[mythtv-users] Reasoning...help....

[Bruce Markey]

RH wrote:
> FIOS is moving into my area.
> 
> They say that they will only support 20-25 channels to the TV without  
> a set top box.
> 
> So if I get a set top box then I'm limited to having only one show  
> recording at a time with my MYTH box.
> 
> I need help to justify a $400 myth box that can record only one show  
> at a time vs. a $25 VCR that can record one show at a time?

This is a typical case of cable + digital cable. You can record
as many of the basic cable channels as you want to purchase
tuner cards and connect coax plus one s-video connection from
the settop box. I have two settop boxes but really only use one
and four cards with coax inputs. The reason that I only need one
settop box is that all the premium channels movies and the
series on cable networks get repeated. A lot. Sometimes two
dozen or more times per week. It doesn't matter how many of these
show you choose to record, the myth scheduler will have enough
times to choose from to fit them all in. The problem is when there
are two or more shows that are on at the same time and are each
only shown once. This is typical of the broadcast network prime
time shows (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox. Even networks like CW and USA
will repeat their shows). These networks ought to be in your
"20-25 channels to the TV without a set top box" and hopefully
ESPN for live sports. With hundreds of channels, the majority
of things I record are still from the networks and popular basic
cable stations.

On any given day I expect to record two things at once. Three
at once happens most every week. Four at once is rare but it
happens and the fourth show is rarely critical. This isn't
statistically correct but to illustrate the law of diminishing
returns, say you could record ~80% of the shows you like with
one card. Two could get ~96% and three ~99.2% (four 99.82).
Having two cards is a good thing, three is a little better.

--  bjm