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Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes?

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markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 10:04 AM

Post #1 of 55 (3846 views)
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Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes?

Hi,
Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
this possible?

These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
boxes.

Comcast service techs told me that while there will be analog on
the cable after the switch to digital, it will only be channels 2-34.
I need to be able to record higher than 34. I was hoping to do it
without buying or renting new STBs if possible.

Thanks,
Mark
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bradallenfuller at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 10:13 AM

Post #2 of 55 (3755 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> Hi,
> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
> this possible?
>
> These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
> connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
> need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
> boxes.
>
> Comcast service techs told me that while there will be analog on
> the cable after the switch to digital, it will only be channels 2-34.
> I need to be able to record higher than 34. I was hoping to do it
> without buying or renting new STBs if possible.

I'll be in the exact situation, I think we live in the same area. How
did you et the boxes? Did they contact you, or did you contact them?

If you don't use them for a front end, I guess the only way to use
them to record for myth is to use a IR Blaster to change channels. Is
that a plan of yours?

--
Brad Fuller
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markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 11:10 AM

Post #3 of 55 (3754 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Brad Fuller <bradallenfuller [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>> this possible?
>>
>> These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
>> connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
>> need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
>> boxes.
>>
>> Comcast service techs told me that while there will be analog on
>> the cable after the switch to digital, it will only be channels 2-34.
>> I need to be able to record higher than 34. I was hoping to do it
>> without buying or renting new STBs if possible.
>
> I'll be in the exact situation, I think we live in the same area. How
> did you et the boxes? Did they contact you, or did you contact them?

In my case I was having Internet dropout problems. These problems have
been consistent here in Los Gatos. (Where are you?) They came out and
rewired the coax network to try to fix that.

In the process of having them here for that I took the opportunity to
just chat with them. They told me about the 'nothing above channel 34'
issue and that Comcast was supplying up to 3 cheap boxes free of
charge.

I also asked if I could pick up the boxes at the office here in town
and the guy wasn't sure. HE thinks the company may require they be
install to cut down on costs. I had him install one in the bedroom
figuring I could then remove it from the TV and start playing with it.
The one I got was a Pace:

http://www.pace.com/americas/home/index.asp

I don't see the model on the website. It's really, really low end but
it does work.

>
> If you don't use them for a front end, I guess the only way to use
> them to record for myth is to use a IR Blaster to change channels. Is
> that a plan of yours?
>

I don't know about the IR Blaster. What is it? If it's some IR
transmitter that Myth can control, and if Myth can control multiple IR
Blasters, then I suppose I could paste an IR Blaster over the IR input
of the converter and maybe that would work. Doesn't sound all that
reliable and certainly would be ugly.

Better in my mind would be a cable going directly from my backend to
the IR input port on the back of the converter. No actual IR but
sending the same data over a serial or analog cable. Is that possible?

It's good that we're getting a few more months to figure this out I suppose.

One of my plans was just to rent a couple more STBs if I could find
models that could be controlled by Myth. I've not studied this AT ALL!

- Mark
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raymond at wagnerrp

Feb 5, 2009, 11:22 AM

Post #4 of 55 (3750 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Mark Knecht wrote:
> Hi,
> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
> this possible?
>
> These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
> connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
> need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
> boxes.
>
> Comcast service techs told me that while there will be analog on
> the cable after the switch to digital, it will only be channels 2-34.
> I need to be able to record higher than 34. I was hoping to do it
> without buying or renting new STBs if possible.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
What you are talking about is the standard method of capturing digital
cable in MythTV. Some people get additional channels over QAM, some
over firewire, but for the most part, the only option is to grab an IR
blaster to control the box, and capture over composite or svideo.
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drescherjm at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 11:28 AM

Post #5 of 55 (3760 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

> What you are talking about is the standard method of capturing digital cable
> in MythTV. Some people get additional channels over QAM, some over
> firewire, but for the most part, the only option is to grab an IR blaster to
> control the box, and capture over composite or svideo.
>

This is option 3 in the wiki:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Recording_Digital_Cable

John
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junk_inbox at verizon

Feb 5, 2009, 11:34 AM

Post #6 of 55 (3753 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:10 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Brad Fuller <bradallenfuller [at] gmail>
> wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
> wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
> >> this possible?
>

Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150

> >> These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
> >> connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
> >> need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
> >> boxes.
>

I don't know the specifications on the port, but you could put IR blaster
'eyes' on each box. Where it gets a bit tricky is that all the boxes will
respond to the same IR codes, so you'll need multiple instances of lirc, one
for each box, to control them.

> <snip>
>

> The one I got was a Pace:
>
> http://www.pace.com/americas/home/index.asp
>
> I don't see the model on the website. It's really, really low end but
> it does work.
>

What is the model number???

> <snip>
> > If you don't use them for a front end, I guess the only way to use
> > them to record for myth is to use a IR Blaster to change channels. Is
> > that a plan of yours?
>
> I don't know about the IR Blaster. What is it? If it's some IR
> transmitter that Myth can control, and if Myth can control multiple IR
> Blasters, then I suppose I could paste an IR Blaster over the IR input
> of the converter and maybe that would work. Doesn't sound all that
> reliable and certainly would be ugly.

I use IR Blasters with Dish network receivers. They are reliable - I
haven't missed a channel change in 2+ years.

> Better in my mind would be a cable going directly from my backend to
> the IR input port on the back of the converter. No actual IR but
> sending the same data over a serial or analog cable. Is that possible?

Probably, but without specs on the receiver and/or the port, I can't say for
sure.

> It's good that we're getting a few more months to figure this out I
> suppose.
>
> One of my plans was just to rent a couple more STBs if I could find
> models that could be controlled by Myth. I've not studied this AT ALL!
>
> - Mark
>

J-e-f-f-A

markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 11:53 AM

Post #7 of 55 (3762 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:28 AM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail> wrote:
>> What you are talking about is the standard method of capturing digital cable
>> in MythTV. Some people get additional channels over QAM, some over
>> firewire, but for the most part, the only option is to grab an IR blaster to
>> control the box, and capture over composite or svideo.
>>
>
> This is option 3 in the wiki:
>
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Recording_Digital_Cable
>
> John

Thanks John. Option 3 is what I'm talking about and I know nothing
about single or dual IR Blasters. Wht models of IR BLasters are known
to work?

Just looking around I see a lot of units like this:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=20287&cookietest=1

I found this USB setup which seems to have both ends:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gateway-USB-IR-Receiver-%26-IR-Blaster-Cable-New-8015973R_W0QQitemZ220346098320QQcmdZViewItem

However I'd really like to go straight from USB to the IR recevier
electrical input on the back of the box. The box Comcast gave me is a
Pace DC50X. I don't see it listed on the PAce website but here's a
picture of the thing looking straight down.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/03/comcast-digital-transport-adapter-gets-unboxed?icid=sphere_wpcom_inline

There is an input on the back, next to the coax stuff, that's a small
mini-plug for using an external IR receiver. I'd like to go directly
from the PC to there is possible, skipping the IR stuff totally.

Note that the other downside of this is it's stop gap only so I don't
want to spend a lot of bucks. It allows me to record whatever is
provided as unencrypted by Comcast, but I believe Comcast is free to
take awat FX, TBS, HGTV, CNN anytime they want to as they are not OTA
stations. I've already got an HDHR so this is completely about
recording what's on non-basic cable for me.

Thanks,
Mark
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markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 11:55 AM

Post #8 of 55 (3772 views)
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Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Hi Jeff

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
<SNIP>
>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>> >> this possible?
>
> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150

Coax actually but I get the idea.
>
>>
>> >> These boxes have no USB or 1394 interfaces. There is an IR
>> >> connector for attaching a remote IR receiver if that helps. If you
>> >> need more info let me know but there isn't much more to these small
>> >> boxes.
>
> I don't know the specifications on the port, but you could put IR blaster
> 'eyes' on each box. Where it gets a bit tricky is that all the boxes will
> respond to the same IR codes, so you'll need multiple instances of lirc, one
> for each box, to control them.
>
>>
>> <snip>
>
>
>>
>> The one I got was a Pace:
>>
>> http://www.pace.com/americas/home/index.asp
>>
>> I don't see the model on the website. It's really, really low end but
>> it does work.
>
> What is the model number???
>

DC50X. IT doesn't seem to be on the Pace site.

>
>>
>> <snip>
>> > If you don't use them for a front end, I guess the only way to use
>> > them to record for myth is to use a IR Blaster to change channels. Is
>> > that a plan of yours?
>>
>> I don't know about the IR Blaster. What is it? If it's some IR
>> transmitter that Myth can control, and if Myth can control multiple IR
>> Blasters, then I suppose I could paste an IR Blaster over the IR input
>> of the converter and maybe that would work. Doesn't sound all that
>> reliable and certainly would be ugly.
>
> I use IR Blasters with Dish network receivers. They are reliable - I
> haven't missed a channel change in 2+ years.
>

Good to know.

>>
>> Better in my mind would be a cable going directly from my backend to
>> the IR input port on the back of the converter. No actual IR but
>> sending the same data over a serial or analog cable. Is that possible?
>
> Probably, but without specs on the receiver and/or the port, I can't say for
> sure.

Yeah, I completely understand.

- Mark
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drescherjm at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 12:00 PM

Post #9 of 55 (3757 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> Hi Jeff
>
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
> <SNIP>
>>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>>> >> this possible?
>>
>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150
>
> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>

You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3

John
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myth at dermanouelian

Feb 5, 2009, 12:04 PM

Post #10 of 55 (3751 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Feb 5, 2009, at 12:00 PM, John Drescher wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
> wrote:
>> Hi Jeff
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>> <SNIP>
>>>>>> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital
>>>>>> converter
>>>>>> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether
>>>>>> Myth can
>>>>>> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my
>>>>>> PVR-150's. Is
>>>>>> this possible?
>>>
>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into
>>> your PVR-150
>>
>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>>
>
> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3

You'll probably get a terrible picture with component inputs to the
PVR-150, but I assume you mean composite input. In any case, s-video
would be the best you can get there. :)
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markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 12:23 PM

Post #11 of 55 (3757 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> Hi Jeff
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>> <SNIP>
>>>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>>>> >> this possible?
>>>
>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150
>>
>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>>
>
> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>
> John

I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
remote IR receiver.

- Mark
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markknecht at gmail

Feb 5, 2009, 12:25 PM

Post #12 of 55 (3748 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail> wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>> Hi Jeff
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>>> <SNIP>
>>>>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>>>>> >> this possible?
>>>>
>>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150
>>>
>>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>>>
>>
>> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
>> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>>
>> John
>
> I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
> S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
> That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
> switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
> remote IR receiver.
>
> - Mark
>

Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
the top part and went to sleep.

None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
the IR input to change the channel.

- Mark
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marc.aronson at comcast

Mar 11, 2009, 5:23 AM

Post #13 of 55 (3513 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Has anyone figured out how to get the Hauppauge PVR-150's integrated IR blaster to work with this device (Pace DC50X)? I am able to get the PVR-150's IR blaster to work with my Motorola DCT-6200, but not he DC50X. Thanks!

Marc

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht[at]gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm[at]gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht[at]gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Jeff
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox[at]verizon.net> wrote:
>>> <SNIP>
>>>>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital converter
>>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth can
>>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my PVR-150's. Is
>>>>> >> this possible?
>>>>
>>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your PVR-150
>>>
>>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>>>
>>
>> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
>> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>>
>> John
>
> I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
> S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
> That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
> switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
> remote IR receiver.
>
> - Mark
>

Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
the top part and went to sleep.

None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
the IR input to change the channel.

- Mark

raymond at wagnerrp

Mar 11, 2009, 9:30 AM

Post #14 of 55 (3516 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

marc.aronson [at] comcast wrote:
> Has anyone figured out how to get the Hauppauge PVR-150's integrated
> IR blaster to work with this device (Pace DC50X)? I am able to get the
> PVR-150's IR blaster to work with my Motorola DCT-6200, but not he
> DC50X. Thanks!
Don't bother. These boxes have no functional crypto hardware, meaning
they can only tune the unencrypted digital channels. As such, Comcast
has unencrypted their entire basic digital tier, meaning anything this
little box can receive can also be recorded straight from any QAM tuner
card at much higher quality.

A little more reading on the whole encryption thing... These DTAs
apparently have a 'privacy mode', which allows channels to be minimally
encrypted using some form of single-DES. While nowhere near the
complexity of full CAMs in a traditional STB (single-DES can be cracked
in a matter of hours on a decent size cluster), it ends up being far
cheaper for Comcast, and still blocks myth users from accessing those
channels. However, current FCC mandate forbids use of STBs with
integrated security, so for now, the crypto hardware is disabled.

Now what this means for the future, Comcast is hoping that the new Obama
administration results in a FCC chair more agreeable to their desires,
allowing a waiver for this device to enable its 'privacy' features. At
that point, you would no longer have access to those QAM channels in
myth, likely leaving only the basic broadcast channels. Furthermore,
since Comcast will have already dropped all those extended analog
channels, you're left with just basic cable to capture with the PVRs.
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lunchtimelarry at gmail

Nov 18, 2009, 7:58 AM

Post #15 of 55 (2654 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Mark,

Have you tried this yet? I am in the same boat: I have Comcast, an HDHR,
and dual PVR analog tuners that will sooner or later be useless as Comcast
moves analog content to the digital tier (and, in some cases, encrypting it
so that the HDHR is useless as well).

Was looking for ways to get at the stuff on the digital tier that is
currently encrypted and unavailable to the HDHR. Channels like TruTV. I
would consider the HD PVR, but that is pretty expensive and will require
that I rent yet another STB to serve as a dedicated tuner.

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail>
> wrote:
> >> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
> wrote:
> >>> Hi Jeff
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
> >>> <SNIP>
> >>>>> >> Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital
> converter
> >>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth
> can
> >>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my
> PVR-150's. Is
> >>>>> >> this possible?
> >>>>
> >>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your
> PVR-150
> >>>
> >>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
> >>>>
> >>
> >> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
> >> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
> >>
> >> John
> >
> > I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
> > S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
> > That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
> > switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
> > remote IR receiver.
> >
> > - Mark
> >
>
> Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
> the top part and went to sleep.
>
> None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
> only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
> the IR input to change the channel.
>
> - Mark
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

markknecht at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 11:56 AM

Post #16 of 55 (2608 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:58 AM, Larry K <lunchtimelarry [at] gmail> wrote:

>
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail>
>> > wrote:
>> >> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>> Hi Jeff
>> >>>
>> >>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>> >>> <SNIP>
>> >>>>> >> � Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital
>> >>>>> >> converter
>> >>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth
>> >>>>> >> can
>> >>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my
>> >>>>> >> PVR-150's. Is
>> >>>>> >> this possible?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your
>> >>>> PVR-150
>> >>>
>> >>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>> >>>>
>> >>
>> >> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
>> >> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>> >>
>> >> John
>> >
>> > I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
>> > S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
>> > That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
>> > switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
>> > remote IR receiver.
>> >
>> > - Mark
>> >
>>
>> Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
>> the top part and went to sleep.
>>
>> None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
>> only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
>> the IR input to change the channel.
>>
>> - Mark

>
>
[REORDERED FOR BOTTOM POSTING]
> Mark,
>
> Have you tried this yet? I am in the same boat: I have Comcast, an HDHR,
> and dual PVR analog tuners that will sooner or later be useless as Comcast
> moves analog content to the digital tier (and, in some cases, encrypting it
> so that the HDHR is useless as well).
>
> Was looking for ways to get at the stuff on the digital tier that is
> currently encrypted and unavailable to the HDHR. Channels like TruTV. I
> would consider the HD PVR, but that is pretty expensive and will require
> that I rent yet another STB to serve as a dedicated tuner.
>
>

Hi Larry,
I'm sorry to say I never did. The hardware I purchased for $20 sits
here getting dusty. The task never moved from want 'would like to do'
list to my actual to-do list.

Like you, I'd like to get this working, but the two free converters
Comcast provides are used with older TV sets so I cannot experiment
with them. On the other hand my wife would like to record BBC on Myth
which would require that I rent a new STB for Myth purposes only. If I
was to do that then I could maybe look into this problem again, but to
me this task seemed overly difficult. I suppose it really isn't but
the instructions I could find at the time left me thinking it might
turn into a time sink so I didn't proceed.

At this point I suspect that if I did rent a second STB and it was
high-def then I might be more likely to use the 1394 port to tune it,
but I'd be open to anything that worked.

Cheers,
Mark
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

johnnyjboss at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 12:02 PM

Post #17 of 55 (2598 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Beware of the limited number of unencrypted firewire channels. There's
a small list here :
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Firewire_Cable_Box_Compatibility

I went ahead and bought the hd-pvr and it works like a champ. (A very
bright, blue, radioactive champ)

-johnny

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:56 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:58 AM, Larry K <lunchtimelarry [at] gmail> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>> > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>> Hi Jeff
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>>> >>> <SNIP>
>>> >>>>> >> � Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital
>>> >>>>> >> converter
>>> >>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth
>>> >>>>> >> can
>>> >>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my
>>> >>>>> >> PVR-150's. Is
>>> >>>>> >> this possible?
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your
>>> >>>> PVR-150
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>
>>> >> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
>>> >> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>>> >>
>>> >> John
>>> >
>>> > I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
>>> > S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
>>> > That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
>>> > switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
>>> > remote IR receiver.
>>> >
>>> > - Mark
>>> >
>>>
>>> Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
>>> the top part and went to sleep.
>>>
>>> None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
>>> only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
>>> the IR input to change the channel.
>>>
>>> - Mark
>
>>
>>
> [REORDERED FOR BOTTOM POSTING]
>> Mark,
>>
>> Have you tried this yet? �I am in the same boat: �I have Comcast, an HDHR,
>> and dual PVR analog tuners that will sooner or later be useless as Comcast
>> moves analog content to the digital tier (and, in some cases, encrypting it
>> so that the HDHR is useless as well).
>>
>> Was looking for ways to get at the stuff on the digital tier that is
>> currently encrypted and unavailable to the HDHR. �Channels like TruTV. �I
>> would consider the HD PVR, but that is pretty expensive and will require
>> that I rent yet another STB to serve as a dedicated tuner.
>>
>>
>
> Hi Larry,
> � I'm sorry to say I never did. The hardware I purchased for $20 sits
> here getting dusty. The task never moved from want 'would like to do'
> list to my actual to-do list.
>
> � Like you, I'd like to get this working, but the two free converters
> Comcast provides are used with older TV sets so I cannot experiment
> with them. On the other hand my wife would like to record BBC on Myth
> which would require that I rent a new STB for Myth purposes only. If I
> was to do that then I could maybe look into this problem again, but to
> me this task seemed overly difficult. I suppose it really isn't but
> the instructions I could find at the time left me thinking it might
> turn into a time sink so I didn't proceed.
>
> � At this point I suspect that if I did rent a second STB and it was
> high-def then I might be more likely to use the 1394 port to tune it,
> but I'd be open to anything that worked.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

markknecht at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 1:35 PM

Post #18 of 55 (2601 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 12:02 PM, Johnny Walker <johnnyjboss [at] gmail> wrote:

> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:56 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:58 AM, Larry K <lunchtimelarry [at] gmail> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>>>> > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm [at] gmail>
>>>> > wrote:
>>>> >> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail>
>>>> >> wrote:
>>>> >>> Hi Jeff
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Jeff <junk_inbox [at] verizon> wrote:
>>>> >>> <SNIP>
>>>> >>>>> >> � Comcast is giving me 3 of these 'free', low-end digital
>>>> >>>>> >> converter
>>>> >>>>> >> boxes. Instead of using them on TVs I was wondering whether Myth
>>>> >>>>> >> can
>>>> >>>>> >> tune them and I'll used them as a digital frontend to my
>>>> >>>>> >> PVR-150's. Is
>>>> >>>>> >> this possible?
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> Yes - You would feed the S-Video and Sterio Audio outputs into your
>>>> >>>> PVR-150
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Coax actually but I get the idea.
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> You will probably get a better picture with component inputs to the
>>>> >> PVR150 instead of having to tune the 150 to channel 3
>>>> >>
>>>> >> John
>>>> >
>>>> > I will get NO picture using the S-Video input because there is NO
>>>> > S-Video output on this cheap and free device. Coax in, coax out.
>>>> > That's it. Other than two Coax connectors there is a channel 3/4
>>>> > switch, a place to plug in the power supply and a place to plug in a
>>>> > remote IR receiver.
>>>> >
>>>> > - Mark
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> Please ignore. I don't know what I'm saying about S-Video here. I read
>>>> the top part and went to sleep.
>>>>
>>>> None the less there are no outputs on this unit other than coax so the
>>>> only way to use it would be to hard wire the PVR to channel 3 and use
>>>> the IR input to change the channel.
>>>>
>>>> - Mark
>>
>>>
>>>
>> [REORDERED FOR BOTTOM POSTING]
>>> Mark,
>>>
>>> Have you tried this yet? �I am in the same boat: �I have Comcast, an HDHR,
>>> and dual PVR analog tuners that will sooner or later be useless as Comcast
>>> moves analog content to the digital tier (and, in some cases, encrypting it
>>> so that the HDHR is useless as well).
>>>
>>> Was looking for ways to get at the stuff on the digital tier that is
>>> currently encrypted and unavailable to the HDHR. �Channels like TruTV. �I
>>> would consider the HD PVR, but that is pretty expensive and will require
>>> that I rent yet another STB to serve as a dedicated tuner.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Hi Larry,
>> � I'm sorry to say I never did. The hardware I purchased for $20 sits
>> here getting dusty. The task never moved from want 'would like to do'
>> list to my actual to-do list.
>>
>> � Like you, I'd like to get this working, but the two free converters
>> Comcast provides are used with older TV sets so I cannot experiment
>> with them. On the other hand my wife would like to record BBC on Myth
>> which would require that I rent a new STB for Myth purposes only. If I
>> was to do that then I could maybe look into this problem again, but to
>> me this task seemed overly difficult. I suppose it really isn't but
>> the instructions I could find at the time left me thinking it might
>> turn into a time sink so I didn't proceed.
>>
>> � At this point I suspect that if I did rent a second STB and it was
>> high-def then I might be more likely to use the 1394 port to tune it,
>> but I'd be open to anything that worked.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mark
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

>> [REORDERED FOR BOTTOM POSTING]

> Beware of the limited number of unencrypted firewire channels. There's
> a small list here :
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Firewire_Cable_Box_Compatibility
>
> I went ahead and bought the hd-pvr and it works like a champ. (A very
> bright, blue, radioactive champ)
>
> -johnny
>

Good point. I had been assuming that if I subscribed then it would be
available for recording. I suppose that's not necessarily true.

There are no posts on the link you gave for the Bay Area since April,
2008 so that's probably all changed.

Once possibility might be to tune the STB using either 1394 or the IR
Link and then record in analog using my old PVR-150's? Same quality
we'd get from the free tuners but access to all the subscribed
channels I think...

Thanks,
Mark
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

scram69 at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 9:50 PM

Post #19 of 55 (2583 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> There are no posts on the link you gave for the Bay Area since April,
> 2008 so that's probably all changed.
>
> Once possibility might be to tune the STB using either 1394 or the IR
> Link and then record in analog using my old PVR-150's? Same quality
> we'd get from the free tuners but access to all the subscribed
> channels I think...
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Mark,
According to Silicon Dust
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:95030#lineup_1135827
comcast is currently providing 127 channels in Los Gatos unencrypted
over QAM. You don't need their HDHomerun (although I would highly
recommend it), any QAM tuner will do. There's an outfit in Livermore,
Retek Direct, selling myth-compatible ATI HDTV Wonder PCI cards for
$14 a piece on fleabay. I'm using one now, for when I need to record
Disney, Sprout, and PBS all at the same time :)
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

stefan_jones at comcast

Nov 19, 2009, 9:58 PM

Post #20 of 55 (2590 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

----- "scram69" <scram69 [at] gmail> wrote:
> From: "scram69" <scram69 [at] gmail>
> To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 9:50:30 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes?
>
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
> > There are no posts on the link you gave for the Bay Area since April,
> > 2008 so that's probably all changed.
> >
> > Once possibility might be to tune the STB using either 1394 or the IR
> > Link and then record in analog using my old PVR-150's? Same quality
> > we'd get from the free tuners but access to all the subscribed
> > channels I think...
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Mark
> > _______________________________________________
> > mythtv-users mailing list
> > mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> Mark,
> According to Silicon Dust
> http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:95030#lineup_1135827
> comcast is currently providing 127 channels in Los Gatos unencrypted
> over QAM. You don't need their HDHomerun (although I would highly
> recommend it), any QAM tuner will do. There's an outfit in Livermore,
> Retek Direct, selling myth-compatible ATI HDTV Wonder PCI cards for
> $14 a piece on fleabay. I'm using one now, for when I need to record
> Disney, Sprout, and PBS all at the same time :)

DO NOT GET USED TO IT.

For about six months I was wallowing in the joy of 100 or so clear QAM stations.

Over the last week Comcast encrypted everything but the local broadcast QAM channels, some government and local access stuff, and a few odds and ends (Discover, CSPAN, some Spanish language stations). NOTHING ELSE!

Right now I'm trying to get an IR blaster up and running so I can connect PVR-150 to a set top box. That will let me record from the "good" cable channels.

scram69 at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 10:17 PM

Post #21 of 55 (2582 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 9:58 PM, <stefan_jones [at] comcast> wrote:
> ----- "scram69" <scram69 [at] gmail> wrote:
>> From: "scram69" <scram69 [at] gmail>
>> To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 9:50:30 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
>> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes?
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> > There are no posts on the link you gave for the Bay Area since April,
>> > 2008 so that's probably all changed.
>> >
>> > Once possibility might be to tune the STB using either 1394 or the IR
>> > Link and then record in analog using my old PVR-150's? Same quality
>> > we'd get from the free tuners but access to all the subscribed
>> > channels I think...
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Mark
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > mythtv-users mailing list
>> > mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>> Mark,
>> According to Silicon Dust
>> http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:95030#lineup_1135827
>> comcast is currently providing 127 channels in Los Gatos unencrypted
>> over QAM. �You don't need their HDHomerun (although I would highly
>> recommend it), any QAM tuner will do. �There's an outfit in Livermore,
>> Retek Direct, selling myth-compatible ATI HDTV Wonder PCI cards for
>> $14 a piece on fleabay. �I'm using one now, for when I need to record
>> Disney, Sprout, and PBS all at the same time :)
>
> DO NOT GET USED TO IT.
>
> For about six months I was wallowing in the joy of 100 or so clear QAM
> stations.
>
> Over the last week Comcast encrypted everything but the local broadcast QAM
> channels, some government and local access stuff,� and a few odds and ends
> (Discover, CSPAN, some Spanish language stations). NOTHING ELSE!
>
> Right now I'm trying to get an IR blaster up and running so I can connect
> PVR-150 to a set top box. That will let me record from the "good" cable
> channels.
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>
The "free" converter boxes Mark describes do not have
encryption/decryption capability. The encryption you describe would
imply that Mark, or any of the other many thousands of comcast
subscribers who have received these cheap boxes would no longer have
access to the content for which they are paying...
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

robert.mcnamara at gmail

Nov 19, 2009, 10:24 PM

Post #22 of 55 (2566 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:17 PM, scram69 <scram69 [at] gmail> wrote:
> The "free" converter boxes Mark describes do not have
> encryption/decryption capability. �The encryption you describe would
> imply that Mark, or any of the other many thousands of comcast
> subscribers who have received these cheap boxes would no longer have
> access to the content for which they are paying...

The boxes *do* have (weak) decryption capabilities. The FCC granted
the cable companies waivers to the requirement for removable access
control (Cable/MCard) in the past couple of months, allowing them to
turn on this encryption. This is what Comcast and others are
beginning to do, rendering ClearQAM much less useful, as indicated
above.

/me warned on the list about this several months ago and urged people
to write $PeopleOfImportance.

Robert
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

markknecht at gmail

Nov 20, 2009, 4:51 AM

Post #23 of 55 (2563 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 9:50 PM, scram69 <scram69 [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht [at] gmail> wrote:
>> There are no posts on the link you gave for the Bay Area since April,
>> 2008 so that's probably all changed.
>>
>> Once possibility might be to tune the STB using either 1394 or the IR
>> Link and then record in analog using my old PVR-150's? Same quality
>> we'd get from the free tuners but access to all the subscribed
>> channels I think...
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mark
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> Mark,
> According to Silicon Dust
> http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:95030#lineup_1135827
> comcast is currently providing 127 channels in Los Gatos unencrypted
> over QAM. �You don't need their HDHomerun (although I would highly
> recommend it), any QAM tuner will do. �There's an outfit in Livermore,
> Retek Direct, selling myth-compatible ATI HDTV Wonder PCI cards for
> $14 a piece on fleabay. �I'm using one now, for when I need to record
> Disney, Sprout, and PBS all at the same time :)

Hi,
I already have an HDHR so that (currently) covers the low channels
and a few high channel freebies that Comcast doesn't encrypt. As per
another response here I suspect that within the next 6 months it might
be useless if I am still with Comcast.

I was speaking earlier of BBC, which my wife wants to record in
Myth but is only available to me using an STB and a subscription which
we already pay for. I could get it for the rental price of a second
STB and would presumably tune it with the IR blaster or 1394. Please
note that our usage of Myth is really very pedestrian compared to many
people who post here:

1) We never record HD as Myth cannot stream it reliably on my current
wireless network. This means I could use any STB with an S-video out
and then record it with the old PVR-150s, although that would require
a new backend as I currently use a Mac Mini.

2) Almost nothing other than cooking shows is saved more than a day or
two. Cooking shows my wife digs in once a month writing things down
and then blows away 40 titles in a day.

If Comcast starts encrypting too much stuff then Myth might be dead
here as I doubt we'd rent a bunch of STBs, dedicate an area for all of
that and pay PG&E more for electricity. Either that or look for
another source of media.

Cheers,
Mark
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users [at] mythtv
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

gull at gull

Nov 24, 2009, 9:10 PM

Post #24 of 55 (2392 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

Mark Knecht wrote:
> Like you, I'd like to get this working, but the two free converters
> Comcast provides are used with older TV sets so I cannot experiment
> with them. On the other hand my wife would like to record BBC on Myth
> which would require that I rent a new STB for Myth purposes only. If I
> was to do that then I could maybe look into this problem again, but to
> me this task seemed overly difficult. I suppose it really isn't but
> the instructions I could find at the time left me thinking it might
> turn into a time sink so I didn't proceed.

The free converter boxes are Pace DTAs. I know I'm kind of late to the
party here, but does this help?

http://mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/2009-May/255072.html

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ron at ronfrazier

Nov 25, 2009, 4:57 AM

Post #25 of 55 (2390 views)
Permalink

Re: Can Myth 'tune' these 'free' converter boxes? [In reply to]

> � If Comcast starts encrypting too much stuff then Myth might be dead
> here as I doubt we'd rent a bunch of STBs, dedicate an area for all of
> that and pay PG&E more for electricity. Either that or look for
> another source of media.

Huh? You can still capture the output from the DTAs the same as you
did the old analog signal. Honestly, I don't see that anything much
has changed here except
1) Some people had a brief period where they got to enjoy more
unencrypted digital content than they previously did (ie: you got
spoiled for a short period of time)
2) You'll need to add an IR blaster to control the DTA. However (maybe
this has already been addressed in one of the comcast threads), the
DTAs I've seen all get their IR from a sensor that plugs in via an
1/8" jack, so perhaps there is a way to skip the IR part and just send
the control signals straight over the wire.
3) Yes, you do have these extra boxes, but they are relatively small
and are very low on power draw (a couple of watts each).

Yeah, it's not perfect, and it's not a totally transparent change, but
I think it's far from any doom-and-gloom nightmare scenario.

--
Ron
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