I asked this question on the Reddit sub but I thought I’d ask it here, too. I have HDHR and TVE via YouTube TV that I use Channels with. I understand how the priority tuner works for the most part but I’m wondering if there is a way to get 2 versions of the same programming. Hear me out..this is why. Sometimes my antenna reception is flakey and has drop outs and I’d prefer to watch the TVE version of the show if the signal is poor. So for example, I had The Today Show pass created to record all episodes and when I looked at the guide before the show started it had both versions highlighted as if it was going to record both but only the OTA recorded and I did not have the TVE version to rely on if the signal was bad. Is there something I need to do to force this? I know I could set the YTTV to the higher priority but I really prefer watching the OTA version if my signal is good because the picture quality is much better.
I'm trying to think this through because I have a similar scenario. I don't think you can do this currently, but there are two very different ways I can think to handle this...
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Add an option to NOT stack duplicate channels. I think right now the only options we have are stack by channel number and stack by guide data. Maybe submit a feature request to include a "Do not stack" option? Although, you'll end up with messy duplicates all over the place.
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In the options menu while watching a show, maybe add an option to switch to a different stacked duplicate of the same show.
The more I think about it, the more I hate my first suggestion. But the second is much less intrusive and could be handy.
The antenna tuner and TVE have different channel numbers. Then stack by channel numbers and just record from TVE.
Yep. @Charlyc is right. Not sure how I didn't think of that in my initial response. But I still like my # 2 option above!
But will it still record the OTA broadcast if the HDHR is second on the priority list? Like I said I already saw 2 entries of the show listed in the guide and they were both shaded like they were going to record. I can move TVE above OTA but won’t it only record the TVE version now?
You can't dynamically change which tuner it uses for a recording. It will take whichever is highest in priority.
Having said that, if one if your OTA channels regularly sucks, why not just block that one channel on that tuner. You can still keep your OTA tuner at a higher priority, but that particular channel would just always come from TVE.
The problem is that it doesn’t regularly suck...mostly on windy days in the Midwest. I’ve got a 4TB drive attached so storage space isn’t a concern and this would be used on instances for when the nightly news or other regular programming isn’t getting good reception. It would be nice to just open the DVR and if the OTA version is not coming in well I could easily just open the TVE version from the DVR instead.
What I do is watch the ota version while it's recording the tve version. Keep the tuners free for something else.
And then there's this...