A couple of new user questions

Channels DVR Server
#1

My setup is Channels DVR running on a Mac Mini w/10TB external USB3 drive dedicated to the DVR. Currently I'm subscribed to YTTV and Philo, and we have a HDHR Connect Quatro connected to an outside antenna. Gets about 50 channels. Network is gigabit fiber and hard wired gigabit ethernet to connect those... TVs are using Apple TV 4K via Orbi mesh network. Goal is to drop YTTV and keep Philo and OTA. Thus far I am really liking how this works and trying to get it "wife friendly" to introduce it to her. We just moved from AT&T Uverse to YTTV about a month ago and she has gotten used to it, but really prefers a traditional DVR experience.

Hidden Channels - There are obviously a lot of channels OTA that are junk or duplicates, and currently duplicate with YTTV and OTA. There are various places to hide channels. I hid them on the DVR interface on the Mac in settings and assumed they'd then not show up on the Apple TV. That didn't work. Is there a place I can turn off channels completely that I don't want so that they don't show up anywhere? Also, if I hide a channel, does that stop it from being used via a Pass?

Favorites - Similar to the hidden channels, is there a way to set Favorites universally, or is this a device by device thing? Would be nice to be able to do this for the whole house.

Tuners - I just got the HDHR yesterday and after installing it (which was simple, by the way... great work on that), I loaded up a bunch of passes. Last night I tried to watch some live TV on channels from HDHR to see the quality and got the "no tuner available" message. This definitely isn't "wife friendly", so gives me some concern. Is there any way to manage this? WIth a cable DVR, that scenario usually presents the option to pick a tuner to stop a recording early, so that you can watch TV. I didn't see any way to do that. It seems like you'd have to manually look at the schedule and cancel scheduled recordings that add up to more than 3 to make sure you have a tuner available for live TV?

All Episodes - If you set all episodes in a pass, is it smart enough to not record an episode that it already has recorded? So if I want to build up a library of episodes on an old show that no longer runs new episodes, this would cause a lot of recordings initially, but eventually taper off?

Failed Recordings - I've noticed that recordings that didn't happen are left in the scheduled list with a reason. I like that. I'm assuming I can just delete them. Some of the messages make sense (already started) while others I'm not sure on (couldn't find a tuner for 8.1). Are these messages explained anywhere? Is that last one saying all the tuners were busy, or that the channel isn't there anymore?

Thanks

#2

Hi, welcome to Channels!

Hidden and Favorited channels

Currently, you need to set these per device and on Channels DVR Server. We're working on channel sync for later this year to make all of this easier. We hate how it works too!

Tuner conflicts

Currently there is no automated way to manage tuner conflicts. We're hoping to improve this later this year as well to at least help communicate it to you and also give you the ability to mange things easier while watching TV.

Re-recording

Channels will not re-record anything it has already recorded.

Failed recordings

Yes, the failed jobs stay in the list so that you have something to reference when you recording is missing. You can just leave them and they'll eventually go away. As for that specific error, it's likely that it was just a tuner conflict.

If you're unsure, check your lineup for that channel to ensure it's still there. It could have possibly gone away. HDHomeRuns run scans daily (you can't turn this off). If your 8.1 channel is not getting perfect reception, it could have been bad during the last scan and the HDHR removed it.

#3

Silicon Dust said the background scans happen every three days +/- 12 hours.
If it worked perfectly I wouldn't want to turn it off, but alas, it's not perfect and there's no way to rescan individual channels.

#4

If you hide (red "x") them on the tuner itself they won't show up on any device. In a browser just go to the IP address of the tuner and click on channel lineup to change the status.

Channel Lineup
Channel Lineup405Ă—869 38.4 KB

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#5

Thanks! I need to go into the tuner to take them out across the board. That will help out because I will never want some if that are duplicate channels to show.

On the "no tuner available" for live TV. Could I go to the DVR tab and cancel a recording if that happens to free up a tuner? If so, does that free up immediately?

#6

Yes

#7

For the record, Channels DVR server and the Android Tv clients used to be synced so that u set that all up in the server, and the clients would match. If i fav or hide a channel in server, just force close the app on the client and reopen, and it was updated. This i found very useful and it worked fine

It was a recent update where they decided to remove that function.
I guess, cause other users complained that they wanted each client to be independent and changeable?? Idk. but it sure is a pain in the ass as it is now, where it was not before.
The current Import/Export feature on the clients app they put in place, I have had very little success in it working correctly at all.

#8

@speedingcheetah You are spreading FUD. You're talking about an incomplete new feature in a beta build. That has nothing to do with what regular new users experience.

Also @pdaphone is using an Apple TV, and the sync you're talking about has never existed on that platform.

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#9

I might add that you can install a number of HDHR products, and they can work together, as one, with Channels DVR. So, if you find that you run out of tuners, regularly, then you can just add another HDHR device for more tuners...and they do not have to match. You can have dual, quad, ota, cablecard, newer or older devices all mixed together. If you are just doing simple ota, then there are some fairly cheap, used, devices you can find...don't be afraid of used HDHR devices, as they are pretty bullet-proof. I use a mixture of 2 ota, and 1 cablecard devices (I am also about to add in the new ASTC 3.0 HDHR device)...as well as TVE and just never run short on tuners, now. That may sound like a bit of an expense, but pays for itself pretty quick.

#10

@wagman67 Thanks for the tip. I didn't think of that... a great idea for if this all works out and we are recording like crazy. Just to avoid my wife running into the "no tuner available" message, I would gladly by another quadro! :smile:

#11

You can also supplement your channels/tuners with TVE and Locast, if available in your area.

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#12

I believe if recording TVE it doesn’t use a tuner so you can set that as the main tuner and essentially record unlimited programs and still view whatever else you want with the HDHR.

Can someone confirm this?

That might fix the wife approval factor.

#13

True, TVE sources do not use a tuner. The trade-off is that the quality of TVE feeds is lower than OTA feeds.

#14

also with TVE if you lose internet connection recordings will fail.

#15

But it should still go back to the fallback tuners in priority succession using the HDHR if the TVE fails.

#16

You know that for sure ??? I have to test it next time ... Start a recording on TVE and disconnect my router.

#17

I believe once a recording has started, Channels will keep trying only the tuner initially used. The priority list of tuners is only consulted for initially starting the stream, IIRC.

#18

That is why I have TVE as a last resort for my XFINITY.

#19

I was assuming the internet being lost before the recording starts, like if something happens earlier in the day and it’s still out when your recordings start. In which case it goes through your priority list attempting to find a suitable “tuner” for recording. I didn’t read it as the internet going down in the middle of the recording, after it already started.

I’m sure the devs know what happens in that scenario.

#20

I also keep TVE last in the list, as it is the most “fragile” source. I have it set to OTA -> Prime -> TVE.

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