Three HDHR Primes with 9 Tuners is Awesome

Channels DVR Server
#1

I've been a big fan of Channels DVR ever since discovering it about 4 years ago. When I first started I bought a HDHR Quatro to use with the old antenna that has been in the attic of this house for 40+ years and still works great.

Then I bought an HDHR Prime to use with a Comcast CableCard. I was already familiar with CableCards due to having two Tivo Roamio Pros. For quite a while, I thought the 3 tuners of one Prime would be enough since I could also use TVE Comcast to catch recordings when I ran out of tuners.

As time went by, I turned off most Comcast TVE channels accept for about 10 HD channels available with TVE and not with QAM CableCards.

Then about 2 months ago I bought a second HDHR Prime on eBay for about $20 and ordered another Comcast CableCard to go with it. Once I received the new card it took about a week to find someone at Comcast to activate and pair it. Now, I was up and running with 6 cable tuners in Channels and found that to be a good number but still ran into the quite a few conflicts since I tend to extend games and other live events.

So a few weeks later I ordered another cheap HDHR Prime off eBay for about $20, and headed over to the Comcast_Xfinity subreddit to order another cablecard. I figured I better get it now since they are still giving them out. I received the latest card last week and just a few hours ago had luck getting it activated after nearly a week of trying.

Now, I have all three HDHR Primes set up with my Channels DVR server, and having 9 cable tuners in Channels is awesome so far. I really think using CableCard HDHRs is my favorite part of Channels.

I'm really going to miss using CableCards someday when Comcast decides to stop supporting them and providing them. Hopefully, Comcast supports the cards for at least a couple more years at least.

Anyone else here use multiple HDHR Primes with Channels?

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#2

I have 2 with XFINITY at no Charge for Cable Cards Portland Oregon ... I also have HDHR Connects for OTA ... I am curious are they Charging you for three ?

#3

I gave up cable cards about 5-6 years ago. At the time was the best way to get out from underneath equipment rental fees from the cable companies.

At the time, I used 2 cards (6 tuners) and rarely hit the ceiling of tuners in use, but occasionally I did. I then used a hdhomerun tuner to pick the QAM to unburden the cable cards, and then switched to antenna. At that point, Channels was on my radar and I was seeking an off ramp from WMC as it was no longer fully supported. Along came Channels and TVE and I dumped cable all together and sold the Prime tuners. If Comcast or Verizon offered a comparable plan of channels to Fubo/Hulu/YTTV, I would be open to using Cable Cards. But the taxes they have to pay given the applicability of those fees against cable companies vs. streaming services makes that an impossibility.

Said another way, I think you have the best experience, but there's a premium to pay for that vs. the alternatives, at least in my area.

#4

I Do not rent not one Comcast BOX as you can use FireTV Devices at no Cost to stream Cable to at least 5 Devices at 1 time also record in the Cloud.... YOUTUBETV and others just keep hiking Prices and now will tax in some areas.

#5

The hardware is, indeed, awesome.

The fees, especially the can't-opt-out $22.20 "Broadcast Fee" for my cable co, not so much.

My setup is at a crossroads, with Spectrum having fired the ABC/ESPN warning shot.

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#6

I had 3 Primes with Charter, and they were great. They charged $2/ea/mo, and required tuning adapters; the adapters had to occasionally be rebooted, but otherwise were good. Since I was using all my own equipment I was able to call their billing department and have all other hardware, DVR, guide, etc. fees associated their boxes removed from my account, which removed another $20 or so from my bill.

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#7

I have 6 Primes and 1 Flex 4K for locals. It work's incredibly well but I fully expect Xfinity will stop supporting cable cards soon enough. If you aren't familiar with Tivimate it's an app that will run on android based devices. I feed my Channels server into the app and use the multiview feature to put 4 games on the same tv. It's a great setup but I'm starting to look for alternatives for the future.

#8

AS long as Cable Card are working which they are in my case even with XFINITY X1. I do not plan on switching to any Streaming Plan . .. by the Time Cable Cards go away their will probably be more streaming Options that is when I will look for options. I already have HULU/Disney and ESPN+ free through Verizon Mobile.

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#9

Better hope and pray cable providers keep providing those cablecard service as the FCC basically abandoned them and their users...

#10

I don't need to pray it is just TV ... I will adjust. Home-grown DVR's are coming to an end anyway. The only thing keeping Channels DVR viable is IPTV or work arounds to record streaming TV.... until They add DRM... eventually only true techies will be able to use Channels DVR not mom and pop.

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#11

Sounds very familiar.....

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#12

Nice.

#13

I have 5 CableCards and no charge here in Minnesota. We have 2 Tivo Roamio Pros for the main TVs and most the family uses those and can't stand anything else.

The other 3 cablecards are in HDHR Primes and being used with Channels DVR. I still watch some things on Tivo, but I prefer my Channels DVR setup for most things. I also have 3 OTA HDHRs. 1 Quatro, 1 Flex 4k and 1 duo.

#14

I pay $73 for Comcast internet, $78.50 for their 185 channel Ultimate TV plan, and about $55 tv taxes and fees. Then I get a $20 discount for having 2 products. So my bill is $185 per month for internet and tv. I have no rental fees and the cable cards are free.

I have tried free trials of Youtube TV and Directv Stream. If I get rid of Comcast I would get the $110 ($118 with tax) Directv Stream channel package because that has all the channels we like. The Youtube TV plan is missing a lot of channels we like.

I've also consider dropping Comcast $73 internet and going with $55 Tmobile Home Internet because there's a tower across the street and about 150 feet away.

So the alt of Directv Stream and Tmobile internet would be about $175 per month.

I bought my 2 Tivo Roamio Pros used on eBay with lifetime and they were about $75 each when I bought them 2-3 years ago. The 3 HDHR Primes that use cards cost me about $25 each. I use my own Netgear modem that I bought like 3 years ago.

#15

I would probably also have about 5 or 6 primes if I didn't have 2 Tivo Roamio Pros. I think I've already split my cable connection to the maximum it can take with a modem, 2 Tivos and 3 HDHR Primes. I'm actually surprised how rock solid my Comcast service is with so much going on.

#16

Every time I use my Tivo or Channels DVR with HDHR Primes and they work is a blessing. Hopefully, Comcast cable cards continue for at least a few more years or longer.

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#17

I'll have to check out Tivimate. I have used Youtube TV free trials a couple times and did like their multi view so another solution that does that would be cool to use.

#18

I added a 2nd prime in the spring,

In my 15 screen setup, this has provided a massive increase in flexibility. Much less "casting" to Chrome-casts that i use, for starters.
Adlvision

#19

6 primes x 2 quatros watch with IPTVX or iProTV app for up to 16 streams at once

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#20

Wow, that's a lot to watch all at once. I'm more into having a bunch of tuners so I can record a lot of things and watch them one at a time later so I can skip commercials.

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