Please Add Tablo as a Source!

Channels DVR Server Feature Requests
#1

Now that we have lost Locast, is there any chance the Administrators would create a straightforward way to include Tablo as a tuner source similar to HDHomerun ? Aman had sent me the Tablo support he created - custom channels material, I asked my IT pro/programmer friend if he could set it up for me, he looked into it and declined.

I have had Tablo for years, long before I knew about ChannelsDVR, really like it and use it regularly.

I appreciate all the hard work the Channels administrators put in. Now that Locast appears to be permanently lost to us (I do hope they appeal !), it is an important option to be able to utilize Tablo.

Thanks in advance !

#2

Seems like since Aman has created a docker container (just updated 10 days ago) that it should be just as easy as adding Pluto to Channels DVR.

I don't have a Table to try, but looks like people are using it.

#3

I really appreciate the fact that Aman updated the docker container, the routine at the link is what scared my IT helper away. Aman acknowledged at the outset that being "technically inclined" was essential, which I am not, and undoubtedly that is true for others here as well.

#4

I am not familiar with docker to do this..any videos or how tos as I hate hdhomerun and use tablo

#5

https://www.docker.com/101-tutorial

The internet is overflowing with how-tos, tutorials, step-by-steps, and any other instruction, if you only search for it.

#6

For this specifically...lol c'mon dude

#7

I don’t believe so. It’s a pretty niche thing. If you learn the basics of Docker using the link @racameron provided you can maybe figure it out.

#8

I'd make a wild guess the Tablo people wouldn't appreciate this. They may just consider Fancybits a competitor, ya know.

#9

Why is that?

#10

I do not think FancyBits makes tuners ...

#11

Tablo offers subscriptions to use with their tuners. You can use without from what the website says, but why would they want to cooperate by letting easy access to their hardware tuners for use by a possible competitor?

Silicondust is similar, I'm just saying Tablo could make it a pain to use your Tablo tuner as you please just as Pluto could decide to cut off access from any source they see fit.

Lawyers and profits, ya know.

#12

IMO it would be a big plus for Tablo to participate easily in ChannelsDVR, and would probably result in additional customers. There are many people now looking for an alternative to Locast, and that includes many of the people who are channels DVR subscribers now, or who might become subscribers in the future. I have had Tablo for years, long before I knew about channels DVR. While it is similar toHDHomerun, it is not identical, it provides a high-quality product at a very reasonable price, and it is extremely user-friendly and reliable. It was recently upgraded and improved upon. I also utilized Locast, because it was a benefit to have the programming information available from OTA in the channels guide and accessible for recording. There are many existing Tablo customers out there, and it is likely that many would be interested in including their Tablo programming inside channels DVR if that was an option.

One of the major benefits of cutting the cord is the freedom to have options. I take offense to the dig at lawyers, who have a little if anything to do with this issue. Decisions of this sort are made by operations people not by lawyers.

#13

Since a docker is theoretically needed to access the Tablo data (assuming this from this thread) the owner can't simply use it as a tuner like a HDHR unit? Asking because I've never used a Tablo, assuming I'd be tied into using their listings and recording engine via subscription.

That's the thing here though, they want to make money from subscribers to the Tablo service, why would they let their data be hijacked to another service?

Lawyers and profits, ya know. :wink:

#14

No. AIUI, the endpoints that one would use to access the tuners regularly change. So the address you use to access a tuner right now may not work in 2 hours. The Docker image acts as a middleware to normalize the tuner endpoints that Channels uses, and then redirects it to the appropriate place.

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#15

Channels DVR can now integrate with Tablo directly without docker.

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