Long delay tuning ATSC3 channels after HDHomeRun firmware update

I just received this response from SiliconDust:

We're seeing the advertised but non-present audio tracks in other tools as well. Our engineering team is investigating.

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SD is working to track down these issues. Please email them if you're affected.

https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77923

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We are expecting firmware update today with improvements

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Please try beta firmware

https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=390145&sid=618be250742c57ee0699075d9496f1bd#p390145

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Thanks for the heads-up on the beta firmware. I just installed firmware version 20230313beta1 and the delays tuning certain ATSC3 channels seems to be resolved for me.

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I installed the hdhomerun_dvr_atsc3_firmware_20230313beta1.bin on my Flex 4k, and most of the time it still takes 20+ seconds to tune ATSC3 channels, and the audio still starts ~2 seconds after the video. In about 1 out of every 8 tries, it tunes in the channel in ~2 seconds, and this occurs for all channels, no channels are consistently quick. I uploaded diagnostics about 2 minutes ago.

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It could be the stations in your market. I get both Cincinnati and Dayton and Cincy has had this issue since day 1 whereas the relatively new Dayton 3.0 stations tune fast and perform much better.

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No change with Beta in the Charlotte market

I thought about that, and Aman suggested the same thing earlier, but...

  • This delay is occurring on ALL my local ATSC3 channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, 2 PBS stations), it seems unlikely they are all broadcasting incorrect data
  • None of these stations had any tuning delay when my Flex 4k was on the 20221205 firmware, and the delay started the instant I updated it to 20230303.

I've asked SD if there is any way I can roll back to the earlier firmware and they have replied but they ignored that specific question every time (maybe because I won't like their answer)

My fear is that SD is now done with this issue (dealing with empty audio tracks?) so I'm hoping the devs at Channels (who have always been absolutely fantastic) will find a way to work around the issue / work with the new firmware's behavior / work with SD to further improve their firmware.

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Much faster tuning with the new beta. Only about 4-5 seconds. Last stable release was taking 10+ seconds or timing out.

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Slightly faster, takes about 7-8 seconds to pull in the video, with audio 2-3 seconds later (not onsite, so only able to test via the web but on local network). This is in the Los Angeles market.

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No Problems with delays here.

Is this issue still being investigated by Channels devs?

I installed the latest beta firmware (20230316beta1) on my Flex 4k, and I still have the intermittent 20+ second tuning delay (that was introduced by the 20230303 release firmware) on all ATSC3 channels on Channels Apple TV and iOS apps, but not when using the HDHomeRun Windows or iOS viewing apps. The HDHomeRun viewers consistently take about 2 seconds longer to tune in ATSC3 channels than the regular channels, but never 20+ seconds.

The SD devs asked me to send them a special recording of the Washington DC “lighthouse” station (perhaps some sort of raw data format) saved directly from the Flex 4k to a file, but I have not heard from them since.

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All ATSC 3.00 channels in the Boston market are on a single RF signal. And all of them have very long >20 second delays before beginning to play. ATSC 1.0 channels are almost instant. I'm on an HDHR5-4K.

What bothers me most is I have emailed Channels support twice starting two weeks ago and have yet to receive a reply.

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Tuning times for the two ATSC 3.0 stations I can get are horrible... 10-15 seconds.

Much faster in the HD Homerun app where it's 1-3 seconds.

Are you guys using your ISP's DNS servers? Is this on the LAN? Gigabit and hardwired? Try rebooting all your devices: modem, router, AP's, and try again.

You know that old joke about the chemical, electrical and Microsoft engineer stuck in a stalled car?

"There's water in the gas," said the chemical engineer. "Nope," said the electrical engineer, "it's a dead battery."

"You're both wrong," said the Microsoft engineer. "Just open all the doors, get out of the car, wait 30 seconds, get back into the car, close all the doors. She'll start right up."

This problem is a legit issue that Channels needs to investigate and debug.

I'm more upset that support is a non-show than that they have a bug or issue with SD tuners.

Yes.

This issue is being tracked here on this thread. There's nothing further that support can provide.

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If you'd like to help investigate, make sure you're running the latest hdhr BETA firmware, then send us some tuner captures to [email protected]

The captures must adhere to these specifications or we will not be able to use them:

  • 30-60s, captured either by channels dvr starting a recording then stopping it, or using http://x.x.x.x:5004/auto/v10X.X?duration=60
  • renamed to atsc3-<location>-<num>-<callsign>.ts (for example, atsc3-dc-104.1-WNBC.ts)
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Except to acknowledge multiple emails from a paying customer

As opposed to silence which is unprofessional.

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