Adding additional tuners to HDHR Prime setup

#1

I have an HDHR Prime which gets OAT channels from my cable provider. I purchased an HDHR Flex 4k to add tuners to my setup but I could not find any options anywhere (neither on the HDHR app nor on the Channels DVR app) to make the Flex tuners slaves to the Prime tuners.

Both HDHR tuners are visible in the Channels DVR Settings. There are 55 channels listed for the Prime but no channels listed for the Flex because I did not connect an antenna to it, wanting to use the same OAT channels that are available on the Prime. Can someone point me in the right direction on how to do this? The Channels DVR server runs on an NVIDIA box.

#2

Not sure what this means, but there's no way to link the devices together.

Is your PRIME plugged into cable or antenna?

You would need to plug the same thing into the Flex and try to do a channel scan to see what comes through.

#3

When I record more than 3 shows at the same time from the Prime, the log informs me that there are no tuners available, so all I'm trying to do is add tuners to the HDHR setup so that I don't run out of tuners.

The PRIME is connected to my cable. If I connect an antenna to the FLEX it will only duplicate the channels I'm receiving on the PRIME but less reliably.

I can't connect the cable to the FLEX. It's the wrong kind of signal.

#4

To add more prime tuners you need another prime, and a splitter to split the cable and connect it to both units.

#5

I understand what you are saying but that doesn't seem right. I was given the impression that if you need more tuners all you have to do is add more HDHR s. Do the HDHRs that use and antenna require that additional tuners each have to be connected to an antenna?

#6

Yes, each device needs to be connected to the signal source. The HDHRs are independent and do not talk to each other. Our app simply sees all of them on your network, and when one HDHR returns an error it tries the next HDHR.

If you're receiving ClearQAM off your cable line, then it may work with the FLEX as well. Only way to tell is to plug in the cable line (where the video signal comes from) and try a channel scan.

#7

OK. I will try that. Thanks for the quick response.

#8

Do you have a CableCard in your Prime? If so, you might need another Prime and another CableCard to add more tuners.

#9

Or actually set up a proper outdoor antenna for the FLEX to make it reliable. And can use both HDHR in Channels that way. This would be even more resilliant + you probably will get some antenna-only subchannels that aren't in your cable package.

#10

I tried an external antenna but got mediocre results.

What I landed up doing was connecting both the PRIME and the FLEX to the same cable thru a splitter. It turns out that when you "Detect Channels" in the HDHR app for the FLEX, it gives you an option to choose between "Antenna" or "Cable" as a source. I chose "Cable" and was able detect more channels on the FLEX than on the PRIME. The cable connection seems a better choice for me than an outdoor antenna which is susceptible to terrain obstacles and weather.

#11

Yes, I guess it depends on where you live. I have heard people in remote areas require much more equipment and setup work to get a good signal. But I guess it doesn't matter because your cable channels must be ClearQAM, like @tmm1 mentioned. Meaning, you don't even need a cable card.

#12

@djcastaldo said ...your cable channels must be ClearQAM, like @tmm1 mentioned.

It turns out it is a ClearQAM cable source. I lucked out but I'm worried. I was a LOCAST customer originally but that went by the wayside. How much longer before cable providers succeed in being permitted to encrypt ClearQAM (I know encrypted ClearQAM is an oxymoron)?

#13

They always have been allowed to encrypt them (which would the require a cable card).
They're not allowed to put DRM on local channels though, which is different from encryption.

The other issue you may run into is guide data may not be available for the ClearQAM channel numbers your tuner sees if they don't match the cable company's channel lineup.