Each Osprey needs to be put in Developer Mode, with USB debugging enabled. You'll need to install WSL2 and Docker Desktop on the ThinkPad.
Yes to Docker and Portainer. It's called Docker Desktop in Windows, and be sure to install the full version of Portainer, which is done from the command line in the Linux distro you'll install with WSL2.
By putting the Ospreys in developer mode, we're able to send commands to them via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) in ah4c. An advantage of the Osprey is that channels can be changed by channel number in the scripts that have been developed for ah4c.
This combination of an encoder coupled with an Osprey becomes a virtual tuner. When you tune to a channel through the CDVR guide, a request is sent to ah4c (running in a Docker container), and ah4c send the commands necessary to the Osprey to change to the correct channel. The HDMI output from the Osprey is then captured by the encoder, and sent as a stream to CDVR.
Yes, but then you're buying a single and a multi-port encoder. It's cheaper in the long run to buy the multi-port encoder from the start.
Yes, Osprey HDMI output to the encoder, and encoder to your LAN. Ospreys need to be network connected as well of course.
Doesn't exist. Maybe you could write one?