Looking at the advertised market areas for Locast, it only is available in cities that already have great OTA coverage. So I am not sure who the target audience is supposed to be. People who would rather subscribe to something monthly than learn how to set up an antenna.
EDIT: I see this is free service for fringe areas. I get it now.
You can try the stream on their website or app. Without a donation it gets interrupted every 15 minutes so it isn't reliable enough to record from.
Okay it looks like Safari doesn't allow access to location services for non-https URLs. So you have to either use Chrome/Firefox to add Locast, or access my.channelsdvr.net in Safari.
EDIT: Looks like Chrome also doesn't work on http, unless you're on the same machine and using http://localhost:8089
I used my.channelsdvr.net and got it to work but only on the DVR that has remote access. My second DVR is only local. I will probably switch my router to point to the other one (I assume) it would work. Would be nice it it had it's own port... Maybe I read there is way to use two ports but forward to the correct machine on 8089? I will check it out. I assume I only have to do this once or very rare so should not be an issue.
EDIT: I used a separate external port and forward that to my second DVR 8089 and that worked for this purpose.
As a follow up to my previous post:
Would it be possible to have the Locast channel numbers match the stations' broadcast channels? I've compiled the following table showing how Channels' channel numbers match to broadcast channels:
| Channel | PSIP | Programming | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7000 | KCBS-HD | CBS | 2.1 |
| 7001 | KABC-DT | ABC | 7.1 |
| 7002 | NBC-4LA | NBC | 4.1 |
| 7003 | KTTV DT | Fox | 11.1 |
| 7004 | KLCS-1 | PBS | 58.1 |
| 7005 | COZI-TV | Cozi TV | 4.2 |
| 7006 | KTLA-DT | CW | 5.1 |
| 7007 | Antenna | Antenna TV | 5.2 |
| 7008 | This TV | This TV | 5.3 |
| 7009 | TBD | TBD | 5.4 |
| 7010 | LivWell | Live Well | 7.2 |
| 7011 | LAFF | Laff | 7.3 |
| 7012 | KFLA-LD | NewsNet | 8.1 |
| 7013 | TCN | The Country Network | 8.2 |
| 7014 | AMG | Cornerstone Television | 8.3 |
| 7015 | KCAL-DT | KCAL-TV | 9.1 |
| 7016 | Stadium | Stadium | 9.2 |
| 7017 | KCOP-DT | MyNetworkTV | 13.1 |
| 7018 | BUZZR | Buzzr | 13.2 |
| 7019 | MOVIES! | Movies! | 13.3 |
| 7020 | HEROES | Heroes & Icons | 13.4 |
| 7021 | KCET HD | KCET | 28.1 |
| 7022 | KCETLnk | KCETLink | 28.2 |
| 7023 | N H K | NHK World | 28.3 |
| 7024 | ION | Ion | 30.1 |
| 7025 | qubo | Qubo | 30.2 |
| 7026 | KMEX-DT | Univision | 34.1 |
| 7027 | UNIMAS | UniMás | 34.2 |
| 7028 | BOUNCE | Bounce TV | 34.3 |
| 7029 | Justice | Justice Network | 34.4 |
| 7030 | KTAV-LD | Almavision | 35 |
| 7031 | getTV | getTV | 46.2 |
| 7032 | ESCAPE | Court TV Mystery | 46.3 |
| 7033 | GRIT | Grit | 46.4 |
| 7034 | Quest | Quest | 46.5 |
| 7035 | KVEA-HD | Telemundo | 52.1 |
| 7036 | T-Xitos | TeleXitos | 52.2 |
| 7037 | MeTV | MeTV | 54.1 |
| 7038 | Decades | Decades | 54.2 |
| 7039 | KDOC | KDOC-TV | 56.1 |
| 7040 | ESNE | ESNE TV | 56.2 |
| 7041 | Comet | Comet | 56.4 |
| 7042 | Charge | Charge! | 56.8 |
| 7043 | KLCS-2 | PBS Kids | 58.2 |
| 7044 | KLCS-3 | Create | 58.3 |
| 7045 | KRCA DT | Estrella TV | 62.1 |
I'm not sure if this is feasible, but it does seem to be the logical extension of this feature.
I'm hesitant to map to OTA channel numbers because the app and DVR don't handle channel number conflicts well, and if you have an HDHR in a nearby city to the locast location with a different station on the same channel number then it makes a mess.
Ah, I can easily see where overlapping channels/markets would cause issues (and possibly severe consternation), especially if guise entries were incorrectly joined/consolidated.
I personally do not care about the channel numbers because my live tv is pretty limited so I use Favorites. But my wife like's channel numbers and she uses the ALL selection and also mainly with the On Now.
So that we can fully test Locast I unplugged my HDHomeRun OTA Box and I told my wife the only difference is that her Local Channels are now at the bottom of the list instead of the top. On Now does not show channels numbers anyway so not an issue. But with so many channels it takes a bit to get to the bottom.
So, if you started these Locast Channels at 5000 (or 5900) instead of 7000 then it would be pretty much the same as before. I assume there is good reason you started everything at 6000. But if there was an option to where to start Locast channels that might be helpful.
In any case adding support for Locast is a great option. Hope they make it past the legal stuff and grow the service.
Thanks for continuing to make Channels a superior service.
I haven't tried the service yet, but I did just take a look to see how it compared to the free locals that I already receive: (the service is only available for people geo-located in cities that already have access to OTA):
Locast Available Channels For Market Area:
Free Local Channels Already Available With An Antenna Within the Locast Market Area:
hmmm... there seems to be a little bit of a discrepancy.
SiliconDust uses 5000s for channels with no provided channel numbers (such as ClearQAM cable channels received with a Connect or Prime without a CableCARD). I believe that's why TVE channels start at 6000.
Thanks. That makes sense. I know they are working on syncing favorites and things with the DVR. Maybe they can come up with more sorting type options. Local channels in the past would come first. I think Philo places the favorites "first" in the "all" selection list. This might be an option. My wife likes to "browse" the "all" selection list. If the favorites were at the top that would be a nice option. Assuming you can sync favorites that would be helpful.
Currently I am using LOCAST instead of OTA for all locals "except" these three which I am using this new feature for (I disabled in the DVR those 3 from the LOCAST Source). I would like to get rid of LOCAST but I need CBS and a few more. I can also get KTLA via TVE which works very well and it is 24/7 news.
I have a HDHomeRun Quattro connected to an Antenna which works pretty well for OTA but has some glitches that LOCAST does not have. I currently have it UNPLUGGED so the channels do not get mixed up with LOCAST. It would be nice If I could just disable the source and not unplug it. Thinking about it I might just disable the channels but I had an issue with this not removing the channels in the DVR Passes but I read that maybe that has been resolved with a fix.
The main reason I do not like OTA is because it broadcast in MPEG2 which is a much larger stream then MPEG4 and I use some of these channels for remote access. Even on a local connection why send there very large MPEG2 streams around the house when I do not have too. The $5 contribution to LOCAST is well worth it and I like supporting them which might force the providers of local to make some changes since they are free OTA supported with commercials.
Good to know. How is the LOCAST quality? It's not available in my area.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area...
720p, 30fps. Stereo audio. Adequate bitrate (my recordings vary from 1.2–2.5mbit/s...seems to be a variable bitrate).
1080i broadcasts are converted to 720p using a 'blend' deinterlacer that reduces judder for film content, but also adds a little bit of motion blur (this particularly affects live content like sports).
Standard-definition channels are not correctly deinterlaced -- they are transcoded to 480p 30fps with the fields weaved together. So objects in motion will show interlacing artifacts.
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When I try to add Locast I get this message:
Locast is not available in Phoenix
Phoenix and Atlanta where added today.
For Phoenix and Atlanta support, update to the latest build using click-and-hold on the Check For Update button.
Thank you. Once the primetime shows are done it'll update.
FYI a bunch of new local stations were added in DC and Baltimore. And it looks like Seattle is the next city which will be added.
I would encourage everyone to email Locast support about this issue so they can improve the SD broadcasts.