[mythtv-users] Hauppauge WinTV-HVR2250 vs SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US

[Josh Rosenberg]

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 3:43 AM,  <mythtv-users-request at mythtv.org> wrote:
> Message: 11
> Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2011 20:38:20 -0500
> From: Randy Evans <revans42 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Hauppauge WinTV-HVR2250 vs SiliconDust
>        HDHomeRun       HDHR-US
> To: Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Message-ID:
>        <CAF0QjeHemceYH8eDb3mKgwg27GWGJu-uoJkdZANxBvLuBdxMqQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 8:28 PM, Gary Buhrmaster
> <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 00:54, Randy Evans <revans42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I have been using a HDHomeRun with MythTV for about two years. ?At
>>> various intervals, I had one HD channel which would suddenly start
>>> pixilating (sp?) to the point of being unwatchable. ?This channel
>>> would stay that way for several months, then suddenly start working
>>> again. ?This channel again went bad a couple of weeks ago and I
>>> decided to connect the antenna directly to the TV to test it and it
>>> came in just fine. ?Note I connected the same coax cable to the tv as
>>> is used with the HDHomeRun box.
>>>
>>> I ordered a ?WinTV-HVR2250 and just tried it in my backup MythTV box
>>> and the problem channel came in fine but not on the MythTV box still
>>> using the HDHomeRun.
>>>
>>> The HDHomeRun box is running the latest firmware and I have no
>>> explanation for why it would cycle between working/not working over a
>>> period of months but it does.
>>
>> As I mentioned in another thread, RF sensitivity of any two devices
>> will vary. ?It is entirely possible your TV is better than your HDHR,
>> and if you are close to the edge of reception on the HDHR, it may
>> still work fine in the TV. ?Weak signals (or multipath distortion) which
>> cannot be properly interpreted/decoded will result in pixalation in
>> digital (rather than ghosting or snow in the analog world).
>>
>> Working/not working could be the result of seasonal vegetation changes
>> (trees). ?It can also be weather related (warmer/colder, rain/snow).
>> It is not always obvious what changes in the environment.
>>
>> In some worlds, one has one of those expensive digital services
>> meters with all the bells and whistles that can tell you exactly
>> what you are receiving, and what the problem is. ?And while
>> most do not have one of those expensive tools, I seem to
>> recall that the HDHR had the ability to display a couple of values
>> that are important. ?Signal Strength, Signal Quality, and Symbol
>> Quality. ?You want a high Signal Quality and a Symbol Quality
>> of 100%. ?From memory (i.e. probably wrong), the command is
>> something like:
>> ? ?hdhomerun_config <deviceid> get /tuner0/status
>> I believe SD has some documentation on their site to interpret
>> the values returned.
>> _______________________________________________
>
> I have looked at the Signal info available and when it is "not
> working" it shows a high Signal Strength but Signal Quality would move
> from 0 to 80 and back to 0, changing about once every second or so.

I've found Silicondust tech support to be very helpful with situations
like this.  If you email them with the problem, they'll tell you to
turn on a diagnostic switch in the HDHR software, and then watch the
problem channels for 5-10 minutes each.  They can then look at the
logs the diagnostic mode sends to them and tell you what the problem
is.

I recently had an unwatchable channel like that.  They looked at the
logs and told me that the sort of data they saw was often caused by RF
interference from other electronics near the HDHR.  Sure enough, my
router was sitting right on top of the HDHR.  I moved things around,
and the problem cleared right up.

Josh