Live TV

[JohnSpartan3M 9]

Hi guys, I’m trying to change to using live tv only on emby, but I need help trying to navigate what I need and it will work going forward, from the videos I’ve seen HDhomerun looks good, but I’m not sure if I just need the one or 2 ports, on my hub for emby so that my WAN’s can use the live tv… meaning if I attach the one Homerun device will it work for all my Wan devices? Or do I need a bigger user Homerun device, any help would be helpful would like to buy this immediately 

[rbjtech 4289]

The HDHomerun will just use a single Ethernet port on your network switch.  The number of tuners on the HDHR will dictate how many simultaneous Live TV users can access it.  So if you had the Quad version - then you can have up to 4 users watching live TV at the same time.  The same applies to recordings/PVR - you can record up to 4 channels at the same time.

To add more than 4 - then you need to add a 2nd or 3rd HDHR.

Accessing the TV channels is via the Emby Clients and will work over the LAN or WAN, the same as normal media.

I hope this helps.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by rbjtech

[JohnSpartan3M 9]

1 hour ago, rbjtech said:

The HDHomerun will just use a single Ethernet port on your network switch.  The number of tuners on the HDHR will dictate how many simultaneous Live TV users can access it.  So if you had the Quad version - then you can have up to 4 users watching live TV at the same time.  The same applies to recordings/PVR - you can record up to 4 channels at the same time.

To add more than 4 - then you need to add a 2nd or 3rd HDHR.

Accessing the TV channels is via the Emby Clients and will work over the LAN or WAN, the same as normal media.

I hope this helps.

 

Alright so to be clear, and example would be if I wanted 10 people to be able to use live tv on the same emby I would need 10 different tuners? 

[rbjtech 4289]

10 minutes ago, JohnSpartan3M said:

Alright so to be clear, and example would be if I wanted 10 people to be able to use live tv on the same emby I would need 10 different tuners? 

Correct - My understanding is the tuners cannot be shared - but as I am not a big Live TV user - somebody like @cayars should be able to confirm this.

[Luke 37125]

35 minutes ago, JohnSpartan3M said:

Alright so to be clear, and example would be if I wanted 10 people to be able to use live tv on the same emby I would need 10 different tuners? 

Hi, only if they're going to watch 10 different channels at a time. If they all watch the same channel, the streams will be shared.

[rbjtech 4289]

8 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, only if they're going to watch 10 different channels at a time. If they all watch the same channel, the streams will be shared.

Ah really - ok, I knew that worked on the HDHR App but wasn't aware this worked in Emby as well - Nice! - Thanks for confirming Luke.

[JohnSpartan3M 9]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Hi, only if they're going to watch 10 different channels at a time. If they all watch the same channel, the streams will be shared.

Alright and thanks, do they offer tuners as high as 10 or more?

[Luke 37125]

3 minutes ago, JohnSpartan3M said:

Alright and thanks, do they offer tuners as high as 10 or more?

Not that I know of. I think you'd need more than one.

[JohnSpartan3M 9]

27 minutes ago, Luke said:

Not that I know of. I think you'd need more than one.

And I would be able to connect 2 of them , would that mean I would need to different antennas?

[Luke 37125]

Just now, JohnSpartan3M said:

And I would be able to connect 2 of them , would that mean I would need to different antennas?

I think you would just use a splitter on the cable line to connect as many as you need.

[Carlo 4330]

Use the largest antenna you can afford to buy as that's the only way to get the cleanest/strongest signal to noise ration.  Inline amps boost everything including the noise floor.  Amps are useful to pre-boost the signal at the antenna as close as possible (6" to 1').  That makes sure you still have a strong signal after 50 to 100 foot of coax and usually enough to split the signal 2 or 3 ways.  Buy quality splitters.  If you will split 3 ways don't use multiple dual splitters but purchase a 3 way splitter.  Make sure each leg is only -3.5db loss and not higher.  Some are -5db to -7db on one leg.  Remember it's logarithmic the way dBs are expressed. So 3 dB is double the signal strength.  -3 dB is half the signal strength.  6 dB is 4 time, 9 dB is 8 times, etc

Take a look at your channel lineup.  Throw it in Excel or something easy to work with (notepad will work in a pinch).  Cross out any channels you'll never use.  Example could be Foreign language, Religious channels, Independent and advertising channels like Home Shopping Network.  Nothing against any channel but we all have channels we will use and ones we won't use.  Now that you have the list cleaned up you'll find you have the main channels and sub channels.

3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 6.1,6.2,6.3, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 12.1, 12.2, etc   What we want to find is how many main channels you have.  So ignore everything after the decimal. 3, 6, 10, 12 is all that's left using this example.

Let us know how many unique channels/frequencies you'll need as there may be a trick you can do to have access to every channel regardless of user count watching.

[JohnSpartan3M 9]

4 hours ago, cayars said:

Use the largest antenna you can afford to buy as that's the only way to get the cleanest/strongest signal to noise ration.  Inline amps boost everything including the noise floor.  Amps are useful to pre-boost the signal at the antenna as close as possible (6" to 1').  That makes sure you still have a strong signal after 50 to 100 foot of coax and usually enough to split the signal 2 or 3 ways.  Buy quality splitters.  If you will split 3 ways don't use multiple dual splitters but purchase a 3 way splitter.  Make sure each leg is only -3.5db loss and not higher.  Some are -5db to -7db on one leg.  Remember it's logarithmic the way dBs are expressed. So 3 dB is double the signal strength.  -3 dB is half the signal strength.  6 dB is 4 time, 9 dB is 8 times, etc

Take a look at your channel lineup.  Throw it in Excel or something easy to work with (notepad will work in a pinch).  Cross out any channels you'll never use.  Example could be Foreign language, Religious channels, Independent and advertising channels like Home Shopping Network.  Nothing against any channel but we all have channels we will use and ones we won't use.  Now that you have the list cleaned up you'll find you have the main channels and sub channels.

3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 6.1,6.2,6.3, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 12.1, 12.2, etc   What we want to find is how many main channels you have.  So ignore everything after the decimal. 3, 6, 10, 12 is all that's left using this example.

Let us know how many unique channels/frequencies you'll need as there may be a trick you can do to have access to every channel regardless of user count watching.

Alright, I have to purchase it all first, if you have suggestions so I won’t mess this up it would help, regardless thanks for your time

[Carlo 4330]

If you want send me a PM (hover over my avatar for message link) with the address you'll be installing it along with the height you think you'll be able to mount the antenna outside.
Give me the bottom of the antenna to the ground.

I can then run a frequency report that takes into account hills, valleys, building and anything that would screw up receiving the signal. We should be able to get signal strength for every station in your area that way.

Then once we know how far the broadcast tower are, what frequency bands each channel is (VHF-LOW, VHF-HI, UHF) and what compass direction they are we can put a game plan together.  If you're only 15 to 20 miles is pretty easy.  Getting to 40 miles and you need to get things right. I've got one set of antennas pointed to Philadelphia where towers are 42 to 45 miles, One point almost due east toward Atlantic City for one station and it's subs and a dual antenna pointed south west that gets me most of the Baltimore stations as well as 2 Washington DC stations. The DC stations are really pushing it at about 72 miles and only work about 80 to 85% of the time. I worked really hard for those stations but wanted them years ago for NFL games.  Now with (cough) other methods to get specific channels I'd probably not do that one again. I'm not fond of heights climbing and lugging two antennas and installing them 65' up was pretty nerve wracking and exhausting. If I had to do it again I'd cut the 3 trees down that grew up and block any attempt to lower the tower.  

[emveepee 112]

Optionally consider NextPVR assuming it is personal use only.  With a 4 tuner HDHR you will get all the major networks which is often enough but NextPVR will also let you watch all the minor channels on one tuner, eg 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

Martin