Cannot record, no tuners available

[jsturm]

This is going to go into the "user error" category of problems, but hear me out.

We have a HD HomeRun Flex Duo with 2 tuners. Two TVs are connected, one with a TiVo Stream 4k, the other with an Amazon Firestick.

At times my wife is watching live TV with the Firestick while the spare TV is still tuned in on the TiVo Stream. So both tuners are streaming live TV. Then she asks me why it isn't recording her shows.

The answer is simple, both tuners are in use. But I don't know how to prevent this. As far as I can tell there isn't an idle timeout after which the devices will stop watching TV and make the tuner available again. On our living room TV with the Firestick, I figured out how to avoid this--the Firestick powers itself from the TV's own USB port, which shuts down the Firestick as soon as the TV is turned off.

But in our bedroom, once the TV is turned off, the TiVo Stream 4k can continue playing TV without anyone knowing better. That TV doesn't have a USB port exposed so the same trick won't work.

Any settings to work around this? Anyone else run into the same problem? I don't want an unused TV to tie up a single tuner for days.

[speedingcheetah]

Get a HDHR with 4 tuners.
Have multiple HDHR tuners using a coax splitter.
Enable tuner sharing on the Channels DVR.

Before turning off tv,
Make sure to stop playback of live tv. Back out of the Channels app to make sure it releases the tuner.

HDMI CEC control enabled if the tv supports it.

[jsturm]

"Get a HDHR with 4 tuners."

Exactly what my wife said. She called me a cheapskate for not buying one in the first place!

I'll look into HDMI CEC. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Edwin_Perez]

A Happy wife is a Happy Life.

[Michael_Birk]

@jsturm

But in our bedroom, once the TV is turned off, the TiVo Stream 4k can continue playing TV without anyone knowing better. That TV doesn't have a USB port exposed so the same trick won't work.

Any settings to work around this? Anyone else run into the same problem? I don't want an unused TV to tie up a single tuner for days.

Amazon.com: Smart Strip ECG-7MVR Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 7 Outlet : Electronics

I have used surge protectors like this to control power to support devices. Especially handy if you use the TV sleep timer so your TIVO powers off also. I haven't used the one I listed, but I have used others.