[mythtv-users] HDHomeRun Vs. PCIe tuner card?

[John Finlay]

Tom wrote:
> Perhaps this question has been done to death, but I'm really torn 
> about the question of whether to build a Myth box with a pair of tuner 
> cards in the PCIe slots, or plug it into a HDHomeRun box.
>
> I haven't picked the motherboard or processor yet, so I'm somewhat 
> neutral there. I might use a second NIC and put the HDHomeRun on its 
> own private network, if that would help. Pity it has only the 100mb 
> interface; perhaps there would have been some small performance gain 
> if it were gigabit. I will be using the same box as a back end and 
> front end in one box.
>
> Does the HDHomeRun box limit me in some way? I would like to record 
> one or two ATSC OTR programs at once, perhaps while playing back a 
> prior recording. I have no cable or satellite. I'd be recording in SD 
> for now, looking to moving to HD down the road.
>
> From what SiliconDust says on their website, their box does it all. 
> Had that been the experience of those of you that have used it with 
> MythTV?
>
> Does the HDHomeRun box take commands for setting a tuner to a specific 
> channel, or does one have to fool around with an infrared solution?
>
> I kinda like the idea of being bus independent, seeing as I got an 
> analog capture card some years ago (PCI) and now looking at a future 
> where there aren't that many PCI bus slots in most new PCs. Maybe I 
> should have got the box next to it on the shelf, the one that speaks 
> USB. Who knows.
>
> Anything that a PCIe card (or two) really brings to the party that I 
> won't get with the HDHr?
>
> Thanks mucho in advance for any advice.
>
I have two HDHomerun tuners and really like them. I have used them on a 
100MB net and also a 1GB net without a problem. I also have a couple of 
PCHDTV5500's (PCI) which also work very well. I would lean towards the 
HDHRs just for the convenience of not having to install inside a case. 
The only caveat I have with the HDHRs is that if you are using an 
antenna for OTA reception the latest firmware (20090806) is not as good 
as the previous (20090415) for weaker channels in the presence of 
multipath interference (mostly Hi VHF).

John