Migrating to flex 4K 4 tuner unit

Channels DVR Server
#1

Hello all,

I’m migrating my system from a HDHomeRun extend with two tuners to a Flex 4K unit with 4 tuners.

My area as far as I know doesn’t have any ATSC 3.0 stations yet. I’m pretty sure it will scan all the stations and their channel numbers will be the same as on my extend. I have several stations on the extend manually disabled and I’ll make note of these, and disable these via the HDHomeRun web interface on the new flex device. Provided this all goes well, is there anything else that would be preventing my existing database (all my passes, etc) from working with the new tuners. I plan on adding the flex 4K as a new source in channels and removing the old extend unit on the channels dvr server at the same time.

Should this go smoothly?
Any caveats?

Thanks to all

#2

For some reason things have been pretty quiet here with not much response from the devs.
I haven't done what you're planning to do, but sounds like you have it covered.
I would scan channels on the new tuner, then add it as a source to Channels DVR.
Make it the first priority source in the DVR web UI and try it out before removing the old tuner.
You may want to use a splitter and keep them both enabled to make sure before you retire the extend.
All your passes should then record from the new tuner and fallback to the old one if all the new tuners are busy.

As far as ATSC 3.0 areas you can check https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=atsc3
Trip that runs that website works for the FCC.

#3

I had a Connect Quatro ...that failed. and so i bought a Flex 4k.

ZERO difference in how its is setup/programmed into Channels.
I have no ATSC 3.0 4K channels so....that may be why

Only thing different is that the thing will default tune tuner 2,3 first instead of 0,1 for atsc1.0 streams.

#4

Yes it should go smoothly. One caveat is that the receiver is much better and may pull in more stations you don't want, so you'll have to look for those and hide them to avoid passes selecting some distant station that pixelates when you're recording. Also it was suggested to me that I go into the web UI and under Guide Database > Maintenance select "Delete and Recreate Database". Due to the time all of the above takes, I wouldn't make the switch too close to the time something is supposed to record.

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#5

Are you saying the Flex is a better tuner and will pull in more stations?

#6

I believe the expectation is that ATSC 3.0 will perform better than ATSC 1.

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#7

So, my NBC is a low Vhf and I've recently has trouble. They are going to Atsc 3.0 this week. Is it worth investing in a Flex?

#8

I have an old extend and the 4k FLEX operating in tandem now.

In my locale - the 4K actually gets fewer channels than my extend, but it consistently gets a more usable signal on the ones the extend struggles with.

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#9

I can't compare to an Extend but it is a better tuner for ATSC 1.0 when compared to my Quatro. It pulls in more stations than the Quatro here.

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#10

No way to know for sure, but, it occurs to me that, since your trouble started "recently" and they're firing-up ATSC 3.0 this week, the reason for your trouble is they moved their ATSC 1 broadcast to leased space on somebody else's transmitter.

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#11

I'm going to wait a little. They moved the change to the 30th. Wish they made a two tuner 4k Flex. The current 4 tuner makes my connect and Duo useless

#12

Why? Only 2 of the 4 tuners are ATSC3.

#13

I understand that, but I don't want to pay for the 1.0 tuners I don't need.

#14

Same here. We don't need two more ATSC 1 tuners. If they offered a 2-tuner ATSC 3.0 product I might be inclined to bite.

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#15

Well, you could always look at it as a 2 ATSC3 tuner device, and that you are getting 2 extra 1.0 tuners for free. And if you really don't want the extra 1.0 tuners, just disable all the 1.0 stations on the device, leaving it only with the 3.0 stations enabled.

If you do that, you now have a 2 tuner ATSC3 model, no 1.0 channels that will be tuned from it.

#16

It's the price for me. You are still paying $200.

#17

Reminds me of the sandwich shop sign: "Buy one for double the normal price, get one free."

I don't care to pay for tuners I'll neither need nor use. Besides which: All of one station in our market has fired-up ATSC 3.0 so far, we're receiving their ATSC 1.0 simulcast just fine, and we very rarely watch that channel. So we don't even need the ATSC 3.0 tuners yet.

#18

So further info an observations about my migration in the interest in helping others:

1: My first test was to see if the newer flex 4K tuners had any improvement over the extend tuners. I happen to have one of the older extend units with a fan. My area does not have any ATSC 3.0 stations yet, so all my tests are based on ATSC 1.0 channels for now.

My test was to keep the same antenna setup (using the exact same location and orientation) and just swap the antenna input between the two units (no splitter) to see if the symbol quality improved on one troublesome channel I have been dealing with that can get pixelated during high winds or rain.

I use a very handy iOS app called SIGNAL GH to look at my station lineup signal levels. What I observed was a very slight improvement of signal strength and signal quality on the flex 4K but not very much. I was hoping for a bigger improvement frankly. I live in the twin cities metro and the extend pulled in 69 stations, while the flex surprisingly only saw 67 stations. All the major stations that I care about were found by both tuners. I’ve got all the undesirable stations blocked out in the HDHomeRun lineup.

So I’m waiting for a rainstorm tomorrow to see if the flex 4K symbol quality has any improvement on this one channel (ktsp local abc station)

2: don’t get caught

I didn’t add a station guide provider to the new flex 4K after adding it as a source on the server so even though I set my tuner priority to the flex unit, channels dvr only knew about the older extend tuner, which had no antenna. So I lost a couple of recordings set up for last night and early this morning. Remember to add the station guide provider and refresh all the guide data. I’m hoping this will fix the problem tonight for masterchef. To be safe I also powered down the extend, but they should do exist if I choose to keep the extend.

Hope this helps others. Wish my area had ATSC 3.0 , but there is so little broadcast material on these days, that I doubt the broadcasters would want to invest any money when it seems everyone is moving to streaming models. But that’s a guess on my part, and a whole different subject

Best

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#19

Distant stations may come and go as day turns into night or vice versa. I recommend checking several times. Some of my passes selected new distant stations that the 4K had pulled in, but my Connect had never received those stations and they had disappeared when the recording times came around. Aman has since improved the software's approach to that problem, but you can't be too careful.

#20

As I've been saying all along.

The broadcast TV industry thinks ATSC 3.0 (aka: "NextGen TV") is wonderful, because the manufactures think they're going a resell everybody new TVs, Hollyweird thinks they're going to rake in a ton of additional money from DRM'd content, and advertisers think they're going to force people to watch the incessant TV adverts people have been skipping with VCRs (in the past) and, more recently, DVRs.

The problem is: The broadcasters have allowed the quality of their content to degrade so badly they've been hemorrhaging viewers like there's no tomorrow. (And, for broadcasters, maybe there will be.)

So now the local OTA stations have to be looking at the expense of deploying ATSC 3.0 and wondering if the game will be worth the candle. I believe that, as with the recent repack, some will decide it's not and, when ATSC 1.0 is EOL'd, simply close their doors.

I have two reasons for being interested in only a two-channel ATSC 3.0 tuner. One is, with the current product, I don't care to pay for another two ATSC 1.0 tuners I don't need. The other reason is we watch so little OTA TV now I don't think we need even four tuners anymore. IOW: Even if SD was selling a 4-tuner ATSC 3.0 device, I don't think I'd be willing to pay for it.