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Silicondust HDHomerun Prime


lithium630

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lithium630

Hi there.  I've been away for a long time since I gave up on Media Center.  I've had Dish for the past few years.  The Hopper 3 is a fantastic DVR but the price plus Comcast internet is no longer worth it.  I'm thinking of going with Comcast for TV but the X1 DVR has a fraction of the recording space and they don't allow external storage.  I was thinking using the Silicondust HDHomerun Prime 6 and Emby.  I'm wondering how others like using this setup as their full time DVR.  Are there any limitations? I mostly would like it to be reliable for the family.  Watching live TV and shows on the road would be a plus.

 

Thank you.

 

*Edit   Silicondust has the Prime 6 listed under products, but I don't actually see any for sale anywhere.

Edited by lithium630
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lightsout

Hi there.  I've been away for a long time since I gave up on Media Center.  I've had Dish for the past few years.  The Hopper 3 is a fantastic DVR but the price plus Comcast internet is no longer worth it.  I'm thinking of going with Comcast for TV but the X1 DVR has a fraction of the recording space and they don't allow external storage.  I was thinking using the Silicondust HDHomerun Prime 6 and Emby.  I'm wondering how others like using this setup as their full time DVR.  Are there any limitations? I mostly would like it to be reliable for the family.  Watching live TV and shows on the road would be a plus.

 

Thank you.

 

*Edit   Silicondust has the Prime 6 listed under products, but I don't actually see any for sale anywhere.

The 6 has not been released yet. It has been soon for quite a while. I recently picked up a used 3 tuner Prime (I had two back in the day with WMC) which has been discontinued but plentifully available on Ebay.

 

I have been very happy with it, I can basically watch tv from anywhere. Although I use Emby 95% of the time for its DVR, other options to just turn on live tv are a bit faster.

 

I like that Emby names my recordings under the emby naming scheme so all metadata is shown just like the rest of my tv shows.

 

Be warned that this all only works with channels that do not have DRM. For me (spectrum cable) that is everything except premiums like HBO, which I don't use so it doesn't matter.

 

Some providers have locked down all channels, this would make emby a no go.

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lithium630

Ah.. Thank you.  I'm not sure what Comcast has for copy protection now.  That's too bad they haven't released it.  It would be nice if they explained that on their website.  It looks like a Hopper replacement won't be as easy as I expected.

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lightsout

Ah.. Thank you.  I'm not sure what Comcast has for copy protection now.  That's too bad they haven't released it.  It would be nice if they explained that on their website.  It looks like a Hopper replacement won't be as easy as I expected.

Yeah I don't think it's usually information that is easy to get from the provider but you can often find it on forums like these from other users.

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Damien_

Right- it’s totally up to the cable provider. I had a prime box with Verizon fios a few years ago and they didn’t use any DRM. I moved and it was Comcast which used DRM for the pay stations- HBO, showtime etc. everything else worked fine.

 

I cancelled cable a year ago but I’m pretty sure that’s what you’ll find with Comcast. It’s worth checking.

 

For what it’s worth I now use the Quattro box with OTA and the HDHomeRun premium/streaming service. I’ve been happy with it and it’s reasonably priced.

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sfatula

Yes, SiliconDust is your other option, they have a streaming service that uses the HDHomerun and can be recorded. You would pair that with an antenna and get all your locals which can also be recorded. Using Emby remotely is just beautiful, we carry a cheap $20 or so Roku with us as then we hook to the TV of where we are at. I also had the Hopper, and, find that using Emby is actually easier remotely than the Hopper was. And I get to keep any recordings I want permanently, and can have unlimited space since it only limited by what disk space I own. 

 

It may not be doable with a traditional wired cable provider in your area. So in that case, you have to choose streaming service or wired provider with their dvr most likely. 

 

For me, am using philo (no sports) as it's super cheap and provides all the channels we want. They have virtual dvr, so, don't have to worry about recording it. We therefore only use Emby to record antenna channels.

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lithium630

I appreciate the replies.  Unfortunately I can't get many channels OTA.  I actually just signed up for the trial of Philo.  I tested YouTube TV before.  It worked very well but it's missing 2 of the 10-12 channels I actually watch (History and Discovery).  Philo covers those so the two combined is pretty good.  Now all I need is for 5G to provide some competition to Comcast.

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sfatula

I don't either, we are quite rural, but get all the biggies, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, MYTV, ION, CW, which is all we need. Though I am 125 miles away from the transmitters, I also get Dallas channels after sunset most days. How far are you away from any antenna channel transmitters? I just mounted a $80 stacked antenna in my attic. The reliable transmitters for the channels noted are around 50 miles away, come in perfect. 

 

Philo works quite well. Some do pair it with YoutubeTV as they complement fairly well. You'll just end up with 2 "dvrs", but not so bad. Easier to play on the road since you won't be streaming from home at all. 

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lithium630

You pick up channels from 125 miles away??  That's crazy.   I'm about 65 miles from Boston.  There are a lot of hills so I might get about 10-12 channels including shop at home and spanish channels.  I just have a Mohu leaf mounted in the attic so I could probably squeeze out a few more with a better antenna mounted on the roof.  

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sfatula

You pick up channels from 125 miles away??  That's crazy.   I'm about 65 miles from Boston.  There are a lot of hills so I might get about 10-12 channels including shop at home and spanish channels.  I just have a Mohu leaf mounted in the attic so I could probably squeeze out a few more with a better antenna mounted on the roof.  

 

 

Yep, but only at night. It's the equivalent of an 18' antenna, just shorter (stacked instead). And it's in the attic, here there is too much wind and storms so no way was going to hassle with roof mount. 

 

Hills can matter, just depends. You should find a neighbor or someone who might live somewhat near you that has a larger antenna and see what their experience is. If their experience is great, that tells you that you should be able to do the same thing. 65 miles is not that far for a decent size antenna. But I would have a little concern about the hills, so, best to find someone nearby that has an antenna. 

 

The advantage for me of the larger antenna was no need for locals in any given service, which allowed me to only use philo, so $16 a month (ok we splurge for $20 for the extra channels), that's our entire TV bill. 

Edited by sfatula
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Damien_

You pick up channels from 125 miles away?? That's crazy. I'm about 65 miles from Boston. There are a lot of hills so I might get about 10-12 channels including shop at home and spanish channels. I just have a Mohu leaf mounted in the attic so I could probably squeeze out a few more with a better antenna mounted on the roof.

I’d bet the answer is going to be in your antenna. There are People further away in more rural areas get OTA, even with the hills. You probably won’t be able to get much with the smaller, plastic indoor antennas but I’d be surprised if one of the longer range antennas didn’t make a significant difference.

 

If you’re curious you should be able to take some of the guesswork out of it by checking out antennaweb etc. You might be looking for a easier solution but If you want the local network stations I’m guessing you could do it.

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  • 5 months later...
slidvendetta

There has been no release date set for the HDHomerun Prime 6. We use two 3 tuner Primes and Emby works perfectly. No tuner conflicts or weak signal prompts. We just started using Emby and the family is very happy. We have Comcast and don't subscribe to any DRM channels.

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