[mythtv-users] Question for Chicago Mythtv ers

[Tom Greer]

On Feb 12, 2008 6:29 PM, Dewey Smolka <dsmolka at gmail.com> wrote:

> ....
> I wrestled with firewire for a bit -- more to control the STB than to
> get the HD channels but I couldn't keep it stable enough for my
> liking. You may have more luck, but it just seemed too much of a PITA
> for me. Plus for firewire you'll need to get a box with an enabled
> port., e.g. DCT6200. I'm not sure what RCN does, but Comcast resists
> giving you one of these boxes without an HD subscription until you
> start quoting FCC regulations at them, and then they charge you
> $5/mo/box. This will give you the OTA HD channels but you have to pony
> up another $5/mo for their cable HD channels, which you can't get into
> Myth anyway.
> ....


Correction.  If you have anDCT6200, you *can* stream HD channels into Myth.
And, you can watch these HD recordings on standard definition TVs, if you
like.

Once your cable provider goes all digital, you either need a device that can
capture the QAM streams (like the HDHomeRun that I have) or a set top box
that streams via firewire.  The HDHomeRun (or other QAM capture devices) are
suboptimal choices because (at least for me) the cable providers are
encrypting most of the digital channels.  Without CableCard support, these
devices cannot capture most of what I want to watch.

That leaves the firewire option.  I've got three DCT6xxx boxes.  They are
pretty stable with the improvements in SVN trunk (or you can wait for 0.21).


I don't feel very secure depending on Firewire. My cable provider can (and
has) halt firewire streaming via a simple downloaded update to my set top
boxes.

I'm still watching and waiting for an alternate method to capture HD video
at a reasonable cost.

Tom
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