With TVE seemingly going away, what are the options given my setup?

Channels DVR Server
#21

Which encoders did you grab for $50? I'd love to test it out, but Im scared of the investment.

#22

FMUser is the brand, model FBE200. They were used, but in perfect working order. This is the post that got me started…

#23

Here is a cheap one on eaby. Note that the cheap ones are not the 4k versions and so they tend to max out at 29fps video . The 4k versions do 60fps which is much better for sports and such. I actually use HDMI for Channels for all my lineup coming in from youtubeTV. I avoid TVE because except for some of the sports channels they tend to spit out 29fps max and inferior picture quality -- at least to my eyes. Long and short. I would suggest you get the multi port 4k uRay or the Link Pi equivalent.

If you just want to experiment I saw this. It is over the $50 but you can wait around for a sale if you prefer:

I have been seeing these versions but I am not sure if they work. The principle however looks to be generally the same:

#24

I hope that Channels Leans hard into virtual channels as replacements.

That way you can create your own replacement with local content.

That would work well for everything short of live sports.

1 Like
#25

As M1 Mac Mini refurbs drop in price, at some point that will be a good choice, using Chrome Capture for Channels. Depending on how many concurrent channels you might need going at a time, that could end up being a cheaper option. I see the base level M1 Mac Mini going for about $400 now. My M1 Mac Mini can handle three streams/channels with zero hiccups, and even more than that if I don’t mind a momentary glitch in the current streams when adding additional ones. And that Mac mini is also doing duty as a Homebridge server, and running my Channels DVR server. I have that set as my higher priority source now, capped at 3 streams, with 3 encoders running ADBTuner as my next source.

1 Like
#26

What are you using as a source. I have a new M3 Mac mini Pro and could not get CC4Channels to work with YouTubeTV. It kept giving me a logon error. I was told that was an issue. Would much rather use CC4C as I don't need more than 2 streams.

1 Like
#27

I am using YouTube TV. I set up a separate user to login without two factor authentication.

#28

Do you know if the bottleneck is the CPU, GPU, or something else? It would be interesting to figure out what kind of setup would give you the most bang for your buck.

#29

I don’t know, unfortunately, and I only tested it with that many concurrent streams once. Three was fine, and there was a slight hitch in the already-playing stream, for just a second, when I added more.

1 Like
#30

I had no idea you could do that. I thought 2FA was required. I will try this out. Thanks.

3 Likes
#31

I hate to even ask, but would you share your custom channel script for YTTV with me? I cannot find one anywhere to copy and I am not sure how to get the station IDs. Thanks.

#32

Sure. If by script, you mean the source M3U, it is below. If you mean something else, let me know. But be warned that my channels may differ from yours, as I am using YouTube TV links that may be particular to my region. You can find a channel by visiting it in a web browser. By looking at my example below, you should be able to tell which part of the link you want. In the Source settings,

I’ve set my Stream Format to “MPEG-TS”, my source to “Text”, and then in the text box I have this (pardon the messiness - I have more than just YouTube TV links in there. I’ve also changed the web address where I house some of my logos on my private server — I found that logos loaded more consistently on remote devices when I had the logos on a web server for some reason).

You’ll want to change the numeric IP address (the part after “chrome:” on each line) to match the address and port of your Mac.

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="weatherscan", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/weatherscan3.png",Weatherscan
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://weatherscan.net

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="windy", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/windy3.png",Windy
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream/windy

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="nbc3" tvg-id="3001" tvg-chno="3001" tvc-guide-stationid="11458",NBC
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/cQDDAyx_fWM

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="fox433" tvg-id="3002" tvg-chno="3002" tvg-logo="http://www.(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/fox43.png?w=360&h=270" tvc-guide-stationid="11782",FOX
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/skFmWDZe4KI

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="nbcsn-philly3” tvg-id="3010" tvg-chno="3010" tvc-guide-stationid=“32571”,NBCSN PHILADELPHIA
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/6t_X17ODjZs?vp=0gEEEgIwAQ

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="nbcsn-phillyplus3” tvg-chno="3011" tvc-guide-stationid=“88829”,NBCSN PHILADELPHIAPLUS
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/F3I9mKqm8iU

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="bravo3" tvg-chno="3012" tvc-guide-stationid="58625",BRAVOHD
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/P12seiJcdYo

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="msnbc3" tvg-chno="3013" tvc-guide-stationid="64241",MNBCHD
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/q6bWEVqhP8o

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="cnbc3" tvg-chno="3014" tvc-guide-stationid="58780",CNBC
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/GIBoX-XF5i0

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="syfy3" tvg-chno="3015" tvc-guide-stationid="58623"  ,SYFYHD
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/uSfozGAsGMk

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="usa3" tvg-chno="86404" tvc-guide-stationid="58452",USAHD
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/8xN3o2PSL5s?vp=0gEEEgIwAQ

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="e3" tvg-chno="86405" tvc-guide-stationid="61812",E
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/4XA2gdEOngg

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="oxygen3" tvg-chno="86406" tvc-guide-stationid="70522",Oxygen
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/_XptfCraPjM

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="golf3" tvg-chno="86407" tvc-guide-stationid="61854",GOLF
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/XK34g7QRvGk

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="cw3" tvg-chno="86408" tvg-logo="http://www.(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/cwcentralpa.png?w=360&h=270" tvc-guide-stationid="97889",CW
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/y7t0bXZ4An0

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="weatherchannel3" tvg-chno="86409" tvc-guide-stationid="11187",WEATH
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/P_w3HTppc6E

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="nflnetwork3" tvg-chno="86410" tvc-guide-stationid="34710",NFLNET
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/_pYg9qMKKIA

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="CCentral" tvg-chno="86420" tvc-guide-stationid="10149", CCentral
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/8EdkI-9VRYU

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="mtvclassic3" tvg-chno="86411" tvc-guide-stationid="22561",MTVCLAS
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/YPB9f0dageg?onboard=1

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="mtv" tvg-chno="6012" tvc-guide-stationid="10986"  ,MTV
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/EtVFhlUOrBs

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="vh1" tvg-chno="6014" tvc-guide-stationid="11218"  ,VH1
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/rGtnD8GjrD4

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="bbcnews3" tvg-chno="86412" tvc-guide-stationid="89690",BBCNAHD
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/g5BmB1qXulc?onboard=1

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="smith3" tvg-chno="86413" tvc-guide-stationid="65799",SMITH
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/E7D0KRZIUso?onboard=1

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="tvland" tvg-chno="41" tvc-guide-stationid="16123", TVLand
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/5ZXm9opX8Bs

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="Paramount" tvg-chno="1412" tvc-guide-stationid="11163", Paramount
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/5IEF4cmubog

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="CMT" tvg-chno="1608" tvc-guide-stationid="10138", CMT
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://tv.youtube.com/watch/Nh0_9d67vQU

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcamphilly", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Philadelphia - Franklin Institute
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/philadelphia/?cam=philly

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcamfieldofdreams", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Field of Dreams - Dyersville IA
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/iowa/dyersville/?cam=dyersville

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcambigsky", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Big Sky - Lone Peak
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/montana/bigsky/?cam=bigsky

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcampittsburgh", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Pittsburgh
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/?cam=pittsburgh

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcampittsburgh2", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Pittsburgh suburban yard
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/?cam=pittsburgh
https://www.myearthcam.com/ratchetcam

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcamscranton", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Scranton Steamtown Cam
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/scranton/?cam=steamtown

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="earthcamtrapplodge", tvg-logo="https://(myprivatesite).com/images/tvlogos/earthcam2.png",Trapp Family Lodge - Stowe VT
chrome://192.168.7.180:5589/stream?url=https://www.earthcam.com/usa/vermont/stowe/?cam=trapplodge
3 Likes
#33

Thanks so much!

#34

This is great, I had to tweak it a bit but now I know how to add the channels for my area. I just did a quick test with a couple channels and it worked nicely. For NBC Philly it is fantastic as I don’t have to exit channels to watch the games any more. Thanks so much to you and the rest of the posters (and the Channels Team) for such great information and support. My only issue is the video quality, it isn’t full screen and is choppy as heck. With a single stream.

1 Like
#35

With not being full screen, make sure your display resolution on your Mac is high enough. I’m not at my Mac right now, but I believe my resolution is the one that starts with 2048.. Not sure on the choppy video. Mine runs well. I remember early in the Chrome Capture project, there was some pixelation with motion, but an update bumped up the bitrate, I believe.