To justify the ridiculous Price.
3 Likes
2 Likes
Yup its a cluster. Spend all this money for 3.0 and encrypt your channels and everything to work with it is a crap shoot.
2 Likes
The latest postings from NickK on the SD forums don't exactly instill confidence of a resolution. It feels like he's indicating that the AS3A are dragging their feet and they have nothing but provisional approval months and months later.
It's seemingly apparent to me that a gateway type device may never get proper approval. Similar to how they never got full approval for cable card DRM functionality, never will, but continue to lie and say "we're working on it" 8 years later.
3 Likes
I have just one question: I am moving from TiVo to a new Channels DVR. Is it worth it to get the Silicondust HDHomerun Flex 4k with ATSC 3.0, or should I save the money and go with an ATSC 1.0 tuner instead until the dust settles with ATSC 3.0?
Isn't the ATSC 1 only 2 tuners if that is all you need go for it personally I would go with the 4 Tuner Flex.
HDHR 4 Tuner Flex
• 4 tuners
• ATSC 3.0 (on 2 tuners)
• ATSC 1.0 (on 4 tuners)
• ClearQAM US-cable (on 4 tuners)
• 100 base TX high speed network
• 1 year warranty
HDHR Flex Duo
• 2 tuner
• ATSC 1.0
• ClearQAM US-cable
• 100 base TX high speed network
• 1 year warranty
1 Like
You didn't mention the
ATSC 1.0 HDHomeRun FLEX QUATRO (HDFX-4US)
• 4 tuners
• 8-VSB (ATSC over-the-air digital TV)
• QAM64/256 (unencrypted digital cable TV)
• 100BASE TX high-speed network
• 2 year warranty
1 Like
I made the same move from TiVo a year ago and went with the 4 tuner ATSC 3.0 refurb unit direct from Silicon Dust on eBay. Barely do any 3.0 stuff, but I’ve been happy with it and have some future proofing.
2 Likes
Don't you have to buy that one used ? I do not see it on the Silicodust Page ?
Thanks - I found a Flex 4k for $162 shipped. Went with that to hopefully add some future proofing. Alternative was a Connect or Flex Duo or Quattro (anywhere from $60-$150 depending on model and used vs refurb vs new).
Looking forward to making the switch!
1 Like
I thought it was obsolete too, just saw on Amazon on SD's store there for $149.
https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-Flex-Quatro-Tuners/dp/B09G649P4K
1 Like
It's probably the same thing as the Prime 3. They "couldn't get the parts for it anymore" until they realized the Prime 6 would never get approved. Then they magically found the parts and started making the 3 again. Now that consumers are realizing that ATSC 3.0 is a dumpster fire and demand for the Flex 4k has probably dropped, they magically started making the 1.0 version again.
1 Like
Today I totally lost ATSC 3 110.1 PBS 112.1 Fox 149.1 Fox+ just disappeared no longer can tune. So I am just going to disable all ATSC 3.0 Channels ... one good thing came about it I had to re-adjust my antenna to get these ATSC 1 equivalent Channels and I got METV and other bonus channels.
2 Likes
Join the club @Edwin_Perez
When ATSC3 went live in my market, there were 5 channels: CBS, NBC, ABC, CW, and Fox. After a while CBS, NBC, and ABC went DRM so lost those. The 2 that are left, Fox is the only one I watch occasionally. The problem is, it sputters, skips, spurts on all devices and sound is about 70% the volume of ATSC1. It plays smoothly on all the same devices with the HDHR app and volume is fine. So there is an issue with that particular channel and the Channels DVR app. I simply disabled all the ATSC3 channels and gave up. Tired of the dumpster fire ATSC3 rollout...
3 Likes
Basically, stick a fork in it. ATS3 decryption on the Flex 4k is never going to happen in a meaningful fully featured way if it happens at all. If you read through that, it's only going to be supported on Android. Not Apple, not Windows, not Roku, not on TVs with the HDHR app. This must all be fairly new because not all that long ago, they were inexplicably targeting to roll it out on the Roku platform first.
Nobody should be surprised, SD never delivered on their CableCard DRM solution and pretend it's still happening. They seem to jump head first into things without a full understanding of the players involved and their motivations.
Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me.
1 Like
No one foresaw DRM on ATSC 3.0 Channels so to blame SD seems kinda off target. DRM in my Area was removed from all Channels.
4 Likes
If you guys haven't already... Submit a comment to the FCC:
4 Likes
Who's "no one"? SD are the ones who rushed out tuner product to take advantage of the new specification. DRM was in the original spec. NickK admittedly "never thought they'd use it to encrypt everything." Yes, he didn't think. He misread the room.
It's not much different than their promises regarding the HDHomerun Prime. They made lots of promises and delivered on almost none of them.
SD isn't the cause of DRM, however there is a clear pattern of them doing things where they should have taken a more cautious approach or at least done their due diligence beforehand rather than "hoping everything works out" which seems to be their modus operandi. It's the people that purchased their products that are left holding the bag.
1 Like