, you will need 0.20-fixes (compiled from SVN).
> 

You're right, I'm trying to do QAM.

Tying this into another discussion: I also was disappointed by what I
got off the cable, which is causing me to investigate OTA. I have
verified, with both the HDHomerun and my TV, that there are only two HD
channels available straight off the QAM: the local NBC affiliate and one
of two PBS stations. That's it. So the HDHomerun isn't going to be
nearly as useful as I hoped it would. Somehow, I still have to get
Firewire to work, which has been a total zero for me so far. I am going
to try swapping out the Comcast box because I have tried everything
else. Using the bootup menu, I can see that only the premium channels
have 5C set, so I should be able to get ESPN, INHD and other HD channels
if I could only get Firewire to work. (I've tried everything, trust me
on that )-: 

But the fact that the HDHomerun also does OTA may partially save the
day. Now I have to get into the wonderful world of antennas. And the
quality of the SD channels coming through QAM is much better than the
same channels recorded in analog with a PVR-500, especially for
fast-moving sports like hockey, so the HDHomerun/QAM is still going to
be useful. But it's still disappointing (althogh clearly not the fault
of the HDHomerun) that I can't get much HD off of QAM.

I also had my HDHomerun stop working after I had had it less than a
week. The link light on the switch came on, but never the one on the
HDHR box. The HDHR folks said it meant the unit was simply not booting
correctly (I did check to make sure my DHCP server was working), and to
their credit, they are exchanging it for me no questions asked. But it
still means I have had to do without the unit for a week right when I
wanted to be setting it up and maybe FINALLY getting some HD into Myth.
I suspect my situation is just a fluke, but I would be curious to know
how reliable these units have been for everyone else.

--Greg