[mythtv-users] Size of firewire recordings

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 7:07 PM, Ryan Lavender <ryanlavender at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am just starting out with MythTV using firewire and a Comcast cable box.
> My recordings seem to be really large, i.e. 2.2 GB for 7 minutes on an SD
> channel. Is this normal for an MPEG-2 stream from a cable box? Is there any
> way to transcode while recording to save space?

Sounds *way* off.  Depending on source, even HD is between 4-7 GB/Hr.
Even if the firewire connection is not filtering by PID (which is, essentially,
wrong) the max is 38Mb/sec, which over 7 minutes should not exceed
(around) 40MB.  SD is clearly expected to be much lower.

However, I am going to suggest that for Comcast that you seriously
consider an OCUR tuner rather than use firewire.  You will likely end up
much happier (although there is an up front cost for the tuner, and the
monthly CableCARD fee).